help in determing bid for spindles and rails

Went and looked at a Resturaunts deck today. OH BOY. Roughly 31x63 ft, that's not the problem. 18 sections of 6ft x 3 ft high spindles and railings. Any one with a great way of estimating the cost for the spindles and railings? Would appreciate the help.

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We charge 2 bucks a linear ft for clean and seal.


Craig

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Craig Knight
www.powerwashunlimited.com

I use length times height for sq ftge and regular price per sq ft. rail 3ft high 6 foot long 18sqft cleaning surface.
Good luck
Adrian

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We charge $2.25 per linear foot on railings. With that large of a job I would also do a small percentage off the total price.

Dennis

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Living Life On the Edge Makes Us Dizzy...WE LOVE DIZZY!

Dennis A. Cormier and Gloria A. Wagner
North Georgia Spray Masters, Inc.
spraymasters@hotmail.com

Thanks for the help. Really appreciate this site and the potential it has. I did get a final bid on that deck estimated. To strip/clean-brighten/seal w/ toner of all the deck surface/spindles and posts/steps came to about 2600.00 Though some spindles are in dis-repair, they will be fixed by my contracter of decks before I start them. Does this figure sound reasonable to anyone other than me?????

Reed's Deck and Fence Care

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A while back I figured out the surface area for spindles and rails.Most rail systems have twenty spindles per 10 linear feet and the surface area I got was about 3.5-3.75 sq ft. per linear ft. including railings and everything.You say 18 sections I am assuming there is a 4X4 between each section.that adds 6 linear ft.X2 so 18X6=108+12=120X3.5=.420 sq ft for rails.420+1953=2373sq ft.Accounting for steps it looks like you came up with $1 sq ft.Stripping the deck should be a little more than $1 but I don't know your pricing structure,also what happens if the old sealer is a bear to get off you could be there for a long,long time.you probably should have done this one time and materials although the fact that some spindles are broken could mean that the old finish will come right off.I think my estimate would have been closer to $3250 with a "Not to excede $3800" clause in it.

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J.R WOOD POWER WASHING*1-800-782-9919
ABACUS DECK CARE*1-866-7-ABACUS
J&B SNOW PLOW*1-973-328-6650
SHOWCASE LAWNS OF NEW JERSEY*1-866-SHOCASE

DID SOMEONE SAY DIVERSIFY?

JR, This is how I came up with my price:

Stripping everything 300.00 materials 170.00
Cleaning deck 1500 (1.25sf) materials 70.00
spindles/posts/steps 206.25
Sealing with toner 376.25 (all surfaces and metrials)

Grand total was 2,667.50.

The deck was "NOT" a perfect square! Naturally

This guy is a high exposure resturaunt to all the Blues hockey players and has treated me very, very well. I did cut him a "break".

comments most appreciated

reedster

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What kind of finish are you using to only charge that much?(for sealing)


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J.R WOOD POWER WASHING*1-800-782-9919
ABACUS DECK CARE*1-866-7-ABACUS
J&B SNOW PLOW*1-973-328-6650
SHOWCASE LAWNS OF NEW JERSEY*1-866-SHOCASE

DID SOMEONE SAY DIVERSIFY?

This is what I would have charged:
31 X 63 = 1,953.......... $1,953.00
18 X 6 = 108 X $2.25 = $243.00
Total = $2196.00
minus a 10% discount
Grand Total = $1976.40
{if had to strip the deck would be more...this quote would be for cleaning and sealing with Ready Seal}

Dennis
p.s. Steps would be extra also depending on the height

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Living Life On the Edge Makes Us Dizzy...WE LOVE DIZZY!

Dennis A. Cormier and Gloria A. Wagner
North Georgia Spray Masters, Inc.
spraymasters@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by spraymasters (edited February 02, 2001).]

I like to use the lin. foot method myself. I charge $3.50 ft for baluster type railings,and $1.50 a ft for simple 2x6 railings w/o all them spindles. I would charge $2038.00 for the job.

Decks and Docks
Odessa FL

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From what I can understand the total surface area is between 2500 and 3000 sq ft and it has to be stripped and you are using Raincoat which has to be masked off and back brushed.I'm sorry I stand by my original statement on this.$3250
Also You should check into getting a contractor discount for your product I can get 7 gallons of toned Raincoat for $93 plus tax.It would take me at least 6-7 hours to seal a deck like that with raincoat and I did a whole season with it when I first started.It tends to run alot!
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J.R WOOD POWER WASHING*1-800-782-9919
ABACUS DECK CARE*1-866-7-ABACUS
J&B SNOW PLOW*1-973-328-6650
SHOWCASE LAWNS OF NEW JERSEY*1-866-SHOCASE

DID SOMEONE SAY DIVERSIFY?



[This message has been edited by JR Wood (edited February 02, 2001).]

Reedsterstl

I have to agree with Dan. Your pricing seems a little low. Of course I don't know what kind of profit you need to make in your area. Here...that price wouldn't work. I would also like to note that some of you guys seem to look at rails as straight sq. footage,(length x width) when it is not. Don't forget! There are four sides... generally. Take that into consideration and you get more sq. footage in your totals....Meaning more time and materials!

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Rick - Deck Care Plus
If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all. -- Michelangelo

Hey Rick,
I sat there one day and measured every sq inch of a rail system and I came up with 3.5- 3.75 per linear ft.It will get higher if you have a wider railing ,this doesn't include the rim joist which technically in some cases can be part of the rail system(could be an 8" or 12" which could add another sq ft.I always write down 3.5 though so my customers don't think I am gauging them, because I have seen other estimates of competitors in my area and they just go straight length X 3.Sometimes I find myself explaining things to the customer.I also count a piece of lattice as straight sq st. a 4X8 sheet is 32 sq ft.

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J.R WOOD POWER WASHING*1-800-782-9919
ABACUS DECK CARE*1-866-7-ABACUS
J&B SNOW PLOW*1-973-328-6650
SHOWCASE LAWNS OF NEW JERSEY*1-866-SHOCASE

DID SOMEONE SAY DIVERSIFY?



[This message has been edited by JR Wood (edited February 03, 2001).]

JR

In my post I wrote Dan instaed of JR....sorry! My formula takes into consideration the full sq. footage of the rails and spidles. May not always be accurate to the tee, but is closer than just doing the typical length x width formula. I am also assured of making money on the job due to it.



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Rick - Deck Care Plus
If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all. -- Michelangelo