# Driveways rates



## melver78

Hi guys do you what are the rates for driveways in Michigan... I been doing some driveways more than 100 ft long.. and would like to know how much do i have to charge for driveways.... I will appreciated any help thanks,,Thumbs Up


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## underESTIMATED

Eleventy billion. + tip


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## merrimacmill

I'd say $25 is fair?


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## rcn971

merrimacmill;1557762 said:


> I'd say $25 is fair?


Really? That just sucks.


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## jbell36

yeah i'm not sure if he was being sarcastic or not...

around here a typical driveway goes for $40-50...our drives are city drives though, just usually big enough to fit 4 vehicles or so, not 100'


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## ALC-GregH

You should really leave it up to someone that knows how to manage a business properly. If you don't know what to charge to clean snow off a 100ft driveway then you should consider something else to make a living at. Wait, let me guess, you're doing it for "extra" money?


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## Mike N

I have a couple 125' drives that I do. Both are asphalt and pretty straight forward to plow, lotsa room to stack snow, etc....

$50 for each.


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## merrimacmill

Yes I was being sarcastic, looking at it now I was probably being more sarcastic than I should have been, didn't mean anything by it. I think it was just because this question comes up so often on here. But yet it is so vague that its impossible to answer. 

If someone came on here and said I have a driveway that is ___ number of square feet. I have ____ truck and plow. I have _____ yearly average expenses associated with my plowing. What should I charge? Well thats a question we can all really answer. 

But hey, its not like any of us never had the same question on day 1. I remember my first meeting for signing up my first ever driveway, all nervous walking into it and everything. I never thought it would all come to this, today. 

With all that said, if it is only for extra money on your way driving into work, then just charge whatever you will walk away feeling satisfied with.


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## framer1901

Yes you need to know business costs to price it but there is also market rates too which I guess is part of business costs.

Is 50 bucks each the right price when you do 200 of them per night? We all wish.

The market price in an area that gets 20" of snow per year will probably be somewhat different than a place that gets 120" per year.

The overhead cost of the kid living with mom and dad trying to start out is just a bit different than the guy supporting a family, paying for a shop, 5 trucks and all the other misc things.

I too get disgusted with the "help me price this" posts.....

A honest answer is average driveways go for between 5 and 50 bucks per time.

There's nothing wrong with the kid living at home, everyone has to start someplace and few have capital to go balls deep in this business - they'll learn soon enough thru taxes and all the other hidden costs what the real costs are. These beginners rarely are doing the strip malls and commercial properties and are truely just nibbling away at a few crumbs left on the floor.


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## scott3430

I don't charge by the hour, but if a small town drive takes me 3-5 minutes......I'm charging $20.


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## melver78

scott3430;1558090 said:


> I don't charge by the hour, but if a small town drive takes me 3-5 minutes......I'm charging $20.


did you charge $20 bucks for small driveways and in .including salt or just the romove???


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## scott3430

$20.00 charge is just for plowing/removal. Around here barely anyone asks for salting, even most commercial don't want any salting.

The business's do there own on there walks and not much else.


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## jbell36

i second the amount of snowfall per year as well, that might be the biggest factor...if you get snow every 4 days then you simply can't charge as much than if you only get 4 snows a year...and to be honest, i have to disagree with the overhead and knowing your expenses to a degree...it's all about your market, you can't charge $75 for a $50 driveway and just tell the customer that you simply have more overhead, it doesn't work like that...i'm not saying it's not important to know your costs, but it's not the only factor...i mean, if you look at the driveway and say it's going to cost me $20 to do this, so if i charge $30 i'll make money on it...why wouldn't you charge a little more since the market is more around the $50 mark...it works both ways

if your overhead is more than the market then you are doing something wrong


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## rcn971

jbell36;1558158 said:


> i second the amount of snowfall per year as well, that might be the biggest factor...if you get snow every 4 days then you simply can't charge as much than if you only get 4 snows a year...and to be honest, i have to disagree with the overhead and knowing your expenses to a degree...it's all about your market, you can't charge $75 for a $50 driveway and just tell the customer that you simply have more overhead, it doesn't work like that...i'm not saying it's not important to know your costs, but it's not the only factor...i mean, if you look at the driveway and say it's going to cost me $20 to do this, so if i charge $30 i'll make money on it...why wouldn't you charge a little more since the market is more around the $50 mark...it works both ways
> 
> if your overhead is more than the market then you are doing something wrong


While you cannot control fair market pricing, you can control your overhead and overall efficiency.


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## excav8ter

Michigan seems to be cheap on a lot of snow removal pricing..... drives near me, mostly 25'-35' wide and 50 or feet long, seem to be going for $14-$20 per time....period....not xx for 2"-4.75" and then xx for 4.75" - 8" ..... and so on. One price no matter how much snow we get. 
I do my drives pretty "competitively".....but I feel I am making out pretty good, for the amount of time spend on each of them, and the fact that they are all within the development that I plow, makes them even better.


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## framer1901

Although with the lack of snow in Holland, prices may just have to rise in the future. I dang near forget how to plow.

Here's to it being January 6th and not having plowed 100% of our customers yet, and the 8 day forcast showed nothing on the way. What are we supposed to average, 70"? They say we've got 9 but I'm not sure how they come up with that.


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## leolkfrm

melver78;1557673 said:


> Hi guys do you what are the rates for driveways in Michigan... I been doing some driveways more than 100 ft long.. and would like to know how much do i have to charge for driveways.... I will appreciated any help thanks,,Thumbs Up


you don't HAVE to charge anything!...calculate all your costs and add 20%...25-50 is and avg depending on size for per trip for a seasonal


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## excav8ter

framer1901;1558837 said:


> Although with the lack of snow in Holland, prices may just have to rise in the future. I dang near forget how to plow.
> 
> Here's to it being January 6th and not having plowed 100% of our customers yet, and the 8 day forcast showed nothing on the way. What are we supposed to average, 70"? They say we've got 9 but I'm not sure how they come up with that.


Disappointing isn't it? Had my plows on one time....didn't even have to plow the little bit we got on the north side of Holland. Oh well.....I have digging work to-do yet......


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## Daddyworbucks

Most east drives I say 25.00 for driveway only 35.00 with walks


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## Citytow

melver78;1557673 said:


> Hi guys do you what are the rates for driveways in Michigan... I been doing some driveways more than 100 ft long.. and would like to know how much do i have to charge for driveways.... I will appreciated any help thanks,,Thumbs Up


.12 per sq. ft. thats what i used to charge,


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## Neige

Citytow;1853275 said:


> .12 per sq. ft. thats what i used to charge,


Citytow, is that how you charged all your resi drives by sq.ft.? So lets say this drive is 12 feet wide by 100 feet deep so I come up with 1200 sq ft. They must have some form of parking area near the house so I will add 300 sq. ft. for a total of $1,500 sq. ft. multiply that with your .12 cents and I get $180.00. Now if that was your seasonal price I understand why you used to do resi. If that was your per push price why did you stop?


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## 1olddogtwo

Neige;1853373 said:


> Citytow, is that how you charged all your resi drives by sq.ft.? So lets say this drive is 12 feet wide by 100 feet deep so I come up with 1200 sq ft. They must have some form of parking area near the house so I will add 300 sq. ft. for a total of $1,500 sq. ft. multiply that with your .12 cents and I get $180.00. Now if that was your seasonal price I understand why you used to do resi. If that was your per push price why did you stop?


Ask him how much he charges for Tarmac's....


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## Defcon 5

1olddogtwo;1853378 said:


> Ask him how much he charges for Tarmac's....


:laughing:...........


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## Defcon 5

Neige;1853373 said:


> Citytow, is that how you charged all your resi drives by sq.ft.? So lets say this drive is 12 feet wide by 100 feet deep so I come up with 1200 sq ft. They must have some form of parking area near the house so I will add 300 sq. ft. for a total of $1,500 sq. ft. multiply that with your .12 cents and I get $180.00. Now if that was your seasonal price I understand why you used to do resi. If that was your per push price why did you stop?


......I'm curious to hear Mr.Tows answer to this question....


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## Citytow

Neige;1853373 said:


> Citytow, is that how you charged all your resi drives by sq.ft.? So lets say this drive is 12 feet wide by 100 feet deep so I come up with 1200 sq ft. They must have some form of parking area near the house so I will add 300 sq. ft. for a total of $1,500 sq. ft. multiply that with your .12 cents and I get $180.00. Now if that was your seasonal price I understand why you used to do resi. If that was your per push price why did you stop?


one time sweep w/ salt - .12 x sq. ft ..if i didnt get it , i didnt do it . i tell the customer what my service cost , they dont dictate the price .

its the same when you go into Acme, at the cash register with an 8.00 box of cheerios, you dont negotiate the price they have , you pay it or leave it .

everybody and their neighbor bought a blower .just like everybody and their sister now have a plow,lawnmower ,ladder ,tools ,and a pair of boots . they put a magnet on the side of their car , watch youtube and wallah , they are a big time contractor.


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## Citytow

View PostUnread Today, 03:32 PM

This message is hidden because Defcon 5 is on your ignore list.

yep , you too are unable to spew


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## Defcon 5

I feel Honored that I'm on your ignore list....Thank You

I hope the day comes that everyone is on your ignore list


I do find it amazing that everyone Bought a Snowblower and put you out of the residential market.....More BS from the King of BS


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## Defcon 5

Citytow;1853529 said:


> one time sweep w/ salt - .12 x sq. ft ..if i didnt get it , i didnt do it . i tell the customer what my service cost , they dont dictate the price .
> 
> its the same when you go into Acme, at the cash register with an 8.00 box of cheerios, you dont negotiate the price they have , you pay it or leave it .
> 
> everybody and their neighbor bought a blower .just like everybody and their sister now have a plow,lawnmower ,ladder ,tools ,and a pair of boots . they put a magnet on the side of their car , watch youtube and wallah , they are a big time contractor.


You do understand who Neige is ......Right.....This is a guy that has built a Very Large Snow removal Company on a good percentage of Residential Customers

I'm sure he is picking up on your BS just like everyone else.....:laughing:


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## Neige

Citytow;1853529 said:


> one time sweep w/ salt - .12 x sq. ft ..if i didnt get it , i didnt do it . i tell the customer what my service cost , they dont dictate the price .
> 
> its the same when you go into Acme, at the cash register with an 8.00 box of cheerios, you dont negotiate the price they have , you pay it or leave it .
> 
> everybody and their neighbor bought a blower .just like everybody and their sister now have a plow,lawnmower ,ladder ,tools ,and a pair of boots . they put a magnet on the side of their car , watch youtube and wallah , they are a big time contractor.


Thank you for making that clear. Seems like a complicated way to charge for resi. We price them single car wide, double car wide, and if they are 20 feet deep or 50 feet deep it will be the same price. We rarely salt any of our resi clients. Your price of $180 seems excessive and most likely the reason people are doing it themselves. Now if you are sweeping these drives I can better understand your price, but then you should not need to salt. Once again pricing varies so much from market to market. I will say it again know your costs, add what you want for profit and price accordingly


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