How many houses and hours should I be doing daily ?

[rafterys2003]

Hello again everyone

I'm a solo residential window cleaner currently working around 4-5 hours doing 9-10 houses daily. I use a 250l tank with just half a rinse bar with just a standard gardiner brush on the pole as it tends to use less water. I make about £30 an hour on average and made about 23k last year but sometimes I feel like I could be doing alot better because people have said they are making £50-70 an hour on here in the past and god knows how much a year. I charge £10 for a standard 2/3 bed which seems to be the standard rate in my area (black country) so I feel I wouldn't really be successful charging anymore as people moan about my prices now. The round is fairly compact most jobs around 10-15 houses away from eachother. I suppose I'm just looking for advice on how I could be going quicker as I'm not sure how I could especially when alot of my clients have hydrophobic glass and it takes longer to clean. I use this pump
Pump Box with 80psi pump on the lowest speed (to save water) with a Gardiner slx pole. I'm ready to upgrade all my equipment if it's going to make a real difference. So any advice on technique, equipment or anything in general that could help would be appreciated.

Thanks guys

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

Simple answer is however much you want to earn.

I personally do 20 houses 5 days a week, I could manage a few houses more each day or work a weekend day but I choose to just plod along at that pace - some days are busier than others, I start at 8 and generally I'm finished by 3.

In order to go faster and tackle the hydrophobic glass issue, you need to be using a higher flow - therefore you really need a bigger tank. I used to be able to scrape by with a 350L tank, but it was a struggle. I use a 650 tank now and still run out of water some days, it would also be nice for you to be able to offer lucrative add on services like conservatory roofs etc, which just isn't possible if you're cleaning windows with a 250L tank. I would also increase your prices too as £10 for a 3 bed semi seems a bit on the low side to me.

Also worth noting that with the low flow of water you may think you're saving water, but you're actually stood there rinsing twice as much as the flow is too low.

 

[AndyD]

Hello again everyone

I'm a solo residential window cleaner currently working around 4-5 hours doing 9-10 houses daily. I use a 250l tank with just half a rinse bar with just a standard gardiner brush on the pole as it tends to use less water. I make about £30 an hour on average and made about 23k last year but sometimes I feel like I could be doing alot better because people have said they are making £50-70 an hour on here in the past and god knows how much a year. I charge £10 for a standard 2/3 bed which seems to be the standard rate in my area (black country) so I feel I wouldn't really be successful charging anymore as people moan about my prices now. The round is fairly compact most jobs around 10-15 houses away from eachother. I suppose I'm just looking for advice on how I could be going quicker as I'm not sure how I could especially when alot of my clients have hydrophobic glass and it takes longer to clean. I use this pump
Pump Box with 80psi pump on the lowest speed (to save water) with a Gardiner slx pole. I'm ready to upgrade all my equipment if it's going to make a real difference. So any advice on technique, equipment or anything in general that could help would be appreciated.

Thanks guys

Maybe you could work 8hrs a day? that would practically double your yearly earnings to over 40k a year…..just an option? Also, having your pump at the lowest setting won’t help you either, you’ll probably find it’s takes longer to rinse and you’ll be using more water, a mistake I made when I first started. £10 for a 3 bed semi is pretty cheap as well tbh, I’m not far from you and I wouldn’t go less than £15.

 

[rafterys2003]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah I think you're right about the flow rate I'm gonna have to get a bigger tank and use more water aren't I if I want to go quicker. With working 8 hours a day though its just so many people say they are working around 5 hours and earning over double what I am so I guess I want to know how they are achieving this. I'm worried its going to come down to charging more which just wouldn't be achievable in the area I am I'm lucky to be getting £10 for a house. Noone seems to be okay with forking out more than that every 4 weeks.

 

[Master Jedi Alejandro]

Years ago someone said anymore than 2l a minute was too much. So I used a measuring jug and adjust my controller until it filled 2l in 1 minute. The problem is I don’t know if it was 2l in 1 minute or 2l in 2 minutes ? But that helped me as I wasn’t worried about wasting water but also wasn’t slowing myself down.

 

[High-tower]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah I think you're right about the flow rate I'm gonna have to get a bigger tank and use more water aren't I if I want to go quicker. With working 8 hours a day though its just so many people say they are working around 5 hours and earning over double what I am so I guess I want to know how they are achieving this. I'm worried its going to come down to charging more which just wouldn't be achievable in the area I am I'm lucky to be getting £10 for a house. Noone seems to be okay with forking out more than that every 4 weeks.

Don’t forget that people talk a lot of **** on the internet.
Take it all with a pinch of salt.

Get a bigger tank, turn your flow up, try for £12 a house.

 

[P4dstar]

With working 8 hours a day though its just so many people say they are working around 5 hours and earning over double what I am so I guess I want to know how they are achieving this.

Most of them aren’t. It’s called Willy waving.

I would however suggest that 23k for 4-5 hours work is pretty good. If you want to earn better money put in more hours. Good money comes from graft. There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs!

 

[ched999uk]

I would say first thing to do is try a higher flow on your own house, see if upping the flow saves you time rinsing. Time how long it takes on your low flow then on a high flow rate, then max flow. Do you process water at home into an IBC or something similar? If so could you just pop back home to refill your tank say half way through your day? That way no extra kit to buy just a little more fuel and your time filling up.

Why are you using half a rinse bar? I use 2 x 2mm jets when I started on a backpack and still use those apart from 1 brush that has 50 degree fan jets in but IMHO that does need more flow than the 2mm jets.

The other thing that speeds things up for me is have a procedure for cleaning a window, be that scrub across top then right side then left then glass then sill then rinse etc. I found that without a system I forgot where I had got to so was cleaning or rinsing twice to be sure. I also start at the furthest window from the van and work back doing all the upstairs on one elevation then the ground floor to reduce time extending and contracting the pole. Try and think you you can save time, be that hose management to avoid it getting snagged on wheelie bins or car tyres. It's surprising how much time you can save here and there. I have my van key round my neck to save having to try and get it out of my pocket when I get back to the van to pack up.

As for pricing it's always difficult and it is area dependant to a degree. What % of your quotes are you winning? If it's 100% then you are too cheap, I would say 80% is about right. What do you base your prices on? How do you know you can't increase your prices by say 20%? I have only been going just over a year and I am surprised at what people are prepared to pay! Could you try a slightly different, maybe more affluent, area you might pick up the odd one at first then people see you and you get a few more. I had a call from an area I have never done (only 3 miles away but other direction to most of my work), I thought why not. So went and quoted adding a couple of quid for extra journey time. I got the quote and then she says Oh and my neighbour wanted a quote and I got that job too. That was about 12 weeks ago (I do every 6 weeks) and now I have 6 decent jobs in that little village at the increased rate!!!

I'm not in an affluent area - Blackpool is one of the most deprived in UK so I pick and chose my little areas.

There are some people who do earn very very good hourly rates and some who exaggerate a bit!

Hope that helps a little.

 

[Chris34]

For me upping the flow rate made a huge difference and to my surprise I used less water. Anything that interrupts your rhythm is slowing you down, whether that's repositioning, opening a gate, untangling the hose... and waiting for water to tickle down the glass is slowing you down, so the faster you can get that water to trickle down the glass the faster you will be.

It sounds to me like you need to up your prices, even in a poor area I think you should be able to achieve £40 per hour and this would mean you would be on £30k+ per year.

Once you get out of the mode of 'saving water' and into the mode of 'working faster with more water' then you speed up. However you do need to price up the work correct to get the most. 8 hours a day isn't possible in this game. You have to plan for 5 to 6 hours a day and earn the most you can in that time. For me I'm trying to plan for 4 to 5 hours per day for 4 days a week. It's possible, you have to put your mind to it though.

What I'd do is evaluate your work, how can you get the same results with less time. I'd leave all your prices as they are for your current customers, but all new quotes add 20% on your current price. Once you start getting more customers at the higher price and are confident at charging that price, then at that point put your current customers prices up in line with the new customers prices. Then put your prices up again. (think it was Iron Giant that advises this method).

 

[Pjj]

4-5 hours a day to do 10 houses so are you saying it’s taking you aprox 2 hours to do one house ? We are all different and will all work at different speeds but that’s impossible to take that long .
The most important factor isn’t the number of houses per day but price per job that is what matters . Technique and being methodical with the job can make you a lot quicker , also working a full day will increase your productivity.

 

[Pjj]

For me upping the flow rate made a huge difference and to my surprise I used less water. Anything that interrupts your rhythm is slowing you down, whether that's repositioning, opening a gate, untangling the hose... and waiting for water to tickle down the glass is slowing you down, so the faster you can get that water to trickle down the glass the faster you will be.

It sounds to me like you need to up your prices, even in a poor area I think you should be able to achieve £40 per hour and this would mean you would be on £30k+ per year.

Once you get out of the mode of 'saving water' and into the mode of 'working faster with more water' then you speed up. However you do need to price up the work correct to get the most. 8 hours a day isn't possible in this game. You have to plan for 5 to 6 hours a day and earn the most you can in that time. For me I'm trying to plan for 4 to 5 hours per day for 4 days a week. It's possible, you have to put your mind to it though.

What I'd do is evaluate your work, how can you get the same results with less time. I'd leave all your prices as they are for your current customers, but all new quotes add 20% on your current price. Once you start getting more customers at the higher price and are confident at charging that price, then at that point put your current customers prices up in line with the new customers prices. Then put your prices up again. (think it was Iron Giant that advises this method).

Why isn’t 8 hours a day possible I do that 5 days a week and ime nearly 60 a young wippersnapper should do that with ease ????

 

[rafterys2003]

See people say conflicting things on here so it's hard to judge which advice to take. Is 8 hours a day comfortable or is it unrealistic? Sometimes I do feel like I might go mad if I had to do 20 houses a day.

No it usually takes me 20 mins to complete a 3 bed semi for £10. Is this too long ?

 

[Pjj]

See people say conflicting things on here so it's hard to judge which advice to take. Is 8 hours a day comfortable or is it unrealistic? Sometimes I do feel like I might go mad if I had to do 20 houses a day.

No it usually takes me 20 mins to complete a 3 bed semi for £10. Is this too long ?

So if it takes you 20 muinits to do one house how are you only doing 10 houses in 4-5 hours ? There is your problem, I clean 4-6 3 bed semis per hour without breaking into a sweat , and my slowest guy does 4-5 , it is compact work I accept that but once up to speed maintenance cleans are very quick , ime assuming we are talking modern estate type houses and not 3 storey Victorian houses ?

 

[Pjj]

See people say conflicting things on here so it's hard to judge which advice to take. Is 8 hours a day comfortable or is it unrealistic? Sometimes I do feel like I might go mad if I had to do 20 houses a day.

No it usually takes me 20 mins to complete a 3 bed semi for £10. Is this too long ?

As I said before we all work at different rates 20 muinits does seem a bit slow but how long have you been going ? I assume you are using a hose from the tank and not a trolly ? Flow rate again might be your issue we run high flow rates this will make a big difference to rinsing time and speed , try upping your flow and moving the brush across the window faster , ime sure you will reduce your time considerably , if you were closer I would say come out with us for a day and see how others work, it might help trying to find someone near you you might pick up some tips that will help .

 

[ched999uk]

I think everyone works differently so you have to sort of judge other peoples experiences as they relate to yourself. People generally talk of their experience but they will have different circumstances, financial positions, age, fitness, geographic areas to mention just a few things. Read as much as you can, pick up tips and do what you think is best. Above all try things and see how you get on before spending on new kit. You can test to your hearts content on your own windows.

 

[rafterys2003]

These days probably 4 hours actually but Im thinking it isn't very compact compared to your work so I guess driving, setup time and talking to customers is costing me the extra 40 minutes. How do you do 4-6 houses without breaking a sweat ? So you're doing like 10 minutes per house ?

 

[Chris34]

See people say conflicting things on here so it's hard to judge which advice to take. Is 8 hours a day comfortable or is it unrealistic? Sometimes I do feel like I might go mad if I had to do 20 houses a day.

No it usually takes me 20 mins to complete a 3 bed semi for £10. Is this too long ?

It's unrealistic. To give you a prime example, you get lots of cleaners on here saying they earn 'x' amount of money, then you get them panicking on a bank holiday because they need to go out and earn the money.

If you plan for 5 to 6 hours per day then bank holidays, sickness, van off the road, bad weather etc... well it's not an issue as you have allocated time for the unexpected. 8 hours per day, 5 days per week is impossible, something will always happen and throw your schedule out.

The best way to run it is to do 5 to 6 hours per day, then if you want more book in extras like conservatory roofs, gutter clears, fascia cleans etc, that way you're earning a top rate of money window cleaning and you're using the extras as a bonus but you will always be on top of your work.

But yeah if you plan for 8 hours per day all year, well you will fail to hit that target, unless you don't mind working weekends, which personally I like my time off.

In terms of how many houses, well PJJ has hot water systems for one, so the dirt will just melt off the glass, as you know snail trails, insect poo etc just doesn't come off on one pass so the idea of 10 minutes per house is unrealistic, like you say just one customer coming out to ask you about something costs you a few minutes and I know with my customers virtually every other house the customer comes out chatting away.

Also the type of house it is makes a big difference. I've got new build semis that I can comfortably do in 18 minutes and if I wanted to really go for it I could probably do 4 every hour, especially if they were next door to each other, probably could hit about 6 in an hour all things being perfect, but this is the thing, it never is perfect, there is always something that delays you, even if it's only a few minutes, it still means you're then behind.

But I've also got semis that take longer than 30 minutes, but those houses have 3 times the amount of glass on them with all sorts of awkward windows.

So you can't compare apples with oranges. But the bottom line is that higher flow will enable you to work faster and higher price will allow you to earn more.

There are probably cleaners who are earning £100 per hour. It's just opening your mind to what's possible and figuring out how to do it.

 

[Mattlekim]

Here's my thoughts. First up your flowrate. This has been repeatedly said. And I can't stress it enough.

Second the area makes a massive difference of price.i clean in an old mining town. It's a poor town, but I love the work the people are generally really nice. But prices are not good.

It's mainly terraced houses. I only charge £6
2 windows on front and door. 2 or 3 windows on back and door. Other windows cleaners charge £3????

I have them next to each other and can do 8 an hour.

Yesterday though I was not 100% and a bit slow.

I did 22 houses worked 6 with a half hour including a half hour lunch break in there.

Eared just over £150
Now that's only £25 an hour for when I got to work and when I left.

If I was feeling better I could probably have done it in 5 hours.

Thing is people often quite prices they can get. I have some work where I can earn £60 in an hour but. When you included packing up after jobs, collecting, talking to customers the price ends up dropping significantly.

Yesterday I had 2 long chats with customers, probably lost a good half hour of work. But I enjoythe interaction, and it also helps with word of mouth. I have picked more work than I can count from recommendations from customers.

 

[Pjj]

These days probably 4 hours actually but Im thinking it isn't very compact compared to your work so I guess driving, setup time and talking to customers is costing me the extra 40 minutes. How do you do 4-6 houses without breaking a sweat ? So you're doing like 10 minutes per house ?

Yes about 10 muinits a house we do have estates ware we only move half a mile in a week so very compact , don’t know how you work but using fixed reels will help speed you up , we pull up and within seconds the pole is on the window pack up time is as long as it takes to wind the hose on so minimal. I don’t find doing this type of work that hard on domestic using a 65 foot plus pole on commercial is harder after a morning using that I have had enough and go back to shorter poles ????
Something like in the pictures set up wise will def help with speed

 

[adamangler]

There's probably loads of factors at play here.

Firstly if you upped your price to £12 from £10 there's a 20% increase right there.

If you worked with full flow rather than hardly any you would find you use about 500l a day not 250l.

Use an electric reel, use a high mod pole.

And most importantly speed up a 3 bed semi should only take 10 mins. 20 mins for a tenner is an eternity. You should be aiming for £1 a minute on the glass imo.

I do about 25 house a day in 6 hours. They are not all next to each other usually a minute or 2 drive between each.

10 house and 250l of water would barely last me a morning.

If you are anywhere near me I would happily show you how I clean quickly.

 

[rafterys2003]

Really appreciate all the comments here. I did increase my flow rate today to mid speed and have gone quicker. I have managed to do £10 houses in 13 minutes and £12 houses in 16 minutes. I have however used quite a bit more water so I am going to get a bigger tank and try for around 20 houses a day (£200) in 6 hours. I feel like this is a realistic aim from what I have seen in the comments and my own situation. The price situation however it would just be to big a risk I would lose alot of clients. I have increased prices before and lost quite a few. So bigger tank, increase flow, have to canvass to try for 20 per day and I will see how it goes.