This is new construction due to be completed in July. The owner asked me to give a bid for pressure washing and window cleaning. I just wanted to throw this out to you guys to see if my numbers sound right. All of this to be done with WFP. I’ve got 97 windows on the first floor at $1.50 each. 159 on level 2 @ $2.50, another 159 on level 3 @ $3.50 each. Grand total is $1,100.
Opinions? Too high, too low. Please discuss.
Are you 100 percent sure that there’s no construction debris, on the glass or frames? Silicon can be very hard to spot while the glass is dirty - it would suck to clean it all with a WFP, only to have to go back and remove stuff.
How many hours do you think it will take?
I have not gotten inside yet to ensure that the general contractor already had the windows cleaned by the install crew and all the silicone was removed. A good majority of the windows are joined together without a top or bottom frame rail, just a huge line of essentially silicone, though it is a much higher density.
On a 2 story building I average about 42 windows an hour, so let’s assume 1.5 minutes per window. I would be looking at somewhere close to 11 hours. The only caveat is that every 6 months they want to pressure wash the building so I will have a lift and I can do the WFP from there and it will go faster. But the price for the average monthly maintenance cleaning is going to be all from the ground so I have to assume the longest duration. If I went to 2 minutes per pane, as a more conservative time to account for setup and additional resting for my shoulders during the 3rd level cleaning, the overall time would extend to nearly 14 hours. The actual time cleaning may be closer to a minute on the glass, but after about 20 straight minutes on the highest level, I might need to take 15 minutes to relax and hydrate, it is Florida after all.
Wow! They want you to do maintenance clean every month? That’s awesome, I was personally thinking your per pane price was low but that’s just based on the one large building that I’ve posted in the past.
I was thinking about $4 for the lower level, $7-$8 at the top, other levels priced in between. Could be easier without all the frames, I’ve never had one quite that style yet.
For every month though, it may be worth the lower price though. What would you guess the reach of your pole to be at the top? 40’ maybe?
The whole building is right about 35 feet, so the top of the 3rd level windows are going to be around 30. I think each floor is about 10-12 ft. It is actually an all wood building with the exception of the fire stairwell and the elevator shafts which are required to be concrete/block for fire safety, but the rest is this compressed laminate wood so as to be a highly renewable resource material building.
One of the reasons they were asking me to quote them was that I was one of the few WFP cleaners in the area. Competition has picked up in the area though. So I have to try to keep my numbers from getting too high. I think I will give them two numbers, one for a monthly maintenance at my current numbers, and one at a semi annual rate with another dollar increase per level.
more like $3,500
Did you get this job? How did it turn out?
I ended up bidding $2000 for the window cleaning exterior only. $4100 for pressure washing the entire building. And $1500 for a lift and light tower rental. That was back in June, but the developer said they were holding off until they obtained their Certificate of Occupancy. Then I never heard anything. I’ve driven by the building on a nearly daily basis and never saw any similar work being done. The building is still being worked on as far as finding tenants so I don’t know if the developer ran out of funds after the combination of the covid shut downs and slow reopening.
Honestly, I have been so busy that I haven’t even tried to follow up with the developer since October.
From my dealings, people talk about having a service every month and additional services, with the sole purpose of getting a low price, when they are ready they will call, wanting that price, but they will not want a monthly service or even a quarterly. So don’t give them a low price for the first cleaning, discount the maintenance cleans if you want
The biggest mistake we make, is bidding low. If you get every bid than it is too low. Try to get about 60 percent of your proposals. You will get the hang of it. Good luck.
