Deck Pricing Per sq. ft.

[yazbird8 17]

Here is the sq. ft. pricing I am considering for deck work this year.

CHARGES FOR DECK WORK

$2.00/sq.ft. TOTAL for a simple strip and neutralization/brightening, plus sealer application.

$2.50/sq ft. TOTAL for heavy strip and neutralization/brightening, plus sealer application.

Simple strip: and neutralization/brightening at $.50/sq ft. (EFC38, then Citralic or Oxalic Acid).

Heavy strip: and neutralization/brightening at $1.00/sq ft. (HD80, then Citralic or Oxalic Acid)

Sealer: application at $1.50/sq ft. always………. (Ready Seal- Wood Tux- WTW- Wolmans- Cabot)

INCLUDES ALL MATERIALS

MAINTAINENCE OF DECK: Every 2-3 years on horizontals and every 3-5 on verticals.

This is for the North East (metro NY) area.............Hey North East guys, am I in the ballpark?......................... Remember, it's a new year and prices gotta move up a bit................Does anyone charge higher than this?.................................Oh ya, I'm a newbie but I refuse to sell price.

Steve

Stephen Andrews

POWERWASHING

HOME & PROPERTY

CARE & MAINTAINENCE

[hoseguy 14]

Steve,

I Think You Are Right On Target. I'm A Newbie This Year In Bergen County And I'm Right There Give Or Take A .25

Dont Give It Away, You'll Make It That Much Harder For Everybody Doing Biz.

Best Regards

Bob Kearney

K&m Exterior Solutions

Good Luck,

[James 624]

If you think your competitor's are charging those prices go ahead? How are you measuring your the sqft? Two bucks a square foot complete I wouldnt get a job and I haven't advertised in three years. I live in CT and very high end. How do you differentiae the products you propose to your future customers ? All of your products are completely different. You have drying oils and nondrying oils what's the difference? Whats better for the wood? Which one wood you reccomend? This is what they will ask.......

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Two bucks a square foot complete I wouldnt get a job

Are you saying it is too high for your area?

Beth

[James 624]

For a easy strip 2 bucks is high. However I have gone to jobs where I charge a buck and someone else charges 2? and I'm higher?Go measure!

I think the sqft issue is more important. And what sealer to use? get behind one or two and know them. Do much testing in back yard. Know the difference between them. Common sense will take it from there.

[PressurePros 248]

How are you measuring the deck? What is your square footage based upon? If you are going to try an get those rates for every square footage of wood you will have plenty of Play Station time. If you mean that you are going to measure just the floor then your prices are in the ballpark(as long as you don't encounter more than a few steps or benches or trellises). I have some additional questions for you. These aren't meant to berate you but prepare your readiness for the coming season.

1) How are you going to determine your maintence schedule? If you are planning on selling your service with an implied guarantee of 2-3 years you have listed a product or two that will not last for more than one year.

2) What would you constitute as a "heavy strip"? I ask because $2.50 can be way too low

3) I am assuming your prices cover materials such as soaps and sealers. Maybe this is just me but it takes longer, requires more muscles and finesse and more expensive equipment to strip then it does to seal. You are charging $1.25 per square foot to apply sealer ($1.50 minus $.25 for sealer per sf) I only mention this because if you list these breakdowns on your sales proposals you are going to find yourself performing a strip job on a 600 square foot deck that may take you eight hours and you will be earning $300.

[yazbird8 17]

I plan on WTW for it's ability to use on same day as cleaning. I plan on Ready Seal because so many people on this board swear by it. Ease of use is important. Same with the regular WT.....As for the Wolmans and Cabots, I know I can get them locally. With the Cabots I would only use the solid for a re-stain of a deck thats in decent shape. I would pass on stripping solid stain decks though. The Wolmans, again, I can get it in a pinch......I understand the wolmans brighteners are very good, What is the boards verdict on their sealants?

James: You mentioned drying and non drying oils. Help me out with that one.

I understand that Ready seal can be tracked indoors if it is not allowed to dry for at least 24 hours, but I am not up on the terms "drying and non drying.

Deck pricing would be the sq. ft, of deck surface. Railings woud be height x lenghth. Stairs at $5.00 per stair. Bench's etc. would be Depth x lenghth.......Extra for PITA factors............................

[James 624]

I'll get to this great question. House and 24 are on!!!!!

[James 624]

Better yet call me sometime 2037544284. I'll explain the difference.Going to UCONN game tommorow night any other night.

[patrick k 14]

UCONN fell to low in the poles this week, they are #2 not #4. Big East tourney should be interesting, I wish BC was still in the league.

[yazbird8 17]

Ken.........OK, I should base my numbers on sq. ft of deck surface only, for the prices I am asking for. And charge more for extra stairs, benches etc.

Should I recommend re-application (maintainence) every other year for deck horizontals?...........

The "heavy strip" is the real tuffy for me to figure. Can we all talk about this at some lenghth?....This is where someone could lose their shirt if they didn't have a good understanding in this area.

The information at the top of this page probably will not be part of my proposal. It's just some food for thought for us.................

[PressurePros 248]

Yaz,

On my proposals I break it down to actual square footage and list prices for each service. A simplified example (this is what my customer sees)

Deck surface: 500 s.f

Rails on three sides 480 s.f

Benches: 135 s.f

Steps with rails, risers and stringers: 100 s.f

3 planter boxers 24 s.f

Trellis: 230 s.f

Lattice: 190 s.f

Fascia: 65 s.f

Total: 1724 s.f

Stripping/brightening (.55 sf) = $948.20

Sealing (.40 sf) = $689.60

Sealer 13 gallons @$35 =$455

Stripper 15 gallons @$4 = $60

Brightener 6 gallons @$4 = $24

Total for Job: $2176.80

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

yazbird8,

Just curious, why would you pass on stripping solid stained decks?

Stripping paint is obvious, but why the reluctance on solid stains?

Rod!~

[yazbird8 17]

Ken,

Thanks for the great breakdown of your "method". It's great to see examples such as yours in black and white. It's how I learn best...............Two questions though.

1. How did you come up with the 480 sf for the rails. I would have figured something like 3' for the height and 65' in lenghth (3' x 65' = 195 sf). What am I missing?

2. Is the strip job in your example for a light strip using the equivalent of EFC38, or, a more severe type strip using the equivalent of HD80. Surely that would make a big difference. Maybe raising the price per sf up to as high as .75 sf?........or more.............................Yaz

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Yazbird,

Can you please add a signature in your User CP to include your name etc.? Thank you.

Beth

[yazbird8 17]

Rod,

Wouldn't acrylic latex solid stains have a large PITA factor and solid oil based stains be not quite as bad, but, still be PITA intense? I am not sure what the stain stripping abilities of EFC38-HD80 are. Would you use an HD80 equivalent on either type of stain? As I understand paints verses stains, stain is very pigment rich and paint is very binder rich....... Would either type of stain break down easily using the right stripper?....... HD80 in most cases?.............Thanks

Stephen Andrews

POWER WASHING

HOME & PROPERTY

CARE & MAINTAINENCE

[Chappy 138]

Steps with rails, risers and stringers:

Whats a stringer??

[mroudabush 14]

That would (should) be the boards that are notched and to which the step boards are nailed to . You see boards on outside edge of stairs and one in the middle (sometimes doubled up).

[JFife 14]

Mike--

Isn't DECKARE a franchise?? Are you the franchisee or franchisor??

Yazbird, IMO you are asking a lot of Q's that can only be answered by experience. Such as knowing the difficulty of a strip job....just takes experience. And ya know what?? You'll still get some wrong. A learning curve where you win some and lose some, but the more exp. you get, the more you'll win.

[Jarrod 22]

Ken, you must be a millionare with those prices. Here in MI we are lucky to get $1.50 per sq ft. And that's for horiz. only!

6 hours to strip a 600 sq. ft. deck? What? Are you serious?

[PressurePros 248]

Ken,

Thanks for the great breakdown of your "method". It's great to see examples such as yours in black and white. It's how I learn best...............Two questions though.

1. How did you come up with the 480 sf for the rails. I would have figured something like 3' for the height and 65' in lenghth (3' x 65' = 195 sf). What am I missing?

2. Is the strip job in your example for a light strip using the equivalent of EFC38, or, a more severe type strip using the equivalent of HD80. Surely that would make a big difference. Maybe raising the price per sf up to as high as .75 sf?........or more.............................Yaz

1) If the rails were a single sided flat surface you would be right. You have to count the top and bottom rails and the four sides of the ballusters/spindles. The floor square footage of a deck is roughly doubled by a deck that is surrounded by rails on three sides.

2) My definition of a severe strip would not be determined by the chemical. HD-80 makes almost everything easy and the price per s.f is the same as EFC-38. A higher priced strip job would be determined by factors such as length of dwell time for chem, how much pressure I need to use, obstructions such as landscaping, other risk factors like aluminum siding and the height of the deck. There are too many variables to really get into in one post but many things determine overall pricing.

[PressurePros 248]

Ken, you must be a millionare with those prices. Here in MI we are lucky to get $1.50 per sq ft. And that's for horiz. only!

6 hours to strip a 600 sq. ft. deck? What? Are you serious?

I feel bad that certain areas have to continue to follow the idiots that set such low prices. I honestly would find a different business if I had to deal with that. Deck restoration (performed properly) is hard work, tedious and requires a certain level of craftsmanship. My only suggestion is to continue to educate your consumers.

The time quoted was actually eight hours. I have had at least five guys come with me on jobs (contractors with little to no experience) and that rate of cleaning is very accurate. I am a pain in the azz about details though. A six hundred square foot deck is usually over 1200 sf of wood.

[Jarrod 22]

Ken what is your gpm?

[PressurePros 248]

5.5 gpm. Jarrod, maybe we have a communication gap, which is my fault for not being more clear. It takes me or my crew nowhere near that. That time is for a new guy. I based to time on not only my beginnings in wood resto, but at clocked rates of guys I have watched doing it while they are inexperienced.

We would probably take about 2.5-3 hours to strip a deck that size. If you tell me you do it in an hour, you're full of sunshine. :sunshine:

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Acrylic and latex stains are more difficult but still strippable.

Ken Fenner of Pressure Pro's as a matter of fact did one of these using HD-80 and posted here on the bbs the pics and results.

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5021

He came up with some original thinking on it which resulted in a job that both his company and the customer can be proud of.

With the knowledge and technology available today, its safe to say that you could make some very impressing work by tackling these types of jobs.

Up to you of course but I wanted to give you a relevant project for reference in case you should take on one of these in the future.

With paint, We use eacochems stripsol, for all others when stripping, we use HD-80. Now here is something to think about before trying to strip one of the coatings you have mentioned. It comes from a standpoint of trying to maintain the integrity of the wood foremost and we don't like to strip unless the customer is made aware of all the facts beforehand. Facts like; what the process will do to the wood and how it will shorten its life by being exposed to caustics for a long period, the possible mess (paints and acrylics), the costs (not cheap by far, sanding and defurring always is needed) and the alternatives (re-coating, stripping failed areas and repairing the finish etc.). These are not scare tactics but real facts that they may not be aware of and is quite prevalent in many cases.

Here's a funny one, a client had bought a house with a deck freshly painted army green and several coats by the looks of it and he asked me what to do. Jokingly I asked: Got a match? He got the joke and laughed but also understood after further discussion that he was asking for something that was not going to be cheap so he decided to live with it.

Here is another one you may hear: "Well, your the (professional/expert) here, what would you recommend?"

Some clients will take into consideration your experience and advice to help them with a situation. If you have done your part in research you can help them to make the best decision for their deck.

Rod!~

[Jarrod 22]

Ken, it takes me or 1 of my guys 1.5 to 2 hours to strip & brighten a 600 sq ft deck. We downstream all our chems. It's a very fast way of doing it. The chems I use are strong enough to downstream and be very effective. We remove 95 to 100% of the stain every time. (oil based) I may try some acrylic or water based pita decks this year - using HD80. If I have to do these decks, I'm charging $3.00 per sq ft.