Pavemanpro.com - Asphalt paving sealcoating striping crack sealing infrared resource site

I am a new to the business.  Sept. 2007 i bought a Seal-rite 750 gal. extented deck rig with all the options, i spent just under $20,000.  My friend has been sealing for 7 years and got me into the business and he gets between .10 and .12 cent plus $1.00 per foot for cracks.  He operates in the southern Maryland area and has lots of competition.  I operate in southern Delaware/ beach area of Maryland and i get .18 to .20 per sq. ft.  There isn’t much competition around here, plus i am aggressive and pass out alot of flyers and talk to people in neighborhoods.  I’M CUROIUS TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE ON HOW MANY JOBS YOU DO A WEEK AND HOW MUCH DO YOU GET?  HOW MUCH ADVERTISING DO YOU DO?  and any advice you might have for a new business!!!!

i don’t advertise all my sales are from “door to door” sales. i do between 10 and 15 jobs a week. i average .25 to .55 cents per square foot. if you are new to sealcoating world, just rember don’t work just to work. we are all out there to make a living for ourselves. i don’t do many parking lots just because it’s not worth the time, here in spokane most sealcoating companies seal for less than .15 foot. as far as i’m concerned i wouldn’t get out of bed for that. you can make a good living from this business, if you choose to. or you can work your ass off and just pay your bills. it takes some good sales work and dedication. so what i’m saying is don’t sell yourself short.

thanks for the good advice.  I am having great sucess hitting neighborhoods with flyers on mailboxes and talking with homeowners.  And the referrals catch on like wild fire.  I have done alot of driveways that were just done last year by another company with coaltar.  99.9 are not happy with it and say they would not use that company again.  I also find that once a customer sees that i do a thurough job at prepping, (ex. cutting grass back, spraying weed killer) they will get me several referral fast.

You get .18 to .20 cents/sq. ft. including cutting grass and spraying weed killer. This is not usually included in prepping.

Most of the time spent on the job is consumed in prepping. Adding grass cutting and weed killer seems overkill.

i’m working out of alberta, canada.  The goin rate up here is about 23 cent/sq. ft. including prep work.  crack fill and patching is extra.  I’m using a superior product then the majority of my competition therefore i’m gettin a min of 45 cents/sq.ft. and max $1.20 for small residental driveways, and once again crackfill and patching extra.  We are also apply all our sealcoat with 2 coats, and offer a 1 year warranty.

I would kill to make that much per square foot, here we are luck to see .12/sq ft. There are too many undercutters and their watered down version. People don’t care they just hear price. It is a battle here, I need to move!

I get .15 a square foot.  When you say you put two coats on each driveway, do you put the second coat on right away or do you let it dry first?

I go from about 10 to 20 cents a sq ft.. And I do 4-8 jobs a day.. Some days are slower then others. We pass out alot of fliers and go door to door sometimes. This year we got a phone book and and I already plan on passing out a ton more fliers then we did last year.

It seem to vary anywhere from 10-25 cents a square foot depending on product being used.  Commercial lots are typically on the low end.

Daniel
http://pavementdenver.com

I’m out of Chicago suburbs and we struggle to get .11 for commercial and .08/.09 residential and we are a high quality company.  How in the world are you able to get .20 and up?  Are those prices for a 2 coat application?  Any suggestions on how to beat the low end watered down operations?

To compete with watered down products, you can provide your client with the manufacturers spec sheet when you submit your proposal and explain to them that over diluted products can cause many problems.  There is a section on the spec sheets that show test results for suspended solids, unit weight, scurb test and wet track abrasion.  These tests are on the concentrate, but you can calculate the results if you use the manufacturers specified dilution rate.  Take the test result and multiply it by 0.75 (75%) if the dilution rate is 25% to get the desired results for the tests.  Recommend that your client have suspended solids and unit weight tests done on your material at the time or application to show you are in compliance and not watering down your product to get a better bid.  Take care though when diluting and not to introduce air into the seal coat material.  This will mess up your unit weight test because air will not come out once it is blended in seal coat, which will cause your tests to fail.  Your client can have a pavement consultant or geotechnical testing firm do the tests for them.  For more information on how to monitor materials, you can purchase our book Guide to Pavement Maintenance at http://www.pavementbook.com.  Keeping your client educated is a key to success and helping you eliminate the competition that violates specifications.  You can also inform your client that over diluting seal coat materials will result in premature wear and they will need to seal more often then using a material that is diluted and applied correctly according to specifications.  This costs the client more over time than using the right blended material.

Tom McDonald
PMIS