How many actual working hours?

[Jeff Robison 14]

I am interested to see how many hours behind a wand or surface cleaner people are putting in a week? Trust me I know about the thinking, mailing, marketing, and other hours.

But how many actual pressure washing hours per week are some guys averaging a week? It may be employees or yourself.

This was spurred by another How much per hour thread. Just curious.

Jeff Robison

Titan Exterior

678-360-2518

[A and J POWERWASHING 64]

about 15 hs with wand but more on office stuff

[sflasealcoatinginc 14]

Well i dont use a wand to clean, just apply chems and rinse. But with the surface cleaner included 15-20 but i dont pressure clean houses i do concrete staining and sealing so its double work lol

[FullBlast 14]

Between me and the guys we put about 150-175 hrs. a week.

[Jeff 232]

My 2 fulltime guys , 10 months this year did 45 - 65 hours a week each, I also had several short term workers, some day labor and a couple part timers. We just this week started to slow somee and they will get probably 30 - 45 hrs a week

if its a 40 hr week, exclude travel & breaks probably get 33-35- hours of work out of them.

[Neil_Asheville 114]

Sup, Jeff! Sorry I missed you on your trip up here. Was looking forward to it. I'm TRYING like hell to make my January a NO WORK month! I mainly target larger multi-day projects, so hourlies are me+one FT employee. What I like about these larger wood projects is that I can park the trailer on site and stay put for a week+ with consistent billable hours. Current project we're 110 man hrs into what will end up being a 250 man hour project. This week we were 9-6 everyday, so 90 man hours. The weather up here this week is just nuts...65 and calm. 9am it's atleast 38 and by 6 we're packing up in the dark. I don't really take breaks (other than on the phone) but my employee takes a few smokes and shoves a quick sandwich down at lunch.

I calculate and project the per hour targets going into my projects, so I know the thresholds and work like hell to finish under them. I can't imagine doing 2-3 decks a day (one crew) like some of the other outfits on here do. I just don't see how it's done given my known production rates. I prefer to bid high, work at a comfortable pace and miss nothing. My customers tell me I don't miss anything.

I love this business....

/neil

[Jeff 232]

I love this business....

Love to read it

Its a great biz.

Show us some pics Neil

[Neil_Asheville 114]

JeffL and JeffR....hey to BOTH of you!

JeffL, let's talk next week. I'll be calling you.

Here's a peek at the current project. I'm very satisfied how this one's cleaning up. I'll try to get more up early in the week. Heading out of town for family stuff today.

cheers,

/neil

[danster 15]

Summer months I would say between 75 to 150 man hours a week with a avg. 75 hours work week per employee. The rest of the time is painting. Winter months can vary between 5 to 20 man hours a week just by my lonesome since the employees are laid off, mostly jobs for thawing out pipes.

Dan

[Electro 14]

As long as we are talking about hours, are you making sure you are properly allocating and recovering your compensation? What I mean is, if you work with a tool in your hand for 6 hours per day and then spend another 6 hours doing estimates and paperwork. Part of your salary is billable, part is overhead. I know many owners who work 14 hour days, yet when they look at their compensation they would be better off working for someone else and doing this on the side. Construction services can be an incredibly financially rewarding endeavor as long as you spend as much time growing your business mind as you do your professional expertise.

Happy Holidays

Brian

http://www.yourcostcenter.com

[john@AEC 37]

G'day Jeff

I work alone - so do it all - quotes, purchasing, maintenance, marketing, accounting and even the actual cleaning...

In a 45 hr working week I would, maybe, charge out 30 hours; and out of 52 weeks in a year I expect only 40 weeks of work (4 weeks holiday, 2 weeks for public holidays, extra days on school holidays....). So, this year I expect to charge out about 1200 hours (as against 40 x 52 = 2080 hours if I was back on salary).

Not a lot is it? add expenses and savings/superannuation and health insurance/workers comp and..... and the hourly rate needed is going up, up, up...