New construction clean up pricing

[bounds3]

I am starting a pressure washing business targeting builders in the Atlanta Georgia area. I am working on my pricing and would like a little input. I was thinking .08 per square foot of the home. This would include sidewalk. garage and driveways at no extra charge. Price may vary a little for mortar cleanup and longer drivesways.
So for a 2000 square foot home it would run $160. I am trying to average $50 per hour but felt it would sound better by the square foot.

 

[Micah]

I would charge 6 times that. I'm affraid any construction builder wouldn't consider a price that low. Are you insured? What type of equipment do you have? Construction clean up will be a hard market to make a break in if you don't have much experience. You've came to the right place to learn though. Welcome to the board!

 

[bounds3]

I work in the building industry now and have great relations with many builders. I have already talked to many of them and they are willing to give me a shot. I got the pricing from this website http://www.mysitespace.com/pressure_washing/rates.asp
I thought my price was in line after talking to some builders. Anyone have more input on how I should price the work?
I have a 3700psi 4gal unit. Cold water only for now. I already have my GL insurance lined up. Another question, do I have to get workers comp insurance or can I do without it?

 

[RideIt]

if you have 3 or more people working for you, then you will need workers comp insurance. That's the Florida Law. Not sure about Ga..

 

[CaroliProWash]

1 - What are you washing? You're priced too low for your area. (the prices that you found for NC are too low for our area) New brick here goes for .25/sq to start. Vinyl is simply a rinse and shouldn't take any time at all. New concrete, same way...no chems if it's less than 30 days if you can help it and low pressure so as not to damage cream coat.
2 - Whether you need WC or not will depend on your builders. In NC, Workers Comp premiums are based on payroll. If you fall under your GC's WC policy and over the course of a year he pays you XX dollars, when he gets audited, his premium goes up because you didn't have your own Cert of Ins. Most builders don't want that responsibility or increased expense.

Celeste

 

[chris moore]

new in bussiness

just wanted to say hello neighbor, just started have a little ex in power washing. need advise on how after you clean side walks. how do you clean off the parking lot were all the dirt and sand have gone drys. tried to us spray broom was not effective or effient.

 

[bounds3]

Thanks for the advice. I am going to try to rethink my pricing. I am trying to price my jobs at $50 per hour plus gas and expenses. My only problem now is learning how long a home takes me.

 

[Micah]

Bounds,

If you price by the square foot, or similar, rather then by the hour, you will probably come out better. The reason I say this is when you start out, you will get quicker with every job. So in the end you'll be doing the same amount of work - for less money. If you charge by the square foot, your price will be for the job, not for how much time you spent on it. Most builders will also prefer the square foot pricing, as they'll have a better idea of the cost before they call you. They sub most everything else out by the square foot anyway. Just a thought.

 

[grasshawg]

Also, when you work by the hour, you can never get the job done quick enough for the customer. They will always think you took too long.
Randy

 

[CaroliProWash]

Hi Chris Moore! Where in NC are you ? As far as your sidewalks, depends on what kind of dirt, how long, what's at the edge of the driveway. We use a surface cleaner for most all flatwork that we do and when necessary, follow with a quick directional rinse with the wand.

Celeste

 

[jandjsales]

I'm in georgia and i do some new construction washing, and i also do some building. i would do more of the washing, but i won't work as cheap as these builders think i should. I have a few custom home builders that keep me fairly busy, typical job for them runs $250.00 for whole house, deck, porch, garage floor and driveway. if its a larger house i charge more, for a basement floor its typically $100.00 extra. still not a lot of money, but i'm making min $50.00 per hour and they are all repeat customers. The bigger track home builders thinks you can do all that for $125.00 to $150.00, they try to dictate what they will pay. being curious i followed a guy that does alot of these builders houses. basically he walked around the house, hit a few dirty spots with no chemicals, and did the driveway with a surface cleaner. and was gone in a little over an hour, so he is making pretty good money. I can't work that way, i wash the whole house with chems, remove red mud stains, handprints off cornice, i clean the ext windows, porches decks, scrape drywall mud and glue off the garage floor and do the driveway. here in georgia red mud stains is a problem on concrete, siding and wood decks, so you will have to use chems. between concrete acid and house brite i'll use 30 to 50 dollars in chemicals depending on the house, probably 10 dollars in fuel for my machine, 10-20 dollars for truck fuel if the job is fairly close, alot of them are not. plus the wear and tear on equipment, what is left for manual labor? I have done a few smaller new houses with short drives for $175.00, but those are rare and it is usually two or more houses in a row. a builder is not going to go broke over fifty bucks, but they will make you think they are.

jeff

 

[bounds3]

Thanks Jeff
That is about what the track builders I talked to say they pay. I am trying to do some mail outs to about 100 builders so I will see how it goes soon.
Since you do some work for builders can you tell me if they require workers comp ins?

 

[jandjsales]

georgia is about the only state left that does not require builders and gen contractors to be state licensed, that is all changing and by july 2007 licensing is required in georgia, so now the insurance companies are getting richer. to be a licensed builder they will be required to carry general liability and workmans comp. therefore the contractors are requiring all their subs to have both, even if you are just one person you will have to get a workmans comp certificate which cost about $800.00 per year and you can't use it if you get hurt, to me this is organized crime. If you don't have WC, the builder will probably deduct 15 percent from your invoice, because ultimately it falls back on them, someone has to pay it. I don't have workmans comp yet, so the builders i'm working for tell me to inflate the invoice fifteen percent and show it as a deduction for WC. they are only doing this because i have worked for them a long time. if i were seeking more builders to work for i probably couldn't get their business unless i have WC myself. alot of builders here don't even carry gen liability, but they make sure their subs have it. a gen contractor gen liability policy cost about 10K per year, so the insurance companies are double dipping if all subs are required to have 1 mill coverage and then the gen contractor must have 1 mill coverage.

thats about all i know about it.

jeff

 

[TBCom.Service]

Almost all of the pressure washing I do is new construction for builders some residential but not much. In new construction it is alot easier than residential except i use very low pressure because the concrete is new and will chip, pit and leave marks. I generally takes me about two to three hours for a home that small usually two or three car garage the driveway, sidewalks, and front entrance ways and usually very easy because it is generally just construction dust and dirt its the garage that takes up most of your time. Generally builders only have a certain amount in there budget for that so if you bid too high they will get someone else. You will get faster as time goes by and learn new tricks. The builders in my area pay between 100 to 150 depending on the size and i average about 50 to 75 an hour depending on the time it takes me.Sometimes you get really lucky and everything comes off with little to no scrapin or prep and it only takes an hour or so just depends how bad it is.

 

[jandjsales]

I know several builders and i have done some building myself, a builder generally makes 15 to 20% minimum profit on a house. and it really makes me mad when they try to jew me down $25.00 on a $150.00 job. they want it done right, but they don't want to pay for it.

Jeff

 

[alexjereb]

don't do it. how big is the job? u talking us $$?

 

[Doug Rucker]

Anyone out there doing new construction clean up?