[zesty]

Softwashing?

Let’s say there’s is a 3 bed average semi, rendered all round.

Standard black staining etc.

What’s your average price?

I did a 2 bed today, three elevations. Started at 7:50am and was done by 9:30am. £250.

I’ve no idea if I’m cheap or expensive. I can say one thing though, it’s very desirable money for such a quick job. (Granted, some jobs take longer)

[chris scott]

A lot more than that.

[Splash & dash]

Softwashing prices start from £400 and go up from there we have two jobs to do in the next few days

[Smudger]

same as Chris ( but probably more and do a better job  )

Darran

[Splash & dash]

same as Chris ( but probably more and do a better job  )

Darran

Thought Chris was anti hypo 😂😂😂

[zesty]

I’m cheap then!

I’m more than happy with what I charge, but good to know I can charge a lot more and still be in the ‘going rate’ category.

Having said that, if the job is heavily stained, then naturally I’d charge more anyway.

[Mike Halliday]

How did you come to your price?

The fact you got £250 for 2hrs 20mins work is irrelevant if you actually thought the job would take 6 hrs. If it took  exactly  as long you thought then great you got the amount of money you wanted for the job.

[zesty]

How did you come to your price?

The fact you got £250 for 2hrs 20mins work is irrelevant if you actually thought the job would take 6 hrs. If it took  exactly  as long you thought then great you got the amount of money you wanted for the job.

Of course I didn’t expect it to take 6 hours mike. Yeesh!

With experience I’ve learnt (as we all do) roughly how long each job will take. I used only 25 litres of hypo. Was an easy clean.

Profit was around £220. Hypo costs me £23 for 20 litres. Fuel for Softwash machine a couple of quid and then a bit of diesel to drive there.

I work out my costs before any job.

My query was really just to see what others charge. Seems I could be charging a lot more, though i don’t think I’d get as many takers with higher prices....

Swings and roundabouts.

[Smudger]

did you do another job that day ?

Darran

[zesty]

did you do another job that day ?

Darran

Just some standard window cleaning after Darran, then off to the gym.

[Smudger]

Then the way I would look at it is this -  soft wash job + window cleaning = a full days window cleaning money +50%

if thats how it worked out then to me thats ok for pricing -  if however that was all your work that day then it was underpriced

I have found soft washing to be extremely well paid for the time/effort it takes - but like you we can also do windows on the same day so I don't always have to worry about what else I may be able to fit in that day.

if it was a stand alone soft washing job and not possible to do other work then 3x your charge would be where I am at


Darran

[zesty]

Hi Darran,

The plan for the day was always to clean windows after, but if it was a stand alone job, I’d probably have taken my time more and charged £350.

I don’t think I’d get many at three times the price! Wish I could!

I’m always amazed that some of you guys are able to charge so much, all I can say is fair play 👍🏼

I am a sole trader though, so overheads are minimal.

 

[Splash & dash]

Hi Darran,

The plan for the day was always to clean windows after, but if it was a stand alone job, I’d probably have taken my time more and charged £350.

I don’t think I’d get many at three times the price! Wish I could!

I’m always amazed that some of you guys are able to charge so much, all I can say is fair play 👍🏼

I am a sole trader though, so overheads are minimal.

Pricing it a very personal thing what one thinks is good money there’s wouldn’t get out of bed for . Provided you are happy with it it doesn’t matter , £250 for  a couple of hours work is good no matter what you are doing , we have a minimum charge of £400 for  any softwashing, as I found people would just want one wall doing , and I couldn’t be bothered going to quote jobs for that , so I tell them what our minimum price is if they are still interested I go and have a look and explain what we will do and show them a portfolio of similar jobs so they get an idear of what there place will look like , by quoting this way we get around 90% take up rate .

[zesty]

That’s a good uptake splash.

I probably get an 80% uptake rate on softwashing quotes.

To me, £250 even for a days work is good. I am a sole trader though, and the wife brings in a good wage as well.

Mind you, that’s the wrong mentality, if I am under charging, I will up my prices a bit. Maximising daily profit is my goal.

My aim has always been minimal hours - maximum profit.

I always just feel uncomfortable charging £3-400 for a few hours of softwashing, again, that’s a mentality thing. Needs to change.

I wish I could gain more softwash work, but it’s not like the inquiries are flooding in. Maybe 2 softwash jobs a month is my average.

[Smudger]

if you feel uncomfortble about charging higher prices then you will not get higher prices,  not to be rude - but soft washing is a bespoke service - you are saving many people a lot of money by soft washing as usually the render/surface is sound and looks like new - I recently did 3 apartments - front wall only  price was scaled depending on the number of buildings I cleaned (£400 one property £650 for 2 £800 for 3) I got all 3 and the job took 3hrs - however they were quoted £4500 to have the render repainted  -it just didn't need repainting - I'm happy got a great job with a great rate customers happy, their homes look like new at a fraction of the price to be repainted

sometimes it's belief in our services and quality of clean that get us the high price work - not what's actually involved in cleaning it

Darran

[zesty]

Darran I agree with you.

My uncomfortable feeling is really based on the fact that it’s such a short job. That’s the wrong way to look at it though, as like you say, it’s fraction of what painting costs.

Plus, time is irrelevant, it’s the job that they are paying for. This is how I view window cleaning, and need to carry that over to softwashing.

[Tom-01]

Some good posts here.

I definitely agree, don’t undersell yourself, and don’t think you’re too expensive. As has been said it is a bespoke service which can save them a lot of money.

For a days work for two people our minimum is £1200 +VAT. Did a job in July which was £1,785 +VAT, we were packed up and gone by 3pm.

Have a portfolio of work to show them, talk with confidence, tell them it doesn’t need painting or scaffolding for access, do a test patch when you go to quote - the jobs yours.

[Splash & dash]

Some good posts here.

I definitely agree, don’t undersell yourself, and don’t think you’re too expensive. As has been said it is a bespoke service which can save them a lot of money.

For a days work for two people our minimum is £1200 +VAT. Did a job in July which was £1,785 +VAT, we were packed up and gone by 3pm.

Have a portfolio of work to show them, talk with confidence, tell them it doesn’t need painting or scaffolding for access, do a test patch when you go to quote - the jobs yours.

I totally agree with what you have said , but what percentage of jobs do you get pricing it that way ??  I generally find getting over 1 k a day is difficult  as people don’t want to pay that much , we do s lot of 3 bed semis  around the £400 mark we do two per day  , and most will pay that , but pricing it higher they won’t have it done . We also do  bigger detached houses  and best price I have got was £1500  , I think I need to focus more with promoting softwashing as at the moment it’s an add on to our main business of window cleaning ,

[Ooooooog]

Using hypo, are you bleaching it rather than washing it?

[Splash & dash]

Using hypo, are you bleaching it rather than washing it?

No you are sterilising it ,  killing bacteria , and algi, mould etc then rinsing it off the surface