Im gonna come way out from left field and say: treat the guy in charge to lunch and feel him out. Maybe they already know who's getting the job and theyre just going through the motions of getting 3 bids. The reality is that sometimes you have to pay to play on the big jobs. I hate being used as a bid dummy. I havent yet learned how to detect when im being used.
Lots of factors to consider when bidding a job like that. Price it by the square footage? Price it by the mile? Im sure you have to use your own water supply. Are you set up for that? How many machines you using and how many gallons per minute are they? Is there gum removal involved? If yes, your gonna need hot water. Do the areas to be cleaned have a lot of iron stains from sprinkler and lawn spraying companies? If yes, do they expect those stains removed as well? See??? This is why just trying to throw a price out there to help is almost impossible. And Ed is right. Make sure they are not just making you spin your wheels for nothing. I too have wasted countless hrs bidding jobs only to find out that out of work Oscar @ 100 no job lane who lives in the community has already been told he is guaranteed the job as soon as they get one more bid....
Ed perhaps I can help, send me $500 cash and I will show you the secret on how to detect when you are being used. Small bills please.
Pat if you really knew it would be worth it. For the past 3 years the same property manager would ask me to bid a few jobs, but I never got it. This past year I bid on washing some buildings and I gave him a rediculously low price. I still didnt get it. I blacklisted him.
Simon, we typically give a base price of 10 cent per SQUARE foot on sidewalks, then adjust that price from there (up or down) depending on factors. Will you have water close by? What size tnk do you have to port water? Do you have the machinery to handle this job? Does it have to be done all at once, or can you use it as "fill-in" work when you are not busy?
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Ray Burke
Spray Wash Exterior Cleaning
850.528.3226
visit our website Soft Washing and Pressure Washing
Thanks as usual everyone some great tips and thoughts too, yep I also have farted around for hours putting together bids just to provide the 3rd one and getting jack, just part of lifes rich tapestry lmao