New build cleans

[James1684]

We have been contacted by a property developer to presure wash new build properties to remove cement stains and various other marks as well as doing some driveways for them. I have never priced anything like this before and was thinking around the £125 per property as they are various sizes and could lead on to 1000+ homes is the future. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DeLaCruz]

I mean the question is kinda vague, firstly you need to test the most common stains (do they come off easy / need chems). Pricing should be based on size of property, and work required. Fwiw i did a bunch of new build cleaning recently, you will be a small fish in a big pond in terms of getting paid as a subbie - often can take months, and its tough to get work signed off if the contractor chooses to use you to do odd jobs here and there.

 

[Pjj]

We have been contacted by a property developer to presure wash new build properties to remove cement stains and various other marks as well as doing some driveways for them. I have never priced anything like this before and was thinking around the £125 per property as they are various sizes and could lead on to 1000+ homes is the future. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds way to cheap to me we have a minimum set up price of £250 for any pressure washing work , then you will have the cost of chemicals , fuel maintenance of kit . If you need the work then do what you feel is best if you aren’t desperate then I would walk away

 

[K in Kent]

I mean the question is kinda vague, firstly you need to test the most common stains (do they come off easy / need chems). Pricing should be based on size of property, and work required. Fwiw i did a bunch of new build cleaning recently, you will be a small fish in a big pond in terms of getting paid as a subbie - often can take months, and its tough to get work signed off if the contractor chooses to use you to do odd jobs here and there.

I'm about to start proceedings in the small claims court having followed all the pre-action conduct the courts require you to do first for several grand I'm owed for work on a new build development. Few years back I had to wait 9 months to get paid by another developer. They actually made a clerical error and paid me twice the same day!
They were soon on my case about that so I made them wait 9 months before returning the money..

But on the other hand I've had worked for developers who were good as gold and paid me the same day they received my invoice so you just never know.

What I would say about the work itself is you want to be careful p/w new buils because you could end up activating an outbreak of efflorescence. Also pressure washing will dislodge some but probably not all cement stains and the sort of pressure required can easily damage mortar and brick faces. You'll almost certainly going to need brick acid and quite a bit of it. Some are quite effective and others a waste of money (Bostik isn't bad and readiy available in Toolstation)..
Everbuild brick cleaner is ok as well and how much you need will depend on severity of cement staining.
But these jobs can soon end up costing you more than you might think and take longer than expected.
Of course it depends on how much other work you've got on and if space in your schedule you can still earn out of it but just be aware of the potential pitfalls.

The highest strength hydrochloric acid I know of, and excellent value for money is this stuff from Jennychem
£34.50 for 25 litres of strong acid is a very good price. But be aware - brick acid is a very strong chemical. Very strong.
You have to know how to use it properly and safely therwise you can easily damage brickwork and any surfaces it, or run off, comes into contact with - and injure yourself. Eye protection is essential and PPE.

Thoroughly wet / rinse bricks before and after use and don't let it dry out because it will permanenly stain them.