[TVCS]

Done our first 2 voids this week.  Bit of a game with both of them really.
1st one.  House clearance.  No problem.  Then asked to dismantle a large shed from the rear garden then skip it and also a consevatory.  Did the work no problems but unsure what to charge for the demolition service?

2nd.  Arrive this morning first thing as the handover is tomorrow morning.  The sparkie was doing his final checks, went upstairs to find 3 walls with wet plaster going off.  Got onto the contractors manager and asked why the decorators hadnt finished and he went bonkers.  1 hour later the painters turned up and did very little.  Decided to leave the site and return tomorrow to finish off really early.  Only to be told the painters are going to be there for an hour doing the glossing on the skirting boards.   arse! 

Does this sound like the norm for void cleans or have we started on a badly arranged one? 

Ant
TVCS

[craig b]

work with the contractors if you can get ther first.
 clean a few rooms then tell the painter to start in them,no skirtings to clean

as for the shed.you should get loads of little extras like that and you can make  good money for them as long as you dont  rip the ass out off it.

 you should also look for little extras that yous could do,phone who you need to asking them if there needing done.
clearing gardens ,sheds, removing old coal bunkers,bin chutes,stairwells etc
also dont be afraid to ask for more money if you come across a property thats going to cost you money to clean..

[TVCS]

AS far as the void clean is concerned,  there are no carpets down but the whole place is pretty dusty so a good hoover is needed.  As the property has or is being painted there will be no skirts to wipe at all.   Just annoying as any wet paint and dust will stick together and look pants.   
In a clean like this do you scrape all the plug sockets etc.  When I mentioned it to the contracts mangager he looked suprised that we were going to do it.  But As they look scabby I thought we would give them a scrape.

As far as the shed demolition is concerned we were going in at £25 p/p/p/h.  On top of the price of the house clear.  Does that sound anywhere near the mark.  As this is our first void I dont want to go to high, if you get what I mean. 

Thanks
Ant

[craig b]

not sure on the hourly rate. what do you think its worth..
£130.00 plus skip.
always agree a price before you commence work a quick phone could save alot fo hassel later on.
how long did it take 1.5 -  hours and alot of good fun wrecking ever thing
also remember to if you have someone else doing the job ther not going to be as keen and eager

 just use a dry scruby to do the sockets
 make sure the bathroom and kitchen our done well(main rooms)
if you can also get a good airfreshner, if it smells clean it feels clean

[craig b]

sorry i cant be more helpful its hard to give a price with out seeing the job

the problem with a hourly rate , if you knock your pan to get to get job done
the hourly rate may not feel good compared to the  job you have just done.
if you agree a price then knock your pan in it will feel worth it
hope my post make abit of sence

[TVCS]

Cheers craig, it does make sense.   I know we should have agreed a price but we didnt.  All the skips ( 3 were needed) were supplied by them so no cost there.  We cleared the whole properety and dismantled and removed 2 big sheds and a conservtory and were thinking in the line of £320.  Took 2 people athe best part of the day.

[craig b]

ant try for a wee bit more run it by the contracts manger see what he thinks 360 -380
tell him how you how hard it was you had no lunch or breaks trying to get it finnished for hand over

if you hadnt have been ther it may have taken 2 men 1.5 days then how would you price look then

[TVCS]

MAny Thanks craig.  Good points. 


By doing this job, we have more of an idea of time scale for future voids.
 ( hopefully)


Thanks
Ant

[TVCS]

Had a laugh the other day.   We took our invoices into the office and was having a natter with the contracts manager. 
Said the invoices were fine ( cheers craig B for advice) .  Got onto the firm that they have been using for the painting and cleaning.  The same painters that were dragging there heels on the void mentioned earlier.  The contracts manager said that they were 1 week late with a property but when the keys finally returned to the ofice he went to have a look at the clean up job.  He said that they had swept all the rubbish up and put it into one of the kitchen cupboards.   No joke.  In a down stairs cupboard he found all the empty paint tubs and tins.  Unbeleivable.!  I wouldnt have the nerve to put my invoice in after this if I were them.

we have been asked now to take on some of the decorating too.  Both me and the wife worked for a decorator for nearly a year when we set up our little biz.  He told us the schedule of rates for the painting and if we could work to them we could do the painting and the cleaning.   


Should make the final clean easier as we can keep things pretty tidy as we go along with the painting.  Thats the plan anyway.
Busy busy busy. 

[craig b]

happy days glad i was able to help...may be a nice little earner painting & decor.
seems you have a good relationship with the contracts manger hope it all goes well for you

[TVCS]

Cheers bud, So far so good.  we have a good laugh with the contracts manager so hopefully things will work out ok.
 

[TVCS]

Got our first void paint and clean tomorrow. 
All excited now.

Got the call today and the void needs to be handed over on Tuesday, A quick juggle of some jobs and we will be on the job first thing in the morning.  More of these means less windows.  CAnt be bad.

[craig b]

how did the first paint job go then ant.....
all good i hope..

[TVCS]

 :-\I needed a beer tonight,
Well it is a small OAP's apartment in a home.  Biggish living room, small kitchen, medium size bog, biggish bedroom and 2 big cupboards. 

We could have finished it today but there has been 2 so called bathroom fitters doing some tiling and putting a shower on the wall.  Complete wastes of skin. 
 The handover was meant to be Tuesday.  They were doing nothing all day apart from piddle about.  We were waiting to get in and paint the bathroon and give it a clean, in the end I phoned the contracts manager and said that they would have to paint and clean the bathroom as we would not have time because they were still in there.  " I'll have a word he said."   next thing the bathroom fitters say they were off to lunch.  Anyway, handover is now on Wednesday.  The bathroom fitters were told this so started to work even slower.  We are going in tomorrow and hope that they can come and do their bits early.  Really really frustrating when you are trying to get finished and these lads who are working for a firm and must be on a day rate couldnt give a monkeys.  First thing this morning they said it would be done by early afternoon.  As soon as they heard they had another day to do it in they practically stopped. 

Never mind.  The painting has gone pretty well, ( i think hope)  and the clean wasnt anything to worry about.   
The contracts manager is coming out tomorrow to have a butchers and he said he is bringing with him details of our next voids so cant be too bad. 

On sad note, I got a blob of gloss on my beloved van seat today.

[TVCS]

All finished today. 
The contracts manager came out for a natter and we are lined up for some more re-dec and cleans.   
We have a small clean to do tomorrow of a property that was cleaned by another firm yesterday.  We were asked if we could go in and clean it properly.