Minimum Charge

[tropical wave 22]

Do you guys have a minimum for wood care that you would charge? Or the price is whatever it measures out to be? example: lets say you get a call for a really small deck or porch, say 10x10 or 100 sq ft, say its low and there are not much in the way of railings or steps, say for the purpose of this question, and easy math, you charge $2.00 a sq ft.....are you making two trips (3 counting the estimate) for $200.00 ? I dont think I could do that....not really worth the time, or is it, or do you have a $400 or $500 minimum for all wood restoration...???

[Craig 111]

I don't do wood restoration, but YES you should charge a minimum. We have minimums set for PW'ing and Concrete Coatings.

[PressurePros 249]

If it's small and can fit in on the way to or from another larger job I will do it. Top rate though. 10x10 would be $350-$400

[Aplus 525]

IF it's not far out of the way, I'll try to always squeeze in even a small job. Sometimes I just do those myself, at the end of a day to keep my costs low. You never know the good will a particular job will generate.

[reed 500]

I do them. The customer has a need for his deck, no matter what size, to be treated. I charge the same rate and can add that one on earlier into the schedule as it won't take much time to do. I look at it as no job in deck restoration is too small.

reed

[JeffW 14]

I do small jobs and charge what they are worth.I did the gable end of a car port a few years ago and ended up with three rental houses to clean for the same person.You can usually fit small jobs in along with other jobs.I sometimes do small jobs on Saturdays because that's when other potential customers are home and you might just pick up some more work.

[John T 744]

If it's small and can fit in on the way to or from another larger job I will do it. Top rate though. 10x10 would be $350-$400

I live in an area where everything is high in price but no one would pay the above price in my area for a deck that small. I would do a small job like this and charge a notch higher per hour then I would a larger job. I would schedule it in between other jobs. When someone charges the above price for a deck of that size and no rails etc. meaning its just a flat tiny deck then they are telling the potential customer to take a hike.

[JFife 14]

.....I imagine PressurePro meant the deck would have rails, and probably two steps (average for my area on a small spec house). And I think his price is fair. Think, you invest one hour into the estimate, two hours to get there, set up, and clean, and two hours to get there, set up, and seal, and leave. And $50 in products. At $400, minus the $50 in product, that leaves a gross profit of $350, with 5hrs work. Even if it had NO rails, the time might only go down one hour, at the most two hours. Either way, the price is fair. If the "fair" rate for a job like this is $200, why would you even waste your time??

[PressurePros 249]

I live in an area where everything is high in price but no one would pay the above price in my area for a deck that small. I would do a small job like this and charge a notch higher per hour then I would a larger job. I would schedule it in between other jobs. When someone charges the above price for a deck of that size and no rails etc. meaning its just a flat tiny deck then they are telling the potential customer to take a hike.

10x10 decks are usually at least 200 sf with rails, steps and fascia. I'm not telling the customer to take a hike nor am I charging an exorbitant rate. By neccessity, it would have to be worth my while. We are discussing minimum charge.

I could have 4 hours into this. With labor, materials, estimate time and gas, and amortized expenses my deductions from gross would be about $100.

$350 minus $100 ? I'm not getting rich on that.

[John T 744]

I read the post that started this thread and I thought it was saying just a flat deck 10'x10' with no rails or steps. If it does have rails and steps then PressurePro is correct. Charge them higher but not to high where you have no chance of getting it. Since in this case I already drove out to the site I would look to nail down this job and I would charge around $300-$350.

Probably my richest customer who just passed away at 96 and was worth in excess of a billion dollars and here he was also famous. With all his money he lived in a small condo end unit and he had a small deck which I serviced every other year. This deck had no rails or steps. It did have a bench on it. I also did charge around $275 to do it...Oh yea his name?? IF anyone knows of the store "PC Richards and Son" he is the son who owned them all and help them expand from one store to around 50 and he owned them all...MR. AJ Richards. http://www.pcrichard.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?WEBEVENT+L0A71A93642155072832427B+PCR+ENG