VCT rates?

[dealtimeman]

i am starting to see alot of lowballers around locally and wanted to know if they are lowballers or i am overpriced. currently i do scrubb and recoats for .25 a sqft if it is over 5000sqft and there is no moving of furniture and strip at .35 if there is no furniture. i usaully add about .5 a foot for moving everything out and back in.

i ask because i have put it several bids lately and have been told all the other companies that bid came in at .16 to .24 a sqft to strip no matter the sqft amount. they have seen my floors and want me to match the other bids. the said account is about 30 locations and to be striped once a every six months and srubbbed at the othe six month interval.

what would you do?

 

[TimP]

i am starting to see alot of lowballers around locally and wanted to know if they are lowballers or i am overpriced. currently i do scrubb and recoats for .25 a sqft if it is over 5000sqft and there is no moving of furniture and strip at .35 if there is no furniture. i usaully add about .5 a foot for moving everything out and back in.

i ask because i have put it several bids lately and have been told all the other companies that bid came in at .16 to .24 a sqft to strip no matter the sqft amount. they have seen my floors and want me to match the other bids. the said account is about 30 locations and to be striped once a every six months and srubbbed at the othe six month interval.

what would you do?

If I were you and I could make money doing it for the price they ask I just might depending on how slow I was. Or I may ask them to split the difference or something like that. With the knowledge that they know your work is most likely better etc....and that your work is worth more than the competition.

Or if you had to do something to make sure you could make money like taking less time on details I would let them know I can match but I can't do the job like I normally would and will wont be able to spend as much time as I'm used to therefore the job wont be finished at the same quality....like in less coats of finish and less time on edges etc or possibly not doing a complete job on the strip like your competition probably is doing. If it's possible to make money don't let it go by is how I see it if there is a way to do it and make money at it. You may have to buy equipment that has a higher production output.

On the other hand if you know that there is no way you're going to make money or not enough money or it's just plain not worth the profit. None of us know how much your cost of business is. Then turn them down.

 

[joe harper]

D-Man,

We were charging .50 sf in the early 80's....Strip & wax....

Then ......Chavez...moved his Family the RIO GRANDE....at .15sf.... :roll:

We have not done VCT...since that time....TOO MUCH work for those $$$$.




PS the CHAVEZ's did a good job....We couldn't compete with there LABOR RATES... :shock:
OH YA!!!! ...and there START-UP cost..."They were already Hang-in out at the 7-11..j/K

 

[Ron Werner]

gotta know where your profit margin is. If you're losing money at 16 & 24 then you can't make it up with volume.

I would figure out all the things that you do for 25-35 that the other guy won't take the time to do at his price and sell your service based on that. Its the same as me charging 55 for carpets and explaining the diff between me and the guy charging 30.

 

[diamond brian]

I don't mind posting what I charge for this, as it is not our target market.

$.50 for strip and 3 coats wax. $.25 for scrub and top-coat. This is for several thousand feet of course.

 

[Jeremy]

You are a low baller...

 

[dealtimeman]

i will be meeting with the regional facility manager this week and will straight talk with him my prices and see if we can meet somewhere in the green because i will not be doing it for .20.

 

[Supersucker]

I wouldn't do it for less than .25 either.

We used to do a chicken plant, inplant offices, R&D kitchen, etc. They wouldn't even sweep for a month and we would come in & sweep, mop the grease off the floor and buff out the marks from the handtrucks. We used Betco Best Low Maintenance and got a minimum of 1yr out of that finish. Needless to say they were not the most particular, but the floors did look good.

 

[Motomark]

I would Charge a Bit More as this is a lot of work,
And there is a lot of waiting around between coats to dry
Air movers help to speed up dry time

 

[frankiechocolate]

Hey great question. I just got a carpet bid with 300 s.f. of nasty dirty vinyl tile in the bid.

I don't strip and wax anymore so I called a man who does.

he told me $400.00. this is in the burbs of chicago.

s & w. is about the hardest thing you can do.

and yes, you can use fans but no directly on the wet cuz you'll mess up the crystalline structure of the finish and maybe even put in waves, which are cool if you're at the beach, not so much on the tile.



When I did it I had high speed propane burnishers and was looking at fast ways to slop down stripper and finish etc.


I got a friend who only does s & w. He hires polish guys, prob. pays them cash, which is really not the best way,
and he does huge department stores. he's finding it harder and harder to make a living because they really only care mostly about price, even though they tell you they want quality.


you have to decide if you want to be the winner of a losing game.


up here in Chicago we have bait and switch boys, "4.95 any room any size, $39.95 your entire house.


I love those guys. they suck up all the looky lous and dregs of society who if they had half a brain they'd read the fine print and realize, "Zowie batman, they're over a buck a sq. when you add up the pretreatment, sanitizer, trip charge and what ever.

aim for better fish. let the bottom feeder have the carp suckers.\


hard to do, but worth it. Joe Polish wisely says, "Fire your worst customers."

best sunday ever!


Visit my blog: “The Carpet Cleaner’s Crocodile,” a collection of wonderful short stories that will make you eternally glad you are you and not me.

 

[steve frasier]

if you can't beat them then you need to level the playing field

I just got me some new toys, can scrub and buff 10,000 sq ft in 30 minutes

boost auto scrubber

hammerhead dual 21" pads, the thing propels itself, has 0 co at full throttle and is quiet as hell

maybe you can promote green cleaning and get a better price, I can strip without chemicals. Unless of course you are one of those not to smart people and put 6 coats of floor finish down

I been out fishing all day and really don't want to do the math for you

strip and wax really isn't that hard unless you don't know or have the right equipment for a big or small job

 

[frankiechocolate]

ohhh, you got the toys. I love new toys.

Visit my blog: “The Carpet Cleaner’s Crocodile,” a collection of wonderful short stories that will make you eternally glad you are you and not me.

_________________
Frankie chocolate

 

[Jay D]

Do what everybody else does, bid it and sub to the cheap labor pool in Dallas. But I know you won't do that. :roll:

 

[dealtimeman]

my name is not brian.

 

[Willy P]

I just finished this one:


Thank you for the request for the quote on the floor finishing. After
adding up the measurements, I ended with a total square footage of 3126.

- Strip all floors
- Rinse
- Neutralize
- Application of sealer
- 3 - 4 coats of Ultrachem Gold floor finish
Prices:
- 3126 sf @ $1 sf
- Material costs
- 5 gallons of Ultrachem Gold- 184.54
- 5 gallons Ultrachem sealer - 145.69
- 3 gallons Ultrachem Strip X- 85.25
Total cost:
Prep and application- $3126.00
Materials $415.48
Total- $3541.48

 

[steve frasier]

I hope you are just rinsing with a neutral cleaner and not a neutralizer

using a sealer is a waste of product and time, should just buy a better floor finish

I just saved you 2 steps in your process, come out of the dark ages

 

[TimP]

Steve is right of course. You're supposed to use floor finish till you can start to see a finish on the tile, may take 1-2 coats. Then add as many coats as it takes to get to 100% solids, not including your first coats to seal the tile.

That's what I was taught anyway....

 

[hogjowl]

I don't do a lot of vct work. Heck, I used to never do it, but about a year, or so, ago I started having some of my regular commercial accounts asking me to do it. I felt like I had no choice ... I sure didn't want some janitorial hack in there doing it. Anyway ... I started out charging 35 cents a sf for it and lost my butt. I slowly went up as high as 65 cents and still felt like I was getting raped.

After looking at it, I don't think I could make any real money even at $1.00 a sf.

Waiting on wax to dry is like talking to Mikey over the phone. A real profit killer.

 

[Willy P]

I hope you are just rinsing with a neutral cleaner and not a neutralizer

using a sealer is a waste of product and time, should just buy a better floor finish

I just saved you 2 steps in your process, come out of the dark ages

Rinsed with a neutralizer and then rinsed with clear water. This was done according to the manufacturer's specification and as related from the supplier to the end user. It took 3 days with a couple of hours extra to detail the job. The money was OK, but unless I get a good dollar, I'm not touching it.

The customer emailed me a thank you and told me she was very happy. I got paid. Works well for me.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Then ......Chavez...moved his Family the RIO GRANDE....at .15sf.... :roll:

Hey we don't do VCT, can't make any money at it unless we retooled and bought machines Like Steve has there. Just not our gig, we have our hands full with restoration.

How much would you guys charge a sq/ft to clean sealed concrete with an auto scrubber, 10,000 sq/ft?

 

[Jeremy]

Not enough.... :|

 

[floorguy]

[quote="steve frasier":2nkc7fy6]I hope you are just rinsing with a neutral cleaner and not a neutralizer

using a sealer is a waste of product and time, should just buy a better floor finish

I just saved you 2 steps in your process, come out of the dark ages

Rinsed with a neutralizer and then rinsed with clear water. This was done according to the manufacturer's specification and as related from the supplier to the end user. It took 3 days with a couple of hours extra to detail the job. The money was OK, but unless I get a good dollar, I'm not touching it.

The customer emailed me a thank you and told me she was very happy. I got paid. Works well for me. [/quote:2nkc7fy6]


1st off, congrats on the custy being happy and PAYING that amount...

2nd and I know steve will back me, because i am backing what he said about sealer and neutralizer :roll: :roll: ..


The new generation finishes do not need sealer...unless it is in an area, such as.......Right behind the counter, where office chairs roll or other EXTREME spots of wear occur. Even then it is not fool proof, and you are better off just setting up to strip again in 6 mths..


That much rinsing is over kill to say the least..I dont care how it is spelled out on the lable...Shit how many times do WE do what it says on the lable exactlly?? thats what i thought...


That job should have NOOOOOO way taken 3 days. Not even with using a rotary.. :roll: :roll:

6 hrs at the most..

Whats funny about you guys and hard floors, is you are treating it like you are cleaning carpet witha sponge and bucket...It is hard, but with the slightest hint of smarts you can knock out a job toot sweet...granted you guys are doing it the way i was some 15 yrs ago...soooo