Introduction....

[Calvin]

Hi there! Just a quick intro as I've been lurking on here a few days reading all the posts. Some very good info and tips etc.. I'm Calvin. Working a well established round in the Bournemouth area. Originally started as a summer job 14 years ago...funny how life works out eh?! But love the job and would NEVER go back to working for someone else!! I was trad for all those years up until about 5 months ago when finally succumbed to the dark side - and now will never go back!!

 

[Tuffers]

Welcome to the best window cleaning forum there is @Calvin :thumbsup: and welcome to the dark side /emoticons/smile.png

 

[andy w]

Welcome to the best darkside hangout on the net /emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[Calvin]

Welcome to the best window cleaning forum there is @Calvin :thumbsup: and welcome to the dark side /emoticons/smile.png

Cheers Tuffers! I wondered who'd be first to reply...my money was on Smurf. He seems to be everywhere!

 

[cheapncheerful]

hi and welcome Calvin...i be a hybrid windy i love all methods of cleaning,

 


what ever gets the windows clean..keep us informed ..../emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[Tuffers]

Cheers Tuffers! I wondered who'd be first to reply...my money was on Smurf. He seems to be everywhere!

Looks like he's gone for a snooze or he's changing his bag :laugh:

 

[Calvin]

Welcome to the best darkside hangout on the net /emoticons/biggrin.png

Thanks Awcs! I really can't believe I spent 13 years climbing those frickin ladders!

 

[Calvin]

Looks like he's gone for a snooze or he's changing his bag :laugh:

Haha! You said that. Not me! I ain't gonna offend anyone this early on...give me a few days at least!

 

[Calvin]

hi and welcome Calvin...i be a hybrid windy i love all methods of cleaning, 


what ever gets the windows clean..keep us informed ..../emoticons/biggrin.png

Hi CNC! Don't get me wrong. I love the tradding but it's just so much easier getting the pole out now. Original plan was just to do tops wfp but that went out the window pretty quick! Even all my bungalows are getting the lazy treatment now!

 

[cheapncheerful]

yep me shy so only when they are out at the mo but....some connys i just cant face tradding now...i do like a change to keep me going...pretty much all new jobs...got one on monday...will be wfp ed first...i will do a check after but...of course there is seldom anything to check but it gives me peace of mind.....

on one recently....er...well...i had just forgot to put my ladders on so it was wfp or go home....so wfp then..../emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[andy w]

:laugh: You are funny cnc:laugh: how was the anorak this week?:hehehe:

 

[Calvin]

yep me shy so only when they are out at the mo but....some connys i just cant face tradding now...i do like a change to keep me going...pretty much all new jobs...got one on monday...will be wfp ed first...i will do a check after but...of course there is seldom anything to check but it gives me peace of mind.....
on one recently....er...well...i had just forgot to put my ladders on so it was wfp or go home....so wfp then..../emoticons/biggrin.png

Ha! I still can't bring myself to leave the ladders at home. I feel "naked" if I drive off without them! What system u using for wfp? I started backpack. Oh. And the checking still goes on now as it's hard to walk away from a window in total confidence after all those years blading..

 

[cheapncheerful]

it was off but the baseball cap was still on...

i offered to fit the plastic roof verge but when i told him £1000 or £100 to re cement it all round...tight wad chose the cement option..

anyway i got stuck in on friday and he wasnt too bad ..only came out once to move his bin and left me too it...but....i did the front and back easy the side was full of **** and without going into next door i couldnt reach the peak of the roof so i was kinda hoping he wouldnt spot that....of course he did and i was back this morning to finish it...i clambered on the roof to do it but ...i am not so happy on the roof...so in the end i asked next door nicely and he let me in and it was so much easier to finish..

i was impressed with him as he had hired a big van and shifted all the **** on his own from down the side....i think richard is tidying up a bit now....but....

when i finished and went for my money he only had £65 and said i would have to follow him to a cash machine to get the rest...

but ...to be fair...he gave me a £5 tip..

you do meet a lot of funny people in this job...but...as soon as he paid me....i liked richard...

i only bought a cheap as chips system off ebay for wfp ...total £365 and very happy with it ....just a 20l trolley a very bendy heavy pole and 100gpd pumped ro system....it does me as i dont do all wfp ...and besides...i find i like to spread the load on my muscles as different methods use different muscles...

i no longer check some windows....so ...confidence is growing

 

[andy w]

Cnc maybe the big van was for the bodies :devil:

 

[Tuffers]

it was off but the baseball cap was still on...
i offered to fit the plastic roof verge but when i told him £1000 or £100 to re cement it all round...tight wad chose the cement option..

anyway i got stuck in on friday and he wasnt too bad ..only came out once to move his bin and left me too it...but....i did the front and back easy the side was full of **** and without going into next door i couldnt reach the peak of the roof so i was kinda hoping he wouldnt spot that....of course he did and i was back this morning to finish it...i clambered on the roof to do it but ...i am not so happy on the roof...so in the end i asked next door nicely and he let me in and it was so much easier to finish..

i was impressed with him as he had hired a big van and shifted all the **** on his own from down the side....i think richard is tidying up a bit now....but....

when i finished and went for my money he only had £65 and said i would have to follow him to a cash machine to get the rest...

but ...to be fair...he gave me a £5 tip..

you do meet a lot of funny people in this job...but...as soon as he paid me....i liked richard...

i only bought a cheap as chips system off ebay for wfp ...total £365 and very happy with it ....just a 20l trolley a very bendy heavy pole and 100gpd pumped ro system....it does me as i dont do all wfp ...and besides...i find i like to spread the load on my muscles as different methods use different muscles...

i no longer check some windows....so ...confidence is growing

A good bedtime read cnc, but WTF are you going on about? :laugh:

 

[cheapncheerful]

ahh my friend richard of the anorak and baseball cap fame...he had me pointing all his roof verge up....

its not that big a house but a knock on the door got no reply dont know where he hides behind the thick net curtains and bed sheets up at the windows....

just wait till tuesday and my £11 gutter clean....well the windows are £9 so it makes a nice twenty...i have checked two of the gutters as clear but...she came out and stopped me looking in the third...i may have to do some work....

 

[Calvin]

ahh my friend richard of the anorak and baseball cap fame...he had me pointing all his roof verge up....
its not that big a house but a knock on the door got no reply dont know where he hides behind the thick net curtains and bed sheets up at the windows....

just wait till tuesday and my £11 gutter clean....well the windows are £9 so it makes a nice twenty...i have checked two of the gutters as clear but...she came out and stopped me looking in the third...i may have to do some work....

I've done a bit of pointing of the roof verge lately. And fitted those plastic end caps twice. Does anybody else do this? The plastic end caps are easy money if u can get it.

 

[cheapncheerful]

i havent actually fitted any yet but i saw some being fitted the other day and the lad was flying them on so fast...and they charge a mint to fit em....so i figured i would fit them to my house first and then i would know how to do it....

its finding the end of the roof lathe that the tiles hang on buried in the cement that is the hard bit...i mean they should be all around the same place but its not always the case...but...if the screw is long enough i am sure i will get there in the end...i am sure richard will get me back in the spring...

 

[Calvin]

i havent actually fitted any yet but i saw some being fitted the other day and the lad was flying them on so fast...and they charge a mint to fit em....so i figured i would fit them to my house first and then i would know how to do it....
its finding the end of the roof lathe that the tiles hang on buried in the cement that is the hard bit...i mean they should be all around the same place but its not always the case...but...if the screw is long enough i am sure i will get there in the end...i am sure richard will get me back in the spring...

You can just screw them straight into the plastic or wooden fascia with a drill. That's how most people are doing it and charging £7 per cap (u can buy them for about £1 each!) a builder would laugh at u for doing that as you're supposed to lift the end tiles and secure to the wooden battens but people are throwing them on the easy way!

 

[Calvin]

You can just screw them straight into the plastic or wooden fascia with a drill. That's how most people are doing it and charging £7 per cap (u can buy them for about £1 each!) a builder would laugh at u for doing that as you're supposed to lift the end tiles and secure to the wooden battens but people are throwing them on the easy way!

One guy has done loads round my way at top whack!! I dread to think how much he's conned out of people but neighbours see it and want theirs done too I guess.

 

[cheapncheerful]

ahh me likes tips like that very useful thanks and the price too....as i had heard to fit a fiver each around here awhile back so handy if people ask me...

i was wondering how he could fling them on that fast...they are supposed to hold the tile on a bit from the wind up lift too....i think i may put it on my website as a job i can do...being a bit of a monkey on the ladders..../emoticons/biggrin.png

i cemented my verges on my house but it doesnt last long as the thermal movement on a roof is a lot and something has to give and mainly the verge cement is only a thin coating...so i will do my own shortly...always looking for other work to keep me busy...