Replies

1. 
   davidmeiland | Aug 10, 2004 09:21pm | #1

   I know nothing about that particular trade, but you gotta charge what it costs you, plus profit and overhead. If you can't compete with the other guys, it either means they're faster than you, doing lower quality, have less overhead, or going broke... or all of the above.

   Not so long ago I needed some feedback on pricing, but I'm in a small town where that info doesn't flow so freely. I got out the city yellow pages and called a big shop about 70 miles away. The estimator gave me 5 minutes worth of free insight into how they price.

2. 
   pebble | Aug 10, 2004 10:24pm | #2

   I used to do asphalt sealcoating for a living. The striper my company emloyed once handed out a price list and I peeked at it. He charged 11 cents a foot of stripe. I know each straight stripe is 11 feet long and each slanted stripe is 16 or 17 feet long. The handicapped squares were priced at 40 dollars each. To further help, I know this one Chili's restaurant, a small one, the bid was 680 dollars.

   Feel free to ask anymore Q's. Yes, I have done striping before. Concrete needs oil based paint. Asphalt is latex. Oil based needs 5 gallon buckets of mineral spirits to clean machine out after striping. Messy.

   Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK

   "If yer gonna drive fast on the highway why not go as fast as you can? Like... a hundred miles per hour or more lol."

1. 
   shoemaker | Aug 11, 2004 02:46am | #3

   Hey pebble thanks for helpful info. Now I guess the more important question. Does the common striping machine use inverted spray paint cans from Rustoleum? See attatchment.

   I picked this up to stripe the newly paved parking lot at my firehouse. I'm an interior painter who decided to take this job cause no one else offered to do it. Now that I have the machine, I figured I might as well make some money where I can.

   A paving company is doing a parking lot down the street from my job. I told the owner I had the machine and he pretty much gave me the job. I told him I would get back to him with an estimate.

   By the way, the firehouse came out looking good. I just don't wanna show up with a "Matchbox" when the other guys are using the big "Tonka" toys.

   Thanks again Pebble.Thats not a blemish....we call that character

1. 
   BobKovacs | Aug 11, 2004 02:55am | #5

   Just saw the pic of your striper.  That's definitely not what the pros use- you'll wear it out in no time, and go thru tons of cans of paint in the process (read: high material costs).  If you're serious about getting into striping, it's going to take a big investment in equipment.

   Bob

1. 
   shoemaker | Aug 11, 2004 03:15am | #6

   I didn't think the pros walked around with these. hahaha.

   thanks

   Thats not a blemish....we call that character

2. 
   pebble | Aug 11, 2004 05:06am | #7

   The machine is not bad for smaller jobs. I have even seen a guy using a roller to re-stripe faded stripes at a local Walgreens. He operated out of the trunk of his car. Later my company sealed the parking lot though.

   The machines used by the regular stripers are airless type machines. These operate at pretty high pressures. Typically if one were to accidently place a body part under the spray the paint will inject itself under the skin. The one that we used cost about 4500 dollars, a Speer I think with a Honda motor. A five gallon bucket sat in the middle of it.

   The trickiest part of striping a blank parking lot IMO is the layout. The striper I saw used a Folgers coffee can filled with cement to weigh down the end of a chalkline. This way he could work by himself, snapping the chalkline to denote the termination points of the stripes. His jobs came out looking good. I think BTW his minimum fee was 80 dollars. Yep thats right, 80 dollars for a 5 stall job if that was what it was.

   No problem for the replies. Your welcome :)

   Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK

   "If yer gonna drive fast on the highway why not go as fast as you can? Like... a hundred miles per hour or more lol."

1. 
   shoemaker | Aug 12, 2004 01:11am | #8

   http://www.truscomfg.com/

   there are some some pretty ncie machines here. I'm sure you've seen them or similar but I figured I would post it for anyone interested. not as bad, price wise, as I thought they would be.Thats not a blemish....we call that character

3. 
   BobKovacs | Aug 11, 2004 02:52am | #4

   Typically. striping is estimated as follows:

   $XX per parking space  (we currently pay $6.75/space for a medium sized job- 100 spaces or so)

   $YY per handicap space (currently around $35/space including the crosshatch and HC symbol)

   $zz per LF of 4" wide stop bar, lane divider, etc (currently around $0.10/LF)

   There's usually a minimum charge as well, which varies from company to company.  You obviously can't expect to get a 5-spot parking lot stripped for only $33.75....lol.

   These prices are in central NJ, and as someone said, you've got to make them work for your particular business situation.  Figure out your required hourly rate, material costs, maintenance and trailering costs, etc., and figure out how much you can do in a day.  It's usually a two man operation, since you need to snap lines for layout prior to striping (unless you're just repainting over existing).

   Bob

4. 
   GML | Aug 12, 2004 04:46am | #9

   Hope this does'nt read well but I had an aquaintance who used to strip parking lots and his thing was to charge for the work but also make use of your clients services, it's a gesture that you appreciate your customers talents. 50.00 + a meal , 50.00 + a car wash ; simple gesture worth alot of human consideration. nice,huh!

1. 
   shoemaker | Aug 12, 2004 05:03am | #10

   thats a good idea. comes in handy at the deli's. hehehe better yet the beer distributors. hahahaThats not a blemish....we call that character

5. 
   salyarcht | Aug 31, 2014 03:32pm | #11

   concrete parking lot striping

   Does concrete striping have to be done every 5 years like asphalt or can it be applied less since paint is oil?