cleaning gutters

[KerryB]

Ok everyone, I have been asked to give a bid on a condo complex. It is an old appartment complex that has been turned into condos. Everyone there owns his or her own apartment(condo) lol.
I have no problem with bidding on maintenance for landscape. But was wondering if I should add labor for aerating? or should it be included in monthly price?
But they have also asked for a bid on cleaning the roofs and gutters. I havnt done this before but should be simple. 56 units all 1 story.
At most should take 45 min per unit to clean out and clean up on ground.
so 42 man hours
42x35=1,470.00 for first cleaning
21x35=735.00 for second cleaning only on one half of condos.

So am I in the ballpark with $2,205.00?

[lawrence stone]

If they are all one story all you need to do is add a long length of pvc pipe with a 180 on the end to a backbreaker blower and work from the ground.

[strickdad]

we price ours by the liner foot and prices are anywhere from 1 to 4 dollars a foot. depending on complexity..

[kutnkru]

But was wondering if I should add labor for aerating?
If you do a search on aerating you will find that just about everyone charges by the sq ft for this and other Renovation Services. I would also keep them as a seperate part out of your
monthly billings.

But they have also asked for a bid on cleaning the roofs and gutters. I havnt done this before but should be simple.
Simple enough to get your arse killed or do structural damage to the property.

I would recommend that you call a licensed roofing contractor and get an estimate from them. Add 10% to it and submit the price. BTW strickdad is doing it how we price also with a $50 minimum per roof for single homes. $75 minimum for commercial sites.

$1 ft - single story
$2 ft - second story
$4 ft anything above 2 stories.

After careful consideration and re-evaluation at the sound advice and judgement of TLG I hired a local sub to it and he charges $20 story. He was more than happy to get a list of homes with split level gutters and I was extatic to finally keep my feet on the ground this season.

FYI you will need to get insurance listed for tree removal type services because your grounds policy for lawn/landscape work WILL NOT cover you. ;)

Hope this helps.
Kris

[Fantasy Lawns]

kris is right on subin out work ...... add 10% n be happy .... as a full maintenance contractor we sub out work not in our normal scope of work ….. someday down the road we may develop such services in-house …..

we sub all spraying, tree work over 20’, hardscape etc. ... we are the first contact ...... we pay the contractor n pass the bill on ...... n our company is able to provide the "full service" the owner wishes

[GroundKprs]

If you are going to clean gutters, don't forget the most important part that 90% of the people miss. Make sure the downspouts are clear - use a blower or water to make sure you have clear downflow. In our area I have seen many times that the blockage in the downspout freezes during the winter and splits the downspout at the seams.

And the blower extensions to work from the ground are a great idea, but that is all they are, an idea. In reality, you can't see if you've really cleaned them completely, and you're gonna get splattered with gunk, working from underneath the eavestroughs.

[mdb landscaping]

1 story condo units take you 45 minutes each. i dont know what the slope of the roof is and how big it is, but that seems like a lot of time for each unit. are you doing it by hand, or with a backpack blower? i can do most houses in 20 min tops.

[gogetter]

I agree with MDB, I've done dry gutters with handheld blower, and really wet gutters by hand/trowel on single story homes and either way they usually took less then 45 minutes.

However, I still charged them for a minumum of an hour ($35/hr.).
By your numbers, you'd be getting $26.25 per unit.
In the local paper there are ads ranging from $50-75 per house.

So on first consideration, it looks like your numbers are low. But then when you consider that you don't have to drive between stops, and you don't have to send out 56 seperate bills to individual customers, you're numbers sound about right to me.

Especially if these condo/apartments are connected and you can walk along doing one side at a time, then the other. This would really cut down time and effort, saving trips up and down the ladder.

[KerryB]

Thanks for all the info guys. As for taking 45 min ea. I was just estimating, unload time, climb and clean time, cleanup on ground and dumping time.
I used to clean my parents gutters when I was young living at home and Kris my arse is foremost on my mind lol.
I will ck around and get some prices from local companys. I just hate the idea of leaving it up to someone else to do a good job.

[landscaper3]

We maintain large condominiums run by them or property management companys and our pricing varys. 1 story condo with equipment and cleanup $70hr, 2 story $100hr and 3 story $125hr we have some higher ones but our insurance policy doesnt want anyone over a 3 story building plus thats getting real high for our employees. We get big bucks $$$ for winter snow removal on roofs, our employees can make over $1000 a week no problem in a heavy snow season.

[KerryB]

I found out yesterday this condo set uses a management co. and they have a bid from another co,
The bid is from a gutter cleaning service. He bid $2,050.00 per yr. He cleans 2/3 of the buildings 4 times and the other 1/3 2 times.
I guess there are lowballers for everything lol

[kutnkru]

Not to razz you but when two contractors are within a couple hundered bucks of the other YOU have to ask yourself these questions:

If he has lowballed me, then does this mean that I too am at the lower rungs of the bidding ladder???

If he is in the same ballpark as I am are we in the middle where we should be???

If his bid is a tad lower than mine am I asking too much for what my market will bear??? Am I going to have to re-evaluate my prices to stay competitive??? If I need to keep my prices can I afford to wait for select clients to bite???

Just a few things to ask yourself before pointing fingers. ;)

Kris

[landscaper3]

Becuse your prices are cheaper sometimes much cheaper DOES NOT MEAN YOUR A LOW BALLER!!!!!! If you make money and your company makes money then you bid with confidence and bid WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!