pricing a fence job

[mas3372 14]

Hello,

I was asked to price a fence job for a friends neighbor. She has 42 sections of weathered pine fencing, 8 foot long sections, 6 foot high. 336 liner feet or 2016 squre feet. The fence is structually sound and looks as if it was never sealed. I will naturaly try to upsell to have it sealed as well.

My questions are these. How much would you charge just to clean?

How much to clean and seal.

As I said, weathered a bit, no apparent previous sealer, some green mold.

The area to be cleaned includes the area that are both sides and the areas that only one side - so the area listed is the total area to be serviced.

One last question, one would you recommend to clean it, 12% with some soap for example.

Thanks, Mike

[seymore 90]

One last question, one would you recommend to clean it, 12% with some soap for example.

Thanks, Mike

That would be the exact way i would clean that fence. No with PT pine fences the bleach mix needs to be a little stronger since the wood is harder than cedar.

My cleaning cost also depends on what's around the fence like plants and what could be behind the fence to protect/rinse on the neighbors side

$400-$500 to clean only

$300 to clean and $675 to seal :cool:

[mas3372 14]

Thanks shane. Given the demographics of the area, I don't think I will get away with that much but I will give it a shot. It is very accessable. The fathest point is 175 feet from where I would park so I have enouth house. The lawn along the fence is thin with no flowers or plants to worry about. Most of the fence is only one side except the front sections that seperate front and back yard.

You think 12% as strong as I can get it on there should work. I use E-Plus with a dash of polmolive now, any good for fence?.

[plainpainter 217]

Sounds kind of cheap to me - My sister had a badly peeling painted fence. I removed each section, pressure washed them, then scraped them - sprayed on 3 coats of oil solid stain, two of the coats were applied wet. And even belt sanded the posts and gave them a couple of coats - I wanted $125/section to do that work. Granted this isn't the same kind of work but 42 sections would run $5250.

-Dan

[mas3372 14]

the problem with charging that much is the customer can run to home depot and buy brand new sections for $45 each and it simply just screw them to the existing posts.

[PressurePros 249]

Coventry has a 20% higher cost of living index than that of the national average (which means things cost 20% more than they do everywhere else). Average household income is $60K vs $41k for the rest of the country. Your demographic is not a bad one at all. The poorest sections of the country get $.90 to clean and seal a deck and a deck all in one smaller footprint and easier to work on versus a fence. Your rates should be more like $1.50 for doing a deck.

Using the cheaper rate, and taking away half for the rails you won't have while cleaning a fence, that is $.45 per s/f. You come out to $907.20 per side of that fence. Your thinking is flawed. Things cost what they cost. It isn't your responsibility to offset the high cost of living by taking a beating on price. Even your logic of buying new fence makes no sense. That would cost her over $1900 and it still would need to be sealed.

You could seal that whole fence with one pail of Wood Tux and she wouldn't have to touch it for 5 years. Pick your selling points and present them to her.

[plainpainter 217]

Personally - I'd tell 'em to go get their $45/section of fence. I don't care.

Just because something isn't seen as cost effective - isn't a good reason to do something dirt cheap- computer stores give away printers whey they sell computers - because they make all their money on ink cartridges. You can buy a printer for $40 sometimes - yet pay that same amount on ink that will last only a couple of months. Same thing with the fence - they can get a new fence for cheap, but if it doesn't get protected it will get old and moldy quick. So unless they pay good money to get it pressure washed and sealed - it's always goin to get ugly.

Perception of value changes with time. It use to be when I was kid, everyone did their own yardwork, or hired kids to mow grass and rake up leaves. Now professional landscaping crews take care of at least 40% of the yards in town - money they wouldn't have spent 20 years ago, they gladly spend today.

-Dan

-Dan

[mas3372 14]

Good points and thanks for the input. The fence job is in west warwick which neigbors Coventry. I am certain the demographics there are fairly less. I agree that cheaper isn't always better and by no means do I want to leave money on the table. I am in this to make money not lose money. I will rethink my quote to her.

Yes she can replace the fence for about $2500 if she does the labor and seals it herself but does she want to do that every couple of years.

Looking at the neighborhood she lives in, a husband in Iraq and a klunker in the driveway, I don't think she can afford such an upgrade. But as you put it Ken, It is not my job to offset the cost of living. It is what it is and she dosn't want the work done, more work will come along.

thanks again, Mike

I will offer her

[Greg R 82]

We would be around $1800 on that job. ($6 per foot of fence - includes both sides)

Correction: $2200 (sq foot numbers are off up top) My linear pricing is correct but the amount of product used was being based on the sq ft numbers at the top of this post.

Im not sure how you could do a job of that size for $700 and make any money...

2016/100 sq ft per gallon = 20 Gallons of Stain (Stain cost roughly $360)

Correction: 36 Gallons (stain cost is $648)

Between the two days needed to complete the job (clean one - seal the other) and roughly 8 man hours worth of labor it wouldn't be worth doing at that price.

I've always said if we can't make hourly on fencing what we average on decks they're not worth doing :) Of course this estimate is based on our way of doing things...

Greg

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I've always said if we can't make hourly on fencing what we average on decks they're not worth doing :)

I agree!

Beth :cup:

[Greg R 82]

It was brought to my attention through a PM that the sq ft number is off - its actually 4032 sq ft to be treated (not 2016 - have to count both sides).

That would bump the bid to around $2200 in order to cover the additional material costs. This fence would COST ME around $900 to complete churning a $1300 profit over the two days. Even these numbers are lower than where I would like to be :)

[mas3372 14]

The total square foot is 2016, most sections are only one side with a few both sides equallying a total of 2016 ft. It is also for a clean only.

[Greg R 82]

So your only doing one side of some sections? Carefull - bleed throughs (chemical or stain) and neighbors with nothing else to do dont go together.

I've always managed to get the customer who doesn't get along with the 82 year old lady next door. If so much as one clean spot shows up on her side of the fence...

We stopped doing one-siders several years ago. We now do the whole thing or nothing.

Best of luck -

Greg

[PLD 14]

We stopped doing one-siders several years ago. We now do the whole thing or nothing.

I agree. If you do a one sider, get a waiver releasing you from the UGLY side #2. If the fence is is "co-owned", get a waiver or a job consent from each.