Pricing on new construction

[Mike Hughes]

I need some help with pricing new construction (residential) cleanup.

Asked to bid on cleaning garage and basements, and sidewalks......possibly even exterior cleaning after settlement............FOR A DEVELOPMENT OF 183 SINGLE HOMES

Each house would consist of 2 car garage, basement, sidewalks, some will have decks. I will need to break it down by item. Also, might have to do one or two houses at a time......won't be like all at once.....

I have never done this type of work. I do know that they don't always pay that well. If anyone could email me some pricing suggestions to put me in the ballpark, I'd appreciate it.

 

[rvagnoni]

Mike,
My experience with this type of work is that the builder usually doesn't want to pay a normal professional contractors prices. They end up just getting one of there laborers to do it. Very slow pay also.

 

[spraymasters]

Yep, very very low pay for the amount of time it requires. And, if you are like us as
I am sure you are Mike you would leave the place spic and span. If you are hurting
for work you might consider it, or if it would bring you some other work more in line of
pressure washing then a "maybe". We bid on several clean ups like this and we just
estimated an hourly rate and gave them a price that way. We were to pricey for them.

Den

 

[Don F]

Hi Mike,

Rick and Denny are right. The Builders/Developers don't want to pay much... and want total perfection. They will say "just rinse the dust off", then yell about something. They also will want a quantity discount, then probably never call to complete the rest of the homes. I have experienced this first hand. My In-Laws are Major Builders in Central Pa. Atleast 10 developments with 100's of new homes yearly. We do a few jobs a year for them. Mostly Driveways with red clay on them, and some new deck seals. They just don't want to pay the price for a quality job.

Good Luck. Don F.

 

[Beth]

Hi Mike,
Rod does alot of this work, but not for the builders, for the contractors who do remodeling or put additions on the homes. He has also finished stores and restaurants for shopping centers. You actually can make very good money IF the construction comapny has allowed for it in the budget for the project. You can make $30 per hour, per man on the job, plus windows. It's also easiest to get it and keep it if you get your foot in the door behind someone who did a poor job at a low wage. We used to bid them out really low - until we learned we didn't have to! It's not like ajnitorial work at all....it's much more intense. If you want to give it a try, you might find better margins thru construction companies than thru the builders....call Rod if you want more details.

He has done walkways, washing, sealing, etc....interior, exterior, cleaning basements, etc....whole nine yards.

Beth

 

[Richard R.]

Hey Mike,

New Construstion work is one thing, that is if it's on an industrial level. However, as you said, these are residential projects and this was one of my first disappointments.
I was contacted by a major HomeBuilder here in Texas about 4 months ago and got all excited.
I finally offered to clean their new construction sites for .06 sq ft.. I all but begged for the job and never got a call back, so I guess I was to high.
After following up the reason, I too found very quickly that they do not want to pay anyone anymore than what they would pay one of their on laborers, which as you know is not very much. I'm not even sure we have a good reputation with those folks but I'm just speculating.
Anyway, if I were you, I would call Rod since he does this and maybe get an edge on how to approach this type of work.
Wish I knew his method would work here.

Have a Great Day.
Richard

 

[Beth]

Sounds to me like the difference is contractor (construction company) vs. home building company. The construction companies seem to bid leaving room for cleaning, since their own constructions guys can't stand the work and they know it's not easy. (if it were easy, they would do it) But from what everyone else has said the major home builders don't seem to budget it in the cost of the project. Or, don't want to cut into the margins.

I would hold your ground. Bid fairly, and explain it will sparkle. When they are not happy with the minimum wage labor, they may give you a shot.

Last Fall we racked our brains trying to get in the doors of the construction companies. One day Rod handed a guy a flyer where there was construction going on. The day after thanksgiving we got a frantic call. The guy he handed a flyer to was in a panic because the health inspector was due and the comapny he had contracted to do the work wouldn't call him back and had done a poor job. This contract was for a whole slew of new restaurants in maryland and virginia. Well, Rod saved the guys neck, and got the rest of the contract. The other company got bumped off the project.

We're in the midst of trying to price out condo buildings......could use help on that.

Mike, try starting the labor in the $15.00 per hour range (plus fees for windows and such) and see if it gets you in the door. It helped Rod....

Beth

 

[Beth]

p.s. Rod says try in the range of .32 to .35 cents per square foot........

 

[Mike Hughes]

Originally posted by Beth
p.s. Rod says try in the range of .32 to .35 cents per square foot........

I presume you meant .03 or .035 cents per square foot......

 

[Beth]

Nope..... it was .32 to .35, but it is based on doing business with construction companies not the home builders directly. There may very well be a huge difference.

Rod had an idea.... do one home free as a showcase, with the understanding that you do a walk through between that one and one done by the "labor" they would normally use. Then let them see the difference in the results.

 

[Richard R.]

Rod & Beth
I'm assuming your still talking about New Construction concrete jobs.
If you are, I'm not understanding the picture at all.
If .06 cents sq ft. is not excepted, why would the contractor except a bid for .32 to .35 cents sq ft.. It looks like the Homebuilder would notice a contractor's price jump of that extent.

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I bid that kind of price to anyone without special circumstances, I would be out of business here before I got started, especially on New Construction Concrete clean up.
Now if your talking about cleaning the entire house, interior and exterior, how does Rod figure .32 or .35 cent per sq ft.?
What method of measure does he use.

Example Question: If the house was 2300 sq ft, would this mean he gets $736.00 for the job. That sounds like a little more than $15.00 an hour.

Just wondering???


Richard R.

 

[Beth]

I'm not talking about just concrete. Perhaps I was unclear, sorry Richard. I'm talking about post-construction clean up for building like adding an addition to a home, or building a new store or restaurant. It encompasses anything from windows, to moping, to polishing to sweeping, and covers floors, walls and ceiling and all detail work so it sparkles top to bottom.

Getting $15.00 an hour was an example of a starting point. The price per square foot would be a good example of what you can get for finishing off a store or restaurant. $15.00 for an addition on a home will be much lower in the price per ticket. I wish we had numbers for home building. But this is the best we can offer..... for what we are doing it works. But like I said, I don't think it would apply to new home building and the home builders seem to be a whole different breed from the construction companies.

For cleaning concrete Rod gets less per foot, more like what you stated. But for a filthy interior of a store, much more...

I hope I clarified it, and again, sorry if I was confusing.

Beth

 

[Mike Hughes]

Thanks to all for your responses on this.

What I am talking about though is strictly the pressure washing side of it. I will be working as a subcontractor for the cleaning company...........not the contractor. Someone else will be doing the mopping, polishing, etc. I am only going to be washing the garage floors, basements, sidewalks, possibly decks and maybe the whole exterior of the home. I will be getting the specs on these homes sometime in the next week. Construction doesnt begin till September.