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Minimums vs. minimum Minimums

plainpainter

New member
A bunch of us have our 'minimums' - say for instance $300 for house washes or $400 for deck restorations or perhaps $125 for gutter cleanings.

But what is your minimum Minimums - say for instance you have a SF or LF method for counting the siding area of a home - and the home comes to $175 per your calculation - but your washing minimum is $300.

Now say the folks also purchase a $125 gutter cleaning - will you do the house for $175 to make your $300 washing minimum? Or do you maintain an absolute minimum no matter how many bundled services your homeowner purchase?

I am at the point where I will maintain a $300+ stand alone house washing minimum - but even with bundled services I won't go below $250 for the house wash, no matter how small the home.
 

topcoat

Contributing Member
Dan

I was talking with a colleague today who had just gotten his wife's car professionally detailed. The car is a Jetta that is a few years old. Maybe worth $10k tops. He paid $300 for the service and was pumped with the results. We both were saying that we couldnt detail a car that nice if we spent an entire saturday on it, which we could do.

Homes are worth anywhere from 10 to 100 times what that Jetta is worth. And homeowners really cant figure out how to pressure wash or clean out their gutters.

Washing is a service that I offer but certainly dont count on as a large percentage of my business, so I charge what I need to for what is mostly wood resto and pita work. I think pw pros underestimate the knowledge of chems and equipment that they have in order to perform the services they do. Alot of the pricing that is discussed just seems low to me. One would think that car detailing businesses would have the same challenges that paint and pw companies have with lowballers and competition. How can those guys get $300 to clean a car when washers struggle to get that for an entire house? I also think that it should cost significantly more for consumers to get their house washed than their deck. I know you were referrint to deck resto work, but still, not sure they really grasp the difference when the house cost seems low and the deck must look really high in that pricing structure.

Anyways, I hear what you are saying. I really try to avoid minimums because anytime my mind goes down that road the result translates to "profit neutral", which translates to almost "total waste of time."

Good thread topic, hopefully others will weigh in.
 

The Cleaning Doctor

Contributing Member
I got a call yesterday and he just wanted the vinyl cleaned on the eaves. I told him my minimum and he hung up. Oh well didn't want that one anyhow obviously. Went back to cleaning the roof.
 

plainpainter

New member
Scott - I hear with what you are saying about how house washing pricing seems so low. When I was primarily painting - I think I initially bid far more than I do now. I think cars are like 'babies' to guys, the house is what the wife wanted. I think most guys would be happy with a 'bachelor' pad the remainder of their lives, so when it comes time to pay professionals for property maintenance - they are just like, ugggghhhh. But paying a professional with a buffer with some of that Magical Meguiar's glaze restoration creams for clear coats - and guys salivate. That's their baby!

Back to the thread - what I am trying to get across is the concept of coming up with a minimum pricing to show up at someone's door vs. minimums of individual but bundled services. Sure you won't bother coming to someone's home for less than say $300 to wash a home - but say you will wash their roof, clean out the gutters, and wash the house. And now let's say according to your SF or LF estimate the house wash should come out to say $175. Would you give them that price even if all the bundled services together come over $300. Or is their an absolute rock bottom minimum to a house wash no matter how many bundled services.

My point is - yes many of us have our 'minimums' but do we also have a rock bottom minimum. I'll throw some figures out there, not necessarily my own.

House washing minimum: $375 Rock bottom minimum: $250 along with other bundled services.

gutter cleaning minimum: $175 Rock bottom minimum: $75 ditto

roof cleaning minimum: $550 rock bottom min: $300
 

James Foley

New member
It depends what material and the type of surface your cleaning and how to achieve the end result. Marble vanity restoration 2 ft by 6 ft $400.00, Set of cedar garage doors 8 by 10 ft Maintenance $ 400.00 Mahogany deck 15 by 20ft $400.00 wash house $500.00. All on the same house. Some things are cents per sqft and sum are dollars?
 

Ken Fenner

Active member
Daniel, for me the trip charge is the only thing that matters. Its just an analysis made with my numbers and my margins. If the house were $350 and the deck was $550 that would be fine for me. Two trips with a $450 per visit charge meets my criteria for minimum pricing. When I talk to the customer and they tell me its a 1500 s/f ranch I explore the option with the customer of having other work on the property. If they are open to having a property evaluation versus "no, we only need the house washed" I find out where the house is and quote them over the phone. If they are willing to pay $300 and its in my immediate service area, I'll squeeze it in. Nothing is carved in stone.

I agree 100% with Scott about what many guys charge for house washing. We (all of us) are applying expertise, saving a homeowner ladder work, potential personal injury and property damage and achieving results no homeowner and few other contractors can achieve. That has way more value than $250. Business owners that sell pressure washing jobs, ie spraying water, get paid for pressure washing jobs. Business owners that sell on the benefits to property value, saved time and effort and have the credentials to back it up get paid for that.
 

Jeff Wible

New member
Nothing wrong with having minimums,...as I do also,...but usually just keep them to myself and they can be ever changing. Every job can be be different,...which makes for different "minimums",...so to speak.

I think to have minimums set across the board is a way to lose alot of potential work through selling of other services.

For example, I will do just the front of someones house if they wish,...and set the cost according to what it's worth for me to do it,...this will potentially lead to more than one side and possibly concrete cleaning, deck cleaning or roof cleaning.

For me, the idea,... is not to lose money,....but I don't necessarily have to charge a minimum per job. I'm willing to gamble that the small jobs lead to bigger, more profitable jobs,...as it usually does. In this business you must constantly be selling,...and sometimes customers don't realize what they're going to get until you get there and show them,...which is where the extra work comes from.

Jeff
 

John Orr

UAMCC Treasurer
My minimum is based on time. One hour minimum and the price of the hour is determined by the distance traveled. Whatever your minimum, I feel it important to be consistent - especially if you rely on referrals.
 

James Foley

New member
Dan , you have to come up with your own price structure and ask your self what to do. I have never done just one side of a house when called for it. I have done one sides when I'm doing a deck restore or other work that makes it relevant to do so. If you live in an area where there are allot of 1500 sqft ranches 350 min's don't make since to me. You priced yourself out of doing that work. You have to know your geographic's and the type of houses in them . When someone calls me I can predict the aprox cost of a wash by knowing the house type in the area.
 

John Tornabene

Member Guest
I don't have any price caps on any Residential that we do. Some houses go as high as $2000-$3000 for cleanings and at the lower end it could be as low as $225.

The minimum charge that we have is to show up at any job. That minimum right now is $175.
 

Cameron Queen

New member
sometimes customers don't realize what they're going to get until you get there and show them,...which is where the extra work comes from.

Jeff
I agree 100% .... I am also happy to do a "we just need this side cleaned" as it will frequently turn into a "actually, can you do the whole house?"
 

Jillian Shelton

Contributing Member
For residential services we provide:

Driveway cleanings
Garage cleanings
House wash
Patio
Pool Decks

On emergency calls (less than 24 hrs) $175 minimum.
 

Gene Beck

New member
I have seen alot of questions concerning pricing across the internet at other forums. The answers usually range from useless, to down right rude. I see we don't have that problem here. I have been in the business of pricing services for most of my life and though I did some research and asked questions BEFORE I started a pressure washing business my pricing/bidding method is the same. What do I need to make a profit? Seems simple but remember all the things that must be paid before profit, taxes, permits, fuel, payroll, rent, hoses, wands, etc, trip cost, chemicals, training cost, advertising, marketing, replacing equipment, and everything else that seems to whittle away your income. For commercial we look at property, ascertain what the client needs are (scope of work), price accordingly. We also add a flat hourly rate with a 2 hour min, holiday and emergency service charges. For residential, we rarely price by the foot. We use footage rates to figure base line cost on things like gutters, house washes, roof cleaning and deck cleaning/staining, but we adjust according to several factors, such as how dirty is it? What's the home value? Can I bundle several services into one trip? What surface types am I cleaning? One of the best tools is your phone. Call your competitors. Before I started I called over 30 pressure washers and asked them what they would charge to clean my house, my roof, my drive, my commercial property etc. Then I did internet searches and looked at their websites, visited their shops or even followed them when I saw them on the road. I made notes about what I liked and what I didn't, I looked for areas they were underserving, or areas that were over crowded. I'll give you an example, of the 30 or so pressure washers I called, NONE would come out and only do my drive way. So we do driveways, but on our schedule so we can link the job with others in the area (remember a 100.00 drive way is a loser, but 10 driveways in a day @ 100.00 could be a good day), not the clients and rarely have we done a drive way and not been able to either up sell the client or sell more in the neighbor hood. Good luck and feel free to contact me anytime!
 
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