I estimated a job that would require me removing furniture from a porch and a large deck. Needless to say, it took way longer than I thought it would. Most of it required 2 people to move (not weight but rather the size). Couches, loves seats, chairs and tables etc. When I looked at it originally it was raining pretty hard, so maybe I didn’t pay enough attention to it.
Before someone says just move it from side to side, a lot of the furniture had fabric/cloth so it couldn’t get SH overspray, and the porch and deck were both getting the ceilings cleaned. Customer also wanted me to spray out the deck joints (PVC DECK) as they had filled in and the water wouldn’t drain. Filled with all kinds of crap. SO I had to walk that thing like a wood deck hitting two joints at a time. Couldn’t quite get 3 at a time, even on a 45 with the gun close.
Is this just another “experience” will teach you, or is it something that can be calculated? Thank god it was only 3 steps to the ground from both areas. I actually included costs in the estimate to move stuff, but that wasn’t nearly enough. I really underestimated the time, the cost of doing it is just my time and my kids time. Finally getting some sense into the kid, working for me pays better than working for the university. Kid hates staining decks.
If you do anything other than washing … you charge…
I dont really understand why we let clients dictate things.
They want, yiu charge.
Just like when u fo frocery shopping or to the car shop .
Charge, charge.
As i have always said, if yiu dont feel confortable xharging you wont do a good job. Your experience will be sour
We’d tag on an extra service minimum of $250 if we had to move things around. We’d always have in our pre service email; we’d send it out a few days prior to cleaning that everything must be moved at least 15’ away from what’s being washed or else we’d have to change a moving fee.
I think we had one person who was okay with it and accept the extra change.
Depends on how much stuff it is…the most we ever move side-to-side is the grill and maybe a large table. Generally we run $100-250 total add-on, which is really underbid at any price when you consider what we could be making washing elsewhere. Just lazy folks get the upper end charge for sure. Those who are older and just can’t do it, and don’t have any family to help them, we’re a little more forgiving on. Essentially, I look at it a bit like the screen removal discussions. It’s designed to be more of a penalty fee for making our life more difficult that you’d rather they not accept.
I was a truck foreman for a few years at a moving company. ALWAYS,ALWAYS document the condition of every single item of furniture. We used codes for everything, gouge, smear, rip, tear ect all had codes. If i was moving a dresser with scrapes on the top right rear i would do (“scrap-trr(top right rear”).If something looked like it was going to fall apart when we lift it, we would note it and have the customer sign before we moved anything. Dont even let the customer know your going to do it,just do it, approach with a clipboard and notes and have them sign.If they have a problem with it then you dodged a bullet. For a couch, 2 love seats, some chairs and tables im charging at least 150($10 per step if stairs are involved). Dont like it move it yourself…saves you the headache. If you had a passion to be a mover you wouldn’t be softwashing.
I have it on all my estimates, to move the furniture or I charge. This person wanted me to move it, so I charged, but not nearly enough. I won’t get into pricing as it differs in every area. People in my area normally have everything moved to avoid the extra expense.
The elderly are the majority of my customers. I do a lot of “free” moving. I normally throw in a free rinse of the outdoor furniture, saves my bacon in case of SH overspray. Has become a habit for me. Plus clean furniture looks better on a clean porch.
I like the $100 minimum, maybe that will be my new number. I don’t think I have updated my moving expenses since I started.
