Price

[squirtgun]

We just took a crash course in awning cleaning.One of our window washing customers ordered the starter kit from www.awningcleaning.com , per my suggestion.We have watched the video and read the training manuel.
Now I need to know what to charge.One awning is vinyl and one is cloth,both about 40ft in length,and maybe 5ft tall.We will need to provide our own water supply,I will use our 2300 psi pressure washer with a high/low nozzle, set on low for rinsing.I don't mind using the chemicals the customer bought,since I recommended them.
Should I figure and hourly rate that I want to make,or should I charge a flat price?
I need to start on these next week,quick replies would be helpful.






edited by OTP to correct link

[dlamontm98]

http://www.dcs1.com/del/pricing.html

Use this thread, it is very informative with pricing guide lines.

I was thinking about purchasing the same start up kit. Please tell, was the tape worth its money? Was it informative?

Also, please let me know how your job goes? Would love to know the details of it----Was it easy or difficult? etc....

I seriously thinking about going into this service and would love some insight from someone who is performing this type of work.







Edited by OTP to correct link

[One Tough Pressure]

Just for info, if you just place the www. and the site name and then .com it will show as a hyperlink. If you put [url] on the front and not the end, it will not. I changed these for ease of use.

[squirtgun]

When we finish the job,i'll post and let everyone know how the products work.The video is long,but informative.The written manuel covers all of the same stuff but it will be nice to have it on the job for reference.I have high hopes that the awnings will look great when we are done.The cutomer was more than willing to order and pay for the chems,and what we will be charging to clean them.The total length is 114ft so I'm giving a quote of $190,that is $1.50 a linear ft.,plus the cost of taking water to the work site.

OTP thanks for fixing the post for me,I did put www but when I edited the post it switched to url for some reason.
We will try to post pics of before and after when we get done next week.

[Jon]

Now this is what I want to hear about too as I also have been looking into adding awning cleaning to my flat work.

So do post pictures, do post time to do each awning and full job.

Also how the chemicals worked etc.

Jon

[BigPete]

Make sure you thoroughly rinse the awnings, and do not let the chemical dry on them. Also, try to do a test on the least visible side to make sure the chemical and material/dye are compatible.

I do a few awnings for some of my customers, I wash by hand (very soft brush) and rinse with high volume and LOW pressure.
If any chem stays on and dries - you will have less than desirable results.

[BigPete]

Oh I forgot - Will you be doing the inside as well, or just outside?

[squirtgun]

Pete,
We did the test spots today,everything was fine,we will be doing these this Sat.Pushed things up because the store closes at 1pm and we won't have to work around customers going in and out.
Yes we will be doing the underside also.We will be using soft brushes on poles.
I'll let everyone know how things go.

[paul-uk]

i have heard that if you use low pressure at first on the inside it will loosen up the surface dirt(pushes it out of the weave) and then rinse from the top down on the outside.

there are sites that do not recomend the use of p\w aswell....there are plenty of sites that you can find aswell to read up about the way they recomend you do it aswell.

[squirtgun]

We completed the awning cleaning sat afternoon,the chemicals from www.awningcleaning.com worked great.The vinyl awning was 1/2 red and 1/2 grey,the red looks new again,and the grey near prefect,with the exception of one stain from bird poop.the cloth awning looks great bringing a lot of the color in the stripes back brighter.
Sunday we returned to seal both awnings.It is peanut harvest time here(we are the peanut capital of the world) so the peanut mill in town is running 24/7,had to blow(gas blower) peanut dust from both awnings before we sealed.
The vinyl sealer was really easy to apply using a 10" window strip washer,it coats very evenly and the awning looks great.
The fabric sealer was applied with a pump up sprayer,about 8" above the surface,when dry there is not a lot of difference in the look but this stuff really repels water.
Total time on the job for both days was 4 hrs,picked up the check today from a very happy customer,he was ready to spend $7000 on new awnings before I suggested the cleaning kit.(these awnings are only 3yrs old,should last with proper care for 6 to 7 yrs).We bid $190 he paid $200,the extra $10 was just because.
I'll post before and after pics as soon as I can.

Sounds like you guys did a good job, but isnt $200 for 4 hours kind of a waste of time..? if you saved him $7000, I would have bid at least 10%
or a minimum of $750.00, maybe down there the cost of living is real low,
but here in the midwest, you couldnt last a month charging $50 an hour
I have to charge at least $125 an hour and that is labor only...

[squirtgun]

If we had been doing Pwing for the customer we would have been in the $90 hr plus range,but for this kind of work we can not get more than $50 hr.The customer only paid for labor,he had the chemicals on hand per my suggestion.I rarely give a customer the opportunity to buy their own,but since we were both taking a long shot on something new,it worked for both of us.
The cost of living here is lower than other parts of the country, and this customer will paid us $10,000 for different services by the end of the year.I wish we has 30 more just like him,he has never asked for a discount,nor has he ever questioned any price I have quoted him.

[paul-uk]

way to go scott....keep lookin they are out there ......where rob lives he semms able to command a top price that most parts cannot compete with.....if i emigrate i know where i will settle

paul.

[Jon]

You did take before and after pictures right, and you are going to POST them for we can all see your first job.

Don't worry how it came out, everyone knows the first couple jobs in a new field are not as perfect as the next one and the one after.

Just post the pics please.

Sorry Scott, I didnt realize he gave you that much work, I would then charge about the same for that job, you cant get better than repeat business, and it is always best to take care of your returning customers, and as far as my prices being high, Im not so sure about that, I think the national average for wood restoration is over $2.00 a sq ft, and I am in the $1.50 a sq ft range
which I think is more than fair, when you hear customers say things like building my deck was easier than washing and staining it, you know then how valuable your services are.. Once again, you did good at that price, my mistake