I’m putting a bid on a senior living center that I’ve done in the past but now new management has taken over and increased the scope of the work. I used to just power wash the buildings, but now they want the walkways and parking lot. They also asked for gutter wash, gutter clean out, moss treatment, and a guarantee that moss won’t come back in 2 years (I’m guessing someone in this new management team used a contractor before that installed zinc strips at the top ridge). They do have roof anchors on all the buildings, so that’s a plus. Theres a total of about 13 buildings, and a couple small ones.
So for the bid:
$650 gutter cleanout (total of about $50 per building, I think each will go pretty quick),
$1500 pressure/soft wash all buildings (no need for chemical on the main building, water alone is fine, JROD rinse has been fine in the past, $115 each building),
$500 (maybe?) for a soft wash of all the gutters (this would require chemical of some kind, maybe gutter grenade from PressureTek?)
$800-1000 for the walkways going quick with a 20" surface head cleaner
$300 for the parking lot spray out (not super detailed)
Moss: $1,300 simple spray roof and lay a zinc strip along the top ($100 a roof)
Total: $5050.
Is this a reasonable price? They’ve got other pressure washing companies they’ve used in the past, so I’m definitely trying to be competitive with my price so I can get my foot in the door.
As far as equipment, I have one 4 gpm 4000 psi and one 5.5gpm 2000 psi, two 20" surface head cleaners, 7 gpm fatboy soft wash pump, hose reels and all that good stuff.
That seems pretty low for the scope of work. I mapped it out and even without including the parking lot or gutters, I’m already coming in at nearly double your estimate. Is that truly the going rate for this kind of job in your area? That said, if $3,750 is what you need to make and you feel it reflects the time and effort involved for your market then there isn’t much you can do.
Wow….that seems really low. I’ve about done that at one residential property. Maybe that’s the best you can get for your area? But seems very, very low.
Update: the company doesn’t want the parking lot to be washed anymore, so just the gutter clean, gutter wash, moss, building wash, and pathways.
Seems to be a common response here that the bid is too low. I’m not as familiar with the commercial market here as I do mostly residential. I was trying to go low so I can start a business relationship with the new management company that also runs other buildings. Maybe I double the price here and give them a discount so they are more aware of what I’m doing.
So a bid of maybe $10K would be closer to market value but with a $1k discount for establishing relationship.
Thoughts about this approach?
Are you in Southern Oregon? If so, I’m in Oregon also- that seems low for our “area”.
Understandable that you would like to establish a relationship with this property, but my experience with commercial is that it can be a race to the bottom with pricing.
If you have the capability and insurance - I would worry less about price and more about service and quality that you can provide as an owner operator- especially since they are a senior living Aprtments.
In my experience, companies really don’t give a poo about a working relationship. They are looking for it to get done, and at a low price. These coyotes will ghost you for some guy that’s 100 bucks cheaper after a few years of you cleaning their stuff
Don’t bend over backwards for a place that probably won’t give a rip about you, and put a bid out there where you make money.
That’s definitely true with commercial……I do 90% residential, really no time to venture out with commercial. Residential keeps us plenty busy for the time frame we work. Residential you can build long term customers for sure, we have some for 25 years.
“you did this for cheaper last year. Why is it double this year?” And then they find another Rube that wants to establish a relationship for next year and after that and after that
