First big job for me anyway

[C&S Window Newbie]

Today a customer contacted me about gutter clearing and cleaning including the down pipes its a housing unit but only two strorey but there is roughly by the customers mesurements 950ft. They have asked for a rough idea on price before i go to view the job, do i price this at my normal £4.25 per M or with it being a complex would it go up ?

Thank you in advance  

 

[Pjj]

Today a customer contacted me about gutter clearing and cleaning including the down pipes its a housing unit but only two strorey but there is roughly by the customers mesurements 950ft. They have asked for a rough idea on price before i go to view the job, do i price this at my normal £4.25 per M or with it being a complex would it go up ?

Thank you in advance  

It’s up to you what ever you are happy with , we would price it at our commercial rate which is higher than domestic . Think that’s around 300 meters or so so at your pricing would be £1275 , doesn’t sound excessive to me but they might be expecting a cheaper price my advice would be stick to your guns on price unless you are desperate for the work . 

 

[C&S Window Newbie]

Thank you for that to be fair really busy at the moment but would be a nice little earner if it came in but with me being new ish to gutter cleaning and window cleaning still trying to get my pricing right does £4.25 sound about right for clearing, and cleaning with ubik ? or am i on the high side of the pricing im Nottingham based i just dont want to be a busy cheap fool lol

 

[Part Timer]

Are you talking about cleaning the outside UPVC and clearing the gutters or just clearing the muck from inside the gutters. If it's just the latter and you could use ladders for the down pipes it seems high, unless the gutters are full. If it's to clean them all as well it sounds cheap.

Ultimately it depends on the condition and access to the gutters as if they're full and clearance poor you could be there for days. 

 

[C&S Window Newbie]

Are you talking about cleaning the outside UPVC and clearing the gutters or just clearing the muck from inside the gutters. If it's just the latter and you could use ladders for the down pipes it seems high, unless the gutters are full. If it's to clean them all as well it sounds cheap.

Ultimately it depends on the condition and access to the gutters as if they're full and clearance poor you could be there for days. 

Thank you for your reply,

Its to clear out the gutters and clean them all after im still trying to get my pricing right i feel the pricing has been the hardest thing to get right.

 

[Part Timer]

Thank you for your reply,

Its to clear out the gutters and clean them all after im still trying to get my pricing right i feel the pricing has been the hardest thing to get right.

I always think the best way newbies should do these things is quote on your gut instinct. The vast majority of people on here learnt the hard way, by quoting a price they felt was reasonable. Many, including me, have been lumbered with bad jobs because of it, we have however learned a lesson and used it to our benefit. 

I understand why you're asking for advice but you will only truly learn by quoting what you want to earn. If you get it you will then get the experience, good or bad, of doing it. If you go higher and don't get it you will be thinking if I went in at my price I might have got it.

We can't give accurate advice as we can't see the job and not many gutter clears are the same. Good luck and let us know how you get on, especially if you get it.

 

[C&S Window Newbie]

I always think the best way newbies should do these things is quote on your gut instinct. The vast majority of people on here learnt the hard way, by quoting a price they felt was reasonable. Many, including me, have been lumbered with bad jobs because of it, we have however learned a lesson and used it to our benefit. 

I understand why you're asking for advice but you will only truly learn by quoting what you want to earn. If you get it you will then get the experience, good or bad, of doing it. If you go higher and don't get it you will be thinking if I went in at my price I might have got it.

We can't give accurate advice as we can't see the job and not many gutter clears are the same. Good luck and let us how you get on, especially if you get it.

Thanks again thats really good advice, I will keep you posted if i win the job or not then if i do what ive learnt on the job thanks again

 

[Part Timer]

Thanks again thats really good advice, I will keep you posted if i win the job or not then if i do what ive learnt on the job thanks again

One bit of advice I will give is, if you do get it do it in stages. That is do 30 metres or so of clearing them then clean that section. I wouldn't like to clean 300 metres of guttering in one go. You'll need to spend a week at the Chiropractor if you did

 

[ched999uk]

One thing to remember is that you will have less setup/clean ups to do than a domestic job as it will take you a lot longer!!!

That said it's also going to be very taxing on your body so keep that in mind, maybe even break it down into chunks and do it over a couple of weeks between jobs? 

Don't forget that you might create a lot of waste, so make sure they have a disposal method or you have a waste transfer licence and know how much it's going to cost you to dispose of the waste!!!

Have you used a camera to have a good look at the job to give you the best idea of how bad it's going to be?

While you want the experience don't let it bite you! As @Part Timer said go with your gut but make sure your head says it adds up ?. Do a sanity check i.e. what's worst time it could take, what's quickest, what is the likelihood of it taking your full estimated time? Even if it took 25% more time would you be happy with the knowledge gained and the money you receive? 

 

[C&S Window Newbie]

One thing to remember is that you will have less setup/clean ups to do than a domestic job as it will take you a lot longer!!!

That said it's also going to be very taxing on your body so keep that in mind, maybe even break it down into chunks and do it over a couple of weeks between jobs? 

Don't forget that you might create a lot of waste, so make sure they have a disposal method or you have a waste transfer licence and know how much it's going to cost you to dispose of the waste!!!

Have you used a camera to have a good look at the job to give you the best idea of how bad it's going to be?

While you want the experience don't let it bite you! As @Part Timer said go with your gut but make sure your head says it adds up ?. Do a sanity check i.e. what's worst time it could take, what's quickest, what is the likelihood of it taking your full estimated time? Even if it took 25% more time would you be happy with the knowledge gained and the money you receive? 

Thank you thats great advice also, i do have a pole with live camera feed yes also thought of maybe taking my drone to have a look at the job from higher up.

 

[ched999uk]

taking my drone to have a look at the job from higher up.

Be careful using a drone, the rules did prohibit commercial use without licence. I have a feeling the rules changed so you might be OK but you still need to be registered etc - sorry if you know that.

I have stayed sub 250gms on my quads so no licence/registration issues.

PS I don't have experience in gutter stuff just in organising/planning stuff etc. Oh and underestimating work ?

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[PDixon cvs]

We have one charge for clearing and one charge for cleaning as they are two separate jobs

 

[HWCS]

@C&S Window Newbie how did this pan out in the end?