pricing break point question

[navigator]

I'm still trying to nail down my pricing, and keep running into something that may be obvious to others, but which I'm unclear on. Flatwork is what is under consideration.

It seems a common concept to have a minimum charge which includes a set square footage (ie: $80/300'). No problem.

Then a few break points, like...

301' - 1,000' @ .12/sq ft
over 1,000' @ .10/sq ft

My question is, if a job is 1,500', do you charge the .12/sq ft price for 700', then .10/sq ft for 500'? (Remember, 300' was included in the base.)

Or, is all 1,200' charged at .10/sq ft?

Also, how many break points do you have, and where?

Thanks!

 

[Larry B]

One way I do it is in write up I charge the whole amount. Whether it is .15/sqaure or whatever. Then I discount it to my rate for the volume of work.
It shows them the savings I will give them for the volume of concrete.

A more direct answer to your question is, no I charge the same for the whole square footage.

 

[navigator]

I understand your point of letting the customer see the "finished" price, but how do you arrive at it?

If your break point is 1,000', and the job is 1,200', do you bill like so:

300' @ $80 (min)
+ 700' @ .12 ($84)
+ 200' @ .10 ($20)
= $184.00
(average .15/sq ft, $180)​

...OR...

300' @ $80 (min)
+ 900' @ .10 ($90)
= $170.00
(average .14/sq ft, $168)​

See, you're billing the same footage, but depending on how you break it down, there's a difference. Just wondering what is common practice?

 

[Larry B]

I do it like this:

1500@..20 = $300.00
minus volume square footage discount = $75.00

Total cost for job= $225.00

 

[Dorsky01]

So an average rate for average concrete with average soil is about 15 cents a square???

 

[Larry B]

Just numers for an example

 

[navigator]

Right, just examples.

I called two p/w outfits in Tucson, AZ (nearest city to me), and asked how much they get to wash an 18 x 40 driveway (720') with average dirt and no oil stains, and got prices from $240 (.33/ft) to $150 (.21/ft). Is this comparable nationwide?

In the West, driveways do not get mold/mildew/moss growing on them, just dirt, oil, and tire marks. The dirt tends to be iron-rich, which can stain the cement a reddish/brown.

Larry, what I was wondering is what footage qualifies for your 'volume square footage discount'?

 

[MR ALAN]

I start all driveways at $150.00. It can be 400 sq feet or 1000 sq ft. If it goes over the 1000 I will add on as neccesary. I rarely ever do a sq ft price on residential. I also rarely measure them.
When I first started, I would measure them and then do a few different prices based on sq ft and then choose the one I liked best.

On commercial work, I use a flat rate on all the area. The rate varies depending on soiling, frequency of cleaning and amount of area.

To say that .15 is an average would be way off. Competive bidding on commercial work can start off at .01 a sq ft.

 

[Asbestos]

Which? one cent a square foot? so you do what like 7000 S/f an hour? Man I am going to stick to what I am doing

 

[Scott Stone]

The problem is that there are people that are getting .01 cent per foot. A lot of that has to do with the qualityof work that they are expected to do for that price. Usually it is a lot sweeper that also does pressure washing that does it so cheaply. They will do the pressure washing at cost or less, and then make it up on sweeping the lot.

As for price breaks, I don't give them. I figure the cost at a square foot price, have a minimum, and then have a travel charge. So for purposes of this discussion I will illustrate it.

My minimum is $150
My travel charge is $75
My square foot price is .03 cents a square foot.


So if it is 2000 feet, the price is figured at $60+$75 for $135. the minimum is $150, so that is there cost.

if it is 3500 square feet the cost is $105+$75 for $180 or a bit less than .06 cents a foot.

If it is 10000 square feet, the cost is $300+$75 for $375 or .0375 cents a foot.

That is what works for me on commercial stuff. Government stuff gets a flat price per square.

 

[mudbug]

flatwork pricing

I live in the intermountain west, myself, and we don't have mold issues or any of that either, but the gum and oil sure get baked on!
The system we've been using (not that we have lots of time in with it, but the jobs we have had) is this:

We figure we can do a really nice job on 3500 s.f. of 'average soiled' concrete parking spaces or pump islands in an hour. We are aiming for $100 an hour. We adjust our price per s.f. up or down from there depending on the dirt level and the difficulty in recapturing. When we first got started, we had a hard time competing with the guys who were bidding $80-$90 to do a whole mini-mart. I think it's better to leave those jobs to the guys who are willing to work for that price and concentrate on folks who want a really nice job done for more money.

Hope you get all the work you can handle!

 

[navigator]

So Scott, your basic price covers anything up to 2,500'? I'm not intending to target homeowners as my customers, but I'm sure I'll get some (have already...). I'm figuring that an average driveway would be less than 1,000', and am concerned that a price of $150 would be perceived by the homeowner as a bit much, especially when the job is done in less than an hour. I was looking at getting it under $100, but my calculations say that's a losing number...

Looking at Mr Alan's example, his same minimum ($150) would include up to 1,000', which comes to .075/ft. A reduction on additional footage sounds like a good idea, but I still don't see dropping to .03/ft unless the footage goes over 10,000.

Mudbug, you're not saying you do 3,500' for $100, are you? That's only .028/ft. I'm sure you have a minumum, too? I do try to do a very good job for the price; I have seen plenty of the quicky-jobs done with a wand, and the resulting zig-zag pattern of clean/dirty that's left behind. I'm using a Steel Eagle surface cleaner, and getting better at not having overlap lines. Thanks for the wishes!

Anyone else having trouble with the gravel along the edge of the concrete? The surface cleaner leaves it alone, but it gets blasted away pretty easily while detailing with a wand. (Yes, we landscape with gravel, not grass. Not just rocks; nice landscape gravel easily runs $100/ton.)

Thanks for all the feedback!