help with my first big commercial quote, gas station chain

T

trqjnky

New member
I had a local gas station call me today wanting an estimate. in total, there are 5 gas stations, ive only seen one of them, and it has a new car wash.

sidewalks- 5 ft wide and a total of 210' surrounding the building.- 1050 sq ft

the lot with 4 islands is 45' wide and 72' long- 3240 sq ft

then there is a row of parking spots along 1 side of building 15x60- 900 sq ft

so by my accounts this is 5190 sq ft.

207.60 per time to clean it @ .04 a sq ft?? that sound right?

plus an automatic car wash. i figured $75 a time to clean.
 
trqjnky said:
I had a local gas station call me today wanting an estimate. in total, there are 5 gas stations, ive only seen one of them, and it has a new car wash.

sidewalks- 5 ft wide and a total of 210' surrounding the building.- 1050 sq ft

the lot with 4 islands is 45' wide and 72' long- 3240 sq ft

then there is a row of parking spots along 1 side of building 15x60- 900 sq ft

so by my accounts this is 5190 sq ft.

207.60 per time to clean it @ .04 a sq ft?? that sound right?

plus an automatic car wash. i figured $75 a time to clean.
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15 day 225
30 day 345
60 day 425
 
What kind of equipment do you have? Is there a lot of gum? Are there lots of oil stains?
I ask as I am interested to know how long you think it will take you to go through there. We just did 100*12 feet of sidewalk that took almost an hour just to pop the 600+ pieces of gum..

That sounds like a lot of surface to cover for 75$!

Are they looking for a regular maintenance? I would have them signed before I did that for that price. Even then, that's seems pretty low.
 
Sunshine said:
What kind of equipment do you have? Is there a lot of gum? Are there lots of oil stains?
I ask as I am interested to know how long you think it will take you to go through there. We just did 100*12 feet of sidewalk that took almost an hour just to pop the 600+ pieces of gum..

That sounds like a lot of surface to cover for 75$!

Are they looking for a regular maintenance? I would have them signed before I did that for that price. Even then, that's seems pretty low.
Click to expand...

207.60 per time to clean it @ .04 a sq ft?? that sound right?

plus an automatic car wash. i figured $75 a time to clean.


the 75 I think was just for the car wash and the rest of the store was $207.60
 
Thank goodness! That's the kind of day I'm having, it's at least the 5th thing today I have absolutley misread. I'd better stop speed reading for a while and check over the quotes and invoices I sent out today!
 
trqjnky said:
I had a local gas station call me today wanting an estimate. in total, there are 5 gas stations, ive only seen one of them, and it has a new car wash.

sidewalks- 5 ft wide and a total of 210' surrounding the building.- 1050 sq ft

the lot with 4 islands is 45' wide and 72' long- 3240 sq ft

then there is a row of parking spots along 1 side of building 15x60- 900 sq ft

so by my accounts this is 5190 sq ft.

207.60 per time to clean it @ .04 a sq ft?? that sound right?

plus an automatic car wash. i figured $75 a time to clean.
Click to expand...

I've never done a job for less than $0.065 a square foot, and that is one of my projects that is 80,000 sq ft done 3 times a year, and never will. Gas stations you will need to reclaim, or risk a very expensive fine.

Assuming you have insurance and the other typical overhead, how can you or any legit contractor make any money at all at $0.04 a square foot ????

5190 sq ft with reclaim, nothing less than $0.12 a sq ft on a scheduled maintenance.
 
Lots of legit contractors make less than .04 and make a very good living doing it. I just bid a city job washing fuel islands, all over a very large city, and they went for less than a penny a foot. In fact there were 5 bids for less than a penny a foot. Nutty stuff it is.
 
Scott Stone said:
Lots of legit contractors make less than .04 and make a very good living doing it. I just bid a city job washing fuel islands, all over a very large city, and they went for less than a penny a foot. In fact there were 5 bids for less than a penny a foot. Nutty stuff it is.
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With reclaim Scott ? I just don't understand how a legit contractor with the insurance costs and other related overhead that we have can turn a profit.
 
These fools are turning this buisness into a hobby !! 1 cent = No Brains !!
 
The Cleaner said:
These fools are turning this business into a hobby !! 1 cent = No Brains !!
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My "hobbies" don't require the $8000 a year in insurance payments, workmans comp payments, self employment taxes and equipment costs / maintenance.

I do understand some markets have the majority of professional contractors bidding against the 2 cent a sq ft splash and dash "contractor". I sell quality, 100% satisfaction guarantee and fully insured and bonded personnel, guaranteed not to damage my customers properties.

Case in point, I just completed a Super Walmart renovation project last week. 75 total man hours. Made over $60.00 per man hour. The GC had 2 other "contractors" on site, giving all 3 of us the ability to prove our selves. The other 2 "contractors" got run off the job, and one of these "contractors" bid was half of mine. The other "contractor" wanted to work by the hour.

The center was trashed, hadn't been professionally cleaned in God knows when. Last Tuesday afternoon I had the opportunity to meet with the VP for the GC and 2 of Walmart's "big wigs", one of them a direct relative to Sam Walton. The best compliment I've ever receive was when one of the Walmart reps told me "we rarely experience this level of quality from our pressure washing contractors, coast to coast". For me and our business model, that itself means more that the net profit. And the future business this one project has already begun to generate is priceless.

I sell quality, dependability and quality control on each and every project. Constant, personal communication no matter how big or small a project is.
 
i own everything outright. im not financing a new diesel truck, trailer and washer unit. I own other businesses, and im 24. I do snow removal in the winter, and own an auto shop. im paying insurance on my shop/snow removal/and pressure washing business. and also paying workers comp (which is retarded expensive) i know how to budget and charge to make myself money. and right now, from what i have researched in the area, commercial flatwork is going for 3-4 cents a square foot. decks are 225 to clean, houses are 225 ish to wash. gutters are 100 an hour.

id like to charge .35 a square foot, hell, 1.00 a square foot, but people wont pay that. so .04 cents it is.

and the quality of my job will match anyone else out there.
 
i do understand the "lowballer" haters. in the snow removal biz, i wont do a driveway for under $25, which is ok for this area. where some lawn companies are doing it for 12 dollars! just to keep their employees busy during the winter. hard to compete with.

right now, i dont have enough established accounts to depend on, so i have to compete price wise. once i get enough work, my line of thinking is "id rather do 2 driveways for 100 dollars, than 5 driveways for 20 dollars". take the good paying jobs and pass on the cheapass customers.
 
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