Paul B.
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Posts posted by Paul B.
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Unfortunately you would not get any jobs for those rates around here. If you bear with me I'll show you why.
Lets take a new Walgreens store with about 50K bricks.
Bid at your rate of $60 per 1000 (with lift and materials) would be written up at $3000.
- First, they would not give this job to a 1 man crew (owner operator) because the bill-out rate would be too high and normally the schedules would not allow for several days on the job.
- They could expect a 3 man crew to complete this job in 24 man hours.
- The 3-man crew would be:
- (1) Supervisor $24/hr. with a 2.0 mark-up is $72/hr. x 8 hrs. = $576.
- (2) Laborers @ $10/hr. with a 2.0 mark-up is $30/hr. x 3 people x 8 hrs. = $480
- Materials are $120 for this job plus 20% mark-up = $144
- Lift for 1 day = $200 (delivered to site).
- Pressure washer rental (2 x $60/day) = $120 plus handling fee of $100 = $220.
Total for the job = $1620 or $32.4 / 1000 bricks
This would be an absolute top rate, as most will not allow a 2.0 mark-up. A more realistic mark-up is between 1.4 - 1.8.
In reality, a 2 man crew or 22 man hours can finish this job with a lift. (16 hrs. plus 2 hrs O.T. per person or 6 straight hrs. = 22 hrs.)
At 50K bricks at $30/1000 = $1500 divided by 22 hrs. = $68/hr.
Subtract material at $2.6 per 1000 bricks and lift at $4/1000 and you are still over $60 per hour.
Your rate, with supplies and lift would be over $136/hr.
So you can see why you would not be awarded a job like that in this area.
In reality, I bid a similar job of 50K bricks at $30/1000 including mat'l. and no lift. I did not get the job. I lost it to a 5 person crew that bid it at $27.312 per 1000 or $1,365.60
Here was their breakdown, as the calculations were in pencil on the back of their bid:
(1) supervisor at $50 per hr. x 8 hrs. = $400
(4) laborers at $20.80 each x 8 hrs. each = 665.60
(2) pressure washers @ $6.25 per hr. = $100
(1 lot) chemicals $150
(1 lot) misc. supplies $50
I watched another similar building of 50K brick being washed by a crew of 6 with 1 pressure washer. It took them 8 hrs. to finish the job, but I will withhold my comments on their procedures and job quality. The super told me the job was awarded at $20/1000 bricks or about $1000.
Unfortunately, quality is 2nd to cost with these builders. As long as no one complains about the quality, they will go with the lowest prices, as the super gets a % of the total $ saved on the project (that is their incentive).
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And the last one:
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Can't find a photo of the one that ran about 5.7 Sq. Ft. / Ln. Ft. but that was the one that changed my thought process about trying to use 3 as my standard number.
Here is another one that's interesting:
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Ron,
I've run across some railings that were 5.7 sq ft per linear foot, while others ran at 2.3 sq ft per linear ft. Generally, I think you are fairly safe at 3 sq ft per linear foot, however, you need to recognize that there are some which could throw off your numbers drastically.
Reed,
I read somewhere that Ready Seal is available in some 84 Lumber shelves in Texas. Will it spread to other shelves?
That's how companies make large $$$.
I'm not sure how much national advertising and recognition would hurt.
The railing in the photo is about 2.3 sq ft per linear foot including the posts or about 1.6 Sq. Ft. / Ln. Ft. without.
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I bid the railing price by the square foot and it recieves the same as the deck flooring (there are exceptions where I charge more for the railing for example, if the spindles are intricate and have a solid water based stain on them). It would not be smart to bid the railing cost at 40% of the decking in my opinion. You end up using a bit more stain on the rails anyway and it also takes a bit longer. In adiition, some stains recommend 2 coats on verticals and 1 coat on horizontal surfaces. If anything, your railings should cost more than your flooring. (Which is funny, because I don't know how many times I've had a customer tell me the square footage of their deck on the phone, without considering the railing. My response is along the lines of: "So you do not wish to refenish your railing?")
Stripping increases the cost, based on the fact that you need to neutralize/brighten afterwards, which is another step in the process (increasing your time and material costs). Light stripping (as in a failing oil based semi stain) would get the same price as washing (plus the neutralizing cost). Water based stains, stains with teflon, multi coats of solids, etc. would increase the cost based on longer dwell times (time is money) or several application of stripper, or extra sanding, defelting, etc.
If the deck floor is over 600 square ft., I discount the floor price only, by 10%. Over 1000 sq ft gets another 10% discount (floor). Decks with very large flooring (say over 1500 sq ft) would get consideration for an additional discount.
Stains play a large part in the total cost also. I get TWP for $16 per gallon, Ready Seal for $22 and Cabot is $27 per gallon (you get better coverage with Cabot than TWP or Ready Seal so you should know your price per square foot of coverage). If I use Cabot, I pick it up locally (time is money) where as if I use Ready Seal, it's shipped to the front door. I mark up the cost of both (shipping and handling). Ready Seal is not available on store shelves in my area, so I can play with the mark-up to what I think I can sell it for, whereas Cabot is in several stores so I stay consistent with my mark-up.
If I use Cabot solid for example, I apply a primer and 2 coats of finish which increases the cost dramatically. In otherwords, you have to look at all items that can impact your costs: material costs, material coverage rate, supply costs (tape, plastic, tarps, etc.). You can try and build these into your square foot cost or you can add it on at the end.
But there are also other factors that may increase the price, such as how much masking has to be done on the deck and below it.
Terrain and landscaping plays a large factor also. A deck closely surrounded by barberry bushes gets a 10% increase.
I applied for hazardous duty pay on one job where the troops had to battle horseflies all day.
When I'm finished with a square foot price, I cross check it against effort hours it will take to do the job. If there is a large difference, then I adjust or look for errors in my estimate. Then of course you also have to consider your competition of equal value and how good of a sales person you are with your prices.
It can get complex, until you establish your basis for cost, then it gets easier. With each deck behind you the process gets a bit less complicated and you get a better feel for the variables.
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Somewhere in there are also:
The Wheel.
Ice and refrigerator
Air conditioning - Roman days
Indoor plumbing / bathroom - Roman days
The soccer ball
The gasoline engine.
Cell phones
Electricity
Radio
Television
Ships
Airplanes
Guns
and my second favorite - waterbed.
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BEER!
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One dog talking to another: "Woof, woof, wooof, wooof, wooof, woof?"
Sorry, forgot to translate.
One dog talking to another: "What if the hand that feeds us is surprisingly tasty?"
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Some ugly sand on the brick by the right side window on the back porch.
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Is that a garage with a porch?
Or is that the "Dog House"? Beats the heck out of sleeping on the couch!
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When you are mixing colored Cemex for mortar joints, it needs to be a consistent ratio for every batch. Deviations in water amount, sand amount, freezing temperatures and rain will change the color consistancy.
It gets a bit ugly as you can see.
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This is what the color of the mortar joint should look like (consistantly) around the house.
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Check out the sloppy mess on the keystone and the efflorescence in the mortar joints. The joint color should be a maroon shade.
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We are getting ready to clean (masonry) this large 25K brick home. The masonry was completed about 7 months ago, which makes it interesting to start with, but it has some interesting twists that I'll get into later. This home is much further along than we would normally get involved in for new construction masonry cleaning. We are asked to clean the concrete (mud, clay and mortar), clean the bricks (mortar smears, mortar tags, efflorescence, sand), clean 15 limestone keystones (which were sloppily smeared with color mortar stains), and bring back the color of the mortar which should be a consistent maroon shade.
After cleaning, we are to seal the brick, stain the concrete foundation and stain the front porch/deck, rear porch/deck and garage porch/deck.
Let me start with this photo and a little ditty about the brick layer's helper. The young man spanned the concrete retainer wall top with some 2x6's and set a 32ft ladder on top of it to reach where no man has been before. He climbed the ladder and took the plunge. The concrete was not there at the time, which most likely saved his life. He hobbled around for a while and went off to lick his wounds. That mason was eventually fired for other reasons before the job was done. Personally, I would have fired him after the ladder incident.
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Jon,
It's not the number of brick they lay, it's the number of bricks used on the job plus extras. Some unethical masons break bricks on purpose, because they get paid for those also. It's not unusual to have a thousand broken bricks on a job site due to breakage in shipment, or being dropped or broken incorrectly where a half brick or angled brick is needed.
The extras are the real money makers in masonry. Extras are projections like sills, arches around windows, doors, vent areas, gable projections and quoins. Small gables, large gables, 1 story and 2 story fire places, keystones, lintels (above windows and doors) etc., etc. are also charged as extras.
Good money is also there for masons if they supply the materials.
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I normally don't get spammed as I don't sign up for a lot of stuff unless I use a throw away address - and I've been lucky with even those. This was my first major spam and I was surprised where it came from (Spamming from a sefety web site?). Makes me wonder - if you know what I mean.
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Beth,
You never answered my earlier question about what type of oils are in Wood Tux. What makes it have the ability to be re-coated for applying maintenance coating vs. having to completely strip it?
To me, not having to strip a stain as it starts to fail makes a great selling point, as does the paraffin/crude oil base (such as Ready Seal) which can be used as a sell point against a linseed oil based (food for mold & mildew) stain. I was munder the impression that all crude/paraffin oil based stains can be reapplied without stripping (at least for 2 or 3 apps.).
I always like to know what I'm selling - makes it easier for me.
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Cabot claims 400-600 sq ft per gallon for their series 1400 semi-transparent stain deck stain. It is a linsee oil/alkyd resin based stain.
Wolman Durastain claims 300-350 sq ft per gallon, 1 coat application. The semi-transparent is an alkyd/acrylic blend, linseed oil boosted with acrylic. They claim stronger mildewcide which is needed to conteract the linseed oil base (which is a food source for mold & mildew). They also claim great water repellancy with a guarantee and warrantee for a minimum of 2 years.
The stain is new for this year (as I understand) so it's hard to believe that consumer reports can qualify on its durability aspects pertaining to life and color, etc.. unless they are reading Wolman's test reports. What's also funny to me is that their initial released flyer shows it as being "Rated #1 Semi-Transparent Stain Formula!" The wording itself is interesting as it implies something different than what it says. There is a difference between being rated as a number #1 stain and being rated as the #1 formula. In my opinion, you can't / or shouldn't realistically be rated as number one quality until you have been in use for at least a couple of years.
Personally, I don't think the demand is that high, I just think the supply is low, as they are waiting on demand numbers to see how their marketing is kicking in.
Regarding pricing, (in my area) I can negotiate a very good price on Wolman products (up to a 40% discount), but the Cabot prices are not very flexible, which makes the total dollars spent about the same. To me, Cabot semi-transparent stains colors are not as attractive and the semi is very thick, making it look closer to a semi-solid or diluted solid. However, it can be thinned, mixing it up to 1:1 with their Natural Base. I'm not sure what this does for their solids content (most likely reduces it a couple percent in their range of 29-33% by volume).
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Thanks, but the answers did not directly address my question(s).
As quickly as they came, it stopped.
I was surprised that .Net Messenger would spam. Odd, coming from a safety web site.
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If you are looking to eliminate mold and mildew, the most effective and least damaging chemical is Sodium Hypochlorite (bleach).
Sodium Hydroxide based products will also kill mold and mildew, but I personally think they can harm the asphalt shingles.
Copper and Zinc based products also work well on mold & mildew.
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I believe it is the Safety Web Site. I deleted all of them but I'll double check the next one I get.
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Most mulch is aged and the fine mulch is double chipped with some againg between the 2 steps. (Info I gathered talking with 2 large landscapers in my area that make their own mulch.)
The fungus is already in the mulch before you buy it (in majority of the cases.)
I put down one batch in an area that is always in the shade, and within 2 weeks I had those nasty spots on the wall. Out of the same batch, I put down some in an area that's always sunny and that area does not have any fungus spots.
I have spots in areas 90 degrees (around the corner from the mulch) and areas that are not in line of sight of any mulch at all.
I assume that these pores are carried by the wind when they get airborne and arrive at their random destination on a windy day. Without the wind, it's most likely a straight shot.
Ron,
That 200,000 HP sounds a bit high (could get hurt if you got bombarded by a few). The numbers I read were in the 1/10,000 HP range. Regardless, these spores are pretty nasty. I wonder if a regular application of Preen say (March, May and July) would eliminate the problem?
I'm not sure how much it helps, but here is a photo of an area covered with the fungus.
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Is anyone else getting spammed by a .Net Messenger Message for Safety related update?
I've received no less than 30 of the same messages wanting me to visit this web site and update from there.
I don't intend to do anything but erase their messages.
New Construction (almost).
in Construction Cleaning
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Steve,
You described just about every mistake this person made.
He did do a few things correctly.
Seems like all we wash around here are sandfaces bricks. We limit pressure to no more than 1500 psi on rinsing.
Cleaning the Keystones are a bit of a concern to me also. I have seen them turn gray and have to be replaced (not on my watch fortunately).