I have a customer who wants me to just clean both sides of his privacy fence in preparation for him to stain & seal. I believe its pine wood but i could be wrong...(I hope this doesnt matter)...but i can find out later. Its not a shadow box fence (Ive read all the horror stories on them). The dimensions are roughly 50' x 80' x 50' x 10' x 10' x 8' high (one side). If I calculated correctly that equals 1600 linear SQ ft. I have read alot of the past posts on PWN and have come up with this estimate....charging .13cent per Lin.SQ ft = $192.00. The fence is not that dirty with mold but the back side of the fence is in the woods and will be a pain in the butt to clean. Ive read all the discussions with using bleach on wood and to me it seems to be 50/50 split. Does the cost of wood brightner payoff for a job like this or will bleach suffice? I dont want to lowball myself on this job so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Im pretty sure Ive sold him on a driveway cleaning as well (approx. $65 job). Thanks in advance...this site KICKS AZZ!!!!!! You can email me @ bbpressurewashing@yahoo.com and I'll give you my phone # if you prefer to chat instead of typing.....I'll post the notes if you do call so everyone can learn a bit.......TODD
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Help with fence estimate???
- Thread starter Todd
- Start date
CaroliProWash
New Member
You measurements are kinda confusing - 5 sides? .......and you either use square footage OR linear footage. Linear is the length of the fencing (x2 if you do both sides). We charge upwards of $1.00/lf to clean, depending on the PITA factor (including woods, which usually equates to snakes or spiders) If you want to bid by square footage, take your linear footage and multiply by the height of the fence.
So...linear feet by your post = 50+80+50+10+10 x 2 = 400 lf. If the fence is 8 ft high, you'd get 3200 sq ft.
As far as what you use, even though you are not going to be applying the stain, your prep is still very important. If you don't kill any mold/mildew spores, they will appear under his stain and guess what - he's going to blame you anyway when his stain goes poopy. If it's unfinished wood, we'd still use a percarbonate cleaner and depending on the product, we would likely follow with a brightener. The difference is amazing
Celeste
So...linear feet by your post = 50+80+50+10+10 x 2 = 400 lf. If the fence is 8 ft high, you'd get 3200 sq ft.
As far as what you use, even though you are not going to be applying the stain, your prep is still very important. If you don't kill any mold/mildew spores, they will appear under his stain and guess what - he's going to blame you anyway when his stain goes poopy. If it's unfinished wood, we'd still use a percarbonate cleaner and depending on the product, we would likely follow with a brightener. The difference is amazing
Celeste
I usually go with 1.20 linear foot for cleaning or 1.20 linear foot for sealing and staining, if someone is getting both done I charge 2.10 or 2.20 a linear foot for both. Also if you are doing both sides than double it, go to home depot or lowes and get you a walking wheel for measureing, that will save you some time. Just walk the fence with your measureing wheel then add it to your cost. So if you have 320 linear feet of fence and both sides are getting done than you have 640 linear feet and times that by what your job is. If both cleaning and sealing will be done, 640 X 2.20 for example 1408.00 dollars and materials or you can include it in on your price and bit the cost, up to you. I hope that helps.
PressurePros
New Member
Hey Todd, welcome to the biz. I hope you didn't give him the estimate for the fence yet. Fences are probably best done by linear foot. To clean and seal a fence I charge $3 per linear foot per side. Sealing is the easy part, cleaning it is more involved. So to prep it for sealer I'd probably get $3.50 per linear foot and that would cover both sides.
I had difficulty deciphering your measurements as well. You best bet is to take a measurement of width (linear feet) and multiply it by the height. For example if a fence is a square with each side being 50 feet long and eight feet high:
you have 4 sections of 50'x8'
or
200'x8'
or
200 linear feet
or
1600 sf.
Your best bet down there is to use a mild bleach solution (don't know how strong, I don't use bleach on wood) and wash with low pressure. Using Celeste's 400 linear feet I come up with $1400. Using what professionals in the south charge per square foot to clean a deck you still get over a thousand dollars.
It's going to take you six hours to clean this thing (probably more) $192 minus your gas and overhead will leave you about ten-fifteen bucks an hour. I mean no disrespect, but..keep that up and we will see your ad on the trading post in a few months selling your machine and gear. Best of luck to you.
I had difficulty deciphering your measurements as well. You best bet is to take a measurement of width (linear feet) and multiply it by the height. For example if a fence is a square with each side being 50 feet long and eight feet high:
you have 4 sections of 50'x8'
or
200'x8'
or
200 linear feet
or
1600 sf.
Your best bet down there is to use a mild bleach solution (don't know how strong, I don't use bleach on wood) and wash with low pressure. Using Celeste's 400 linear feet I come up with $1400. Using what professionals in the south charge per square foot to clean a deck you still get over a thousand dollars.
It's going to take you six hours to clean this thing (probably more) $192 minus your gas and overhead will leave you about ten-fifteen bucks an hour. I mean no disrespect, but..keep that up and we will see your ad on the trading post in a few months selling your machine and gear. Best of luck to you.
Thanks alot for all the info guys and gal (Celeste). Your experience has helped me out alot. I dont think this guy will be ready for an estimate of $480.00 +. I had no ideal that cleaning/preparing a fence for stain/seal cost that much. It almost seems like you could buy a new fence for the price of cleaning,staining and sealing it. Looks like Ive found a new item to add to my business cards. Again thanks alot for helping me out. Oh yea Celeste I found a place to buy some sodium percarbonate in the local area. I cant wait to see how well this stuff works on fences and houses. Wish me luck on this bid........
Todd Barnett
B & B Pressure Washing
Charleston,SC
Todd Barnett
B & B Pressure Washing
Charleston,SC
CaroliProWash
New Member
Todd,
We used to think the same thing, except you can't begin to put up a new fence for $3.50/lf so believe it or not, folks that have spent that $17-20/lf to have it put up will generally pay for taking care of it
Celeste
We used to think the same thing, except you can't begin to put up a new fence for $3.50/lf so believe it or not, folks that have spent that $17-20/lf to have it put up will generally pay for taking care of it
Celeste
R. E. Crouse
New Member
I just built my own fence
I just finished putting up my own fence. 360 linear feet. Nothing fancy, 6 feet high. Cost me $3100, and the estimates I got to have it done ranged from $5500-$8000. If I were not in the business, I WOULD pay $1500 every couple of years to keep it nice. I put a lot of effort into putting it up, and I don't want it looking bad and falling apart. Sure, I could let it rot out for 5 years, build a new one, and it wouldn't cost me any more money. BUT, I would have to look at a rotting moldy fence the whole time!
I just finished putting up my own fence. 360 linear feet. Nothing fancy, 6 feet high. Cost me $3100, and the estimates I got to have it done ranged from $5500-$8000. If I were not in the business, I WOULD pay $1500 every couple of years to keep it nice. I put a lot of effort into putting it up, and I don't want it looking bad and falling apart. Sure, I could let it rot out for 5 years, build a new one, and it wouldn't cost me any more money. BUT, I would have to look at a rotting moldy fence the whole time!
Valid points....I happen to work with this potential customer and I think I will send him a link to this forum just to prove that I am not full of it. I do have a few questions on how to strip,stain and seal though. I'm currently going through the 150 or so past posts trying to learn how to apply the strippers and what equipment I'll need to invest in the near future. If you happen to run across anything that would help me or any inside knowledge you can post it or email me for my phone #. I have to work at the fire house tommorrow so I wont be able to check out the forum unless I happen to go to the main station for some reason. If anyone needs to know about Fire Protection CPR or Rescue techniques I'll trade you for your knowledge in pressure washing...LOL!!!! It sucks being a newbie!!!! Gotta start somewhere though.
Todd Barnett
B & B Pressure Washing
Charleston,SC
Todd Barnett
B & B Pressure Washing
Charleston,SC
I gave the estimate of $450.00 and explained that it would take me at least 6 hours to clean and broke down what the costs were (sodium percarbonate,wood brightner...ect) I told him if he wanted me to just spray it down with some bleach and pressure (which I advised against) for $200(2hours of work) I would but that wouldnt really do much for the Thompsons sealer he plans on putting on it (also advised him to use wolmans products). I told him that he has a $7-8k privacy fence that would rott away if he didnt get it at least cleaned and sealed in the next few seasons. I tried to set myself up for the job when he realizes he needs to get it done. Heck maybe he'll have me stain and seal it for him by then. I think he knows he need to do it but like any other military member...we are on a limited budget and need to plan dropping that much cash. Thanks for all the help!!!!!