Today’s gutter vac jobs

Today we have done 

3 terraced houses 

1 5 bed detached house 

1 small commercial estate agents 

1 large commercial 

Total of 450 meters approx the houses had grass 8-10 inches high and were full to the brim .

i have to say that the new sky vac interceptor is the best vac I have ever used , not a single blockage all day , suction is awesome didn’t get the ladders off once , unblocked all downpipes with the vac , in my favour was the fact that everything was soft due to all the rain we have been having , if anyone is in the market for a top vac set up I would thoroughly recommend this ,I was a bit worried about the size of it but it’s not a problem at all ,it is a bit awkward on deep gravel it tends to sink into it but then my old vac did that as well , just moving one item instead of a genie and the vac saves so much time and no electric leads needed , it’s not  a cheap bit of kit but if you do a lot of this type of work it’s a no brainier , @Part Timer I think you would like this so much better than a vac/ genie , so far the new vac has earned half its cost , within the next few weeks I have enough jobs to hopefully pay for the other half of it , then it’s all pure profit . 

I've got nearly £4k's worth of work next week so it's not the paying for it I have a problem with, it's the money I'd lose on flogging my Industrial I'd struggle with. Wonder if they'll do a part ex ?

Hope you charged £7 a meter on this ???     ? 
 

on a serious note can you send me a link mate please I might invest in a vac so I can lower my prices ?

Part Timer said:

I've got nearly £4k's worth of work next week so it's not the paying for it I have a problem with, it's the money I'd lose on flogging my Industrial I'd struggle with. Wonder if they'll do a part ex ?

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Give rob a call you never know ??

Hope you are using it with a camera. 

Stevieboy said:

Hope you are using it with a camera. 

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He strapped his iPhone to the pole 

Using my 1800wt yesterday,couple of blockages.

Just had the maxblast delivered,trolley was bust up,delivery issue, so not used it yet, but cost me £190 of mano mano, will probably get the side entry on it.

Cleaned a 30ft gutter full of pigeon poo, by flushing it all down the down pipe(open at bottom empties into drain) by using water fed pole n the gardiner gutter spike,which has a jet that with good water pressure is pretty good at flushing out crud along with the spike.

Solid days graft - how you like the skyvac compared to your old setuip ? Pro's / Cons ?

DeLaCruz said:

Solid days graft - how you like the skyvac compared to your old setuip ? Pro's / Cons ?

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The sky vac is top notch kit but then it should be for what it costs , the elite poles are excellent especially with the clamps but are no ware near as rigid as the older poles from carbon fibre tubes . The air flow on the new vac I think is more than my old one , awesome suction, with the sky vac it is possible to flood the filter though as I found out today , then you have to wash it and if it’s still wet when using it it doesn’t suck as well . I don’t like the fact that it came with 2x6 meters of vac hose when I asked for 1x12 meters of hose the joiner they supplied is useless so they are sending me out another one , if that’s not successful I will be insisting that they supply one 12 meter length like I asked for initially . Ime glad I bought this set up rather than the industrial 85 and genie, definitely the right choice but you do need to have a lot of work to justify the expense , but as you know we do have some big jobs for it ??, if you are down my way you can have a play with it ???

Stevieboy said:

Hope you are using it with a camera. 

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I do have a camera set up but it’s not needed a lot use it more for quoting than vaccing, you get a feel for when the gutter is clear today most of the jobs we were doing was lifting out turfs and they came out quite clean , I put the camera up after just for a quick cheak or to show customers .

Pjj looks like a good bit of kit...agree you need the kit to be man ('person' for any millennials reading this) enough for the job...when it is, it doesn't quite feel like 'work'...it is quite a pricy set up - but I've mentally added it to my wishlist...no more arranging for custy to provide power access, yum, yum, but once it's paid for your 'rolling in 5.0' (old skool vanilla ice ref)

Always use mine with the camera on. Like to see what I’m doing don’t like working blind and guessing. Plus you get before and after shots as you go along. How did you clean the down pipes out? How do you get in the swan neck when there is one. How do you find the nozzle end of the vac not being able to adjust it for different angles?

Stevieboy said:

Always use mine with the camera on. Like to see what I’m doing don’t like working blind and guessing. Plus you get before and after shots as you go along. How did you clean the down pipes out? How do you get in the swan neck when there is one. How do you find the nozzle end of the vac not being able to adjust it for different angles?

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I have a selection of ends that i have made to unblock down pipes I would guess 9 times out of 10 we can do it this way there is always the odd one that needs a ladder 

swan necks if you do the job on a wet day then I very rarely have a problem a vac with decent suction and the right techniques will usually clear it the pictures I put up today of the 3 story building is a case in point both front and back downpipes were blocked badly took about 10 muinits each to clear but dud it from the ground .

if it’s a summers day just put the garden hose in the gutter for a bit until it softens it up and out it comes like a big plug . 

I use a fixed head and also have a flexible silicon bend and use which ever is most suited for the specific job Ime doing .

camera use , having been doing gutters for over 15 years I always used to use a camera and got to the point of finding I didn’t need it on most of the jobs you can feel when the gutter is clear I used to put up the camera after to cheak but it might have only been 1 job in 100 where I had missed something, so don’t use it all the time but will have a look if I have any doubt , in 15 years of vaccing I think I have had 2 call backs so don’t think that’s bad ?? I offer to show customers video footage or put the camera up to show them some are interested to see it others arnt , we do do some commercial jobs where we have to submit before and after video , the three storey building below is one of them 

Would never do before and after videos, on the majority of 3 floor jobs, the custy wouldn't notice the difference. Selective photos are the best ? ?

Part Timer said:

Would never do before and after videos, on the majority of 3 floor jobs, the custy wouldn't notice the difference. Selective photos are the best ? ?

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I agree but the management company want proof of what the gutters were like before and after the clean to prove to the owners that the job needed doing , this is an annual job and in the cost saving world in which we live they need to justify there spending 

Looks a great bit of kit. How do you get on lifting it through to the back of the terraced houses? Looks way too heavy for a one man lift and wouldn't want to be wheeling over customers carpets?

Paul600 said:

Looks a great bit of kit. How do you get on lifting it through to the back of the terraced houses? Looks way too heavy for a one man lift and wouldn't want to be wheeling over customers carpets?

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I think he will use a smaller Vac and carry it through, Paul's got more Vacs than wfps. ?

scottish cleaning service said:

I think he will use a smaller Vac and carry it through, Paul's got more Vacs than wfps. ?

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Haha, having the right tool for the job is key! Love it! ?

Paul600 said:

Looks a great bit of kit. How do you get on lifting it through to the back of the terraced houses? Looks way too heavy for a one man lift and wouldn't want to be wheeling over customers carpets?

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Lol I certainly wouldn’t be taking it through anyone’s house , we work as a two man team but I can get it in and out of the van on my own easily , terraced houses we just go in the back gate , I do also have a 240 volt vac that we use for jobs like you describe , we do however do tens of thousands of meters on commercial buildings , hotels, nursing homes, blocks of flats etc each year .

My first post
We will likely have 2 Skyvac Interceptor machines up for sale in the next 1- 2 months.
They are serviced, looked after and in weekly use. Machines only no poles etc.

Will advise...

Cheers Keith.
ECO Pressure Clean