Pricing for gum

S

Scott

New member
Hello Everybody!

Do you normally break a quote up for flatwork cleaning into:
1.) price for gum remover
2.) price for no gum removal/cleaning only

I have found that the gum removal stage is time consuming.The rinsing and gum removal are the time consumers. Chemical injection,dwelltime and surface cleaning are not.

So, once again....Do you give two pricES?

Thanks again for the advise.

Scott
 
when i shop for something I want to know the price for what I am shopping for EXACTLY.

when I give potential customers bids, I try to find out what they are wanting a bid for before I make the bid. There is no need to make this too confusing for the customer. However, if they want the bid broken down, then by all means do what they want. Just ask them what they want done and give them a price for the job.

It is generally better to find out what they want from the start and concentrate on giving it to them. That way the expectations are in line with the results. I have done it both ways, and have never had any controversy when i ask what I am bidding on first and give the price accordingly. I have given bids based on messages left on voice mail telling me to "call them back with a price to clean my sidewalk", when i call them back it is their voice mail. I leave a price for both (gum - concrete) and the customer doesn't see why it is so much more just for the gum. If I had bid it all together then there would have been no problems or questions.

For the most part I don't offer just cleaning without gum removal It should be considered part of the job. I dont want someone to see my work with tons of gum spots and ask the guy - "who cleans your sidewalks" then they are left with the impression that I can't clean gum. They wont say "Pete cleaned it but I was too cheap to pay him to get the gum." Most of my work is a result of referrals so I want it to look the best it can before I leave it.

Thats just me I guess.

Thanks
Pete
 
Big Pete

Thank you for the reply.
I have been asked to quote both prices. I was just curious if there was a standard markup for gum removal. I know that it is alot more time consuming if there is alot of gum.

I, as well, have one quality level...the best that I can do.I agree 100% with what you said about having people see your work.I always want the WOW factor.

I recently cleaned a gas station . I bid,got the job, and cleaned. The gum and rinse were the time killers. I learned a valuable lesson.I spend more time than I wanted,but the customer was elated.This was essentially an initial cleaning. If I charged the same price for a repeat cleaning, I would be in line with what I should be making.
Lesson..
Charge more for the initial cleaning ...always keep quality and customer satisfaction first.

So, once again...I know there are regional differences, but what is a semi-standard markup on gum removal?

Thanks again Big Pete

Thanks all for advice and suggestions.

Scott
 
Gum cleaning

How much more time does it take to clean the gum? Does it double your time?
 
What I started doing was cleaning the surfaces first with my surface cleaner then I crank up the heat a bit more and use my m5 xjet to remove the gum and rinse off the area. It works really well and using the heat and m5 the water basically scrapes off the gum.

I don't charge a seperate price for gum removal though, it's all part of the job. I may bid a bit more depending on how much gum needs to be removed though!
 
Henry, would a turbo nozzle speed up gum removal?
 
Yeh a turbo will speed up removing gum, the main requirement is heat though. I use the m5 because it allows me to rinse off the cleaned surface and scrape off the gum at the same time using heat and pressure.
 
I agree with Pete, you need to always remove all gum.

The price on gum removal is difficult. how many pieces? how long has it been?

I use this oportunity to put customers on regular maintenance. They sk why so much I explain its abuse for letting it get so dirty and if you were on regular maint. the price would be much lower. the benifit of being clean all the time and te savings usally gets them on regular maint.


Beware of using a turbo with kid gloves. Most surface is not goiing to take the focused pressure a turbo will deliver. Just a caution, using this tool could cause damage. (proper use is huge)

if you want to call I have more.
 
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