No because that damage is due to the type of surface and its age, it was not done by being washed incorrectly. Tell them your process, it’s benefits, and your price then move on.
@An0nymousGh0st I agree 
with what Max1 just said. Explain your process. Offer to present a small demo. Place your bid. Then sit back and relax.
I understand the desire to earn this bid - do a great job and get your name in front of tons of potential clients = big win for you. BUT, if you are not confident in the process you are going to hate yourself the entire time you are cleaning it. And, look at it this way - how many people in the neighborhood actually understand you are just prepping for a resurface? They may interpret the resurfacing having to be done due to the guy with your logo on the truck botching the cleaning job.
Also, if someone with as much experience as Racer is suggesting to charge double what you thought of charging, I’d really reconsider my price on this job.
It’d be better for you to offer to clean the pool house or the main sign at the entrance pro Bono to gain exposure to the neighborhood rather than to attempt to clean a court, and possibly not meet expectations. Just my two cents. Good luck with it if you do proceed and be sure to share after photos as well as your process so that others may learn.
I contacted the client & offered to do a demo. I explained the process and the client asked two questions. 1) would the price be the same to soft wash & 2) would soft wash be for any age/condition court. I answered yes to both. The client replied there would be no need for a demo yet but would submit my price and recommendation to the meeting. I like that I gave the client leverage w/her constituents due to honesty. Glad that I did not go straight to the HOA directly because the client reached out to me in the first place. I think I put myself in a better position because of this. I know there’s some reservations about it but my mind is made up I don’t plan on backing away from this job. Hope to update soon…
Here’s a good rule of thumb or two.
If a job takes make than a phone call or email to schedule, pass on it. You’ve already spent a couple of hours calling, posting here etc. You’ve lost money at this point even if you do the job
Don’t give options, accept advice or direction from customer, over think stuff.
3 Likes
I meant to add, when I did mine there was some ‘sand’ that got dislodged, but it was clearish/white and didn’t seem to affect the playing surface (I used to play tennis). It was however very difficult to thoroughly rinse off.
She didn’t care, it was completely unusable before and was thrilled to have a functioning court again.
Well as a follow up I heard back from the HOA. I submitted the quote 14,000 sq ft. @ .10 cents/Sq. ft. and lost the job to another vendor. I ordered an X-Jet and also another pump 5GPM in anticipation of this job to get more flow to rinse faster.
Keep them, they might call you to repair the cheaper guys work. Side note - $.10 seems low for a tennis court. I can understand going a little low on a sizable concrete job, but specialty work like tennis courts should demand a premium. Good luck
1 Like
sorry to hear that. If they call you back what are you going to do? Take the gig at the same rate or give another estimate? I’m always eager to hear other people’s takes on a situation.
I am in a different situation than some others here, I’m retired with medical benefits, and can work as little or as much as I want. My finances don’t rely on PW as an income.
Good luck to you.
Average price around here is $300 per court
Well I quoted too much for the area I am in. I blew a good opportunity based on prices that others are charging for their area.
That’s unfortunate, but, with the equipment you have coming you’ll hopefully be a more productive washer on all your other jobs.
Maybe I read your post wrong in my head but I sense you are suggesting that you lost the bid and purchased unnecessary equipment because you followed advice here on this forum. I don’t believe anyone here would intentionally lead you astray as this is where people come for advice and suggestions on how to be more successful / efficient in this trade.
You are stating that you lost the bid because someone else quoted lower than you. Perhaps the winning bidder is close friends with someone on the HOA board? Maybe their presentation was better or more effective? Maybe that other person has no idea as to what they are doing and are only shooting themselves in the foot.
If you could have managed to get your first ever 3 courts down to three hours each then think about the numbers you would/wouldn’t be pulling in. $155 an hour BEFORE any supplies, bleach, operational costs, etc. Plus travel time to and from the job. Had you come in less than what you quoted and won the bid do you think it would have been worth it in the end? @ $0.09 a sq ft you’d be down to $126 an hour before expenses - would it be worth it then? Only you can decide that.
We give advice freely here, but it is just that - advice. They are not mandates and you may choose to do with it what you will. No one told you to count your chickens before they hatched but now that you have this upgraded equipment on the way I suggest you familiarize yourself with them and learn to become even more profitable with them.
Sorry if that was a tangent, but like I stated earlier I felt that you were placing blame on us here. If that is not the case or if I misinterpreted your post then I’m sorry for the assumptions on my part.
Regardless, I hope you have better luck on the next job you go after, but don’t sell yourself short.
3 Likes
I’ll never know why I did not get the gig but I can say that from the beginning I wanted to be respectful to the PW community and come here first when at all possible. However, had I known that 300.00 per court was acceptable to take without giving the industry a black eye I would have taken it. Or at least given the price at the rate I advertised for concrete in my FB ad. I advertised 150.00 for up to 2000 sq. ft. and that is the ad the lady responded to. That would have been 1050.00. I count on the forum to let me know what to expect in terms of the job if I could even complete it or not.
I am not at all upset with anyone on stating what they would charge and the amount of work and most importantly procedure used which is the most important part. That is what I asked for in the first place was input. However to be 100% honest it almost comes across as malicious to tell me after the fact that 300.00 each court would be acceptable in their area after telling me previously that I’m wasting my time and losing money by even talking to the customer.
You’re going to get a lot of different opinions on the forum and hindsight is always 20/20. Someone could give you exactly what they did and said to win a bid and you may not win with the same exact approach and price.
Win or lose, succeed or fail it’s entirely on you.
This forum is amazing with deep experience but you have to use that to help your approach not as a cookie cutter recipe for success.
I’ve been washing for just over 3 months now and it’s a grind to start your business. It’s constant effort. I eat, sleep, and breathe my company right now. I’m constantly learning because there’s a million things to learn and it can’t all be conveyed online in a simple post or even 1000 posts.
Keep pushing. Good luck.
After the fact? I told you from the beginning that it would take under 3 hours. Every region is different in pricing. You have spent how many hours here om the forum, talking to the customer, taking pics etc. Like I said, even if you did the job you would have lost money. Now you lost money and didn’t even get the job because of your pricing, or maybe they knew you didn’t know how to do the job. Tennis court job should be 30 seconds on the phone to get the address and tell them the price. Send a truck to do the job. Send an invoice. There shouldn’t be more than 5 minutes total estimating, scheduling and invoicing any job, whether it’s a $300 tennis court or $20k apartment complex. If you think that is “Malicious”, go pound sand. Tennis courts and pool decks are something to do to keep property managers happy. You shouldn’t be trying to do them as stand alone jobs anyway unless it’s to keep other work. Everyone here has hand fed you tons of info. Don’t count on the forums to let you know what to expect in terms of the job. Insanity.
2 Likes
Lol the last thing you should do is rely on others when it comes to your business unless they work for you. Everyone is in different areas on here and prices vary. I could tell from the beginning that you didn’t have the experience to even take on this job so maybe it’s for the best. With time you’ll learn and acquire jobs that you are able to complete with confidence. Learn the prices in your area and charge what you need to think is fair to you and your customer.
Would be curious to know how you started out doing this because I have been transparent as to what I am working with equipment wise and the level I am at which is beginning. If you read my posts I have done the reading here over the past 2 years as I have read before even joining this forum. I am not a contractor that has guys working for him and I don’t even have a soft wash system. I have been appreciative of all the information including the prices. What people charge is good info. But as was stated above each situation is different so it’s extremely presumptive to state that I am wasting my time and assume that I have a ton of jobs lined up. I do not. I have ZERO jobs lined up. FYI I spent about 5 minutes with the client on site, and time gathering info here. I also spent about 5 minutes texting the client. From my point of view spending a few hundred hours reading, a few thousand on equipment, and several jobs for clients as hands on 5 minutes to get the equivalent of 7 driveways is a great deal. I don’t know too many people who buy a boat, pay for gas and bait and then don’t bother to reel in the fish. Maybe some people have fish jumping in the boat.
Indeed I won’t make that mistake again.
$300 a court, good grief is that cheap.
2 Likes
and houses for $99.99…
I’m at $700 a court over here, easy money.
2 Likes
