Mike C.,
Ditto on "If you get every job, its time to raise your price."
Same would apply in the opposite direction.
All increases and decreases should be in smaller increments until you find a good ratio. To me 50-70% is a good number.
I suppose it's all in the market area and the sales job since someone posted a few weeks ago about their going rate being $1+ per sq ft (west coast offense).
I once targeted a medium size sub-division (about 250 homes) with home prices between $125K to $175K where I would say 80% of the homes needed washing and 90% of the concrete needed cleaning, along with a fair number of decks needing refinishing. I sent 2 sets of flyers to every home within 3 weeks of each other with only 1 request for an estimate for deck work.
The same flyer worked very well in other areas.
I can't see cleaning, brightening and sealing 2200 sq ft of concrete for $200.
Let me ask these questions about the 2200 sq ft.:
- How long to clean?
- How long to brighten?
- What is the material cost of cleaner and brightener?
$0.10 to $0.16 does not sound unreasonable for residential concrete cleaning. $0.12 would be $264 - about 4 hours to:
set up, spot clean, clean, brighten, rinse and pack up. Some will take longer, others not but that should not be the driver for the cost. The driver is normally your average good quality competitor and what your customers are willing to pay.
Sealing:
- If I use a 1 coat sealer, it covers 150 sq ft per gallon (or 15 gallons) at $15 per gallon = $225 (my cost).
- If I use a 2 coat sealer, it covers 175 sq ft per gallon on 1st coat and 300 sq ft on 2nd coat (20 gallons total at about $12/gallon) thats $240 in materials or about $0.11 per sq ft.
- $240 for materials plus 20% mark-up = $290 plus 4 hours to apply 2 coats of sealer at $60 per hr = $240 or $530 total ($0.24 per sq ft).
Do you seal the same day you clean?
I let the concrete dry for 24 hrs. In cooler weather it may take longer. It then take 2 trips.
Again, some will take longer, others not but that should not be the driver for the cost. The driver is normally your average good quality competitor and what your customers are willing to pay.
If you're not competitive, you have to find the reason for it (don't have the proper equipment, too slow, material costs are too high, marketing, etc., etc..)
I'm interested in hearing other perspectives.
Regards,