I’m looking for an average number for pricing on various levels. I’ve seen several ways of calculating such as figuring time ,mileage and sq footage. But thats not helping me.
What is a basic number per square foot? 50 cents, 1$?
What is a basic hourly rate? 50$ 75$?
What’s a basic linear foot price?
I know there’s no specific price for every job. I understand that every job is different. I know I’ve under bid some commercial jobs and don’t want to do this again. I’m new to this biz but I’m not new to business. Any help would be appreciated thank you
I mean, if you have already underbid jobs, then that should give you better information towards figuring it out than we can provide.
Have you searched ‘pricing’ on this website, and other forums? Go to google and type ‘Roof pricing pressure washing forum’, and substitute ‘roof’ with whatever. Tons of specific info out there.
People charge $50/hr to $200/hr… depends on many variables. How much do you want to make a day? Take that amount and split it up between 8-10 hours, and there you go.
If you still want some generic prices:
concrete: .10 -.15 a square foot
houses: $1 per linear ft per story
roofs: .20 - .30 a square foot
No idea if those work for your area and/or your specific goals, but there is something to start with. Time your next job, compare that to what you want to make an hour, and adjust as necessary for your area.
Seriously, though, it’s best to search before asking basic questions… or any question, really. There is an enormous amount of specific information online.
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Thank you. I’ve been searching and have some pretty good ideas. Thank you
for your time.
I can only speak for me and my area but I generally try to decide how long it will take me and then charge 100 an hour. That number is accounting for the little things that may not go my way and make the job go a little longer but recently I’ve been pretty damn accurate with my bidding and making about 100
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I know a lot of guys suggest this, but I think it’s silly to price yourself based on “what you want to make.” It simply isn’t the best way to set your prices. It might be the most convenient, but it isn’t the best.
I was told, at one point, I could make upwards of $150/hour staining fences. I was thrilled, but I didn’t make that the focus of my pricing. When I went to price my first job, I knew it would take me 3 hours. I priced it by the square foot based on my formal training from Wood Defender and input from a few other guys in my specific industry that had more experience than me. The job took me two hours and I netted $608. Had I priced the job based on what I wanted to make, or what I thought was possible at the time ($150/hour), I would have left money on the table.
Conversely, I can’t always expect to make $304/hour. If I do, I’ll bid myself out of a ton of jobs and lose business. I did my first fence at cost - I made nothing. But it was a strategic move and it landed me two paid jobs, one of which was the illustration above.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to a wise pricing structure. If you want to make $50/hour but can charge $100, you leave money on the table. If you want to make $100/hour but the market rate is $50, you won’t be in business very long.
I’ve got a business background, so I could argue about this stuff all day. At the end of the day, even the guys who price themselves based on what they want to make, if they’re doing well for themselves, I’m on their team. It’s not about who is right or wrong for me. It’s about all of us putting food on the table for our families and making a life for ourselves. Whatever gets you there and serves your customers well, I’m for it. I simply don’t think basing your pricing on what you want to make alone is a good strategy.
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Imo, you need to look at your local market for this type of info. Here in Maryland, I can easily fetch anywhere from $300 to over $1,000 for a house wash, but in south Florida, you’ve got guys doing a house and the roof for a couple hundred bucks. Now this doesn’t mean you have to price the same as others in your market. I purposely try to be on the higher end of my market prices because I set myself apart from my competitors and provide a top notch service and I don’t want to be the cheap guy who after a few years has a huge database of cheap, LOW paying customers. You should find that this business allows you to be profitable at prices ranging from the middle of the road and up. But you need to choose what your business model is. Are you the Ferrari dealer who sells cars for a couple hundred grand buy only sells 8k or 10k units per year? Or are you the Ford dealer who sells a brand new truck for $30k and sells hundreds of thousands of units per year? Me personally, I’m currently somewhere in the middle and constantly working towards the Ferrari dealer model by weeding out the bottom and adding to the top.
Whatever you do, and everyone here will agree, don’t be the $99 house wash guy. Not only will you never make any real money, but it’s harmful to the industry and makes it even more difficult for other legit pros who feed their families with this work. Go for the high road or go home, lol.
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Thank you. I agree
