janitorial work?

[KOOSER55]

Ive had alot of a commercial customers ask me about this and I ve a few contracts that i can bid on Ive never done janitorial work can someone tell me the basics on it. Is it just mopping taking trash out things like that or me intailed and how would i go about pricing a job.

Ive also talked to my apartment complexs and when they turn over apts to me they would love if i could paint do the carpet and clean. I would hire someone to do the painting but what is a good rate to charge for the general cleaning?

 

[SRI Cleaning]

We do alot of the apartment turnover cleans. Honestly, I'm not sure its worth doing anymore. We typically will get between $100 and $130 for a 2 bed. That does not include the carpet cleaning and we do not paint them currently. Some property managers are easy to deal with but most are not. We have a bunch of them that expect the apartment to look brand new for 100 bucks. We also have a bunch of property managers that dont know how to properly schedule and after we clean they have some one else go in and leave footprints and what not. And guess who gets called back out and blamed for "not doing a good job?"

In the begining we thought we could clean an apt in 2 man hours, unfortunately we found out the hard way that you really need 5 or more man hours to do the job that they expect. I'm not saying its not worth having a few guys that you can send out to do the job, but we are still trying different ways to make it work effectively.

 

[Greenie]

You need to get Larry Capitoni on the phone.

As for Jan work, lots of guys do commercial cleaning to help pay bills, if you rope a bunch together, you can make it work, nice in the winter when carpets drop off.

 

[steve frasier]

I am averaging $50 per hour on Janitorial and I have them all set up for VCT, carpet, T&G, windows, etc. It cost very little to do and they all but there own supplies. I only furnish my cleaning supplies.

I always have started the conservation that I am more expensive then they have evey paid before. In general I have been refered to them so it a litle easier to sell them on being higher priced.

if you show up, do what you are suppose, don't miss things like paper towels and toilet paper in the bathrooms, set the alarm & lock the doors when you leave then you will be far ahead of most of the companies out there

I have a set schedule of income every week, quarter, 6 months and yearly

If I have a diffucult customer I just cut them loose and let them call the knuckle heads

if you want a life then stay away from the 5/6 days a week accounts

also a good way to market home carpet cleaning services, every time I clean the carpets I leave a $20 discount for carpet cleaning on every desk, have got many a customer this way

 

[Larry B]

Mike

Go for it. Janitorial is a money maker. Get alot and have others do the work.

 

[Ron Lippold]

around here the basic is 6.5-7 cents a sq ft not worth it

 

[John Alzubi]

I own a janitorial service and my advice to you is hire subcontracors, pay them once a month. pay attention to dusting, do inspection once a week. and I can't tell how important is to call the customer atleast twice a month to see how you r doing. and you good to go.

let me know if you need more tips.

 

[Larry B]

around here the basic is 6.5-7 cents a sq ft not worth it

That might be the rates for very small buildings but it gets a lot lower than that.

2500 sqft office at $0.06 would be $150.00 per night. 3/4 to 1 hour to clean.


Reality a 2500 sqft office building will get you $30.00 to $45.00 depending on location and how much BS you throw the owner.

I have seen 2500 sqft buildings as low as $14.00 per night. Thats the kind of stuff you get working as a sub-contractor for companies like ABM.

 

[Guest]

First of all only Companies like Jani Queen, CoverNot, and so on charge by the Square Foot. The only way to make money, keep good cleaners, and keep up on the bills is to charge hourly.

With apartment; hire cleaners to clean them; pay a flat rate, cover their chems and make a commission from apartment cleaning; you do vct(Charge Seperate), t&g(Charge Seperate), and carpet cleaning(Charge Seperate).

I take care of invoicing, supply chemicals, supplies, provide umbrella insurance to cover customers, and supervise my employees. My janitorial makes way more than 3 carpet cleaners.

Just plan good; watch supplies; make money!!

 

[Larry B]

Amen brother Rickie


If you cant make money in janitorial then ya really need to adjust your prices or find faster cleaners.





And stay the hell away from nation wide janitorial contractors they will kill you. They bottom feed for desperate cleaners and help you go broke fast while they cash in.

 

[Larry B]

If your going to start janitorial now is the time. Tons of companies wait for the holidays to pass before replacing their cleaning crew.

 

[Dolly Llama]

apt cleaning

as Anthony pointed out, most apts won't pay what it's worth to clean them right.
(same with carpets too)

a few will pay what it's worth, so don't disregard them as not worth pursuing.
On the other hand, if you're flat azz broke and need to address the disconnect notice on your electric bill, even a little cabbage in the pot is better than sitting home in the dark.

it ain't for everyone, and you have to be efficient to make any dough.
but if you want to give it shot, here's some tips that will keep you from making the same mistakes that I have.

Make sure they're very specific of what they want.
Some only want the bare minimum like bath room and appliances cleaned
Some want a top to bottom clean that not only includes windows, but cabinets inside and out, light fixtures, light switches/plugs, sliding door tracks, hot water tanks, etc
and some what something in between

You can give them a flat rate pr unit, but be sure cover your bacon by having additional charge for "excessive" filth.
a trashed stove, fridge and bath can add a LOT of time to a typical job

Time to clean a unit varies with what they want and how trashed the place is.
it's not uncommon for us to have over 12 man hours to make trashed unit sparkle in a top to bottom clean

Get the painting too.
an efficient skilled 2 man crew can paint out all walls, ceilings and closets in typical 2 bd rm flat in 12 man hours or less.
if just walls, and no closets or ceilings they can bang out 2-3 a day.
Same here, have be specific of what they want painted.
are they removing the switch/plug plates or are you.
walls only, everything or something in between.
have additional charges for large holes, excessive nails, and two coat coverage that's needed in some circumstances.

The apt manager you're looking for;
one that has been through the $15 dollar an alkies and wants reliable, quality work done in a timely manner.
He/she doesn't want to wait 2 weeks for you to start after he calls, and he doesn't want you to take 2 weeks to finally complete the job like the $15 dollar an hour alkie..

lastly, if you have the knowledge/ability and/or contractor contacts, get the whole enchilada from repairs, to flooring, to cabinets to doors.
be their "one shop stop" for all their rental turn needs


..L.T.A.

 

[Larry B]

For rental cleaning I am adding my input. Keep in mind prices should be adjusted to fit your style of cleaning and who is cleaning (you or employees)


We take care of well over 800 rental properties and at least 95% are apartments & town homes. The following is a rough break down of what we do and at what price plus man hours to do them.

1 to 2 bedroom apartments

Cleaning includes:
Appliances
Cabinets Inside & Out
Int windows
Light fixtures & Fans
Mirrors
Restrooms
Baseboards
Vacuum all carpet
Sweep & Mop floors

$100.00 Flat Rate $15.00 per room to clean walls $55.00 to clean carpets $5.00 per spot that requires extra work $200.00 1 coat of paint on walls $275 walls & ceiling $$$$Cost of paint if not supplied

Clean 4 man hours
Clean & Carpets 5 man hours
Clean ,Carpets & Paint 10 man hours



3 bedroom apartments, town homes & 1 story houses

$130.00 flat rate $15.00 per room wall cleaning $65.00 clean carpets $5.00 for spots $230.00 wall paint $310.00 walls & Ceilings +$$ Cost of paint

2 story houses start at $165.00 flat rate $75.00 clean carpets Paint is bid per size of house


The prices above are for 2 to 3 man crews. Cleaning appliances is the hardest part but you save lots of time with a strong person cleaning ovens. Once you get good crews together they can do 4 - 5 2 bedroom apartment cleanings per day.

4 apartments cleaned $400 Labor $175.00 Chemicals $10.00 Gas $20.00 To the bank $185.00


Start adding on the smaller stuff and a 2 man crew can put back about $1500.00 per week into your company.

I know most of you wouldn't even get out of bed for that kind of money but I think its great for doing nothing more than answering a phone call.


There are tons of ways to set-up package pricing for property owners. We target quantity for this and that's why our prices are so low plus it keeps the guys working.

Are the prices too low? Yes

But that would explain why in 5 years we have only lost 1 property management company with 75 units and we lost them to a tenant that is working off there rent.

In order to turn a $ in rental cleaning you must have a system in place to do the job perfect & fast. Some of the higher end units we clean rent for $2400.00 per month and the rule is make them look new. That same rule is used in ever unit we service. If there is a complaint the crew that cleaned the unit will return for free to fix it.

 

[KOOSER55]

Thanks for the info. right now its just me and i have 2 friends of mine that help me out. When i get enough work for all of us to stay busy I will have to hire on more people. Do you all use a certain software program?