Why arent you repairing screens? Would just like to know why some may not offer this service. I’m trying to see the downfall of it.
advantages:
It’s costly to get it done
I can do it on my time ( i take screens home and do them at home)
It’s easy to be cheaper than the competition because your already over at theyre house and have taken the screens off.
cons:
Sucks up some free time
can be frustrating when you keep messing up and accidentally cut screen
But practice makes perfect. I can charge anywhere from 20-30$ per screen flat rate. Still make an amazing profit.
In my area home depot charges 20$ alone for labor on a single screen. The mobile screen repair does flat rate screens 36$ each. Right now i do in home service and return them and install them. I give them a time line… usually next day.
We never really got good at making them… They just weren’t coming out as good as the glass place around the corner. So we bailed on it and just lt them do any we break…
Yeah they’re not that easy to do especially if you do it at the customers house. I would usually end up on their drive way on hands and knees. I charged between $15 for a small one and $30 for a screen door. The worst ones were the tall skinny screens, they have such flimsy frames they would bow in on me if it wasn’t just perfect. Plus a lot of them have broken plastic corner inserts that would come apart when you took out the old screen and I never had them in supply. It wouldn’t be so bad if you had a complete supply of everything and a sturdy table to work on.
But yeah, hard to make look perfect even if you’re the owner. Plus it wrecks the whole flow of the job.
Yeah it can be frustrating when your putting the finishing touches on one and all of a sudden you hear that rip… it’s inevitable. But since i’ve been doing i’ve gotten significantly faster and better. I’m confident enough to bust out a re-screening during a job and know it wont take more than 10 minutes of my time.
Im up front and tell them “well i’ve only been doing screens for 3 months but, guarantee my work and do it for far less than anyone else”
Eventually those prices will go up but i mean come on 20$ for a labor charge!!??!
I also think i’m going to use this as my stepping off point for groupon. Do like a 50% off 10 screens at a single residency. 20 coupons worth. That way i’m not soaking up my day laboring for hours and missing out on window cleaning money. I can just toss em in my van and do them after the days jobs.
The biggest con is the time it takes to pick up and return screens, especially if it is a stand alone service. I’m trying to come up with a package where we come in and will inspect, adjust, and secure all existing screens, and replace any latches if necessary. Including re-screening any screens and building any new ones if the frames are worn and bent.
I do a lot of screens. It is a good add on for my current customers. I built a jig for my trailer that holds the frames square and puts tension on the mesh so I just spline and trim. I have picked up WC business when people walking down the street stop to watch me repairing screens and ask me to come by to look at fixing theirs.
Just like cleaning windows, the more screens you build, the better you will get
I would never take them away especially on houses with take aparts, you’d have to take all the windows out again most of the time etc. Even if you just had to make another appointment, drive there again, bill her again etc. Pain in the butt.
I did google mobile screen repair, I’ve never heard of it before. Man they have a lot of options to upsell. With me it’s just vinyl screen new spline that’s it.
I hear ya. But I’m not cleaning the windows, my employees are. I build screens and do the re-screening. But you’re right, it’s a pain in the butt to bring them back sometimes. I’m just not ready for a full blown mobile screen trailer…yet.
We used to but in my area there are many different types of screens and colors and I didn’t like stocking all that material. Now I take them to a screen shop and let them do it. Normally I will tell the client where they can take them but most don’t want the hassle. So I will take them in and return and install. In most cases I double the price of the screen shop to take and return the screens. Just easier and takes less time for me that way.
Back when I was doing screens, I had an employee bend about 4 screens on one of my clients houses’. Of course, it was a color I could not find so I had to take it to a shop. I brought the screens there because if they go and get the measurements they are NEVER the right size and ends up taking weeks.
Even with the screens in front of their faces (different shop) it took 5 days and I go to put them back in, of course- they don’t fit. Another week later, (of course they still charged me) and another 50 bucks for gift cards for her plus the money to replace the screens- thats when I threw in the towel.
I have made a bunch of screens over the years, I am just no good at it. I used to get calls for just one screen! That used to drive me nuts.
Back when I was doing screens, I had an employee bend about 4 screens on one of my clients houses’. Of course, it was a color I could not find so I had to take it to a shop. I brought the screens there because if they go and get the measurements they are NEVER the right size and ends up taking weeks.
Even with the screens in front of their faces (different shop) it took 5 days and I go to put them back in, of course- they don’t fit. Another week later, (of course they still charged me) and another 50 bucks for gift cards for her plus the money to replace the screens- thats when I threw in the towel.
I have made a bunch of screens over the years, I am just no good at it. I used to get calls for just one screen! That used to drive me nuts.
I have a mobile screen repair guy here. I price out the job, mark up 10% and send him to do the work. I’m honest about it to my customers also. Letting them know I won’t be doing the repair (because I dont have the time or the equpiment) but I trust this guys work. I don’t send him much work because my customers are not into paying $25 to have someone come out to repair it. They can hit up the depot and pay $30 for a brand new sceen. But I do send about 1 or 2 jobs per month.
