A guy with this job want's a estimate.

[doug450]

I posted a ad on Craig's list and this guy emailed me with this job wanting a estimate,he said he thought he would ck on Craig's list for a estimate before calling Stanley steamer,here is what he said he has-

Living room-Deodorized
Family room
Dining room-Deodorized (some pet urine stains also need brought out)
Stairs
Hallway
A few closets
2 small rooms
Den-Deodorized
Master Bedroom-Deodorized

First of all I am wondering if I should even tackle this with a portable and second how would I price it,I went on steamers web sight and punched in all what he said he has and they quoted me 360.00 ,how do they quote with out knowing the sq footage and how many stairs?
I did not want to not respond so I emailed him back and told him it is hard to give a estimate with out seeing the job and I ask him if he knows the sq footage of the job he needs done and how many stairs does he have<
I told him it would be in the ballpark of about between 325.00 and 375.00

He said The house is going to be empty.
After the job I did today I am thinking it is probley crazy to estimate a job with out seeing it or maybe tell them I or maybe I should tell them I charge between 30 and 45 cents a sq ft depending on how bad it is.

So what do you guy's think?

Thanks for any input,Doug

 

[Fred Homan]

Let us know...All sounds pretty vague.

 

[Ken Snow]

We do all our pricing over the phone. It is really not too hard to charge by the room as long as you have maximum sq ft per room.

 

[Scott Rogers]

Stanley bases their price by the room up to a maximum square feet per room. usually 300 sq ft but each office sets their own limits.

A stair case is 13 steps and a possible landing(IE split staircase 6 up landing turn 6 up not the 12 foot hall at the top of the stairs). anything more is extra.

They will quote a estimate, but the firm price is given by the techs before the job is started.

 

[XTREME1]

$174.95 for the rooms and hall
$39.00 for the stairs

 

[Jimmy L]

Doug whats your last name?


Seems to be a simple pricing I wonder how much experience you really have? N/A?

 

[doug450]

The last name is Scherm,why do you ask?
Nope not much experience at all,two jobs under my belt.
Doug

 

[John Buxton]

Doug you should try to do about $xx.00 an hour. Replace x with what you want to make. Clean your own house, and then average out what you made on the other 2 jobs and you'll get some idea on where your at as far as production.

There are people that will pay for quality, and there are cheap asses. Listen carefully what they say, and after a while you'll be able to pick up what they really want. Everyone asks about your price because they dont know what they are really looking for. A little experience will go a long way.

 

[TimP]

Most people with a TM can get done about 300 ft an hour with a portable I'd expect less. I personally think .30 a ft or more is a good price for a city cleaner. However I clean for less but want to go up as soon as my colleague goes up first. I don't want to be the highest cleaner in town being as I'm just starting out.

 

[Farenheit251]

Vacants are my bread and butter. I average more like 1000-1200 feet an hour on 80% of them. Add 20 minutes if I vacuum which is an additional charge for about half of them. That doesn't include stains which require steaming out with a wallpaper steamer but that is also exra money.

 

[Craig Lindquist]

If they are looking on Craigslist for a carpet cleaner then we are not the right carpet cleaner for them.

I wouldn't waist my time.