How much are you guys charging for tile cleaning?

[dealtimeman]

I will be doing a job that was referred to me by my brother. My brother told me it was some offices and it turns out to be a collision center that is part of a new high-end car dealership network. My question is should I charge regular or should I charge a discounted rate in hope of getting the rest of the dealerships in the network? What is your rate for tile cleaning and if you do have a discount rate what is it?

 

[Mikey P]

I guess knowing if the grout is going to need prescrubbing would be my first concern.

If you can spray, dwell then Turbo it can go as fast as carpet cleaning.


I would suggest doing a test in a few areas then come up with an hourly rate that will make it worth it to you.

 

[dealtimeman]

Since I will be trying to impress them , I will be prescrubbing regardless. What I dont know is if I should seal the grout or not as we did not talk about it, or does sealing come with the rates you charge?

 

[TimP]

I charge about double what carpet cleaning is. But I alkaline and acid clean, unless the tile is just super clean.

 

[dealtimeman]

Do you always seal or is that a seperate charge?

 

[TimP]

always a seperate charge.

 

[Chris A]

always additional for sealing, once you seal a job, you'll know why.

 

[dealtimeman]

How much? how many "coats of sealer"?

 

[Mikey P]

I take it this will be your first Tile job?

 

[Jim Nazarian]

If the client didn't request sealing then you should have mentioned it & explained to them the benefits of a quality penetrating sealer, since it wasn't discussed make it a separate line item.

Price depends on size & its probably going to be late night work, just focus on doing a kick ass job at a fair price as your primary goal with the other locations secondary, if you don't have much experience with T\G then consider yourself fortunate to get paid while you learn.

How big? Any wax or coatings? Would be needed to come up with a price.

 

[dealtimeman]

yes this will be my first commercial T&G job. But it looks to be easy and I used to do it with a 175 it is my first time with my turbo.

 

[CapeCleaner]

It sounds as though you've already looked at the job and discussed it with the property owner.

What I dont know is if I should seal the grout or not as we did not talk about it...

Did they not ask for a price then? If you have already priced the job, they may not look kindly on additional charges. But, since you didn't discusss sealing, you might be OK. Make sure you can explain the benefits of sealing the grout. Is it just office space that you'll be cleaning? If you have already priced the job I do think you missed your opportunity to sell color sealing as it is considerably more than using an impregnator.

My pricing for a commercial clean and clear seal is about $1.00/sqft. Depends on the size of the tile, the layout, and condition of the grout. I've been able to get around this price in offices and better commercial settings (like showrooms) but have not any luck with this pricing at places like Dunkin Donuts and Subway. (I've given what I consider rock-bottom prices and they still think it's too expensive. Yet if they call, they always seem to complain about the previous guy. They just don't get it!) Not sure exactly what you're dealing with but that's the comparison I can offer.

You have to be careful with discounting. There is no economy of scale with multiple locations if you need to travel, set up, and breakdown for every job.

But it looks to be easy....

I almost always regret uttering those words!

 

[boazcan]

You need to demo side by side, scrubbing then turbo and no scrubbing then turbo. Same chemical mix and ratio. Don't use it too strong or you will have to use that way for the entire job. I just did 4K sq ft car dealer on Friday. It was some of the worst that I have done. I did not demo. I still priced it right, but it was more work than I thought. Wouldn't hurt to do a spot in a bathroom too to see it cleans the same. Normally the bathrooms take 2-3x longer with having to clean edges and walls.

I have done a lot of commercial tile. Use that demo process so you can estimate a time for the job to price it right.

 

[dealtimeman]

Finished in about 4.5 hours and was not to difficult but was not completely 100% happy with the results. Don't get me wrong the customer loved the end result and is going to get me in to their other buildings but i was not happy citing that i had a different idea of how it was going to turn out. I will post pics as soon as i learn how.

 

[Greenie]

I charge about double what carpet cleaning is. But I alkaline and acid clean, unless the tile is just super clean.

Tim, you acid etch every job?

Why, if it cleans up fine with an Alk on round one?

 

[floorguy]

Finished in about 4.5 hours and was not to difficult but was not completely 100% happy with the results. Don't get me wrong the customer loved the end result and is going to get me in to their other buildings but i was not happy citing that i had a different idea of how it was going to turn out. I will post pics as soon as i learn how.

Ok heres the thing i have learned (or still trying haha)

If the customer is happy as all hell, then you need to be to....

Now with that being said, if you truly believe it can be done better, then do so....how ever a few times i have "pushed" the limit of "me happy" it has back fired something fierce...and ended up costing me more work in the end...

So if they are completly happy and are moving you through...be happy with it, and tinker a little to see if it gets better....

 

[TimP]

I charge about double what carpet cleaning is. But I alkaline and acid clean, unless the tile is just super clean.

Tim, you acid etch every job?

Why, if it cleans up fine with an Alk on round one?

I do this because when the grout is wet you can't always tell if a spot needs it or not. I've had to go back on floors that looked great wet and weren't when dry. So I feel like a hack unless I restore the grout to new.

Plus I find alkaline doesn't clean as good as it appears for the most part, hence the going back reasons. I find it a good practice to acid etch every job that way it guarantees the best possible job....therefore not being a hack job. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I can tell you I get a bunch of referrals because of how well my tile cleaning jobs turn out.

 

[dealtimeman]

With this job the grout didnt match when dry. But after a close review of the floor i noticed that some kind of repairs had been made to the floor at various times and those repairs were not to professional. There was grout on top of the tiles, there was grout that was even with the tile, and several places that the grout was darker not dirtier but darker than others. Is this were color seal comes into play?

 

[TimP]

Sounds like an ideal situation for color seal. Nothing on top and grout that isn't uniform in color.

If the customer is willing to pay for it, it will be worth doing.

 

[CapeCleaner]

...there was grout that was even with the tile...

Be careful selling a color seal job when this condition exists, especially in high traffic areas. The color seal WILL wear off the grout. If there are a lot of high grout lines, pass on the color seal or be very sure to set the appropriate expectations with the client. You can also remove some of the grout from the high lines.

 

[TimP]

That is true. Flush grout is not wise to color seal. Tough to get the sealer to stay for sure.