need help with vct quote

[matt sheppard]

hey guys

i need some help with a vct quote , i've done them before but this situation is different

3000sf, pediatricians office, 100 patients a day six days a week, floors are 5 years old, strip and wax 3 coats

usually i charge 1.25/sf but i've never done a job this large, for a doctors office. i really want to wow them as this could be a great referral source for me.
i need advice on the following;
pricing, a great product, maintenance frequency

the doc really wants these floors to shine and i was highly recommended for this job so i'd really appreciate you guys input

thanks
matt

 

[Jeremy]

Is this one large tile floor or a bunch of small ones? For some reason I doubt they'll give you $3750 for 3000 sq ft... Maybe $1500 GIVE OR TAKE... Anyway... Are you expected to move the desks & all the office furnitrue?



Materials will be in the 200-300 dollar range and labor will probably be about the same (closer to 300)....
Could be a 6 hour job & could be a 12 hour job... Depends an how thorough you are and the over all scope of work... W need more info.

 

[matt sheppard]

jeremy

its a pediatricians office so i'm guessing that its gonna be some hallways and small exam rooms. i'm not sure about furniture moving yet as i haven't met them and gone over the scope of work. i plan to be very thorough. like i said this job is much larger than i normally do which is why i need help with the pricing. thanks for your input on job and materials costing. is there a product line you could suggest?

matt

 

[Fon Johnson]

It sounds like the doctor wants it to stay clean and really have a nice shine all the time. We would strip and apply 3 coats of Spartan's I-shine. I would recommend buffing once every one or two weeks to keep it nice. I would then recommend a scrub and recoat in about 3 months. The scrub and recoat will build the base and give it more gloss and more depth. We get a nice shine off the mop, but burnishing sill make it "pop" after about 3 or 4 times, and the scrub and recoat will give that nice depth. We have people come in and look at our dry floors and ask if it is safe to walk on them. Here is a picture of what we get in the end. I'm not posting this for brags, but so you can see what our system gives us in the end.

As for the price, we would probably be between .30 and .50 psf depending on condition, how crowded it is, if there is a place to move stuff to, if we move it or if they do, and what equipment we can use. We won't make a whole lot on the strip, but when set up properly, you make it back on maintenance which is very low in overhead.

 

[matt sheppard]

thanks fon!

now as far as the scrub and recoat, what do you use as far as the cleaning agent?

what prices do you then charge for burnishing, scrub and recoat?

floors look awesome, thanks for the pic. do you use anything on the cove base?

matt

 

[ACE]

I think Fon is right about price. I would put on 4 or 5 coats of finish after a strip job. The rule of thumb is to apply 100% soilds. If your finsh is 20% 5 coats, if 25% 4 coats. I would bid scrub and recoat at $.20-$.30. Most of the time I just use nuteral floor soap for that. Buffing should be $50.00 to $75.00 per hour including prep time. Might bid on the high side if it’s a bunch of exam rooms and you have to move the tables. Sound like they could be a good customer. Good luck.

 

[steve frasier]

now as far as the scrub and recoat, what do you use as far as the cleaning agent?

do you use anything on the cove base?

are you sure you have done this before, pretty basic knowledge

you are a hack if you wax the cove base, keep it clean

Do you have a burnisher or propane buffer, scrubber, something to suck up the slurry?

the doc really wants these floors to shine and i was highly recommended for this job so i'd really appreciate you guys input

why were you highly recommended

Was some one else doing them before they asked you to bid them? You might be in for a tough strip job. You really need to go look at it and then go from there but .50 probably is as much as you will get to do the first strip

 

[Fon Johnson]

Matt,

We usually fall around .20 to .25 for most scrub and recoats. This is again kind of like the strip.. We want to do the job, and will discount wet work a little to get the buffing. For scrub and recoats we use either Johnson's UHS cleaner or Spartan's multi surface cleaner. The UHS cleaner is the BEST we have ever used for a scrub and recoat as it is some strong stuff. The key is to learn how to really scrub it down and re-apply just the right amount to keep shine without a build-up, which comes with experience. We do not apply finish to the cove base. We will get some on the bottom making sure there are not bare spots at the edge, but never any higher than needed. Putting finish on the whole cove base makes for a nightmare to clean up later. I don't really use a square foot price for burnishing. I figure how much time it will take, and then shoot for enough to make what I need per hour. I usually shoot for $100 per hour, and if we hit $75, we are still making good numbers. Just guessing, but with minimal experience, moving equipment stools etc., and using a high speed electric it will probably take you 2 to 3 hours to buff this job (probably about 4 hours til you fall in a groove.)

The picture above I just posted as an example. That is an animal hospital that takes a real beating. That picture was taken about 3 years after it was stripped. We buff once a week, and scrub and recoat two to three times per year. It has now been four years since it was stripped, and we are just about to scrub and recoat. I hope to get another year or two before we strip. I'll try to get some pictures after we scrub it this time too.

We rarely ever apply more than three coats at one time, but this is because of the finish we use. The I-shine we use is a high solids finish and if you apply too much at one time it will streak on you.

 

[floorguy]

ohhhh i should give the link to a pet place i do, an after hours one....

all they do is strip about every 9mths. but if they see that, then maybe they would pay the little extra...


Maybe i just need to find a good chem for my scrubs...cuz i dont like how mine turn out...id much rather strip in a yrs time

 

[matt sheppard]

fon

thank you very much for your insight and details, i really appreciate it.

steve

i have stripped and waxed vct before, but not on a job this big,or in a drs office. also i have not setup or done a maintenance plan for vct.i asked about the cove base to see if there was a good product to clean it, not put wax on it. i was recommended because i'm a great service provider and can be trusted to work in places like this.

thanks again

matt

 

[Jeremy]

I really didn't want to say this but...





Black Powder Bore Solvent for a muzzel loader will remove finish faster than any thing & it's cheaper than base board stripper. TEST FIRST!