|
| Thursday, July 29, 2010 |
 |
|
|
|
| [Wednesday, June 28, 2006] |
| I provide bi-monthly office floor care for a large grocery warehouse. I have been scrubbing/recoating the VCT portion for about three years. This weekend, I stripped two areas for the first time, using a 17 inch floor machine and it was a very slow process. As I will be asked in the near future to strip other, larger areas, I need to know an appropriate amount to charge for the work. The floors are in good condition, but have been burnished regularly, and have many coats of finish. To strip two rooms, approximately 1500 sq. ft., required eight gallons of commercial stripper, and three strippings of each floor. Labor was 18 man hours, much on hands and knees with putty knives. The outcome was beautiful, and I charged .40 sq.ft. Is this enough? It is far less profit than I receive from the scrub/finish, which usually provides $.16 /sq.ft. for 15,000 sq. ft., in the same general amount of time. Also, what range is reasonable and customary for commercial strippers who use the propane machines? Perhaps I could hire the stripping out while retaining the contract.
|
| Bidding & Estimating - Burt Forney |
|
|
|
|
Answer #1:
After spending over 20 years in the Texas market, I would be surprised if you would find many “larger” accounts willing to pay more than 40 cents. In your case, that would be $6,000. The amount of labor and chemical required indicates too frequent finish application. That needs immediate correction.
Excessive costs can be reduced in future jobs by following some of these suggestions:
1. A 20”-26” autoscrubber will likely strip the same area three times faster than a 17” swing buffer. You still apply stripper with a mop or you can try one of the newer application machines. Then, you make slow, double passes with a build-up removal or high productivity strip pad. Apply water if the stripping solution begins to dry.
2. Since you have been top-coating for a while, you could have a couple dozen coats of finish on the floor. This will be a definite challenge to remove. The key is to only apply a top-coat of finish to the traffic areas that will in turn wear off in a reasonable period of time.
3. Before you start with the scrub operation you must memorize or note where the heavy traffic lanes occur, because after you scrub, it will be difficult to identify those areas. With notes, you will know where to apply a full coat and where to skip or only lightly apply.
4. Many floor finish procedures recommend painting out the edges and then filling in middle. Wrong approach. Cutting in the edges first, is the worst thing you could do. Our training programs teach the “Inverse Mopping Procedure”. You want to paint down the middle of the traffic lane (dragging the mop from the mop bucket to approximately 25’ ahead of you and then mop back to the bucket, spreading the finish evenly. If you use an auto applicator, wait until the pad is dry and then paint the edges. The same is true when using a wet mop.
5. The important thing is to only “kiss” the edges. When applying 2-3 coats, only one light coat should reach the edges. This approach should eliminate hours "on hands and knees with putty knives”. Now, with only a slight build-up of finish on the edges, a doodlebug scrub should cut thru the thin layers.
In summary, the trick is to apply only enough finish to keep a shine and never enough to create more than about 7 coats total. I realize that 20 coats provide a superior depth of gloss, but they are a major nightmare when stripping. You should only top-coat in the areas that traffic and burnishing will eventually wear back down. Finally, substitute more burnishing to replace frequent finish application. Following these procedures could cut future strip costs by 50%.
As far as offering to strip out the rest of the heavy multiple coats, even at the same price – that’s a call only you can make. Again, an autoscrubber will greatly reduce your labor. If the customer specified monthly finishing of low traffic areas, perhaps they would share some costs in correcting the error. Or, the customer could reply, “Why didn’t you tell us in advance what would happen?"
Gary Clipperton
National Pro Clean Corp
(719) 598-5112
www.nationalproclean.com
Answer #2:
First, I don't believe you need to hire out your stripping. That's a lot of money you'll be passing up, considering the sq. ft. you are contracted to maintain. A more accurate way to bill for stripping is on an estimated hourly basis, charging at least $50.00 per hour for a two man crew, plus supplies, i.e. stripper, floor finish, floor pads. Of course, hourly wages and rates can vary from area to area.
Also, it would be helpful to purchase equipment adequate for the job. A propane powered burnisher will increase your production rate substantially. Go on the internet and you will be surprised at some of the deals you can get price-wise, or check your local supplier. Consider renting or lease-to-buy options if that fits your situation better economically at this time. The ISSA is an excellent source for obtaining general job production rates when using different machines, such as a propane stripper vs. an automatic floor machine vs. a 20" swing machine, etc
I am not familiar with rates in Texas. I'm sure they vary from
city to city in such a big state. Generally, I've found that wages are quite a bit lower in the Southwest than in other parts of the country. So, naturally, the local wages drive what the bid costs are going to be.
What I recommend to do in figuring out sq. ft. bids, is to figure
out the cost to do the job hourly, plus my estimated costs for chemicals, transportation, etc. Then divide the total by the sq. ft. to get a local cost per sq. ft.. I don't know what production rates for a propane powered autoscrubber are (Coyote in Edmonds,WA manufactures them, for one) , but
the problem lies with areas that are built up enough to require 3 stripping cycles to get the floor fully stripped. An automatic scrubbing machine just does not have the pad pressure and rpm to compare with a propane powered stripping machine. Plus the pads or brushes are usually bigger as well, allowing for a wider scrubbing cut. A propane powered stripping machine would probably reduce the stripping time by at least
1/3, increasing the profit accordingly.
I generally don't give discounts for stripping large areas, due
to the hard nature of the work and the increased difficulty and hazard of stripping and recoating.
Glen Franklin
Floorfacts@peoplepc.com
|
| ICAN representative |
|
|
|
|
|
