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What would you guys charge for this install?

Johnny Best

Active Member
I quoted 150 a truck and they called today and want me to do them, these are 9' x 4' sheets, 2 each truck, how do you guys tackle these, cut them in sections for the door panels or ?

How do we tackle these? By knowing how I am going to do it from past experience and charging more than $150 per truck. How on God's earth do you price a job if you don't know how to tackle it.
Be careful on that ladder on the back lift and good luck. Report back on how long and how hard the first one was to install.
 

AKwrapguy

New Member
I used to work for a beverage distributor and have done many of these. Two things that are going to be an issue, the first the sheer amount of dirt and damage on the rear door they are the worst places on the truck. The distributor says that they are going to clean them first but their going to use a guy with a power washer for about 5 minutes. Your going to have to really clean around the rivets and in between the panels (make sure everything is dry afterwards, since the back doors are wood they love to hold water). Second is the tension wire on either side. These are also going to be dirty and greasy and get int the way of the wrap and you will have to work around them. The hardware on the bottom of the door can also be frustrating but again just take your time and you'll figure it out. Most of the artwork comes in vertical panels, I always found it easier to line them up and tape them together with 1" tape first. As far a securing them to the rear door of the truck, take a few pieces of tape about 4"-5" each and roll it up into loops and use that to secure the panels to the door. Once you are done with application and trimming DON'T FORGET TO CUT OUT EACH PANEL. The driver will not care and will just open the door, tearing or ripping the material. If you have never done these before it will take you about 2-3 hours at first. But you's get it down to about an hour or so. If your doing multiple ones, clean them all first to the have time to dry.
 

SightLine

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Another tip I just thought of.... if the trucks have grab handles mounted to the outer frame on each side of the door, there is very often enough cable on the door spools that you can literally pull the cable to the sides and hook it around the vertical grab handles... Be careful though and wear gloves as those cables can sometime have a snag or broken wire that will poke you. It does make the install a LOT easier though since you only have then work around the cables at the very top and bottom.
 

David Snider

New Member
I was contacted by a local drink distributer about installing some decals on the back of their trucks and need help pricing this thing..
The decal is a little over 7' wide x 8' tall, I will be installing this onsite in a heated warehouse,

The manager thinks it would take about two hours per truck. they will be cleaning the trucks first,

What would you guys charge for this kind of job?

Also there could be a lot more business from them after the trucks are done.



Thanks
This is an hours worth of labor! We would do them all day long for $100.00 unit if they were right down the street in a heated facility. If you get on board with LOWEN they will treat you fair and be a good source of install work.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
This is an hours worth of labor! We would do them all day long for $100.00 unit if they were right down the street in a heated facility. If you get on board with LOWEN they will treat you fair and be a good source of install work.

I agree with it maybe being an hour's worth of work, but is that all you charge ?? That's only $800 a day. You must be a lone wolf or something with no overhead. Ya can't exist on a weekly income like that..... and still run a business.
 

David Snider

New Member
I agree with it maybe being an hour's worth of work, but is that all you charge ?? That's only $800 a day. You must be a lone wolf or something with no overhead. Ya can't exist on a weekly income like that..... and still run a business.
I agree with it maybe being an hour's worth of work, but is that all you charge ?? That's only $800 a day. You must be a lone wolf or something with no overhead. Ya can't exist on a weekly income like that..... and still run a business.
I agree with it maybe being an hour's worth of work, but is that all you charge ?? That's only $800 a day. You must be a lone wolf or something with no overhead. Ya can't exist on a weekly income like that..... and still run a business.
We do quite well actually. We have 6-8 installers all the time. The key is to get in and get out.
 

Maxon70

New Member
Thanks, Ive never heard of LOWEN, the only things I was concerned with was the tension cables and the size of the decals, they are 4' w x 9' long, I wasn't sure if I should try to tackle these alone or hire a helper or cut them into sections.

I told the distributor that this was my first time installing these, maybe that's why I got the bid at 150. Im a lone wolf so far in this game and the way I see it is work is work, Im not going to dedicate all my time to these they only have 2 on hand a day.
 
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David Snider

New Member
Thanks, Ive never heard of LOWEN, the only things I was concerned with was the tension cables and the size of the decals, they are 4' w x 9' long, I wasn't sure if I should try to tackle these alone or hire a helper or cut them into sections.

I told the distributor that this was my first time installing these, maybe that's why I got the bid at 150. Im a lone wolf so far in this game and they way I see it is work is work, Im not going to dedicate all my time to these they only have 2 on hand a day.
This is gravy work as you will see. Lowen is the graphics supplier.
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Thanks, Ive never heard of LOWEN, the only things I was concerned with was the tension cables and the size of the decals, they are 4' w x 9' long, I wasn't sure if I should try to tackle these alone or hire a helper or cut them into sections.

I told the distributor that this was my first time installing these, maybe that's why I got the bid at 150. Im a lone wolf so far in this game and the way I see it is work is work, Im not going to dedicate all my time to these they only have 2 on hand a day.

Dang, I'd never admit to a customer I've never done a job like theirs. I think I have so many people thinking I'm a professional that sometime I start to believe it.
 
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