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Tronman

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Posts posted by Tronman

  1. Posted · Report reply

    I hate to be one to point out the obvious but... I don't think you will need an SIC code, or certification, or anything other than a chain saw, some sheetrock, a truck with a few spare tires already on rims, about 50 gallons of gas, a generator, and maybe a pressure washer. Call the insurance agent in the area you want to go to, get set up as a vender, and go to work for them.

    When it all boils down what you are dealing with is insurance agents looking for handymen to clean up areas outside of New Orleans for as cheep as possible. You will make your money on the volume. It will be dangerous, secluded, and hard to find supplies that you do not bring with you. In most of the affected areas there is still no gas, electricity, repair shops, retail locations, etc. You work with what you bring with you. The further you get outside of New Orleans the better it gets. From Batton Rouge to Lumberton there is work and the resources get better the closer you get to Houston.

    I am scouting out the insurance agents etc. now. I will be traveling to Beaumont, Vidor, Orange, Lumberton, Bridge City, Port Neches, Port Arthur, Lake Charles, and Batton Rouge.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Unfortunately I think our friend is talking about cleaning interior walls in each of the homes rather than exterior walls or breezways.

    The basic method would be to figure how much time it takes to clean say a 8x10 section of wall with no major marks etc. If it takes you an hour and you work at $15 per hour then you just need to know how many 8x10 sections you have to clean.

    As in any labor, you need to know what you would charge a customer per hour that has built into it your costs (Insurance, Workers Comp., Wages for the worker, etc.) and profit margin. $15 is a customary charge for a semi-skilled laborer.

    You can also charge by the square foot and then add your costs to that number. These costs per sq ft should be standard in your area. For example .08 - .10 for carpet extraction per sq ft. or .25 per sq ft for strip, seal & buff, etc.

    In Texas you would charge about .21 cents per sq ft. for wall washing. Exterior pressure washing of walls would be about .10-.11 per sq ft.

    If you have any other questions feel free to call any time.

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Jennifer,

    We are a Commercial Janitorial Co. as well as Commercial and Residential Pressure Washing Co. There is really too much information to go over in just one of two blogs. If you like, you can call me any time. I have about 15 years of Commercial Janitorial experience at some of the largest contracts in Houston Texas. I have forms, training manuals, employment documents, etc. I will be glad to help.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    What did you used on the floor?

    I ran the janitorial at Compaq in Houston for several years. We tested MANY products along the fork lift lanes. The best product was from Essential labs - Ecothane. THey also have a GREAT high gloss low maintenance floor finish called pureshine 25. THey use is at M.D. Anderson Cancer Clinic here in Houston. It looks like a polyurethane but it is just a wax. It looks great after 6 mo. of high walking traffic.

    P.S. FLoor work in Houston goes for a min. of .25 per sq ft. to strip, seal, and buff. If you use a high quality floor finish you might add more to teh bottom line dollar.

    I would love to see more janitorial posts on this board. Most of the janitorial forums have great info but they are not put together as nice as this board.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    I spoke with them again today to set an appointment with them tomorrow. They are going to have the entire HOA group out to look at the equipment. The reason given was that they have never done this before and in order to make the right decision they are going to look at each vender’s equipment to try and become educated on what it takes to do the job. Sounds like one of them came up with the idea and the rest all said "Yup, Yup, sounds good to me..." not thinking or caring about the inconvenience or expense to the vender. They also wanted us to bring our own water. Little do they know they are paying for my meter, etc. in the bid. It would be cheaper for them to just let go of the water hose. I may be a little high on my bid. 125,000 sq ft of cold water concrete @.032 per. A local buddy of mine looked at it and wanted me to bid .02 per. Too cheap for so much headache. I will put on the dog and pony for them tomorrow with literature and demos, etc. It works out to about $50 per household in the community.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    To get the last 15 years back - that would be nice... I spent so much time traveling away from my family working 24/7 with laptops, cell phones, faxes, E-Mails, and playing games like trying to see if I could remember what my hotel room number was that night without looking at the key. If I would have started this business 15 years ago ... Oh well all that counts is that I get to ride bikes to school with my daughter each day and if I'm not at a job I can meet her when she gets out of school. I know I will never get this time again, so I'm making the most of it now.

    This is a great business.

    Thanks for your advice. All advice and information is always welcome. My focus now seems to be heading toward no pressure roof cleaning and commercial applications.

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