Ok I need a little direction. I know pricing is different everywhere but I have not priced commercial property yet and I had my local ferry reach out asking for an estimate on their cedar shake terminal. I can only find pricing for residential, I am thinking that I should price it similar because the size and structure are for the most part the same as a house. If you guys don’t mind posting you location and what you would charge, thank you. There are two photos of the front and on of the side so you can tell the size. The back was gated of so I couldn’t get a photo of it but it is pretty much the same as the front.
I don’t do commercial, but something that comes to my mind is the water / chem run off. Being a ferry terminal, I assume there’s a body of water nearby that you’ll have to take into consideration.
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Forgot to mention that it’ll make for some great before and after photos which will be great for marketing for sure!
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I was thinking about the bay next to them also but luckily it is surrounded by pavement. If anything I’ll have to bring some water absorbent socks and a shop vac. And I know the before and after photos are going to be awesome.
Walk away. If you don’t have to experience with shakes you are walking into a nightmare
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You think so? I am confident that with properly researching the cleaning process and putting together a well thought out plan I can do the job. I look at it in the way that if I never do it I’ll never learn that I can. I have worked in a lot of trades and hands on was always my best teacher. I am sure you know more then me when it comes to this subject, what are some concerns that you would have? And thank you for the reply
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I won’t commit to the time it would take to list concerns. As long as you have washed a few dozen pallets, old fences, bought -stained-stripped some shakes and know to encapsulate every window/door, realize you will have to repaint some trim you should be good to go. Good rule of thumb is, if you don’t know how to price it, you don’t know how to wash it.
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I agree with what you said the only part that I don’t think is spot on is the part about if you don’t know how to price it, you don’t know how to clean it. I know my cost and I know my time, what I don’t know is normal cost for commercial I have only priced residential. I am also in New York where if you think you are charging enough you can usually double it and still be considered “fair” compared to others. None of that was meant to dismiss what you said, just in New York cost of anything is through the roof. Last summer I charged someone $1300 for a house wash (the house wasn’t that dirty) cleaning out gutters that only had stuff in them on one side of the house and quick gutter brightening and they jumped on it and asked me to clean a small stone patio (took 10min) for an extra $200 
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I’d be about tree fiddy. Maybe fo hunnit
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Maybe for one side
Nah. Come on man. You made a killing on one customer last year. Share the wealth.
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The sad thing is even though you can charge a lot here, it also cost a lot to live here. I am all about being fair with prices but as long as I am not undercutting myself or stating to sound like the $99 guy lol
Where are you from?
Long Island New York, where it cost $2000 a month to live is a box and you get taxed to breath
Okay definitely go with fo hunnit
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That one really had me laughing 
I wouldn’t give any price break on that project.
If you haven’t cleaned / stained cedar shake, make sure you understand really well what you’re getting into and how to approach it. That project could become a nightmare quite quickly.
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Thank you for your reply, I appreciate any input or suggestions that people have. I have been doing as much research as possible, I have been searching pros and cons or each process that I could use, the manufacture recommendations, and a lot of knowledge from this forum. I will finalize my estimate tomorrow, if I land the job I will share photos of before and after.
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Excited to hear how your process goes. Have a few potential cedar jobs that I could take on this summer through clients in my other business. Been a bit apprehensive due to the complications mentioned previously, but always good to learn from the processes of others.
Not sure if you’ve shot this yet but I’ll throw in a comment. @PPWofLexSC brings up a great point on the run off. That driveway slopes directly towards the masts of what look like boats so I’m assuming water lies at the bottom. Have you ever shot Sodium Percarbonate or used water dams or vacuum lines for restaurant pad/sensitive area cleaning? If they’d let you demo the smaller garage structure you could try out some applications. I would not shoot SH that near water.
We cleaned a 3 story and there were drains that went directly to the river at 4 points. We ended up using a Landa Ecos to capture any overflow and had to dam and cover the grates. These of course are great add ons and show you know what you’re doing and conversely you charge a ton more to do it. Also, check your insurance before touching anything like this as your coverage may fall short if this goes sideways.
Nate from Outside improvements has a great amount of videos and thoughtful explanation of cedar cleaning and some examples of botched jobs. He’s in Cape Cod so basically the whole state is cedar shake. Outside Cleaners - YouTube
Hope it goes well or went well.
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