Striping price for Georgia (Atlanta Metro)

I too used to charge the same for restripe as new construction. A while back, after doing some number crunching, I found restripe jobs were not as profitable as new construction for us. We and have raised our restripe price by ~10 percent (not including restriping after after seal coat where the lot is free of cars.) We've also raised our small job minimum to $350. Work hasn't slowed yet.

We get 5.50 to 7.50 per stall for new lay out, I don't know what you guys drive , but it costs me 100 bucks just to fill up my trucks right now. How can you work for 150 bucks? paint is 40 + a bucket, my hired man, 30 dollars to fill gas cans . We also do the 325 min.

It is clear to me and this site has shown it several times. If you want to make more money then there are 3 thinks you can do. 1. raise your profit margen How? eather raise your price or lower your overhead. 2. If you cant raise your price and your overhead is as low as you can get it then "MOVE" to an area that has a larger profit margen built in. (ie less competition). 3. Do away with the competition. How? a. Buy them out, b. higher Vinny to pay them a visit, c. Lower your price so no one makes any money till they close up shop then raise your price to a higher Laval. Lesson learned from the big box stores. They make a profit off volume and a low profit margen. (in other words they do a lot of work for a little money. Smaller business stay in business by selling quality, and service coupled with there product to make a larger profit. less sales but a higher markup makes more money for less work. (personally this is the way I am heading.) Now this is just my opinion but it has been working for me.

150 is cheap i know... Drives me crazy, but most people should be able to do around 7 of these in a day without too much trouble.... If these jobs are all in the same area you probably could do between 8 and 11... it is all about volume and quality... It is sad, but sealcoaters almost do not care what the jobs look like anymore as long as they can collect their check...i turned down a big seal coater who gave me 40k in work last year because they want all the work done for cheaper... all sealer restripe 1.5 per stall, L.F. .10, min 135. From now on i only want to work for paverS on new layout or deal directly with end customer... I am trying to cut out all sealcoaters. No offense, but sealers are bottom feaders.... I have started to chase small road work (new layout under a mile). I also have trained with Elite Crete in concrete overlays... I have to diversify or i will go striping postal...I will be attending a seminar on polishing concrete this winter as well... The idea is to have the ability to work on indoor projects and still make a decent buck... I really enjoy striping but it is competitive. my two cents, Ryan

'I agree with Dwan to the n'th degree. Dwan said, ....."Smaller business stay in business by selling quality, and service coupled with there product to make a larger profit. less sales but a higher markup makes more money for less work. (personally this is the way I am heading.)"..... Much delight is had watching the big companies in the metro-mess try to undercut each other for the big jobs. (One of them has been in Chapter 11 at least once.) Their "cutting corner" techniques have allowed us opportunity. Example: A year or so back, we restriped firelane for one-o-them big boxes... (not a Wal-Mart.) The firelane had been recently restriped and didn't legally really need it. But, you should have seen what we were asked to fix. (I have some pics.) It was obvious the company still used air machines and aerosol cans for stenciling i.e. fuzzy edge red stripe with fuzzy double image stencils. Some of the stencils weren't completely on the stripe. The new customer was so well taken with the corrective measures, i.e. surface prep, airless, not using aerosol cans for stencils, etc., we were requested to restripe the remaining parking area, diagonal walkways and unloading zones. Certainly "these big companies" watch is board. Even so, makes no difference to me they are notified of their potential loss of work because my intent is not self-sacrificing. Hopefully, when the "big boys" realize what is happening, maybe they will stop giving up "quality" for "cheap", then we will all be on the same playing field. Point is,... even though we do not solicit larger restripes, if you do quality work, work will find you.

I LIVE I Atlanta . GA, AS WELL YOU WILL NOT GET ANY WORK WITH THOSE PRICES. I HAVE TRIED THAT MY SELF.

As I mentioned earlier my husband had heart surgery, which didn’t go well and he had to have a second surgery. Thanks to anyone that prayed for him, he is much better and I’m playing catch up with striping work now. I found that my per foot charges are the norm for Atlanta Metro area, but my stencil prices were a little high. When we stripers discuss per foot charge, there is a price that the customer pay’s for the work and a price that the contractor pays to the striper. My prices are what the contractor pays the striper, Lord only knows what the customer is paying, but I suspect it’s .30 to .40 per foot with stencils much higher. So, if I cut my prices, I’m not saving the customer any money, I’m just putting more money in the contractors pocket. What’s so sad is that the contractor will charge the customer $50,000 for his asphalt job and then convince the striper that he’s .25 per foot is a little to high, while at the same time charging the customer .30 to .40 per foot. I’m not in business to make the rich richer, and I don’t want to get rich, but I would like to have medical insurance and life insurance like the contractors have, can’t do it at .08 - .12 per foot. That may be because I’m a small company, but I am what I am. You were all very helpful in helping me determine the fair price for this service, thank you. Hey, I had an interesting conversation with my neighbor who cuts grass on the side; he has as many as six yards “side by side” at $50 per yard. That’s $300 with lawn equipment and gas as expense. Humm not bad, no paint, buckets, tips, pumps, cones, stencils, chalk, traffic, no waiting 2 or 3 years for a re-stripe. I think there is room in my trailer for a lawn mower. Thanks everyone for your help. Linda

Compare how long it would take to make 50 bucks with a lawnmower. Then compare if mowing at say $50 per hour would cut into your striping time ($100-$200per hour).

Tell her how you land that many of those 150 dollar jobs to do everyday. I wish I was that busy striping too. You have a salesman?

Ryankin wrote on Oct 23, 2005:Go to #24

150 is cheap i know... Drives me crazy, but most people should be able to do around 7 of these in a day without too much trouble.... If these jobs are all in the same area you probably could do between 8 and 11... it is all about volume and quality... It is sad, but sealcoaters almost do not care what the jobs look like anymore as long as they can collect their check...i turned down a big seal coater who gave me 40k in work last year because they want all the work done for cheaper... all sealer restripe 1.5 per stall, L.F. .10, min 135. From now on i only want to work for paverS on new layout or deal directly with end customer... I am trying to cut out all sealcoaters. No offense, but sealers are bottom feaders.... I have started to chase small road work (new layout under a mile). I also have trained with Elite Crete in concrete overlays... I have to diversify or i will go striping postal...I will be attending a seminar on polishing concrete this winter as well... The idea is to have the ability to work on indoor projects and still make a decent buck... I really enjoy striping but it is competitive. my two cents, Ryan

no salesman on payroll.. Just me, myself, and I. i do have another experienced striper who helps out part time and one laborer... No need for a salesman since i have around 5 paving companies that send me work consistently and 3 Seal coaters...

Band E, please don't take the seal coat comment personal.... The guys i deal with are as crooked as a dog's hind leg.

Linda, it if you are getting those prices you spoke of earlier that is fantastic... 7.00 a stall... the pavers' you work for must not have anyone else that stripes for him/her and if he did that company must have charged him the same... The more you lay out the better you will get. Me and one laborer layed out and painted 122 stalls, 700 linear ft, and 3 single color HC's in less than 3 hours... The job consisted of 2 double rows that lined up and 3 separate sections of single head in parking with various hash outs for gate entry. When i first started striping this job would probably take me about 8 to 9 hrs to complete with a helper. I charged the paver 485.00 for this project. i would 2.75 per stall .18 per foot 10.00 per HC Paint applied, 6.5 gallons yeah i am making money at this but not nearly what you would at your rates... my 2 cents

Seems like all the pavers around me have their own stripers. I don't waste my time with sealcoaters because I been burnt to many times. I don't mind striping for a few sealcoaters that pay me cash when I get to the job. I stripe for one paver

A word about quality.. The best way do get work is to make the work you do the best. Every market has customers who appreciate quality, when you do quality work, those customers will be the ones you'll be working for. Its true. I've been striping for 10 years, the first year I had to find work, but not since, and I still have most customers that I started with ten years ago. The ones I don't have are the ones I don't want to work for. It's a nice position to be in, and it all begins with quality. It may take longer at first to do a job the best that you can, but if that's all you do, soon your quality work will be just as fast as the other guys crap. We get complements ALL THE TIME. Every time you get a complement, you can be sure that is future work, either by that customer or many others they talk to. Sorry for the late post, I know the other post by STRIPES and Dwan about quality were a while ago, but I haven't been on for a while. Busy Busy....

Ryan, It would take me at least twice that amount of time and at least twice that amount of paint on new asphalt. I use ICI water base traffic paint and even using twice that amount of paint it is thin, sometimes I will put a second coat. But for sure if I use only one coat, I'm walking slow. I'm using a 319 tip and I make sure my lines are 4" wide. The paint flow just won't allow me to speed up, I'm going to increase my tip size next purchase. Linda

Linda, with a 319 tip you shouldn't have to walk slow. That paint must really be thin. The amount of paint Ryan said he used sounds right to me. We may use just a tad less or the same amount and coverage is good, but we use Acetone based paint. The old oil based we used to use was about the same. Unless your paint is really cheap I would try another. If you use twice that amount your spending too much money per ft of line.

Linda Try out some other paint suppliers. You should not have to walk so slow with that tip With our new lay-out we use sherwin williams setfast (but be honest with you we use that on all I lots.) I can take you to a lot here in SC that we did earlier this year and the lines still look good. Also what kinda of stiper/s do you have? -Dean