Jhignutt 14 Report post Posted January 25, 2007 Im trying to get a ballpark labor rate for cleaning and stripping wood per sf. of area? I know it varies on location but just somewhere to start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 PressurePros 248 Report post Posted January 25, 2007 area of what.. floor, rail system, siding? They all have varying rates. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 bigchaz 157 Report post Posted January 25, 2007 Some people do it differently. I base mine on sf just of surface and extra rate for more stairs Other people measure all the wood including floor, rails, steps, etc. So there rate would be a lot lower Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 Celeste 341 Report post Posted January 25, 2007 We also consider what is being done, clean, mild strip, severe strip.... Celeste Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted January 28, 2007 We use a sliding scale based on sqft relevant to our companies pricing requirements. Rod!~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 Jarrod 22 Report post Posted January 28, 2007 On a deck, I measure all flooring, benches and steps (each step counts as 2 b/c of the kick board) If you charge accordingly, you will make $. We don't "clean" decks. We use stripper on all decks. Much easier & faster. Please, nobody jump up my a$$. It really works. And NO! It does NOT fuzz up the wood! Don't knock it til' you try it. And if it didn't work for you, you did it wrong! (WOW!) That was pretty direct Jarrod. Yeah, it was, but, I just didn't want this thread to derail with questions about my methods. Well, I guess I see your point. Thank you for understanding. You're welcome! ps> Don't mind me, I'm just talking amongst myself! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 bigchaz 157 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 Jarrod what stripper do you use for quote "cleaning" purposes? Something different than decks that have a sealer already on it? Or just a weaker mix? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 seymore 90 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 ps> Don't mind me, I'm just talking amongst myself! That's good but i hope you don't answer yourself HUH ??? ;) :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 Jarrod 22 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 Good question. If the deck is really grey, (P.T. wood) I will d.s. the stripper on it. This loosens the grey fibres just enough to wash them off quick & easy. If it is a cedar deck and just a little gray or very grey, I will pre wet it and then d.s. the stripper on it, then wash. Of course, I follow with a brightener. Why have "cleaners" if the stripper works just as well, or better? A number of times, I would think that there wasn't any stain on a deck. (Old Pennofin gets really dark & moldy.) After I sprayed the stripper on and started washing, I saw the old stain coming off. Try it, it really works great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 plainpainter 217 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 I agree with Jarrod - I was downstreaming onto a house this deck&house cleaner from MiTim, and the residual was washing down onto this small really greyed and algaed dark deck. This is an alkaline cleaner of some sort - then I low pressure washed the wood - and it looked beautiful! The only difference with this kind of cleaner is you have to neutralize it, right? Where as I wouldn't neutralize when I use a bleach/tsp solution or a percarb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 Jarrod 22 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 I agree with Jarrod - I was downstreaming onto a house this deck&house cleaner from MiTim, and the residual was washing down onto this small really greyed and algaed dark deck. This is an alkaline cleaner of some sort - then I low pressure washed the wood - and it looked beautiful! The only difference with this kind of cleaner is you have to neutralize it, right? Where as I wouldn't neutralize when I use a bleach/tsp solution or a percarb. Exactly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 Jarrod 22 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 That's good but i hope you don't answer yourself HUH ??? ;) :D LOL. Yeah, I know what you mean. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 squirtgun 122 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 On a deck, I measure all flooring, benches and steps (each step counts as 2 b/c of the kick board)If you charge accordingly, you will make $. We don't "clean" decks. We use stripper on all decks. Much easier & faster. Please, nobody jump up my a$$. It really works. And NO! It does NOT fuzz up the wood! Don't knock it til' you try it. And if it didn't work for you, you did it wrong! (WOW!) That was pretty direct Jarrod. Yeah, it was, but, I just didn't want this thread to derail with questions about my methods. Well, I guess I see your point. Thank you for understanding. You're welcome! ps> Don't mind me, I'm just talking amongst myself! I think we are related.I have similar conversations with myself often.My brother from a different mother. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 Still, it is an important distinction to be made between cleaning and stripping Jarrod. How you do it and with what chems is up to you but the scope of work involved in each can still be pretty much the same. Cleaning as Jarrod does, means you don't have to defur the wood before sealing and the process of cleaning takes places easier and faster where in contrast to stripping, it likely takes longer to accomplish with additional time needed to possibly defur the wood which all constitutes the higher pricing. When attending a deck or other wooden structure for the first time, we always take it back to bare wood unless the client has a product installed they want to continue with and does not need to be stripped in order to provide a favorable result. This is rare though. In order to warrant our work, its our way or no way literally. This is a line we draw because one cannot expect to warrant someone else's work you are only cleaning and re-coating. The reason supporting this is that in the vast majority of cases, it cannot be determined if the proper preparations were made and if the application was done according to mfr's specifications. Better not to get bit than to have to cover a possible lemon job. If it helps, we only warrant products we recommend contingent upon the species of wood and it's ability to sustain the product we install. Hopefully, this will help you as your company grows to structure your pricing to fit your costs better. Clean $$$+ Strip $$$++ Seal $$$+ Prime and Seal $$$++ (solid stains) Rod!~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 plainpainter 217 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 What's the deal with warrantying your job? All it takes is somebody to put a towel for hours on a railing that is filled with chlorinated pool water - or cat vomit - or a bag of wood ashes after cleaning out their wood stove, that they left on the deck and with rain water has become a big heaping mess of potassium hydroxide! I don't want calls in the middle of the night - and believe me I get calls in the wee hours from some homeowners over matters that could have easily waited for a more reasonable time of day. But back to the thread - I will throw a number at ya - $0.85/sq.ft. to clean $0.85/sq.ft to seal with products included. Ok I have run that flag up the pole - anyone care to shoot it down? And if you only count just the actual decking area not railings or steps - that figure will be the absolute lowest you can go. I do a deck that is 6 feet off the ground wraps around two sides of a house and two stairways and if you stretched it out would be 10 feet by 45 feet long. And I charged $750- only because the customer is very rich and very disrespectful of what it takes to do a deck - so I take the job because the cash comes in handy - and working my butt off with a helper - and with the aid of a 28ft long pic supported 4 off the ground along the longest side of the porch to make it easier to do the outside parts of the deck - I was able to make $40/hr. And that's because I had stained the deck 2 years prior - and the whole deck only needed 4 gallons this time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 What's the deal with warrantying your job? All it takes is somebody to put a towel for hours on a railing that is filled with chlorinated pool water - or cat vomit - or a bag of wood ashes after cleaning out their wood stove, that they left on the deck and with rain water has become a big heaping mess of potassium hydroxide! I don't want calls in the middle of the night - and believe me I get calls in the wee hours from some homeowners over matters that could have easily waited for a more reasonable time of day. Warranties come with conditions that are covered and not covered respectively. Sabotage or carelessness on their part is not covered. A warranty carries more weight with our clientele who have been burned by others in the past and are looking for someone to actually back up their words on paper. We do this by popular demand under recommended products that we have found capable of warranty. Some decks are not warrantable due to severe neglect and disrepair.btw...why do you answer the phone after office hours? An automated attendant works great and you can get the messages in the am when your office opens. Just a thought. That is part of the taking control of the company and not letting it control the owner approach we have initiated and I tell ya, it's nice to have set hours to get back to family life. Rod!~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 plainpainter 217 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 Well you have a point - I have let customers take advantage of me in the past. I just thought people had common sense - I would love to offer a warranty - but what if like I said, they left wood ashes on the deck - and with rainwater became a big blob of potassium hydroxide - effectively would strip that area. Then later the client cleans up the evidence, and may have no clue that it was their fault - and I would be left with explaining that I don't understand why the sealant failed in one area - and they would never offer that they piled wood ashes in that spot. I have had it with warranties - either they like my reputation or they don't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 PressurePros 248 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 Dan, you have to stop being so cynical, LOL. I have offered a two year warranty (with excessive wear disclaimers)since I started deck work and have never been called for warranty work. From Tommy Boy (Chis Farley) Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted, why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting. Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I'm listening. Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and cozy inside. Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good. Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted? Ted Nelson, Customer: What's your point? Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy, well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser and your daughter's knocked up, I seen it a hundred times. Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box? Tommy: Because they know all they solda ya was a guaranteed piece of ****. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
0 plainpainter 217 Report post Posted January 29, 2007 Ken - I would have to see how somebody else's guarantee is worded before I could think about offering warrantees. This one deck I did - for some reason 2 years from the day I coated it - was peeling in sections. And the customer was unhappy. My attitude - was that it had gone 2 years in a brilliantly hot area after I restored it from being neglected for 8 yrs. The way I saw it - it was time to pressure wash, sand those sections, and reapply. If I had given them a 2 yr. warrantee - could they have gotten me for a whole new deck staining by coming to me 2 weeks before 2 years had gone by? Decks that are in hot sun - all day long, with a southerly direction - with absolutely no shade - is going to take a lot of abuse. And prior to me finding wood-tux, I would think would be a candidate for yearly washings and staining. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Im trying to get a ballpark labor rate for cleaning and stripping wood per sf. of area? I know it varies on location but just somewhere to start.
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