small 5 bed house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

« **on:** January 05, 2007, 09:31:23 pm »

new client phoned just before xmas wanted me to do a build clean on a new build he had just finished asap most of the staff were busy so me and another one of the lads had to do it ....started at 7.45am finished at 8.00pm the thing is bloke said it was a small 5 bedroom house!!!!!!!!!i dont think so

opinions please?

?

« **Reply #1 on:** January 05, 2007, 10:00:59 pm »

clifford, lol,
iv'e made the same mistake.
the old sales talk on the phone:
no problem mr/mrs bla bla, will only take a few hours.

been there wore the tee-shirt many a time.

i feel for you. hope you charged them well.

lynn

« **Reply #2 on:** January 05, 2007, 10:11:10 pm »

£300 so i was happy

5 bed 4 bathroom not bad though just got on with it

« **Reply #3 on:** January 05, 2007, 10:57:14 pm »

well done anyway.
£300 better in ur pocket than someone elses.
good on you

lynn

« **Reply #4 on:** January 06, 2007, 09:56:40 am »

hi there

you cant get a small 5 bed house!! purely by the nature of the number of bedrooms, the property will be of a minimum size.

you can get a large 5 bed house, !!!

its the 6 bed houses, with the ensuites, dressing rooms, study, games room, the triple garage with living quarters above, that get me going. and the site agent accompanying remark " not a lot of work in their really " yeah right

regards

martin

« **Reply #5 on:** January 06, 2007, 12:13:54 pm »

Hi

I used to think there was no such thing as a small 5 bed houe, until last year when I did heaps of stundent properties (yummy!)

Still take about 12-17 hours because of the mess and clutter and furniture.

Got to invest in a steam cleaner!

Regards

Martin

« **Reply #6 on:** January 06, 2007, 02:32:35 pm »

Hi CLifford,

DId you go out and see the property first!!!

If not it could be a lesson learned!!!

« **Reply #7 on:** January 07, 2007, 04:52:09 pm »

Hi Clifford, I am with dustdees on this 1, did you go and view the house before you quoted and said that you would do the clean? If i had a quid for every time i heard off a customer " its only a small 3/4/5 bed house" or its so easy to clean" then i would have nice bonuses every month

When a customer calls asking for a price i always go out and visit them first before committing and then life is a little easier and precise for both.

Tracey

« **Reply #8 on:** January 07, 2007, 08:13:19 pm »

i dont think u understand

im not complaining i was happy with the job!! i didnt give him a price before the job i very rarely do, im just commenting on that he said to my secretary that it was a small 5 bed house!! im saying in my eyes its not small it was a 5 bed 4 bathroom house.....i was completely happy with the job and price....

cliff

« **Reply #9 on:** January 08, 2007, 03:40:16 pm »

Wow. Huge Window.

« **Reply #10 on:** January 08, 2007, 05:51:38 pm »

cliff

where about's are you based (roughly) - we would probably charge a fair but more than that i think

regards

si

« **Reply #11 on:** January 08, 2007, 08:28:42 pm »

based in rhyl north wales
what would u of charged then?

« **Reply #12 on:** January 09, 2007, 09:00:14 am »

We would have proberly charged around the £450 mark for something that size but would also include windows. Was this at short notice as well?

« **Reply #13 on:** January 09, 2007, 01:27:33 pm »

prob around 450-550 depending on state of windows and what contractor it was with. we are based in n.e. hants.

« **Reply #14 on:** January 09, 2007, 05:57:09 pm »

windows had a little bit of paint on hardly any though, they didnt have any stickers on so i was happy

looking at the price i now realise i was on the cheap side.....the job was for my wifes boss who also has his cash invested in a building company with his son inlaw,so this was a bit of a favour

also he has offered me there office to clean 5days a week which is a nice little earner so im happy....a little anway!oh well we all learn from our mistakes thats why im on this forum

cliff

« **Reply #15 on:** April 30, 2007, 11:21:10 pm »

Hi, I know this thread is a few months old but I am new to the industry and have only just discovered this website. So far I have been doing domestic cleans, mainly 1 or 2 bedroom houses. I normally quote per hour (minimum two hours).

I'm getting the hang of this now, but I have just been asked to quote for... and I quote the customer. "I'm selling my house, it's an enormous 8 bedroom house and I need you to do a deep clean when I move out."

I don't even know where to start, even if I go to see it, I wouldn't know. So far I have been caught out a few times quoting for some jobs and then realising the place is in a worse state than I thought etc. I'll be doing it by myself I guess because the company is just me at the moment.

Would any of you have any idea (and I know it will be a ball park figure),
How many man hours would it take to do this?
What sort of price would you charge?
And should I buy and specialist equipment to make my life easier as I've got a feeling my bottle of Mr muscle may not quite cut it.

Do you reckon it would take me a week. 5 x 8 hour days? or more or less?

I appreciate your help on whatever information you may think is useful to me, to help me quote for this job.

Many thanks.

Brian.

« **Reply #16 on:** May 01, 2007, 08:16:47 pm »

Personally I would't attempt this job on my own (if that's what you're saying). I'd have 3 or 4 cleaners there at least and do it over 2 or 3 days as opposed to 8 hours a day over 5 days. I'd lose the will to live if I was in one house for this long

. If you quote for the job with more cleaners in mind you could still come out of it with a handsome profit. I had a job like this a few months back when I was only just starting off and was basically a one man band. I ended up roping a few friends in as it wasn't worth me taking anyone on permenantly at the time as I only had enough hours to earn my own living let alone anyone elses. Things have changed since then thankfully!!!

As for the steam cleaner, it would depend on just what the dirt is and remember that you can't use it for everything

It's likely to make some jobs a lot easier though. I'd also take full advantage of the situation and talk them into having a weekly clean of 8 hours or so on a regular basis to stay on top of things in their new property (assuming they're staying in the area and are moving to another huge house of course).

Nickie

« **Reply #17 on:** May 01, 2007, 09:20:15 pm »

Thanks Nickie, I hear what you're saying about losing the will to live if you were in a house that long, but then I've got bugger all else to do. I only have one regular customer so far and have done 3 x one-offs, so I kinda need the work anyway. A friend of mine reckons he can do it 2 days He hasn't got a clue), I reckon more like 5, but to be honest I haven't got a clue either. and as for what to quote. If I took the whole week and quoted £10 an hour, that would be £400 quid. Does that sound reasonable or would you charge more/less?

Brian.

« **Reply #18 on:** May 01, 2007, 09:30:27 pm »

hi there

you would want approx 4 labour days in there.

if they have moved out, then it will be empty,

how many bathrooms are their??

i would quote for 4 labour days, plus a carpet clean, and windows, and then plan to have it done in two days on site.

i would never just put one person in there on their own, work rate will be affected.

a team of two will work through the property a whoel deal faster.

where is the prperty???

without looking i would ball park it at £780 + VAT

regards

martin

« **Reply #19 on:** May 01, 2007, 10:44:57 pm »

I think you'd be crazy to do all that work for £400 especially alone

. Will the house be completely empty of furniture? Do they want the carpets and windows cleaning?
I agree with Martin. I definately wouldn't quote this job below the £700 mark and that's without carpet and window cleaning. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you can't lose the job at any cost. If you do lose the contract because your quote is too high then some other mug will be working their ass off for virtually nothing. You get what you pay for in this game and if they want a good job doing then convince them that you're the man for it. Incidentally I think it always look more professional on big jobs like this if you state that there will be more cleaners on the job.

The less time that you and your team are in there the less chance there is of anyone getting too fed up with it and losing 'the will to live' or plain old boredom and thus not doing a good job. As you know, cleaning can be bloomin hard work and if you go ahead alone be sure to let me know and I'll send you a bravery medal. If you're anything like I was when I started out you will look at jobs through rose tinted glasses and completely misjudge the time and effort required and quotes will be way off the mark. TAKE WHAT YOU'RE WORTH YOUNG MAN- you deserve no less than anyone else in this game so be bold and go for it. Fear of losing something you never had to begin with is daft...you have nothing to lose here and everything to gain!!!

I'd really be interested to know how you get on Brian so keep me posted.

Good luck and above all make sure you get what you're worth

Nickie x

« **Reply #20 on:** May 01, 2007, 11:00:27 pm »

Brian,

You're trying to run a business mate!

Charge accordingly!

Andy

« **Reply #21 on:** May 02, 2007, 06:45:52 am »

Quote from: clifford on January 05, 2007, 09:31:23 pm

most of the staff were busy so me and another one of the lads had to do it ....started at 7.45am finished at 8.00pm the thing is bloke said it was a small 5 bedroom house!!!!!!!!!i dont think so

opinions please??

READ the post...

he DID the clean...and charged buttons...MINIMUM £30 an hour on a build clean...EACH...

12 hours at £30 an hour = £360.00 X 2 employees = £720.00

Go on then...round down to £700.00..

« **Reply #22 on:** May 02, 2007, 08:22:28 am »

Thanks Guys,

I agree about the rose tinted glasses thing. I quoted 2 hours on an office clean which I thought was a quick wipe over in the toilets and kitchen and a dust and a hoover. The toilets were so bad that it took me 1.5 hours just to do them. I've had a couple of these who said that their previous cleaner could do the place in 1 hour 15 minutes. when I saw the toilets it was obvious that they had just wiped over the seat because behind the toilet was thick with cobwebs and dirt and it ended up being a deep clean.

It seems a lot of people don't seem to do the bottom of the pedestal or round the back. Is that common?

Going with the spirit of the forum and everyone being so friendly. If I get the job, is there anyone in the Cambridge area who would like to share the job with me and split it 50/50. That might be a good solution.

Brian.

« **Reply #23 on:** May 02, 2007, 01:00:04 pm »

brian,

we are just south of peterboro,

give e a call if you get stuck,

07771 526246

regards

martin

« **Reply #24 on:** May 05, 2007, 02:01:18 am »

Thanks Martin, I may take you up on the offer, but they haven't got back to me yet.

Brian.