Commercial Rates

[sweetwaterfish 15]

With my previous employer, we mainly did residential soft-washing. I've been asked to bid on a few commercial jobs in the past week and am honestly a little lost as far as rates are concerned. They are one story "storefront" shopping centers, the fronts have barrel tile accents, flat roofs, and lots of plate glass windows. The sides and rear are unadorned concrete block. The siding on the front is EIFS. I am in the north Florida area. The customer wants the flat concrete surfaces, tile accents, as well as the walls washed

As far as I know, there not a lot of competition from large firms, mainly just a couple of smaller independent painters and pressure washing companies.

Should I bid the front side of the building at a different rate from the rear?

Any tips/pointers? Should I look at a SQF price based on the area of the building? If so, even at $.08/foot, that puts it at over $5,000 for the job which seems high. Or should I be calculating on a linear square footage price?

I know its a lot of questions, but thanks for your help. I'm a little lost on pricing jobs this large!

Edited November 11, 2009 by sweetwaterfish
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[AllAmerican 14]

I estimate things by the square foot and also my estimated hourly costs (My rig produces $200+ per hour). Then I compare both numbers to see how close they are. Then I have a good idea of where I should be.

Personally, I'd rather over charge and sit at home than under charge and cuss myself out the entire job and lose money. If awarded the job, you can always go back to the customer and tell them you made too much and cut the invoice down. Good butt kissin move. Then they know your fair.

Keep in mind, since your doing shopping centers, your going to have to clean the windows. Average window cleaning charge is $1.00 per side. And your going to have to have window cleaning equipment, which should set ya back about $60.00 - $80.00 (squeegee, chamois, wetting wand, sponge, pole & bucket.) Make sure you put that in your proposal.