Help with a few starting question

[ohspecial1]

Hi Folks

Looking to do some windows as a partial side am an IT guy with a business but its dying business

But am a bit confused when i see people say im using 300-500 litres a day

So you can get away with 30l or less per window job

I would have thought average windows would be £10ish

if you used a hydro power recons say 800l per resin bag at cost £40 per bag

Would make about £200ish

especially with fuel and water cost would be very little or am i missing something

 

[ched999uk]

I think you need to read more to have a better understanding of what you are considering.
To get started with Water Fed Pole you age going to have to invest a decent sum - buying cheap kit just doesn't work.

Average first cleans might take more like 60Lts of water.
You need to know your tap TDS as the Hydro will be very quickly exhausted if you have high TDS.
You will need business insurance if using your car plus I would advise liability insurance just in case you drop a pole on someone's car or cause a scratch with your hose.

In years gone by starting a window cleaning round was cheap and just involved getting a ladder, bucket, squeegee and applicator and away you went. Times have changed and so has H&S, plus people have realised working off ladders could result in a nasty fall - it's just not worth the risk. You also need to research your area, is it oversaturated with windys, what are typical prices etc.

If you are not busy with IT then use your time to read as much as you can on UK window cleaning - I think I read virtually every post on here!

When you say your IT business is dying have you tried gaining new customers, diversifying a little, or looking at different markets?
Remember with window cleaning you will also have to gain customers, plus learn the job. It's not just waving a pole about and spraying a bit of water in the general direction of a window.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[spruce]

@ohspecial1 . You need to look through old posts and also use the search tab at the top right hand corner.

If you are considering resin to filter water to clean windows, you need to find a water source to connect the hydro to. We find many customer's outside taps are switched off and customer's wouldn't be too happy of you asked then for water. What happens if they don't have an outside tap? This is why we carry our own water.
If you are going to process water with resin into a tank in your van, then you are best going there double di vessel route as that will make the most of resin.
A 25 liter bag of resin costs around £115, so not the cheapest way of purifying water any more.

Starting window cleaning is an expensive investment now days. As @ched999uk says, it isn't as easy as waving a brush on a pole around.

A 350 liter tank is possibly the smallest you could get away with. At one time there were lots of 250 litre systems for sale because windies quickly realised they were too small to do a day's work with. I would always suggest a 500 litre tank, although you might not empty it every day.

When we cleaned our local school my son polished off 500 liters by early afternoon and then plugged into my vans tank to finish the day off. I have a 650 litre tank on my van. However that was an exception for us.

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

Get a TDS meter and take a reading of your water. If its below 90ppm, you can probably get by with a DI vessel to purify your water. If it is higher than 90, you'll want a full RO/DI system which is more expensive outlay wise but much more cost effective long term.

Alternatively, you can buy pure water from somewhere like Spotless Water that has 24 hour sites all over the place.

I think 350L is ample if you've an established round and your doing regular maintenance cleans with the odd first clean here and there, but it is not enough if you're building a round and doing a lot of first cleans, I speak from experience there.

There are lots of shortcuts and cheap alternatives advertised but from my experience of this game, if you buy cheap, you buy twice. If I had to start all over again I'd go to an established WFP company from the start, like a PureFreedom and have them fit my system and benefit drom the advice etc they give from day one.