Chris34
Well-known member
- Messages
- 1,726
- Location
- Stockport, Cheshire
So thought I'd share some feedback from a newbie. I practised once on my parents house last week, which is an extended 4 bed semi. Yesterday I did my first job for a friend of the family (word of mouth job), it was also an extended 4 bed semi but different layout and hence different windows / problems...
The job took me 3 hours and I ended up using 150 litres. I was using the pure freedom nano trolley with the SLX22 with the recommended medium brush with 2 pencil jets.
Quite why it took me so long I really don't understand, the time just seemed to fly. I wasn't in a rush but when it got to 1 hour I was thinking I need to hurry up because it'll be dark before I'm finished at this rate.
The downstairs windows weren't too bad as the owner has been cleaning them, the frames had all cobwebs and bits which is to be expected and it did take a while to get rid of all the bits, particularly the sills at the back between the sill and the window and also underneath the sills being full of cobwebs, it was difficult trying to turn the brush upside down to do this. The upstairs frames and windows were fairly bad, some of the sills had green algae that I did manage to remove.
I started off with the flow rate at 40 but about an hour in and I turned it up to 50, I found that there were so many bits that just seems to be never ending washing out of the sills so I turned the flow up to try and get rid of them quicker. At one particularly bad sill I turned it up to 100 and after about 1 minute I just gave up, the bits just kept on coming.
I only took 100 litres with me so I had to go back to my parents around the corner and produce another 50 litres so this didn't help time wise.
I found my neck was hurting that much that it made me feel physically sick for the rest of the day. My shoulders were hurting early on, something I guess will get better the more I get used to it.
I wore a thermal vest and was surprised how hot I was, there was snow / ice on the ground and I was absolutely boiling, if I was out any longer I would have had to take my coat off otherwise I would have passed out. My feet were a little bit cold though so maybe need some thermal socks.
At the back of the house it was extended out on the ground level so the windows above were set back. I had to fully extend the SLX22 and only just managed to get the brush on the glass, luckily the windows and frames were not that bad so I only lightly washed them but had they had green algae then I think I would have struggled as I was on my tip toes and holding onto the very end of the pole, really hard on the arms especially after 2 hours in as my arms were already tired.
There were plant pots that were over on their sides, when the lady that lives there came home (she was out) I had just finished. The first thing she said is 'thank you that looks great' the second thing was 'oh, what's happened to the plants', now obviously I explained that they were like that when I arrived, basically it's winter and people will not look at their gardens as often so won't notice things like that where the wind has blown them over weeks ago, because she knew me she believed me but I can see how easily it would be to get accused of breaking things by people who you have only just met and then it's just your word and whether they believe you.
I am absolutely skint and have less than £100 cash now and the bills coming in at the end of February will mean I'm about £300 short. I do office cleaning and house cleaning but have now dropped about 60% of work to allow me time to do the window cleaning. I am not panicking about it as I see as the situation only getting better now that I have done the first one. Basically I'm pretty much up and running, it doesn't really matter to me that it takes a long time to do the job as I know that speed comes with experience. I'm sure if I did the job again I'd do it in 2 hours.
I didn't quote the job, my father was the word of mouth and the friend just said well if he wants to practise he can do mine for £20. I accepted that even though it was on the low side as I needed the cash and also want somebody else's property to practise on. I would have quoted £25 for the first clean. It's the type of house that you guys on here would do in 25 to 30 mins for a first clean. Once done the owner said how much and I just said call it £20 as that's what I understood was the offer, anyway he gave £25 so it's the price I would have quoted for.
I was very happy with the results for my first job, the windows did look a lot better and the white plastics were all clean. I'd still find it hard to price the jobs but straight away I'm seeing that a bay window is harder than a normal window. a pvc porch has a lot of pvc that needs cleaning, the hose snags on anything and I need a univalve, having to keep going back to the machine to turn it off when re-adjusting position is a pain.
Strangely even though it was cold outside and ice on the ground and took a long time I'm looking forward to getting back out there on my next job. I'm taking my time with things as I don't want to try and run before I can walk but once I start to get the hand of it I will then start to chase after the work, up till that point it's a case of doing friends and friend of friends and getting organised and ironing out any issues with the set-up.
Thanks for all the advice guys, it's made it a lot easier reading on here about everybody's problems and recommendations that's made it possible for me to get going with very little mistakes on the way, if any really.
Chris.
The job took me 3 hours and I ended up using 150 litres. I was using the pure freedom nano trolley with the SLX22 with the recommended medium brush with 2 pencil jets.
Quite why it took me so long I really don't understand, the time just seemed to fly. I wasn't in a rush but when it got to 1 hour I was thinking I need to hurry up because it'll be dark before I'm finished at this rate.
The downstairs windows weren't too bad as the owner has been cleaning them, the frames had all cobwebs and bits which is to be expected and it did take a while to get rid of all the bits, particularly the sills at the back between the sill and the window and also underneath the sills being full of cobwebs, it was difficult trying to turn the brush upside down to do this. The upstairs frames and windows were fairly bad, some of the sills had green algae that I did manage to remove.
I started off with the flow rate at 40 but about an hour in and I turned it up to 50, I found that there were so many bits that just seems to be never ending washing out of the sills so I turned the flow up to try and get rid of them quicker. At one particularly bad sill I turned it up to 100 and after about 1 minute I just gave up, the bits just kept on coming.
I only took 100 litres with me so I had to go back to my parents around the corner and produce another 50 litres so this didn't help time wise.
I found my neck was hurting that much that it made me feel physically sick for the rest of the day. My shoulders were hurting early on, something I guess will get better the more I get used to it.
I wore a thermal vest and was surprised how hot I was, there was snow / ice on the ground and I was absolutely boiling, if I was out any longer I would have had to take my coat off otherwise I would have passed out. My feet were a little bit cold though so maybe need some thermal socks.
At the back of the house it was extended out on the ground level so the windows above were set back. I had to fully extend the SLX22 and only just managed to get the brush on the glass, luckily the windows and frames were not that bad so I only lightly washed them but had they had green algae then I think I would have struggled as I was on my tip toes and holding onto the very end of the pole, really hard on the arms especially after 2 hours in as my arms were already tired.
There were plant pots that were over on their sides, when the lady that lives there came home (she was out) I had just finished. The first thing she said is 'thank you that looks great' the second thing was 'oh, what's happened to the plants', now obviously I explained that they were like that when I arrived, basically it's winter and people will not look at their gardens as often so won't notice things like that where the wind has blown them over weeks ago, because she knew me she believed me but I can see how easily it would be to get accused of breaking things by people who you have only just met and then it's just your word and whether they believe you.
I am absolutely skint and have less than £100 cash now and the bills coming in at the end of February will mean I'm about £300 short. I do office cleaning and house cleaning but have now dropped about 60% of work to allow me time to do the window cleaning. I am not panicking about it as I see as the situation only getting better now that I have done the first one. Basically I'm pretty much up and running, it doesn't really matter to me that it takes a long time to do the job as I know that speed comes with experience. I'm sure if I did the job again I'd do it in 2 hours.
I didn't quote the job, my father was the word of mouth and the friend just said well if he wants to practise he can do mine for £20. I accepted that even though it was on the low side as I needed the cash and also want somebody else's property to practise on. I would have quoted £25 for the first clean. It's the type of house that you guys on here would do in 25 to 30 mins for a first clean. Once done the owner said how much and I just said call it £20 as that's what I understood was the offer, anyway he gave £25 so it's the price I would have quoted for.
I was very happy with the results for my first job, the windows did look a lot better and the white plastics were all clean. I'd still find it hard to price the jobs but straight away I'm seeing that a bay window is harder than a normal window. a pvc porch has a lot of pvc that needs cleaning, the hose snags on anything and I need a univalve, having to keep going back to the machine to turn it off when re-adjusting position is a pain.
Strangely even though it was cold outside and ice on the ground and took a long time I'm looking forward to getting back out there on my next job. I'm taking my time with things as I don't want to try and run before I can walk but once I start to get the hand of it I will then start to chase after the work, up till that point it's a case of doing friends and friend of friends and getting organised and ironing out any issues with the set-up.
Thanks for all the advice guys, it's made it a lot easier reading on here about everybody's problems and recommendations that's made it possible for me to get going with very little mistakes on the way, if any really.
Chris.