First quote/job woes..

I was called by a local church to restripe their lot, the lines are just barely visable but I can see the outline still.. I quoted them a price of $85 for sixty six 4" lines 16' long, $40 for 4 24" stop bars, $90 for 6 HC stencils, $30 for 3 HC walkouts ,$20 for 2 arrows, and $10 for a 10X15 ped crosswalk so the total came out to be $275 roughly.. I dunno how that compares to the market here in the Southeast, im in FL.. Anyway she called me back and said they wanted to know how I prepared the lot for being restriped? I told her well I usually blow off loose dirt and debris with blower and the mud and stuff I brush off with water and let dry.. I am totally new to this and this is my first job and I am having soooo many 2nd thoughts about this.. I ordered a starter set of stencils from Robert and am hoping I didnt waste my $$ and back out of doin this line of work!?!? Any help would be appreiciated. Rich

you are about $100 too less (my neck of the woods/northeast) this type subject has been touched on many times, and i would "search" here, the market varies, plus everyone is different on what they need to make ...(overhead etc ....)by searching u should find some insight to similiar question answered many times....as to preparing the lot....alot can depand on what the customer wants, but in my case...90% of the time, a blower/wire broom/shovel, is more then enough, keep in mind...these airless machines...put out quite a bit of pressure when applying paint, leaves, dirt etc...will blow out of the way when appyling most of the time and be sufficient, of course some dirt needs to be wirebroomed sometimes,or customer may want entire lot blowed off etc..."communicate" with customer and dont fret yourself too much....if you try to learn and try to do a good quality job at a fair price u should be ok, u are starting out doing a "re-stripe" so that should be the easiest for u , as opposed to a "layout"....good luck

Another good way to look at it is, ask youself what is this going to cost me to do this? Then go add it all up and then add in what you would like to keep in your pocket at the end of the day. This is a form of job costing, and I recommend to do this on every job, it will ensure you don't loose money. Also one piece of advice on this job, although you can see the lines, but you said they were faded, snap new chalk lines as well, it will make it look much better in the end.

Well if I have to buy maybe one 5gal of hotline thatll cost me around $45-50 plus the HC blue, I dunno if I should use regualr blue or go for the hotline blue too which only comes in 5 gals.. I figure my cost with paint alone is $100 maybe, plus the stencils I just got from our hero Robert is another $290 so I am in the hole about $100 on the 1st job, plus I need to buy a set of ramps to load the machine in the back of my pickup since I will wait till I get some more income to then invest in a enclosed trailer. Ok , Ill snap some lines but what side do u prefer to follow , Id shoot right of the line and of course snap the line on the left side of the existing faded ones.. Im waitin for a call back from the customer to see if they want me to do it or not.. I guess theyre main concern is how well I prep the lot for the paint and concerned that it wont stick to it. I called them back and explained that almost everyone in this buisness uses a broom, blower to remove the loose stuff but we dont recommend a power washer.. I could maybe use a garden hose with spray nozel on it but that would cost more since alot more time involved doin that and also dryin time for the water that I sprayed down. Rich

Do a search on here for job costing, I have explained it in detail on some posts before, but simply it is adding up what it is going to cost you on the job, then you add in profit and that wil give you a number to plug in to the bid. You would not want to count in your ramps and stencils all on one job, but spread them over several months or the entire season, thats what we do. If you still have questions on that I would be more than happy to explain further. On prep work, anything that we can not simply broom up will cost the customer extra, and we can do it all from sweeping with a sweeping truck to pressure washing. Plan on an extra day if you pressure wash or get it wet, so it can dry.

If the lines are faded, by all means snap end lines and stall lines. Snap the left side of the stripes. Thats easier to follow.

Rich - Asphaltman has one of the best common sense systems for new stripers to insure they will not lose their shirts when they are just starting out. In the beginning, I would tend to bid on the low side. It is probably better to make some money than no money. The key is to raise your prices to the "market" rates as quickly as you can. Once you know the biz and are comfortable with your skills and equipment, you will find it a lot easier to bid your jobs. When asked how you prep the lot, (based on your personal inspection) you should be able to say exactly what you will have to do in order guarantee your work for a certain period of time, usually one or two years. Don't worry about those second thoughts about your new venture, I am sure that everyone who has visited this web site has been there, done that and has moved onward and upward. Good luck.

Robert wrote on Dec 1, 2005:Go to #6

If the lines are faded, by all means snap end lines and stall lines. Snap the left side of the stripes. Thats easier to follow.

All a matter of preference & viewpoint (I am taller than Robert) for me the outside of the stripe is where I want the chalk (right side) because it's easier to see. But it's just preference and what works best for you. As has been said this isn't "get rich quick" so don't expect to pay for ramps & stencils & everything on 1 job. If money is real tight start with 1 gallon of blue (could be enough for this job) or realize that you will have paint leftover for the next job and you can even use a sheet of plywood or some other boards instead of buying ramps for now. As far as costing the above is correct until after you do that 1st job. Then you can see how much money you "made" and divide that by how many hours it took to see if you made enough to make it worth your time. If it's not over at least $10-$15 per hour you are making below minimum wage by the time you pay taxes etc. that otherwise your employer would have to pay. So you will know if you need to get more efficient (and you will have an idea of how fast you think you will get the "hang of it") or if this just isn't the job for you. The biggest mistake people make is thinking this is easy money instead of a business like any other. It can be "easy money" but only if you are doing it as a sideline, keep your costs down, and pick the "cherry" jobs you can do when you want because you don't need the work-stream for making a living. Otherwise it has to be run like a business. And the easiest part of this business is painting. The hard part is running the business.

For this time of year that is a low price. but i am in jersey and we only have about 1-2 weeks left till we are done. ware-ever is right some is better than none. I have a quick cheap solution for your ramps there is a product call "Ramp-Arts" do a internet search on them I believe they are only about 50-60 bucks. Then you buy a length of 2 x 10 or 12, cut it to desired length, drill two holes in each piece, attach "Ramp-Arts" with two lag bolts each. these ramps will last forever. I have had mine with the original wood for about 10 years. Hope it helps.

[ And the easiest part of this business is painting. The hard part is running the business. Quote don right on this one

Well I got the job and was wondering approx how many 16' stall lines will I get out of a 5 of hotline? On the original post it showed what Ill be striping itll be 66 stall lines 16ft ea, (4) 24" stop bars, (2) 90" arrows and (3) 5' HC walkouts,(1) Crosswalk for ped about 16X8ft. Do you think 1 5gal will do it ? I know its always better to have more then run out but I also know paint does tend to go bad after a while.. I also tried to buy a gal of HC blue and they only sell it by the 5 also for $79! and the Hotline white is $51 so if I get just one white and one blue Im already about 1/2 my bid price lol.. O well Live and learn I guess , I really am having 2nd thoughts bout shovin the LLIII 3900 into the bed of my nisssan truck, its not a full size so that doesnt leave much room for cones, 5gal buckets, water hose, stencils.. I might have to take a plunge and get a 5X8 enclosed so I can safely store all my stuff, I cant get much larger since my HOA for my neighborhood wont let anyone keep trailers outside the house.. I am debating whether to spend the extra $$ and get the ramp door type or just lift the back (expletive) end of the striper into the trailer and save $400-500.. Thanks alot for all your input ,thats why I knew postin here would really help me out.. Rich

If you buy trailer, get one large enough to grow into, you may just have to rent a space off site to store it. If you plan on staying in this business, then get the right size. Also SW can tint paint, just take a gal of the white you bought and have them tint it and put in in a 1 gal can. Good Luck!!

Good I wasnt sure if lettin them tint the hotline white is a good idea since the tint might not be the same as ADA wants and I wonder if itll hold up and hold its tint as long? I can go get a empty gal can at walmart and fill it up with some and bring it down to SW monday and see what happens.. Thanks for the advise! The things u never think of are the ones that usually save u $$ ..

WOW Rich. I just noticed that you have posted 80 times and you are just doing your first job. You go guy. Yes 5 gallons should be enough to do the job. As far as a trailer, get the ramp door. If I were you and could afford it I would get a 7x14 foot with ramp and side door. Like someone said , you might get an off site storage unit. If you do you could get by with an open trailer to start with but you would always be burdened by the task of loading and unloading all the time. The good thing about an enclosed trailer is when you get finished with the job you can close it up and your done. Make sure that your truck can tow the trailer you buy. Also, forget about trying to push a 3900 up ramps and into the back of a truck. That's an accident waiting to fall on you.

Double check on tinting the water based paints, but we actually buy tint in gallons from SW and make our own blue out of solvent paint, we found it to be cheaper that way for us.

we use white from SW and have them put as much blue tint as possible other wise SW hc blue looks robin egg blue(light blue)

I am buying the latex blue traffic paint at a local Ace hardware store. The normally carry it in singles but after talking to a manager, he now orders it in 5's. It is a nice blue, little darker than the handicap signs. You might check your local Ace Hdwe. Just a suggestion, These guys are right about SW tinting paint for you, that'll work too.

I got SW to tint my gal of quick dry white with blue, its not the dark blue like the real stuff but its like most around here and a med to light blue. O well its better then 80+ bux for a 5 of HC blue.. Ill see how it works out, thanks for the help..

add 10 oz. of black along with the blue tint to 5 gal. of s-w white and it will come out really close to factory hc blue. dennis

You can also have them add more tint to your liking, this is how we did it before we found it easier to buy the tint buy the gal and mix out own.