Need to vent.

C

Carolina Clean

New member
Just put in a bid on a large building. My quote was 12k for window cleaning and pressure washing. 3 stories Maybe 50k sq ft. They got 4 bids. 7k,3.5k,3k. A 60ft man lift is needed for the job that $400 easy a day. I'm think with 4 people it will take 4 to 5 days. How do companies survive doing work for this cheap?
 
You have to educate your customers. I just posted a blog entry on here that steeps deep into the root of these issues.

AC
 
Vent away bro.i just lost a bid on a condo project for 1800. The kicker was that the hoa pres called me to tell me I missed a bunch of balconies and needed to come back. After explaining that they hadn't hired me I asked how much the other bid was. He said $800. He actually laughed when I said"that's why he only did half the job!"
 
I spent over 6 weeks last year bidding a building on the national historic register.That time was spend researchig the proper chems,meeting architecs,the local city official,the historic preservation society,meet the chem company rep etc. etc.

The bid was $48k only to hav ethem say they never expected that kind of price although I had done my due diligence in educating them on the particalurs of the scope of the work at hand. The building still sits dirty the up side is they haven't had some hack come in and go crazy spraying shc on the terra cota and limes stone.

You aren't going to win them all.
 
Man I am sorry!!!

I had the same thing happen to me a few weeks ago. I had a 3 story brick building downtown beside the state capital building, I discuss everything with them, I went and did a demo patch, and gave them the estimate. My bid 11k. Talked to him later and he said they got another bid for 5k to wash and to seal it!!! Crazy!!!! I told him there was no way I would touch the building for 5k.
 
I am still amazed at the size of the gap between bids. Most of these P/M and HOA's really have no clue what it costs to do a large scale job like these. They always seem to want to go with the middle bid but some of these are so far fetched it makes it hard for them to choose. Making them aware up front on what lifts & chemicals & labor costs were going to be will educate them on what and how u intend on doing this job.

When someone comes in for the price of the lift alone that should make them aware that they are not getting an equal bid, if they dont care and it's all about pricing you dont want to do buisness with them anyway.
 
Carolina Clean said:
Just put in a bid on a large building. My quote was 12k for window cleaning and pressure washing. 3 stories Maybe 50k sq ft. They got 4 bids. 7k,3.5k,3k. A 60ft man lift is needed for the job that $400 easy a day. I'm think with 4 people it will take 4 to 5 days. How do companies survive doing work for this cheap?
Click to expand...
we are missing some info here what type of building-siding, was it a 50k sq ft foot print or total. How much of the building is windows? Why do you need a lift? The reason I ask is if it was a 50k sq ft 3story metal or siding building I could do the whole thing from the ground in 2 days pressure wash 1-1/12 days and waterbed pole the windows. Making the 3.5k for a good 2 days work sign me up by the way that would be done with a 2man team.
 
Kory said:
we are missing some info here what type of building-siding, was it a 50k sq ft foot print or total. How much of the building is windows? Why do you need a lift? The reason I ask is if it was a 50k sq ft 3story metal or siding building I could do the whole thing from the ground in 2 days pressure wash 1-1/12 days and waterbed pole the windows. Making the 3.5k for a good 2 days work sign me up by the way that would be done with a 2man team.
Click to expand...

Kinda with Kory on this one......that many guys for that many days is a little high and we clean 3 stories from the ground all the time.
 
Carolina Clean said:
Just put in a bid on a large building. My quote was 12k for window cleaning and pressure washing. 3 stories Maybe 50k sq ft. They got 4 bids. 7k,3.5k,3k. A 60ft man lift is needed for the job that $400 easy a day. I'm think with 4 people it will take 4 to 5 days. How do companies survive doing work for this cheap?
Click to expand...

Lets say it is just mold, here is how 3.5k makes money
  • own the lift, paid off and costs $30 a day for fuel, $250.00 to move it to jobs
  • 20 gallon per minute pumps clean 50k SQ FT quickly
  • 2 guys 5 hours@ $20.00 per hour
  • $100.00 worth of SH
  • $30.00 for lunch
  • $300.00 for the just in case issues
  • windows $1500.00....just a guess?
  • the rest is all $$$.......... for only 5-8 hours for 1 crew, I'll take it all day long
Keeps everyone working, equipment paid for, overhead getting paid.....

Oh....and the most important thing......getting and keeping the customer all to myself for future work....
 
swrest said:
Lets say it is just mold, here is how 3.5k makes money
  • own the lift, paid off and costs $30 a day for fuel, $250.00 to move it to jobs
  • 20 gallon per minute pumps clean 50k SQ FT quickly
  • 2 guys 5 hours@ $20.00 per hour
  • $100.00 worth of SH
  • $30.00 for lunch
  • $300.00 for the just in case issues
  • windows $1500.00....just a guess?
  • the rest is all $$$.......... for only 5-8 hours for 1 crew, I'll take it all day long
Keeps everyone working, equipment paid for, overhead getting paid.....

Oh....and the most important thing......getting and keeping the customer all to myself for future work....
Click to expand...

Joe,

Don't completely agree with the exact numbers but WAY TO BREAK IT DOWN! I like how your mind works step by step.

AC
 
I've talked to the guys and they are going to talk about it more. They haven't rewarded the job yet.
They had the building pressure washed last year for $8,500. So that's were I got my first number. The next was windows. Lots of glass and window only accessible by getting on the roof. 5,500. With lift rental in there. 60ft boom lift needed. I can see the 7k bid if they owned the lift, etc.

I have some connections there so we'll see.
 
I don't even dwell on low ballers anymore... I have lost so many bids this year to companies that do piss poor work for disgustingly cheap prices... The best thing to do is forget about it and move on. I try not to get too excited for any quote I put in until I get a faxed signature. There is probably 100 apt complexes that need cleaned just like this one. Stay focused and don't let it get to you. That is my best advice.
 
So you got your pressure washing number based off what they paid someone else last year? That sounds like a terrible way to survive if you don't bid based on your own expenses and profit
 
bigchaz said:
So you got your pressure washing number based off what they paid someone else last year? That sounds like a terrible way to survive if you don't bid based on your own expenses and profit
Click to expand...

So if you knew what they paid the year before for half the work you would price even lower? Doesn't make any sense. I consulted a couple of companies and we agreed this would be a fair price.
 
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