First Commercial estimate/job questions

[Mtxz453]

I have an estimate I have to give tomorrow for my first commercial job and I have a couple of questions. It is a 10,000 square foot warehouse that was apparently used as a machine shop. Apparently there is some grease build up on the walls inside and he wants me to see what has to be done to get it cleaned. I have never done somethign like this so are there environmental issues I should be concerned with and any special techniques for removing the soot from a machine shop? Any suggestions on giving the estimates? I'm used to residential houses ranging from 200-400 depending on the size.

[Adrian]

You will have to recover or recycle on this one for sure.
Legally, you are most likely to be required to have a transfer permit from your city, a dump station permit, and possibly a vehicle transfer sticker.

Proper insurance coverage.
Hot water.
Stronger chems. Possibly Sodium Hydroxide based.
Drain dams.
Ventilation .
respirators.
Co-ordination with business to empty out all the bays and equipment to park while cleaning. ( harder than it sounds).
Suface cleaner.
the list could go on and on as to what bases you have and have not covered due to the information you have provided.

But,.... since you are more accustomed to resi cleaning I have to say that, the shop would be a different ball game altogether. Esp., due to the cost of rising materials.

Not trying to discourage you by any means. If all your bases are covered to the obvious needs, then it's yours.
The cost of being current, compliant and legal is unreal. To me it is not worth the fine of "not knowing".

I am sure you will get varying replies about your rate, if, in fact, you are asking what to quote. I would certainly get the resi rate matrix out of my head on this one.
Good luck.

[Mtxz453]

yea, i guess depending on how the job looks tomorrow maybe i just won't take it. thanks for the reply.

[weaselcossey]

Originally Posted by Mtxz453

yea, i guess depending on how the job looks tomorrow maybe i just won't take it. thanks for the reply.

I'm sure you know what you can and can't do, but I wouldn't just turn the job down. When you see the building and what has to be cleaned, reclaimed, disposed of, worked around, etc, try to decide what equipment you would need to do the job safely, legally, and competently. If nothing else, bid enough to buy a water reclaim system, surface cleaner, or whatever. Even if you overbid, nothing lost.

Don't get in over your head, and if you take the job, do it right. Don't just turn down anything that's out of your comfort zone. You gotta get your hands on different things to learn and expand your biz. Always pay attention when you're bidding a job and think: "A surface cleaner sure would be nice." If you say that 'X' amount of times, just go buy one. Anything that makes your job easier is money well spent.

P.S. If you give an estimate, be sure you work out times to come test chemicals on what you're cleaning. Always consider things like this when giving an estimate, tell them you'll have to order and test different chems before starting.

No shame in knowing your limits or testing them. Good luck.

[Adrian]

great advice Wesley. The job could concievably pay for a surface cleaner and a reclaim unit. Probably wouldn't show much of a profit but initially would supply him with the proper gear for the next commercial project.

He should definately secure the bid first before investing in the gear though.

[Mtxz453]

Ok, well i went this morning to check it out. Definetly the biggest job that i have done if i get it. When I checked it out, there is absolutely no grease on the walls, just dust, as far as the ground, its pretty much the same thing. There are no areas of severe grease build up, just two or three very small grease stains. It looks like an environmental hazard is non-existant in this job, I probably won't need any soaps for some of it. However, it is a very big job, i just need to figure out how to give the estimate now. He wants the walls and floor pressure washed in the 10,000 sq ft warehouse and he wants an office painted inside and out that consist of 6 smaller rooms that is contained within the warehouse. Any suggestions how I could go about getting this estimate together?

[Adrian]

as rates vary by region. I would suggest going on a quick read on this link and see what methods you can find.

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/...earchid=492958

[Mtxz453]

Adrian, thanks for the link but it went to an error page. I found a survey of pricing on one of the threads here and I kind of used that as a base. Here's how I bid the job:
According to the survey rates are .15-.25 per sq ft for flatwork
I charged .15 per sq ft for 10,000 sq ft - $1500 for the pressure washing
For the painting I charged $3000 including supplies and fixing one of the walls and I told him everything would be finished within a 5 day work week at the most.

Sounded a little high to me at first but my girlfriends mom said that was right. What do you guys think?

[squirtgun]

Exactly what type of commercial property is this?

[Mtxz453]

It used to be some sort of old machine shop but it is only dirty with actual dirt and dust, no grease or other envrionmental hazards. The walls are about 25 feet tall and it is just one wide open 100x100 foot warehouse with the office unit inside.

[Mtxz453]

I gave the guy an estimate this morning and he has not gotten back to me. Do those prices sound to steep?

[iclean4u]

Did you say you had to do the walls? If so did you measure the sf of the walls? You said 25ft tall x 100 ft x4 =10,000 sf plus the floor =10,000 sf so total 20,000 sf is this right?

[Mtxz453]

I'm not really sure to tell you the truth.. i didn't measure anything and it sure didn't look like 10,000 sq ft but I got the job and I start monday woohoo

[MMI Enterprises]

"it sure didn't look like"..you didn't measure?.. you gotta measure.
Well good for you.. but in future consider that is no way to head into things if ya have to buy and figure paintng products.

On the warehouse..As Iclean points out it all adds up different than just the floor footage.
Walls are made of what?. You plan to shoot from ground or a lift?. where is the standing water gonna go? Personally I would scrub the floor with an autoscrubber cheaper than most here would pressure it and your pricing might then be close.

6 rooms to paint?. how big? If ya have ceiling in any of them or have to patch and prime or use suitable paint for a perticular type room or paint trim you could be in for more work then ya bargained for....But with knowing standard sizing for warehouse offices out here and the basics involved I would say yer close on the painting price too.

[Mtxz453]

I started the job this week. Thank you MMI for the responce and yes i was very niave in giving the estimate but now I know a whole lot more for next time now that im doing the job. Did all the prep work yesterday for the paint and powerwashing. Today i picked up a couple of workers and had them start painting and they finished all the priming, so tomorrow they can hopefully finish the paint. I started the pressure washing today with one of sunbrites concrete cleaning chemicals and the walls are coming out great. However, like you said, I am having a problem with trying to get the standing water out, one guy with a floor squeegy doesn't exactly cut it. Plus none of the stains are really coming off the floor, just the dirt. Maybe I should look at a floor scrubber. Total for supplies, including x-jet paint etc is around $800 so far and I estimate about $1000 for the laborers. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.