# How to Price Sidewalks???



## EmeraldCut

Any ideas on how to price snow removal from sidewalks?? I can figure how to price salting them, just don't know how much time it will take to do a certain sq ft of walk space...HELP!!!


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## Ipushsnow

.15 cents per linear foot for standard 4-6 foot wide sidewalk. That includes salt. Does not include a place that routinely gets 12 inches of heavy, wet, salt laden snow pushed back on it by municipal plows.


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## 76CHEVY

Isn't a linear foot just a foot? so for a 4x6 sidewalk you only charging .90 cents

or do you mean per square feet? the linear thing always throws me for a loop.


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## cet

76CHEVY;789417 said:


> Isn't a linear foot just a foot? so for a 4x6 sidewalk you only charging .90 cents
> 
> or do you mean per square feet? the linear thing always throws me for a loop.


You are right on linear foot. I think if the sidewalk was wider he would charge more. eg. 12' wide would be .30 cents per linear foot.


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## QuadPlower

Square foot is width x length whigh give you AREA.
Linear foot is length, no matter the width.

Ipushsnow is really close with the $.15 per linear foot. If you have a 60 foot sidewalk in front of a house it would be $9 to clear it. If you get into the longer distances like miles, then the linear price goes way down.

You use linear with sidewalks because most are 4' wide (or less). Most quad blades are 4' wide and one pass will do it. With a snow blower it is a down and back.

When you bid a sidewalk you have to bid it with the best & cheapest equipment being used. If you only have a shovel and figure it will take you a half hour to do something, you have to remember that a guy with a quad will come through there and be done in 2 minutes. So hourly doesn't work.

Also if you have a snow blower and you figure a down and back on a 60' sidewalk equals 120 linear feet and price it that way at $.15 and the guy with the quad bids it at 60' at $.15 then he will win.

I don't salt sidewalks, but if I did, it would be priced seperate.


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## QuadPlower

cet;789430 said:


> You are right on linear foot. I think if the sidewalk was wider he would charge more. eg. 12' wide would be .30 cents per linear foot.


12' wide would be the same because you would use a plow truck to do it.


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## 76CHEVY

Quad where abouts in michigan are you, for 9 buck i'll pay ya to do my walks it would be worth it just so i dont have to do it after a night of plowing and doing other peoples walks.


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## QuadPlower

I'm in Portage/Kalamazoo. The average frontage in town in 120' which would be $18 at that price. It takes a maximum of 2 minutes to drive and clear that. All my sidewalks are seasonal and I average $150 per property.


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## snocrete

QuadPlower;789483 said:


> Square foot is width x length whigh give you AREA.
> Linear foot is length, no matter the width.
> 
> Ipushsnow is really close with the $.15 per linear foot. If you have a 60 foot sidewalk in front of a house it would be $9 to clear it. If you get into the longer distances like miles, then the linear price goes way down.
> 
> You use linear with sidewalks because most are 4' wide (or less). Most quad blades are 4' wide and one pass will do it. With a snow blower it is a down and back.
> 
> When you bid a sidewalk you have to bid it with the best & cheapest equipment being used. If you only have a shovel and figure it will take you a half hour to do something, you have to remember that a guy with a quad will come through there and be done in 2 minutes. So hourly doesn't work.
> 
> Also if you have a snow blower and you figure a down and back on a 60' sidewalk equals 120 linear feet and price it that way at $.15 and the guy with the quad bids it at 60' at $.15 then he will win.
> 
> I don't salt sidewalks, but if I did, it would be priced seperate.


I agree with you to some extent......but if you have multiple sites that only take 5 - 10 min of shoveling per stop , the shoveler will be faster....by the time you unload/load the 4wheeler the shoveler is done and on to the next site...........I have an account (sidewalks) that could use a 4 wheeler, but it would be a hassle for all the other accounts...so i cant justify it for just this one place. If I had a few REALLY big sidewalk accounts, or tons that were close enough to ride the 4 wheeler to each, then I could see it. It depends on the type of accounts you have on how to price them. On some of the accounts I do, they want charged hourly & per bg for walks......But for some of my other accounts its a flat charge for shoveling or salting, and in the last few years those are the more profitable ones for me. It has given my walk guys incentive to be efficient.....they dont jack around.....they make more money 2 if they do 10 billiable hours of work in 5 payup


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## QuadPlower

snocrete;789624 said:


> I agree with you to some extent......but if you have multiple sites that only take 5 - 10 min of shoveling per stop , the shoveler will be faster....by the time you unload/load the 4wheeler the shoveler is done and on to the next site...........I have an account (sidewalks) that could use a 4 wheeler, but it would be a hassle for all the other accounts...so i cant justify it for just this one place. If I had a few REALLY big sidewalk accounts, or tons that were close enough to ride the 4 wheeler to each, then I could see it. It depends on the type of accounts you have on how to price them. On some of the accounts I do, they want charged hourly & per bg for walks......But for some of my other accounts its a flat charge for shoveling or salting, and in the last few years those are the more profitable ones for me. It has given my walk guys incentive to be efficient.....they dont jack around.....they make more money 2 if they do 10 billiable hours of work in 5 payup


The only sidewalks I shovel are the ones from the driveway to the front door. I don't have any city sidewalks that I shovel as part of my driveway plowing route. I have a dedicated sidewalk route that I started with a quad, moved up to a mini truck and am now looking at a Trackless to bid it next time.

You are right. If you have a dedicated shoveler that rides with you in your truck and he shovels while you plow the drive, then it is faster to shovel/snow blow than to unload a quad and plow it.

I guess what I'm refering to is more commercial sidewalks. Apartments, offfice/warehouse lots, HOA, etc. Where there is alot of sidewalks and a couple of crews working at once.

Plowing/shoveling by the hour is a whole other subject.


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## bellcityplow

sidewalks by me are mostly 5x5 I charge $1.27 a square, so i count how many 5x5 squares there are and multiply by $1.27 so if front of a auto part store is 120 feet long it has 24 squares i charge $30.48 to snow blow and salt we get real deep snow here so all I use is toro two stroke single stage snow blowers, light to throw in the back of each truck and throws snow 20 feet. hope this helps


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## ptllandscapeIL

I bid all my stuff per shovelers , Salting is 35.00 Per bag and we dont use rock salt on walks we use landscapers choice or cal cloride,and alot of our places have a alot of stairs so i send a crew there a driver wiht a trucker and spreader and 2 labor(shovelers) and 2 blowers and 3 shovels and sidewalk spreader,

Truck and driver (pickup) $80.00 per hour (2-4" storm)
1 hour worth of 2 shovelers &70.00
5 bags landscapers choice $ 175.00.
.5 tons of salt for lot $85.00

Total for LOt plow and salt $165.00
Total for walks $245.00

Total$410.00


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