Anybody here own a cleaning company?

[mikeandronda]

A friend of ours offered some side work with their construction company doing Construction clean up.........I have done this job many times as an hourly worker but they want me to bid this job out.........It will be cleans.....After frame and roof goes up.......After painted and trim and cabinets go up and then one more after its all done.........How does one go about bidding a job when they are not sure how much time it will take? Oh and any other pointers would be great. After my wifes injury on mothers day the bills started growing and loss of work with the both of us almost sunk us and as it stands we are barely keeping our heads abouvr water so this side work will be a prayer answered.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

Since you have done this job before, many times you say, then you should be able to calculate an estimate of cost for the clean up. You have no materials to buy, just time and labor cost. So, how much do you feel that you are worth per hour???

That perticular job leaves me out, my labor is "PRICELESS!"

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

Thats the thing, when i did the job previously I would have lots of other things to do as well.(I used to be their Construction Supervisor and did the clean up as hourly side work for them).....I was their go to grunt working guy and due to that am haveing a hard time determining how many hours i spent on a job also I never did final cleans. I know most companies that do this go by square footage and a list of stuff they would do but they all want to come out to bid a job........Also what I think Im worth per hour and the reality of what someone my pay may differ but I wont take the job for under $10 an hour if they cover supplies. I can walk on to too many crews I know of in the Bussness for $10.00/hour to work for less. They know my work as I used to work for them so they wouldnt balk at that but I want to bid the job like a pro would then cut them a deal, so we all can be happy.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

Figure roughly how long it will take and what's involved and then bid it 20 bucks an hour and if they balk, then come down to 15 and they supply the supplies for the job.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

Well everywhere I looked at says from .18 cents to .20 cents a square foot. And for just the post clean it on 2000 sq ft should take 20 hrs. I agree that I can always come down off a bid Spinner so .20 per sqaure ft. or $20 per hour comes to $400 for just the post clean. ( I have much of the supplies from back when I worked Construction)

 

[Waffle]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

I don't own a cleaning business but my landscape business has a minimum charge for labor only. I network with a person that lives in your area and his rates are similar to mine. Whoever is hiring you doesn't want to hear about your financial hardships, they just want the work done well, reliably and cost effective.

33 dollars per man/woman hour is our minimum. That's for weeding. Travel time to the job and back is included in the charge. If you are working above board and paying taxes kiss 30 percent of that goodbye to Uncle Sam. That leaves you 23.10 per hour to work in dirt, sawdust, paint and adhesive fumes, not to mention getting into awkward positions on ladders.

Cleaning like weeding is nearly impossible to estimate. You never know how the conditions are going to change from when you take a look at it until you actually show up to do the work. I usually quote a low and high end. Low end would be what I saw before I quoted. High end would be 50 percent more.

Example: "Mrs. Jones we believe we can take care of your requested services in 3 hours at 33 per man hour. 99 bucks. However, difficulties can arise
and can become more labor intensive. The high end would be 148 bucks. We would like you to authorize the work with these parameters in mind."

Handshakes don't mean squat when it comes to money. Get it in writing.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

I hear what your saying Waffle this would be a one time deal for some friends that have bitten off a little more then they can chew and are building too many houses at once............I do like the low bid end high end and if I was going to go into this as a carrer I would maybe try that out but I do have another job so to speak and this would be some quick cash to make ends meet........allthough who knows what the future may hold, I do plan on moving to Fla. in the next year and have some conections there as well that could mean having work right away when I move there.

 

[Coors]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

As a construction superintendent-
Bid what you think it will take, until you win a bid.
Then do it, and see what it costs you.
Square footage will never be the same, due to; more floor tile,etc; I know these particular subs on this project are more messy, etc.
The materials cost so much per unit, etc.
It takes time to figure it out.
But, once the general contractor knows that you are good, and you always can meet the schedule(with 2 weeks notice), you have all their work, and can charge more.
We love subs that can help us out.
Dependability is the key.
Good luck.

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

When you say cleanup do you mean sweep the floors and wash the windows? Or is pick up the scrap materials laying around that the contractors left behind? If it's the latter are you responsible for disposing of the scrap in a dumpster and then removing the dumpster.

I see it's for a friend, but you must not let that influence your billing.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

They provide the dupster but yes its cleaning the scraps. I have not worked as the super in over 2 yrs so I dont know most of the subs that are with them now. This would only be for 1 or 2 jobs so I can take a small loss just want to throw out a realistic number at them and also be reasonably safe in what I will get payed vs. hours worked

 

[Coors]

Re: Anybody here own a cleaning company?

Go to work for one of them for one day- you can hear the low-down.