# New at Commercial Bidding



## NuView Painting (Sep 25, 2007)

I've been doing Residential for quite some time the Housing market got really slow here the last few weeks and got my foot in the door working by the "HOUR" wow, for a painting contractor.. Im gonna be upping my Liability and to start bidding on these jobs my self. Its alot less work for instance this building im in right now is 6000 SQFT with 10 Ceilings Rock from top to bottom, metal door frame, wood window frames, rubber base, doors prefinished..so just painting the ceiling, the walls and frames... how would i go about estimating the material for this, by the SQFT? or the Surface Area?...im use to estimating for houses but this is alot more simple..here in Louisiana I bid 3.50 SQFT LAbor and Material on houses ..But need some help on commercial ..thanks guys


----------



## NuView Painting (Sep 25, 2007)

anyone...have any suggestions .... anything


----------



## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

i would have answered this, but I got confused when I read this:


NuView Painting said:


> how would i go about estimating the material for this, by the SQFT? or the Surface Area?..


Surface area _IS_ usually measured by the SQFT, so I didn't know what you meant. Plus, I was curious as to how you come to this number:


NuView Painting said:


> I bid 3.50 SQFT LAbor and Material on houses


----------



## Rich (Apr 26, 2007)

I can understand the need to branch out into other territory, but I don't have much experience with commercial to help you out. Only time I've ever painted commercial was back when I was working for someone else.


----------



## Tmrrptr (May 4, 2007)

Here's the deal, with a request for bid, as I've seen it occur.

When a painter considers sq ft, he is considering each individual facet of the geometrical shape constructed, as he must apply a specific thickness of product directly to those surfaces.

When the builder wants to know how much per square foot, he really means floor space of the building.

...a particular design may be more, or less, expensive to build, than others, based upon intricacy of the design, than others...

And, of course, the salesman negotiating the bids is going to pop up with,
"Well, the going price is xx/sqft and we'd really like you to do it, but your figure is ..."

There is is NO FIXED PRICE PER SQ FT unless you are doing identical projects at the same location, at the same point in time.

The painter will submit his price for the job, and the builder will convert that price into a price per sq ft in an attempt to negotiate a better deal for his own benefit.

Commercial work is great! You get to deal with trained professionals, with a whole lot less wildcards cropping up than when dealing with members of the general public.
r


----------



## NuView Painting (Sep 25, 2007)

sorry i about making it read weird.. when I started doing my own bidding I as doing it by the surface area that needed to be painted .. makes more sense .. but then I came into the problem of not knowing how much sheet rock was used in the house..the contractor would with hold this info.. for the sake of hoping i would bid low I guess..sad huh?? well I went with my records and figured out a floor sqft labor and material cost that worked out for me..where I got 3.50 sqft.. I guess working with these GC they kinda force your hand in to the wrong direction.. another reason I wanna do commercial.. so how would I fiqure the surface area of a building where i dont know the amount of sheet rock used??


----------



## Tmrrptr (May 4, 2007)

Oh Gosh!
There are surfaces other than rock that need surface coatings...

All the information you need should be on the prints and callout sheets from the architect.
Only other option is to walk the job, but you'd still need a callout sheet.

If you even suspect that all appropriate info is not on the plans presented to you, enter your bid "as per revision xx" or whatever it is.
That will at least give you something to talk about if changes are made!

It's unlikely a general contractor or site super would withhold information to mislead you... It's in their best interest to get the job done well.
r


----------



## NuView Painting (Sep 25, 2007)

I was just saying rock... cause that just what I had on my mind at the time I was typing.. believe me this one guy I do work for right now is ridiculous all I have to go off of is walking down the house. which has been working for me.. Im not gonna sit here and say I know all the ends and outs about bidding cause I dont, cause my partner that I had was the more experienced and he recently feel off because of drugs...a whole nother story.. but Im doing this on my own and wanna make it work with..the records I keep and from the forums I read here.. Every thing read here has a great affect on me and what I do.. I trust all of you senior guys and what you say here...thanks for all your input


----------



## Tmrrptr (May 4, 2007)

I sure don't know it all.
Got a pocket full of pennies and they usually come out in pairs!
r


----------



## Rich (Apr 26, 2007)

Tmrrptr said:


> I sure don't know it all


:whistling2:


----------



## Joewho (Apr 17, 2007)

If the gc is truly being an ass, you might want to find others to work for. Especially, if this gc uses your current employer.

Do you know how to read prints? Are you giving the impression of being less than confident? Some GC's can smell a weakness a mile away.

Anyway, if he's being uncooperative now, just wait until it's time for a pay out or the end of the job, or he'll schedule other trades right on top of you, costing you tons of money. I'd just stay away from this guy. He probably will expect a verbal and won't sign a contract.


----------



## donnag16 (Jan 17, 2008)

:jester: Commercial bidding is different from residential, you can bid by the sq ft on walls and ceilings , but trim should be done under linear ft and doors and frames should be estimated per each.


----------



## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

NuView Painting said:


> I came into the problem of not knowing how much sheet rock was used in the house..the contractor would with hold this info..


You should be able to figure this out by measuring the ceilings and walls. In one of your posts you said you were trying to figure out materials. You know that a gallon will cover approx. 400 s.f. The paint doesnt know if its being applied in a commercial or residential setting. Dont be intimidated by the scale of these things. They are big, but pretty simple details generally and the quality standards can be somewhat lower. They are often driven much more by budget and schedule than quality.


----------



## NEPS.US (Feb 6, 2008)

NuView Painting said:


> I've been doing Residential for quite some time the Housing market got really slow here the last few weeks and got my foot in the door working by the "HOUR" wow, for a painting contractor.. Im gonna be upping my Liability and to start bidding on these jobs my self. Its alot less work for instance this building im in right now is 6000 SQFT with 10 Ceilings Rock from top to bottom, metal door frame, wood window frames, rubber base, doors prefinished..so just painting the ceiling, the walls and frames... how would i go about estimating the material for this, by the SQFT? or the Surface Area?...im use to estimating for houses but this is alot more simple..here in Louisiana I bid 3.50 SQFT LAbor and Material on houses ..But need some help on commercial ..thanks guys


Plaster or Drywall....texture or smooth ceilings....pre primed frames or bare...oil spec for frames?..will the doors be hanging with hardware (prefinished door will require time in remove and re-install, storage and liability for damage if up).... biggest thing here is gonna be the schedule...if the GC is being a **** already i'm sure he's gonna abuse you..(you will always be behind on $$$ on this one!)....a 6k office job usually means many subs stacked up...will you get a floor to yourself for 2-3 days?... your gonna need to maximize your spray time...and dry time with those frames. Also if the GC stacks you on top of the drywaller your gonna have a hell of a time with those frames with all the dust... so many factors here for you to loose your shirt before you even think about pricing .... you may want to wait to venture on your own until the weather turns nicer....just my 2cents


----------



## NEPS.US (Feb 6, 2008)

oops..did notice the date ... little late


----------

