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Worth going along with a window cleaner to learn?

buzzing

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I live in Bournemouth and am not sure if anyone would take me along for a day and show me the wfp ladders etc . Is it better to ask someone from Slough who I met at a window cleaning festival? He lives in Slough and I would be no competition for him as I live too far. Just want to go through stuff like my squeegeeing technique using ladders and the wfp.

Should I say- Is it possible to come a long for a day to get an idea of the wfp system etc? What do u say to window cleaners to persuade them?

 
There's plenty of Windows to clean, just ask a local windy or if there is anyone on this forum who lives near you. The learning is easy it's the skill part that takes time to master. Ask about all the mistakes so you don't make too many of them.

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If you can get out with someone it is a great idea. When i started i spent a day out with a local. It was great to learn some tricks and tips and helped me.

 
I personally wouldn't (and didn't) bother. There is plenty of info online to learn from, but more importantly, try to develop your own style. Lots of 'gurus' on the net with youtube accounts, but there is nothing special in what they do, so don't think that there way is the only way. Its nothing that can't be learnt on your own. Experience is something you will get in time, and there will likely be a few mistakes along the way, but once you get past that stage it all gets a lot easier. Do your own house for a few hours every night until you feel comfortable, and be sure to check your own work from the inside to see if you have gone wrong. Most of the time when someones windows look bad after a job its because the window cleaner tried to go too fast and got slack. Likewise you can spend too long striving for the perfect job and never make enough money. If you want recommendations and customer retention then you need to find a balance between speed and detail.

 
I was just about to say if going out with someone local you could also pick up their bad habits too like unsafe working practices. Especially trad work using ladders as some take unnecessary risks just to get the job done.

 
i did one house for ages....and then one day it dawned on me if i moved my ladder another three inches...i could reach another window and cut out a climb..

i was just stepping onto a flat porch roof but why it took me so long to see the obvious i dont know /emoticons/biggrin.png

any hey very soon wfp a whole new stick waggling experience...

 
Agreed smurf^. The amount of times you get someone bragging about how long they've been in the job, only to watch their ****sloppy technique. Then I end up thinking- that's __years you've been doing a crappy job on the windows.

Are you going WFP CnC?

 
God help everyone when you start waving a stick about:rofl:

i did one house for ages....and then one day it dawned on me if i moved my ladder another three inches...i could reach another window and cut out a climb..i was just stepping onto a flat porch roof but why it took me so long to see the obvious i dont know /emoticons/biggrin.png

any hey very soon wfp a whole new stick waggling experience...
 
well such as him over the road...wants his windows done every two weeks i really canna be bothered with the tops....the bottoms i do very often as i just stroll across but getting my ladders up.....and of course my own....i cant get the ladders around the back anymore and i tried tap water:eek::eek::eek::eek:

and i love ladders and am very good on them but maybe faster i have to try....and of course all the dodgy ones...dont want smurfy saying i told you so when i end up on my ar se....:rofl:

the real question for me is cost...i know i should go slx but.....i can stand the heavyweights and wobbly poles for the short term use of course if i like it...i can always get better equip....

still i think that i have norm problem...too much debt...i have £950 due on one cc and then £2600 on another balance transfers ending soon... and if you want the full list....£7000 on another and £5000 on another.....always in the sh it its just the level that varies....

i do have a plan...but i dont know if it will work...equity release...next year i am 55....:rofl:

where is it all from...four kids...for instance the first was left £500 by his grandma who died before the others came along and he got it when he was 18 at a £1000 and he did offer to split it but i couldnt let him and so i have to find £3000 for the girls ...one left to go shortly....still its only money...and you cant take it with you...and the universe is very big so who gives a monkeys:D

 
yeh wheres that power cable....:eek:

okay i own up....i went conny walking again today....but it was very hot and very dry....oops not been done since xmas...oops...

and this was after my two glasses of wine off mrs j.....i threw the cuppa tea away had grease floating on top....i sent her to get the bin in and down the sink it went....

i put the sons up fifty pence....:eek:/emoticons/biggrin.png ahh i put mrs j up two pounds bless her....well i dont think she knew ...i am sneaking prices up...i am a sneaky boy....

especially when you drop the daughter and boyfriend of at a pub in the middle of nowhere and she is obviously already drunk..bloody pre drinking....and they planned to walk home through the country.....dodgy nights sleep...but then again the lad is out in cyprus on the **** all the time...we parents just get the worry.../emoticons/sad.png

i can tell how ****** the kids are by how blue the language they come out with....

 
Yep been there done that and we still get phone calls even the two lads don't live with us anymore so up goes the mum & dad taxi sign on the car just to make sure they get home safely.

 
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well as i said to the wife....shes off to york uni soon ..subject to exam results...and i dont fancy racing over there....

at least the oldest daughter is out of my hair....one down three to go....

 
Or they may still live with you until gone thirty like my eldest did /emoticons/biggrin.png

 
ahh suppose i would miss him if he went....he did put two offers in on a house...but it went too fast...

not so sure about taking a loan out in my name to lend him the deposit though....i have told him to get saving...and so off he goes for a two week pe e up in cyprus...

but the noise....not so sure i will miss the noise.....and winding the dog up everytime baby oleg comes on the tv.

you mean i have another six years left....:eek:

 
want to get confident on ladders- A frame. Just do bungalows as have no confidence and try wfp as want to get a small flat barrel in boot of car to use with trad work. I just have been at it on own since i started and sure i could learn something.

 
A frame ladders are very stable, in some ways they are more so then four post ladders. The important thing is to get the pitch right. Anywhere between 1/3 to 1/4 of the working height away from the building and you'll be ok. A footing device of some sort is a good boost to the confidence, but it pays to have a few different ones depending on the conditions. Ladder mats are almost essential for levelling up the ladder, or even just to protect a lawn, there is not a single day I don't use mine. Like the member on here @boarcity I am also sceptical about their claims. I personally don't trust them on gravel, or wet ground. Trust your instinct and use your common sense with these things and you won't go far wrong. There are freak accidents that you can do nothing to avoid, but the majority of the time when people hurt themselves on ladders, its because they broke the rules, so you are right to be cautious. just use that good fear to help you stay in the realms of safety, and you'll soon get comfortable using them.

 
Good post @TolishAPurd

I was watching a couple of young lads yesterday one climbing an A frame window cleaning ladder the other was going back to the van to get a cig. Looked like newbie’s to me as I've not see them around before also was a giveaway how they were working. The chap on the ladder looked like he was crapping himself to be honest whilst trying to clean a 1st floor bay so he came back down. The other chap would not go up the ladder so stayed on the ground and let the other lad go back up.

The motto of the story is ladders can be part of the job but for some no matter what ladders they attempt to use for whatever reason they just can't do it.

 
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