Remember, an educated customer is a happy customer, so I'd bring them in on the conversation. Explain the 2 schools of thought on sealing new wood. Lay out the pros and cons, and what their expectations and expenses should be either way, then let them make an educated decision. (You took the time to learn about it, you deserve to show off!)
If they/you decide to seal now, Thompson's isn't my flavor, but it's a fine product for this situation. Remove the mill glaze just like any other waxy sealer. I like to use clear sealers for fresh wood, partly because if (or when) it fails in a few months it won't be so noticeable, and partly so the customer can enjoy that look of new wood for a while. Nothing you put on is likely to last more than a year. Come back next summer after it's aged and dried and seal it up right. If that's done well they'll get at least 2 years out of it.
In the beginning, I always timed myself to see how long it took to accomplish various tasks in different configurations.
Once I had a grasp over production time and the typical amount of materials used (plastic, tarps, tape) I could then factor my costs based upon
Time to complete the job plus set up, prep time and break down/cleanup became a number relative to the square footage of the job.
If there were no steps and I had to use a ladder, I would add time to that by lowering the sqft/hour production rate.
Materials are based upon their coverage rates minus 10-20% to account for spray lost and absorption variances on different species.
Having to hand apply meant a different production rate which was obviously lower than spraying and back brushing/padding.
Your hourly must include more than just what you make. It should include the employer contributions of F.I.C.A., S.S. and Medicare required.
Figure out your typical service area. Take a compass and put the point on your location. Now, depending upon the scale of the map you are using, expand the compass to
determine your service area (1/4"=1 mile for example) and make a circle. Anything within that circle should have a cost built into your labor costs. Ex; 30 minutes max/person driving to a job=labor x :30 minutes x # of crew.
If you are thinking your labor cost would be $40.00/hour/person, you could be losing money. Many companies I am aware of won't leave the house for less the $1000.00/day
Don't get me wrong, you don't want to base your costs on other companies, but the smart ones take All their costs into consideration before coming up with a price structure.
What are you paying your crew?
What are the required employer contributions? and the percentage/wage dollars?
How long does it take to do the job?
How many trips to complete each phase (wash/strip, Sand, stain/seal)?
What is the mpg of your vehicle being used?
How long does it take you on average to get to any point within your service area?
What would be considered your 'extended' service area and what types of work would you accept beyond the regular service area?
What are your insurance costs per month? Do the math and find out how much that is per day, per hour. 7 days a week. (yeah, we all work weekends when weather messes us up)
Do you have office staff? How much are you paying them? This should be included in the costs for labor for the time the office work would take. Why? Because someone has to man the phones, take messages, file paperwork, send faxes/emails/snail mail and process the transactions relative to the job.
The average customer requires: phone calls, emails or faxes to initiate, process and complete the transaction.
They require time for consultation, follow up and intermidiate communications for progress of job and sheduling.
This can range from 1 hour to several depending upon the customer and the complexity of the project.
Doing this kind of analysis and costing can help you to arrive at a price.
All the costs can be summed up in a sqft basis but make sure you know how much you can do, or better yet what your employee's WILL do. They aren't vested like you, so count on things taking a little bit longer where they are concerned.
You could use a sliding scale to cost your services which means the $$$/sqft price may drop incrementally as the sqft goes up. We use this for decks mostly due to the fact that once you take out the prep, set up and break down, the production rate goes up as the work is being done due to the
most difficult part being the rails. The floor is the fastest and easiest which makes up the brundt of the sqft overall. So the sliding scale comes in handy and keeps you from over bidding due to a set price/sqft.
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