Bidding decks

[Scott Knott 14]

How do most of you guys bid deck jobs.

Clean and seal, Clean and stain, Strip, clean and stain.

Do ya bid by the SF or by the job, I have been trying to bid by the amount of time I think it will take to do the job.

Also when you bid a deck, when should you bid the deck to be stripped, Do you strip every deck that has a stain on it ? I have been reading all I can about decks and I have read that you can put stain over old stain.

Example the customer wants to restain a deck that is getting old and faded ant the stain is wearing off in high traffic areas, and he wants to go with the same semitransparent stain. Should I strip tha old stain or clean the deck and restain?

[reed 500]

Strip, Clean/brighten, and seal. charge by the sf. Yes to stripping the old stain. My thoughts, other my agree or disagree, are if you are going to change the stain of a deck, strip the old stain out first, then neutralize/brighten afterwards..

Stain over old stain depends entirely on "whose" stain you use. I can't speak for any stain but ReadySeal as far as new stain over old stain. A moderate wash should be done to old ReadySeal, allowed to dry, and a medium coat can be reapllied over the old seal.

Reed

[Scott Knott 14]

So when bidding, how do you figure rails & spindles Should I mesure every stick of lumber that i will clean and seal and give them a price on the amount of every SF they?

[CCHSNC 14]

your average railing is 3 ft tall so take the LF and Multiply it by 3 and that will give you you SF.

[reed 500]

most spindles are 1.5" wide by lets say 36 inches high. so the math is 1.5 x 36 x4 (4 sides) divide by 144 is sf per spindle then multiply by the number of spindles. Handrails .5 (2x6) x length of handrail. Post 6x6, just double the height of the post for sf.

If you like and have MS Excel I have a spread sheet that can calculate your sf and determine how much sealer you will use based on coverage per gallon, that you can use.

To be honest with you, Linear foot measurement on wood other than fences can short change you on sf charge.

Reed

[Scott Knott 14]

Thanks you guys

Reed I dont have exel at home but you can send it to my wife at work and she can print it for me her e-mail is knottJ@health.missouri.edu

[Paul B. 523]

Not all handrail sytems are the same so you should calculate until you get familiar enough to know the differences.

I have run across handrail systems that were as much as 5.7 sq ft per linear ft. The difference may not kill you in cost, but why give away even a small amount.

[Brian Keating 14]

Reed - could you send me a copy of your sf calculating spreadsheet? My email address is decksetc@ameritech.net

Thanks,

Brian

[RAJD 14]

Reed

If it would not be to much trouble I could use a copy of the spreadsheet too.

Thanks

Bob

RAJD857@AOLCOM

[Mike Williamson 198]

Ditto that...I'll trade you the spreadsheet for a couple beers in December. :)