Need Help -- Condo Estimate

This is a 3-story condo building (octagon shaped) that I have been asked to provide an estimate. Half the building siding is painted cement fiber board and the other half is shelldash (concrete with shell pieces in it to look like coquina). There are 2 exterior stairwells with one going to roof access. Been asked for price on whole building with and without the 18 balconies (6 on each level). The big question is will I be able to remove the dark mildew stains from the shelldash without getting up close to surface. I won't have any problem getting my housewash mix with bleach up to third level. With roof access, I can hit the siding above third floor balconies by having 2-3 foot wall to lean against. The condo mgmt does not want any boom lifts on the property.

Thanks for any help.

if you can't use pressure you can probably still get it clean but will need use a real strong mix and shoot with a chemical pump. Your house wash will not get it clean, but something like a roof cleaning mix might do it.

I have done surfaces like that and sometimes the housewash mix or a stronger mix works and sometimes you have to get up close and personal and sometimes you need chemicals and a little pressure to clean.

You will not know until you do some test spots, that way you find out what works, you can figure out what it will take to do the job, how much chemical, ladders, etc....

I have known a lot of guys that take shortcuts and did not do any test spots and it always does not clean like they assumed and their profit blew out the window down the street, sometimes worked at a loss to finish the job in order to not walk away to hopefully get more work from the PM in the future.

Thanks Mark and Chris. I will bring along my roof setup to pump on the strong stuff should a strong DS mix not clean it. I am also planning on having to get close and personal with some areas as well. As far as pricing goes, does $795 for building sound right in a competitive bidding situation? Add another $495 ($27.50 per balcony) to clean the 18 balconies for a total of $1,290. Figuring time of most of one day on building and just more than half day on balconies. What would you guys price this at?

If your time estimate is correct the price would be $1290 for 12-13 hours or $100 per hour. That would work for me as long as the timing is correct.

Good Luck

Again, how can you even think to throw a number out there until you have cleaned some spots to know how it will clean, what chemicals will be needed and if it will clean at all?????????

There are some stains that become permanent over time that have to be painted over, happens a lot with neglected buildings.

Again, I would do some demo spots first so you know what you are dealing with but that is me, I don't like to end up losing money on jobs or working at a loss to try to save face and not have to walk off a job because I underestimated it but that is me.

Good Luck.

You might consider price for a spider lift. Looks like you need it. I think you are pricing to low.

price seems low to me as well.

I went ahead and put in the estimate for this building as I felt with all the detail work required, I could clean this up in two days.

Her Reply: I have received other bids from maintenance and we have decided that your cost is too much for us. We're finding another route for this project. Thanks for the estimate and I'll keep your information here just in case.

Oh well, maybe she will come back to me once the tenants force someone to clean their building right. Thanks for all the feedback on this estimate!

David,

I get that reply all the time. Let the lowballers work for for 10.00 an hour, she'll probably call you back after they mess it up.

After hiring a low-baller, the PM called me yesterday and asked if I could rebid on the portion that their guy couldn't get clean. HAHAHA--thats what they get for going cheap! We agreed upon a price and I will finish the job a week from Monday as I am taking this week off for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to post pics from this one!

HighTide said:

After hiring a low-baller, the PM called me yesterday and asked if I could rebid on the portion that their guy couldn't get clean. HAHAHA--thats what they get for going cheap! We agreed upon a price and I will finish the job a week from Monday as I am taking this week off for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to post pics from this one!

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Nice!!, Maybe you would be the first call on any other properties that they have.