messed up a quote what do i do!!!!!!!

[Scrappy]

hey guys need some help and it's not about price lol

today i qouted a deck that was in three different sections
it wraps around the back part of a house so it has a 5x20 section then a triangular section no more than 10 sq ft. and then a 10x11 section
_______
/ ____|
/ /
| |
| |
|__| rough drawing to help you guys out! lol

the guy said it had been sealed and this is the first deck i quoted that was stained!

i looked at it and didn't pay much attension and come to find out i spent 4 hours on it today and i'm only half way through getting the spindles done. i didn't know that you had to use a stripper when it is stainded like it is i thought my rig would get the job done guess not.

this is where i need help i originally quoted the job at $160 ( i know from reading on here tonight that thats a super cheap price) but the problem comes in when i fing out you have to use a deck stripper and all this stuff which is worth way more than $160 so what do i do

do i tell the guy its gonna be more
do i go in the whole because of my goof up
WHAT DO I DO!!!

 

[Dave Ott]

Your joking right?

 

[Scrappy]

no i'm not i really don't know what to do i screwed up big time on this one

 

[GetRdone]

Small job worth maybe $400 to $600 that shouldn't take more than 6 hour start to finish (strip and stain) and you got to ask what to do?
Never take on a job your not qualified to do. Now your reputation, character, and integrity is on the line. Bite the bullet and either get the education to finish the job properly, ask a woodie to come help you, or maybe better yet apologize to the HO for taking on more than you can handle.
Concession to ones limits is the better part of valour.

Good luck and my best to ya..

PS - amount for chems and stain shouldn't be more then $60 or so

 

[Scrappy]

no stain just simply remove the old stain. i messed up by not looking very closely before giving my estimate! WON"T MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN!!!!

i thought it was a deck that was just simply like water sealed or something i dunno but i guess i'm just gonna have to take it on this one
Any other suggestions

 

[PressurePros]

Well, let's see.. great job on doing your research BEFORE you priced and then screwed up a person's deck. Oh wait, I have that backwards. You already screwed up, lowballed the job beyond ridiculous and now you want us to get you out of it? What part of your brain clicked, "this looks easy I'll just start blasting away"?

First off you never clean a deck with pressure alone whether it just looks dirty or there is 20 layers of paint on it. You need to use cleaners that will kill mold, preserve lignin, and leave the wood in the right pH balance. Second you need to never go above 800 psi, even less on softer species like cedar. Third, you come to the internet and speak to professionals that actually do wood restoration legitimately and ask your questions then about pricing and technique. Fourth, you practice on your deck, your mom's deck and then you graduate to a brave neighbor's deck. I fel bad for the guy's deck that I'm sure you have already splintered.

If you make it through the verbal pounding you are probably gonna get here.. if you suck up that this job is going to cost you a good amount of money to complete (ie don't be a typical lowbal loser hack and just abandon it) .. if you can get through all of it and hang out here for awhile, you will understand why your post is going to make a ton of people jump down your throat.

:burn: :burn: :burn: [pc]

 

[squirtgun]

No you don't ask for more $$$!!!You screwed up not the home owners,suck it up finsih the job at a loss and learn from your mistake!!!!

Now how to fix the problem......call Ken or another wood restoration company and ask,no beg them to help you fix the headache.(Do not call me since wood resto is way down on my list of things I like to do.Yes,I know how and I'm good at it,but I make more $$$ doing other types of pressure washing.)

$160 is a joke.Keep charging those prices and you'll be on here selling your equipment in 6 months.

 

[Scott Stone]

Just consider it part of your education process. Welcome to the real world, we all mess up sometimes, I made a mistake this month that is probably going to cost me about $10,000. What do I do? I suck it up, and take care of it. It is all part of being in business.

 

[Scrappy]

thanks Scott that helps me feel a little better . . . i totally understand that i underbid it . . .actually saying underbid is and UNDERSTATEMENT!

being one of only two pressure washing businesses in my area i know i have to take this one on the chin, to save my rep and to make a good reference

i called the h.o. today and explained the situation and told him there would be no extra charge for my goof up and that its just gonna take me a little longer than i thought. Luckily the H.O. completely under stood understood and he said even though i made a huge mistake he doesn't want to take advantage of me so he said just add the cost of the stripper to the bill and we will call it fair . . . so I'm not gonna really make any money on it but it will ease the loss cushion and keep my costomer happy which is most important to me . . .keep the customer happy and provide quality products thats what it's all about


P.S. Mr. Pressure Pros no need to be a **** no i didn't mess their deck up i'm not stupid i just wasn't sure on the stain so i came here for some help from guys that have done this for a very long time . . . Didn't know you were gonna talk to me like my mom does for not cleanin my room . . you need to chill and i hope to god your customers get a better side of you than i just did!!!

 

[5 Star Johnny]

P.S. Mr. Pressure Pros no need to be a **** no i didn't mess their deck up i'm not stupid i just wasn't sure on the stain so i came here for some help from guys that have done this for a very long time . . . Didn't know you were gonna talk to me like my mom does for not cleanin my room . . you need to chill and i hope to god your customers get a better side of you than i just did!!!

I will join Ken in the **** category! Like myself, Ken expressed his disdain for unqualified contractors (i.e. scrappy) that take on projects they have no business attempting, THEN come on the board asking for someone to save them. It is an insult to this profession. It's one thing for you guys to come here and ask questions about a job BEFORE you bid or attempt it. It's quite another issue when you come on after.

I applaud your honesty in speaking with the HO & explaining the question. That may save your reputation for the moment. I still don't believe you protected the integrity of the wood structure by the way you described your process. There's no way you stripped old finish without stripper at less than 1000 psi. That means, even if you didn't leave "visible" marks or scarring, you still compromised the integrity of the material by virtue of high water pressure, ultimately reducing the life span of the wood. Happy now?

Get some training, practice on your family & friends first, and do some extensive research before you take on another job. While I agree there's a first time for everything and you gotta' start somewhere, you don't start on someone else's biggest investment!! "Oops, I messed up" is only going to go so far with the wrong HO. I'm assuming you have no insurance for your little venture!? That "oops" could have cost you a new deck!

Hope that helps!

 

[Revive]

Scrappy

Don't get defensive. It'll only make things worse. You screwed up HUGE. The quote is a very MINOR part of it.

Gentle pearl of wisdom. Take what ever anyone on hear throws at you on the chin on this one. You deserve it.

Now in saying that as nicely as I could, I do hope you come out of this without any damage to his deck, learn from it and prosper (sincerely) in the future. Research the crap out of this job. Use the search function, then stick your tail between your legs and call one or two or three of the members off of here. As long as your eating humble pie, I'm sure a few phone calls will be what you can use, to learn from guys/gals that have been doing this for years.

 

[FCPWLLC]

Give me a call Scrappy.... 859-983-5955

 

[Scrappy]

actually i finished the job today and the H.O. were very happy with the way it turned out and the guy gave me 100 more than i charged him because of my honesty and he said that i was a good worker and that goes a long way with him!
i understand i should have done my home work and i have learned my lesson he asked me today after he paid me to quote the house for him and i did so I DO KNOW HOW TO DO THAT LOL and after we talked for about thirty minutes he asked if i could also pressure wash the shingle . . .that i have never done and referred him to the only other guy in my area and former employer that pressure washes . . . i told him that i would research it on this Bb. and if i felt i could could do it and do a good job then i would be more than happy to but i told him i had never done shingles before so i wasn't going to do it on his house the first time i tried. he told me that its just a little spot and after i do my homework on it he would be more than happy to let me try it out on his house. so i dunno about all that.

i guess i can't / shouldn't be sour about my B**chin i took on here i guess every one has to pay his due to the business and I'm sorry if i have offended any one and would like to apologize to Pressure Pros for my out burst was just a little upset lol SORRY i hope you can accept it

and as far as insurance i'm not stupid people are toooooo sue happy these days. i run the company in a partnership with a guy that does concrete. Hey provide the equipment and chem and anything i need besides my truck and gas and i do the work then we split it fifty fifty (no too bad of a deal) I ALSO WORK AT THE LOCAL STEEL PLANT (nas) CLEANING LOADERS AND STUFF AS A CONTRACTOR SO I HAVE 5,000,000 DOLLARS of liability . . . lol i think i got every thing covered aye lol

BUT AGAIN THANK YOU EVERY ONE FOR THE HELP AND I'M ALMOST SURE IT WON'T BE THE LAST TIME I NEED IT

 

[DAFF]

Put Your Time In

Scrappy

Seems like some of the big boys were a little hard on you. Don't feel bad, owning a buisness is about taking chances and learning from your mistakes. Hopefully all the other new operator owners read your misfortions and learn too.

Good luck and by the way nice save with the home owners. General rule of thumb, double your projected time to finish and you will almost always make $$ at the end of the job.

DAFF

 

[GetRdone]

Glad to hear ya got through it....

Since insurance came up, how much care,custody, control insurance ya got?

ps-..as that would be the part that covers the item your actually working on.

 

[Scrappy]

man to be honest my partner takes care of all that he's the money guy kinda like he is the ceo and i'm the V.P. lol i run everything like its my business and he takes care of almost all the paper work and the cost . . .all i know is we def have 5 mill. liability for the work we do at NAS the local steel plant

 

[Revive]

Scrappy

Glad to hear you came out of it unscathed. I like the ending to the situation. Congratulations.

Today is the third time (job) I have been to in the last month to try and fix what someone else has taken a pressure washer to. We ( I ) get a little irritated trying to fix other peoples mistakes. We all had to and still are learning. That's the main reason I come here myself.

 

[DPProWash]

I don't mind when someone calls and says something is screwed up. It's an easy sell. They hired a lowballer, they suffered the consequences, and now they're ready to get hit on the chin.

 

[Scrappy]

Wow look how far i have came in a year lol

 

[Mark]

D.J.

Tough way to learn but usually when we learn from
our mistakes, we are not likely to repeat our mistakes.

Hope all is going well.