A job opportunity for me,but what should I bid it for?

[doug450]

Can any one tell me what I might want to bid this at and what would be the best way to clean,I have a rotovac and I have a regular wand.
I have a portable extractor,I guess if it is real bad I could use the RV right?
should I tell her like 240.00 bucks that would be 30 cents a sq foot

Doug

This is the email the lady sent

Well, I am hoping that you can help by coming out to our office, which
is a 20x40 modular trailer to clean the carpets. Everything has been
removed from the floor so all you need to do it basically clean. I know
this is very last minute, but we all return to work on Wednesday so it
needs to be done before then. Is there a possibility that you could
come out tomorrow or Tuesday to clean our office.
Also, how much is the cost for the 20x40 office? It has the cheap low
commercial carpet.
Thanks! Feel free to call me at blank tonight if you have some
availability and hopefully this could be the start of a new customer for
you!

 

[Kelly]

Trailor office, how nice, what do you usually charge people to clean carpet that needs to be replaced? Just out of curiosity?

 

[doug450]

I am very new to this field of work so I have not ran into anything like like what your asking.
Soo why do you ask that? does trailer carpet need replaced alot,she said her usual guy is having equipment issues,think may be he is just telling her that cause he dont want to deal with her anymore,I am sure he would just tell her to go find somebody else.

 

[hogjowl]

30 cents a s.f. would be fine in my area, but personally, I might charge her a bit more, say around $275 for it because she wants it done on short notice and on a holiday.

 

[Rescue]

I charge my commercial jobs different than my residential. I figure what my production rate would be (sq/ft per hour), and ask myself what I want to make per hour.

So an example would be on 1000 sq/ft.

Production rate for job=500 sq/ft.
Hourly rate$200
Price for job=$400

I actually learned this on this board and it has been working for me.

 

[hogjowl]

If you know your production costs, then you can back into the price based on those costs, plus your desired profits. If you don't know your costs, then you kinda have to guess at it.

All I can tell you is that I would be very happy with $275 on that job.

 

[Chads]

Shoot man this is easy money and you want to price the hell out of a commercial business I would do it for 150 to 175 your talking about a empty place,chance of getting your name out there and the job would possibly take hour to do if you had a truck mount. I know that you don't have one but that's not the customers fault you just have to work a little harder. But remember word of mouth gets your name out there and work the customer to work for you. Your just getting going and you need all the support that you can get that's why I'm doing it for this price. It will pay off in the long run.

 

[hogjowl]

Chad:
I agree with you, to a point. If I steam cleaned that place, then I could do it for the money you mentioned. By "steam cleaned", I mean in the Stanley Steemer way. No prevac, and one pass cleaning.

However, what I had in mind with MY pricing suggestion was thoroughly prevacuuming and either OP cleaning, or HWE , utilizing aggitation with the OP and a rinse with a Greenglided two inch wand with extra drying passes. Either of those two approaches would take more time, of course.

The one-step cleaning that is normally done might be a problem in this environment, if you ask me, because without scrubbing you might get poor results, and without quick drying you probably would have some wicking.

 

[Chads]

Marty you have to remember what equip. Doug has to offer and sounds like he is just getting going.

 

[harryhides]

Wicking is a real possibility, plus it could have been previously cleaned by some hick of a hack and be full of soap. Take a fan, use plenty of dry strokes and charge a couple of hundred.

 

[alazo1]

Or you can give her a round about price over the phone and give the price once you see it. This may take 1 hour if it's light and you can vlm or it can take 4 if it's trashed and you need to do multiple steps. For all you know it may take an hour to vacuum.

Albert

 

[hogjowl]

Chad:
I didn't lose sight of the equipment he has. I believe he has a portable and a rotovac, right?

I figure using a portable will take him about as long as me using OP.

 

[Kelly]

I personally would go look at it before you even decided to bid. Think about it.... trailor....office....lots of traffic...cheap carpet....and tons o dirt and her regular guy has a problem ...and just out of the blue she calls you. lol better check out the job first

 

[Jimmy L]

Might take longer with a fill and dump portable/rotovac so a couple hundred would be fine.

 

[doug450]

So from what some of you are saying it sounds like the commerical type of carpet has more tendency to wick than something like short shag type carpet,is that correct?
Doug

 

[KevinL]

It sounds like low level nylon. Easy as hell to clean and just going around the desks shouldn't take long at all. How do you guys figure it's gonna be trashed? If it's the office at a gravel yard or landfill yes but we don't know what kind of office. Commercial nylon is a breeze. Tell her you need to see it first but you're sure you can work something out. Then go do it.

 

[joey895]

Personally I would not use the rotovac on a low level commercial carpet. Use the regular wand and do plenty of dry strokes and put fans on it. As far as price for me I would give a ball park price over the phone but check out the job before quoting exact price. My price on something like that would probably be from $150-$200.

 

[doug450]

I got a question,OK it's going to be a dumb one but o well,so with the regular wand do I just pull it toward me one time with the trigger pulled
and then kinda give it a good scrub back and forth a couple times while pushing down real hard,I have not even used my regular wand yet but I need to master that thing,not that there's alot of mastering to do but like I said I have not even used it yet,That's how new I am.
Thanks for your help guys.

Doug

 

[diamond brian]

The R-Vac is great on residential carpet, but unsuitable for the job you're describing.

I would use the hottest water available and scrub it at 100 psi or so (don't over-wet). Do lots of dry passes and use air movers.

This is a relatively small job, but good experience for you. Sounds like price is secondary to her, so tell her when you'll be there, and bid it on-site. Bid high--she's not gonna run you off.

Take your time. Remember, this carpet may look great for a few hours--even if you do a crappy job. So, do it well.

Oh; be sure to pre-vac.

 

[joey895]

I got a question,OK it's going to be a dumb one but o well,so with the regular wand do I just pull it toward me one time with the trigger pulled
and then kinda give it a good scrub back and forth a couple times while pushing down real hard,I have not even used my regular wand yet but I need to master that thing,not that there's alot of mastering to do but like I said I have not even used it yet,That's how new I am.
Thanks for your help guys.

Doug

Pull the wand toward you with the trigger pulled, after you let off of the trigger keep pulling toward you a couple of inches to get the "puddle" vacuumed. Then push the wand away from you for a dry stroke. Repeat if necessary. Depending on soiling conditions move the wand over half of it's width and repeat or if lightly soiled you may be able to move over the full width of the wand. After you do a section about 4 foot by 4 foot square go over that section again with just dry strokes. There are a lot of different techniques but this works for me.

Is your wand glided?

 

[doug450]

Alrighty thanks Joey,no it's not glided,I talked to greenglides and I will probley get it glided pretty soon.

Thanks,Doug

 

[breathe72]

Kelly, you were the first to reply to this guy's question: what kind of fu@ked-up answer was that?? the guy is asking for advice here. Go be a prick somewhere else.

Doug, this sounds like as good a job as any for you to practice on your pricing and your wand stroke. Or at least a start. Bid what you think is fair; i always say go with your gut. 240 bucks might be a tad steep, then again might not. If they know you're a start-up (and by her email it sounds like she does) you can bet they are hiring you NOT because they want the premium diamond service, but because they are hoping to save a buck by staying out of the phone-book and going with the smaller guy.

That is not a slam on you; deductive reasoning tells you that they are looking for some clean carpets at a value. You'll have opportunity to 'shoot the moon' on other jobs.

For now, they should pay for what you're giving them, based upon your limited experience & equipment.

No matter what, knock em dead with a quality cleaning. If it takes you longer than you thought, again its not their fault. don't charge more just because you might need to sharpen your speed & efficiency.

IN MY OPINION, these early jobs are going to be more about word of mouth, and doing everything within your control to make sure they never ever call anybody else again. Focus less on price, more on the cleaning and what will cement a long-term relationship. (even if these folks get the carpet cleaned every 13 years) lol.

 

[Farenheit251]

Breathe 72 has some good advice. Concerns me that you've never used a wand. When i started out I called a couple of respected cleaners and offered to help them for free when they needed help in exchange for their teaching me.
These Craig's list jobs are OK for a newbie but you are going to get the most difficult jobs at the lowest prices. Eventually you are going to find yourself questioning whether to stay in the biz. You are competing against the lowest bidders to clean for people who don't see the value in cleaning,as a result they've let the carpet become heavily soiled before calling. Start looking for normal people to clean for.

 

[Kelly]

I take it you didnt like my worst case scenario approach to a job that no one knows anything about. lol

 

[John Buxton]

Given what you have I would say the regular wand, and take your time, 2 dry passes for every wet pass. I would also say that getting (or renting) a 175 rpm machine with pads and bonnets should be in your future.

This is one of the few business's you can actually make money while you learn even if you screw up once in a while.

Having chat boards like this takes a lot of the trial and error out.

 

[Farenheit251]

Doug, you said you would push down hard when using the wand. That is a common mistake when starting out. In most cases the weight of the wand and the suction provide adequate downward force. Rarely you will get a bumpy carpet where just a slight downward push is necessary. Remember if you push down hard enough to create a perfect seal then no air,water or soil is moving through the hose. Keep your wrists loose and you will get the feel for it.

 

[danluke319]

doug,

i also just recently started in the business. your using a rotovac? is it a 360?...with the portable, have you done any cermic tile & grout cleaning with it? how did it work out?

 

[RandyH]

a job opportunity for me ,but what should I bid it for

I've been watching Mikey's Board for several months now .I have gotten some good tips and ideas. I am finally posting because I think you need this advice. After you do this job for about what she is used to payingand maybe less just as a "thank you " for giving you a chance to PRACTICE.I"m talking about PRACTICE,not the game ,I'm talking about PRACTICE, PRACTICE... Sorry, almost got carried away... Go work for a larger company in your area to learn the techniques of wanding ,Which is very, very basic to this business. No offense, but I don't think you are ready to do any residential work,UNLESS it's all trailer park work!

 

[hogjowl]

Trailer park work is just as profitable as site built housing.

I get tired of you people showing prejudice towards my people!

 

[doug450]

What Would be the best chemicals for this job,the lady says it's low grade commercial carpet and it is not that bad,here is what I have rotovac RPM3 ,pro's choice extreme clean and I have some pro's choice energy.
I will be using a regular wand.
Doug