Well 1st off I let the customer decide when and how often..(for the most part) i mean it is their money and I hate when people TELL me when to do something, they dont know my situation, much like i dont know theirs..such as traffic volume etc.
so here let me give you a break down of a chain of stores i did about 4 yrs ago, then lost to the fookin MMM...
Mind you I drove as much as 4 hrs one way at times to do them for them (not the buffs, just strips) but when i was done i was servicing 42 of them of which 32 were with in a 60 min drive, and they let me buff 2 a night to make it worth my while...so anyway
I would strip one of their stores for $950 it was a set price for strip (DM sigining was $1000 so i went under to expidite payment)
They were roughly in the 7500 sqft range, plus i had to move clothes racks.
Took me and 2 other guys 4 hrs to strip...back then my guys that came with were making $10 an hr, then they left and i stayed to finish waxing, about another 4 hrs depending on drying time.
Took 10'ish gallons of finish 23% solids for 3 HEAVY coats..(i use the rubbermaid system) anymore then 3 streaks
Took 6'ish gallons of stripper...Remember these are stores that i started brand new, so its my stuff i am taking off...very little detail work to do, because i dont slosh my shit on the edges like most.
Brushes no pads..(are you fookin nuts to use pads...waste of money) set of brushes for the autoscrubbers run around $300, and i have yet to replace my 1st set i bought 8 yrs ago, you do the math...helluva lot cheaper then pads per year.
Here is the one kick, I get my chems straight from a mfg, have for years back when my dad was doing it, over 25 yrs combined id say now...so i get a little better deal...but you guys that only strip every so often, also get took on chems CUZ YOU DONT SHOP AROUND!!!! you can get the same product for at least 25% cheaper, if you checked a few different places...And stfu on "I dont like to price shop..." then be stupid
so lets do the math
8 man hr @ $10 = 80 plus your taxes $100 roughly
chems 10 @ $45 a pail = $90
6 @ $7 a gallon = $42
Misc supplies, scrappers, doodle bug pads, mops(oh did you know they are reusable???) I still have my orignal dozen i bought not all of them but at least 6..plus used a few extra...needless to say a minimal expense per job cost.
so lets see say $250 direct related cost + what $100 for gas and equip maintainence..
so $350, i charged $950 which means cleared about $600 for 8 hrs of work...in a so called production type setting...$150 for brain dead work..
at now get this $.12 a ft avg :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: omg the insanity to work for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its called sytems people...everybody has them, and have their niches....
Now as John pointed out a few topics ago...yes I use propane strip equipment, I am not farting around with cords, and the 175 to get this stripped, we are using the V/
AT of hard surface care, I was doing them for 4 yrs, and had my system down to a T...I mean I came into these places with $25k + worth of equipment to use on their floor..
So if you guys poo poo clearing in the $150 an hr range, then you just need to stfu and go back to ICS