Have a chance to bid on a commercial job but dont know what to charge?

As stated in the title I have a chance to bid on a commercial job since a friend works for the company. If I land this job it can open the door to a lot of opportunity’s. They manage 25 community’s! Ok so since im new to the business I need some direction in the pricing field! I have been doing mainly house washes and driveways/sidewalks/patios. The Job is 5200sq ft and 3200 Lf of curbing. also 23 Storm Drains. havent seen the property for myself but from what she was telling me its not that bad bc that area doesnt get much traffic and foot traffic. But we all know cant tell till we see it in person. I live in Florida. Job is about 45 mins south of me in the Port Richie area. I hear alot of ppl say 0.08-0.18 cent ranges for concrete and im just not sure about the prices on the concrete or the curbing. At this time im only running a dewalt 3000 psi cold water unit with a 15" surface cleaner. If I land this job I was planing on getting a 4200psi cold water unit with a 20-28" surface cleaner. Any info would be greatly Appreciated!

Don’t get over a 24" surface cleaner until you get over 7 gpms.

I know nothing of the Florida washing market.

What advice are you looking for? Just go out and do it. You can do it and you will do it. Simple as that:)

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Wish it was that easy! Just really need advice on the pricing aspect of it. I may be at a disadvantage with some of these larger company’s. I don’t mind if it takes me longer to complete the job. I look at it as experience and a more detailed job approach. Thanks again for the help and kind words!

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I am in the Tampa area and I charge a dime per sq ft. There can be extras if there are heavy stains and a need for special chemicals. I find anything higher tends to send people elsewhere.
Good luck!

Does that go for the curbing as we’ll? I was thinking around the same 0.10-0.12 cents a sq ft so at least I was in the ballpark. So really all that is left is for the curbing and the storm drains! Again thank you

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@BigGunsPressureWashi I am in the same predicament as you were, just starting in San Antonio and picking up on my commercial jobs. Not sure on a price point though and I’m bidding now on a 1,500 linear ft of curbing along with the rest of the building. Any help appreciated

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I’d rather punch myself in the face than measure and price by square foot anymore. Everyone runs their business a little different obviously, but everything we do is by the hour. I know our pace so charging $140 an hour for commercial has worked out for us. It’s $20 more per hour for commercial because water access isn’t always easy to come by, often you have to deal with increased vehicle and foot traffic, and you almost always have to wait 30 days to get paid on commercial. 8 hour job. $1,120 plus consumables. Detergent, fuel, etc.

Most estimates have two line items. Labor and consumables. Simple is best for us.

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Why tell them how much you’re spending on the job?

I just price per item, e.i. house wash, driveway, patio, windows, etc.

Also doesn’t matter how long i take, the other day i had a client look at their watch and complain how much we charged per hour. We cleaned what they asked, pay up! :stuck_out_tongue:

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I haven’t heard of the hourly method but if it works then why not. I also am still working solo for now so I don’t have a crew I can trust to do the same level of work I do on jobs. You do hourly on residential as well?

Yeah, but in a more roundabout way. We use flat rates for most houses. Residential rate is $120/hour during peak season.

I have a one page card printed and laminated that’s essentially a flat rate “menu”. Email me at and I’ll send it to you. It’s easier to explain with the card and there’s a lurker on this forum in my market.

August 1st the prices change because last august we had a slowdown. So now we use “supply and demand” pricing when the phone slows down and it’s kept the calendar full.

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If you don’t markup materials you’re losing money on them. :slight_smile:

Materials
+taxes
+shipping
+hourly cost to acquire materials
+etc

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I sent ya an email :grinning:

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Awesome. I’ll get back to you tonight. I’ve got one more house. Small one and should be home in 2 hours.

Killer logo btw

Thanks man, it was actually inspired by one I saw on this forum.

Replied. It’s a bunch of screen shots so I numbered them because I couldn’t get them to upload in order. Lol

Would you mind sending that to me as Well? I’m super interested in your pricing concept.

Sure. Just email me at info@squidskc.com

Hey Brodie, in your website, under the services tab it has a title saying “Plumbing services include:”, but then doesn’t list anything to do with plumbing

I know… it’s making me nuts. I’ve tried to change it twice. Not one customer has ever mentioned it, but I know it’s there and bugs the hell out of me.