Please help -Quote question - Cedar siding

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

Hey guys, I'm new but have been lurking on the site for a little bit reading what people have to say about things. Interesting to say the least. :)

Anyways, Here's my question. I recently did a quote for a Homeowners Ass. for (3) 3 story condo buildings that were 90% cedar siding. (see picture) it needed to be cleaned(pressure washed and stripped), prepped - repair of a few trim pieces and planks, and then sealed and stained. The total surface area for ALL 3 buildings is 78,600 sq ft. with it being 26,200 sq ft. per building which they agree. The buildings all have windows and patios to work around not to mention the cars in the parking lot(I have inssurance). This is 3 stories high so obviously ladders and what not will be needed in some areas.

Like I mentioned before, I have included just 2 pictures to give you a rough idea of the scale of project this would be, and the condition of the wood. The wood DOES have a previous sealer/stain on it which appears to be, and confired by them as TWP(paraffic oil). Some areas of the building are worse than others, where it gets more sunlight and exposure, etc. Keep in mind these buildings are HUGE. Each building is almost like 2 buildings in sheer size just by the way they're layed out. But its 3 seperate buildings, all identical.

Some Background - There are actually 12 building total but only these 3 are left to be done, for us anyways.. The other buildings apparently were done by 2 other stain compaines that have since been fired by the HOA, due to taking to long to complete the work and not knowing what their doing. The buildings that they did do look terrible. The picture of the other stain company I added is probably the best looking building they did. But you can still see the black patchy spots. The picture makes the building actually look alot better than it really is. :( The HOA has told me the other compaines they used were thinning down the stain with paint thinner and NEVER even cleaned or prepped the wood to begin with. Thrus leaving dark black areas and streaks of black where the stain was applied over the "gray" areas. It just looks HORRIBLE. Definately a learning experience for the HOA in hiring people who dont know what their doing, or much less "specialize" in wood restoration. They are definately not happy with the way they've turned out. They just wanted to get the other stain companies out of their hair and cut their losses and start over. I dont blame them.

The HOA said they would like to set up a Maintaince program in the future to have them done every so often to keep the propery looking nice. So thats potential future business to keep in mind as well. Perhaps re-do the other buildings at some point too. who knows?...

So my final bid was for $92,748.00 for doing all 3 buildings. Thats $30,916.00 per building. Clean, prep, and stain/seal. I based it on $1.18 a sqft. Cheap in my opinion considering what its going to take to do the job. I have normally charged around $1.20- 1.80 sqft for cedar siding depending on the wood and condition. Now this is a 3 story building with lots of windows, patios, trim, chimney's, etc... Ultimately, I feel comfortable with my bid.

What advice or criticisim can you give me on this to help me bid jobs like this in the future.

Did I charge to little?

To much?

What would someone(HOA) pay for a job this size, considering their past experiences?

Anything else?

If it wasnt wood work but needed to be painted, what would a painter charge to paint buildings of this size?

Thanks for your help.

Matt in Dallas,TX

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Quick question...how much wood work have you done?

I don't mean any offense. But a job of this magnitude... I have to ask.

Beth

[steve r 14]

Hey guys, I'm new but have been lurking on the site for a little bit reading what people have to say about things. Interesting to say the least. :)

Anyways, Here's my question. I recently did a quote for a Homeowners Ass. for (3) 3 story condo buildings that were 90% cedar siding. (see picture) it needed to be cleaned(pressure washed and stripped), prepped - repair of a few trim pieces and planks, and then sealed and stained. The total surface area for ALL 3 buildings is 78,600 sq ft. with it being 26,200 sq ft. per building which they agree. The buildings all have windows and patios to work around not to mention the cars in the parking lot(I have inssurance). This is 3 stories high so obviously ladders and what not will be needed in some areas.

Like I mentioned before, I have included just 2 pictures to give you a rough idea of the scale of project this would be, and the condition of the wood. The wood DOES have a previous sealer/stain on it which appears to be, and confired by them as TWP(paraffic oil). Some areas of the building are worse than others, where it gets more sunlight and exposure, etc. Keep in mind these buildings are HUGE. Each building is almost like 2 buildings in sheer size just by the way they're layed out. But its 3 seperate buildings, all identical.

Some Background - There are actually 12 building total but only these 3 are left to be done, for us anyways.. The other buildings apparently were done by 2 other stain compaines that have since been fired by the HOA, due to taking to long to complete the work and not knowing what their doing. The buildings that they did do look terrible. The picture of the other stain company I added is probably the best looking building they did. But you can still see the black patchy spots. The picture makes the building actually look alot better than it really is. :( The HOA has told me the other compaines they used were thinning down the stain with paint thinner and NEVER even cleaned or prepped the wood to begin with. Thrus leaving dark black areas and streaks of black where the stain was applied over the "gray" areas. It just looks HORRIBLE. Definately a learning experience for the HOA in hiring people who dont know what their doing, or much less "specialize" in wood restoration. They are definately not happy with the way they've turned out. They just wanted to get the other stain companies out of their hair and cut their losses and start over. I dont blame them.

The HOA said they would like to set up a Maintaince program in the future to have them done every so often to keep the propery looking nice. So thats potential future business to keep in mind as well. Perhaps re-do the other buildings at some point too. who knows?...

So my final bid was for $92,748.00 for doing all 3 buildings. Thats $30,916.00 per building. Clean, prep, and stain/seal. I based it on $1.18 a sqft. Cheap in my opinion considering what its going to take to do the job. I have normally charged around $1.20- 1.80 sqft for cedar siding depending on the wood and condition. Now this is a 3 story building with lots of windows, patios, trim, chimney's, etc... Ultimately, I feel comfortable with my bid.

What advice or criticisim can you give me on this to help me bid jobs like this in the future.

Did I charge to little?

To much?

What would someone(HOA) pay for a job this size, considering their past experiences?

Anything else?

If it wasnt wood work but needed to be painted, what would a painter charge to paint buildings of this size?

Thanks for your help.

Matt in Dallas,TX

This a big project for one man .hope ya know about wood restration ,this is one touchy subject.the price seems a little low for me to do .how long do you expect to take to do this project.it may be beyond you .dont take this in away to hate what i say .im just saying make sure you can do this project before you start.dont jump cause the money is there .you dont want to go back and fix up bobobobss.good luck

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

No offense intended here in any way, but I am giving you feedback based upon your post and the pics you have submitted.

Considering that they could have the siding replaced for less, I think that it is overbid.

Looking at the pics, unless I am missing something, 26,000sqft is significantly more than what I can see in these pics. The estimate in size I am seeing just by eye is around 3500-4500sqft taking into respect all four sides.

Height X Width = Sqft.

Avg height per floor is 8-10ft. Lets just keep it simple and say 10ft/floor.

• 3 stories X 10ft/story=30ft
  
• 50ft long on one side X 30ft in height = 1500sqft
  
• 1500sqft X 2 (sides) = *3000sqft
  
• 25ft wide X 30ft Height = 750sqft
  
• 750sqft X 2 (sides) = *1500sqft
  
• 3000sqft + 1500sqft = 4500 Total sqft/unit
  
• 4500sqft X 3 (units) = 13,500sqft total of 3 units.

Now this is of course a visual estimate but I dont think I am far off

give it +-500sqft for any corners and chimney stacks.

Your figures are not going to be relevant to our demographics so I will leave the price/sqft to you and your local market to consider.

Continue with prices for materials to replace any clapboards, ladder changes, scaffolding/manlift(s) rentals, Labor (3-5 man crew), Stain product = 85-100 gallons avg. @ $20/gal = $1700-$2000, Plastics, tarps and tape, etc...

I'll leave the rest for you to decide whats necessary.

Rod~

ps, welcome to TGS !

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

its ok I understand no offense taken. :)

Been in business for 9 yrs. Have 3 trucks and 8 people.

The job should take 6-7 weeks depending on the weather ofcourse.

thanks guys.

[steve r 14]

its ok I understand no offense taken. :)

Been in business for 9 yrs. Have 3 trucks and 8 people.

The job should take 6-7 weeks depending on the weather ofcourse.

thanks guys.

like i said no offense .didnt know of your experience .so you know what your getting into .hope it goes well make all the money while ya can have a good one .one thing i myself would probaly go up another 20 cents a sq ft at least if not more

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

those are just samples...not the whole job. theres WAAAY more :) just dont want to upload a billion pics :)

thanks for all the feed back. Just curious...

one says to much...one says not enough. :)

[steve r 14]

those are just samples...not the whole job. theres WAAAY more :) just dont want to upload a billion pics :)

id like to see before and after pics if possible .they should look good after done

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Would love to see more of this job. Looks like a great job.

Beth

[CCPC 26]

maybe you could post a close up pic of the siding. I'd be curious to see that.

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

well I didnt take too many intial pictures..maybe like 15. just enough to build my report/proposal for the job.

I'm going to hear tomorrow if I got the bid or not. I'm just curious as to what you guys thought about the bid. ie: my orginal questions.

[seymore 90]

$5000 to strip and clean each builiding and $5000 to stain each not including repairs..:cool:

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

$10,000 per building.

So that comes out to about .38 cents a sq.ft to clean and seal based on 26,200sqft per building. :)

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

Just to get a better understanding...here are some more pictures, they arent the best but maybe this helps.

Sorry dont have any good close up pix of the siding. :(

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

more..........

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

last few.........

lots of nooks and crannys, concrete, trim and molding pieces, window sills and door frames, trees and bushes to work around as well.

even the tops(ceiling) of the first floor patios have cedar siding on the ceilings. ....

[Matt in Dallas TX 14]

...............

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Matt,

Thanks for th e photos. It is a big project, that's for sure.Would love to see photos of your work when you get this job. Are they going to try to get it done now, or wait till spring?

Beth

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Thanks for the other pics, it helps give a better perspective of the sqft involved. The initial ones looked like single family homes and I missed the part about condos.

Based upon your pricing given, you may be in the ballpark.

Rod~

[James 624]

The biggest concern is dealing with the people. Controlling the run off ,over spray, ect..... Did you do a sample for the HOA and what will you use as an oil.

[JFife 14]

I think your price is reasonable, assuming you are bleach washing, or percarb washing. (also assuming you sf is correct). Maybe a little low, but I don't know how fast you guys are.