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I have just started up! I walk or ride my bike with the ladder either on my shoulder or strapped on the bike. bucket on the handle bars and all the kit in my back pack. after being told i wouldn’t be able to do it and tbh being laughed at and made to feel **** about it I have 23 customers already in a space of a month all very decent priced obviously they need to be cuz it’s a lot harder for me to get around. Just wondering if anyone else has tried this or if anyone has any advice for me cheers

Wrap the extension cable round the drivers mirror Then you can't get in without seeing that cable

Any healthy guy in his thirties should be able to eat the work, certainly up to two storey level. Providing he has the right equipment and is working efficiently. But sadly depression is a big factor in the case of Bwfc and is very draining for anyone. Fifteen average size jobs in a day of working solo is nothing to be ashamed of though. When I started I found working on my own to be a bit of a drag for sure. My son has been working with me now as a partner for about three years. Would a business partnership be a possibility? Not always easy to find the right person for sure but it can be

Please except my sincere apologies for my comment. I feel ashamed and didn't intend to go against the ethos of the forum. Living with mental health is so tough and I'm constantly fighting it. So so sorry guys

record month for me.......just as well as im off to greece next week(fingers crossed).........i would of never have believed i could earn this much in one month even 3 or 4 years ago......happy days indeed.....averaging 25-30 hours a week(including admin,end of day job,etc).....

It's definitely worth making the switch, both from a safety point of view, a long term financial point of view, and also just for quality of life. Its much nicer not having to climb ladders and worry if they're secure, especially on those awkward windows which every round has where you know it's not really safe but you've got no choice. You just have to be prepared for the difficulty at first. It's going to take you longer than trad initially, it's going to be hard work scrubbing off years of soap residue and it's going to be a steep learning curve both with your technique and using new

I personally wouldn’t bother telling them. A plumber doesn’t tell you what tools he’s using to get the job done; as long as the job is done then there shouldn’t be a problem. Make sure you do a good job the first time (give a thorough rinse) and you’ll be fine.

We all have our own demons, some can manage them, some can't. We all have bad days as well, some people have much worse days than others. On our bad days our energy is low so 15 houses with low energy levels will be very tiring. Have you tried listening to music or getting a story told through your headphones. Anything that distracts you might help your mood and therefore your energy levels. I wouldn't worry about what age you are as age is immaterial to mental health issues so no matter if you're 18 or 68 when you're down your energy levels will be down. I always have spare days availab

Is about minimum wage for someone over 25 years old at £8.72ph no one is going to work for less than that, seems like you want someone on a zero hours contract to do ad-hoc jobs, pressure washing like window cleaning ain't rocket science but a job needs to be done properly without the risk of causing damage to a customers property and making an absolute mess of a job.

There you go.

Hi windowsurfer It is not usually a pressure issue with the use of a Univalve and these brush jets. Rather the actuating of the Univalve puts a strong repetitive tugging force on all of the push-fit connections above it and it is this action that can sometimes damage the Jet Capsules. The same thing used to happen with the previous plastic fanjets we sold. The way to prevent this is to fit a clip or 'hose-stay' to the gooseneck hose above the gooseneck which stops the hose and connectors being pulled when it is actuated. The manufacturers of the Univalve also supply such as a 'hose-s

Hope it works out for you better than it did for me. My wife and I rented out her old flat and we had nothing but trouble. My brother and I had to get nasty to get the tenants out. Getting rid of your mortgage is not just good financially, but it’s also nice psychologically. Knowing your biggest dept has gone is lovely. Glad we paid ours off early

Beer

The people that work 7 days a week usually have a family and are the main breadwinner......the problem is you cant buy back time.....and other areas of your life suffer.....hobbies,relationships(both personal and spending time with friends,etc) because your never around or when you are your tired all the time.....usually after a few years of this your missus starts spending your money even more to cheer herself up(again cos your never around)....before you know shes having an affair......

3 hours is ridiculous amount of time for an average house on a really dirty first clean....it should be no more than 30 mins.... Hopefully you'll learn from this experience...how much did you charge him?....

The type of gym goer has changed over the years... Back when I started everyone wanted to lift heavy (blood and guts style training like D Yates), these days they lift light to get wash board abs.. Some of the lads I trained with would be on a building site all day then come in and lift heavy for an hour half five days a week. I am glad I bought all my own equipment years ago so I don't have to go to a gym anymore because the last time I was at a gym surrounded by fitness types and birds I just thought what am I doing here... Going the gym and training properly you cannot c

Ime amazed at certain people that claim they do all this stuff in the gym and have the physique of Arni and they can only work 5 hours a day and are exhausted , Ime over weight dont ever go to a gym work 8 hours on the glass 5 days a week and going on nearly 100 shouts a month and pass a Fireservice fitness test annually and Ime 58 . Just goes to show all this fitness regimen is a waist of time and money .

Like I tell my kids, anyone can achieve anything and the only people that will stop the is themselves, good on you

Your options are fairly simple, you can't "sub contract" this work when you supply everything, so you either employ someone or you find a "newbie" that has their own work, equipment and van, and work on a profit margin. Please don't try and find a newbie that's desperate for work and will cut corners to try and justify a low price. With social media you will soon lose your name and reputation by doing so. If it doesn't work just walk away. Creating headaches, by being cheapskates, isn't a good long term business plan.

After a month of reading forum posts thought I'd sign up and say thanks for so much great content on here! I'm 99% certain to lose my job shortly and decided I'd like to start cleaning windows... and even if I don't lose my job, I really can't stick what I'm doing any longer anyway. I'm not in a position to start straight away but I managed to pick up some bargain trad gear to have a go... not as easy as the pros make it look, but I'm not short on time for practicing! I have absolutely no cash for a van and WFP system but I think a Gardiner backpack, sack barrow, a CLX 22 and re

Door knocking is ok, just make sure you’re stood well back. Don’t just drop leaflets. Nearly all of them will land up in their recycling bin

Go to a local workwear supplier and see what they have on offer, I have always used a local company, avoid lighter colours in a jacket as they get dirty very quickly with handling hose on wet days.

My Dad is in his late 50's now, about 3 years ago he had a fall at work, only 2 or 3ft from a loading dock, and landed on his side/arm/shoulder. He had to have 2 years off work and still struggles today with washing the car, windows, even sleeping comfortably. Don't take the risk with your Dad, if he's anything like mine (independent, active and handy), he won't bounce back as quick (or at all) if he has an accident. Mentally it takes it's toll when you can't even do the basics you used to be able to do. I'm new to window cleaning in general. I considered trad to start with, save my m

After I read about the guy who tripped when coming down and bumped his head on concrete made me seriously think about using ladders. That guy died and he was only 53 years old so I decided not to use ladders when I have the wfp system. I explained to the few customers I had left and they understood the health and safety procedure. If I lose a few customers then so be it but my safety comes first. Glad to hear your are okay.

Ouch! Firstly, I’m very sorry to hear this. secondly, If falling off your ladder and breaking your elbow isn’t enough to convince you to switch then nothing will! I fell off and hit my head first with my whole body weight hitting the back of my head and neck as I clamped to the concrete from the first floor windows. I could carry on and write an essay, but all I can say is definitely 100% make the switch. You will not regret it and the loss of profits really isn’t an issue at all. It will fill you with new vigour and breed extra life into you and your business. Your mindse

Really sorry to hear about your accident, hopefully you will have a speedy recovery. Making the switch is always going to be expensive compared to trad there isn't anyway of getting away from it, as you are in Suffolk which is a hard water area a DI only is totally pointless and will cost you a fortune you will need an R/O which is more expensive in the begining but will save you £1,000's over the years, If custys know about your accident then tell them you have to think of yours and your dads health over going up ladder and having a bad accident again, as long as you do a proper jo

Just do it, don't tell them. If anyone asks, explain...

I was tradding 20 years before switching over, so I know the nervousness you are experiencing. I was bricking it myself! I tried to be as professional as I could about it, so I printed up stuff explaining the system, how it worked, and the safety aspect of switching over. I then posted them through letterboxes. This was after I’d already spoken to them regarding the switch. Let them know you’re being forced to switch like I was on commercial jobs and I really didn’t want to lose the work. let them know at least one window cleaner dies from falling off a ladder in the UK ever

Perfect! Called the local car wash and he had loads he was just gonna get rid of so picked up about 12 for free!

Surely to earn 20% on an investment these days would involve making shrewd investments on the stock market and involve a big chunk of money, don't see that happening for many people me included as I prefer a good chunk of money in the bank for the unforeseen, Not to overpay on mortgage now is daft because if interest rates spike up to 6% then mortgage payments will increase and cost a lot more over the whole term of the mortgage it's about looking at the total cost over a chosen term.

Simple answer - don't quit your day job! It might take you 2 - 3 years to get anywhere near the earnings that to need to 'get by'. If you think window cleaning can earn you huge amounts quickly I think you are wrong. By all means give it a try. Either find a local spotless water supplier or buy kit to make your own. Get a backpack, pole and barrels, use your car as transport (get insurance Public Liability and business use on car). Create some leaflets and get out canvassing at the weekends. Get a few jobs and see how you go. It might cost you £500 to £1000 but you can tes

Securing ownership of the family nest is my biggest priority. It's the same for the wildlife on the side of a cliff or wherever else they make their stand to live or reproduce. For me it's on a par with building and running a successful, secure family business. How can it not be? If I were paying rent on the family 3 bed semi, I'd have to find over a thousand pounds every month. How would I find that if I were retired on a state and/or other modest pension? Rents will always increase over time, at the whim of the landlords and in line with market forces of supply and demand. That's a cert

Best advice on this post. Until you can find a savings account that gives you the same interest as your mortgage charges this is a no brainer.

I believe the swivel has allowed me to speed my window cleaning up by between 10 and 15 percent over the standard angle adapter. It took two attempts to get to master it. The first time, I tried it on a busy day for a short while and could make no sense of it so I confined it to the spares shelf in the van. Then I read a conversation on the forum and some of the guys who's opinions always made sense to me were praising the swivel highly. I tried it again, this time with determination, on my own windows. I got the basic hang of it fairly quickly. It needs to be set up correctly. I lik

a mixture of everything mate.........refining work over a long period of time.....prices rises for existing jobs.....pricing new work at higher prices and concentrating most of my work in a 2 mile affluent area......better equipment(XTREME poles,electric reel and hot water system)....being better organised with round software,etc.....

Your connection to the brush isn't connected properly or you have developed a pinhole in the pole hose. More than likely the first one.

I'm 6 weekly but can be early or late by a few days and nothing is said. 6 weekly means the same week every 6 weeks not the same day

Hi The enter button on the V11 is used to power the controller on/off and for a number of other functions EG setting Cal Plus it is used to access the menu so you can look at battery voltage or flow. Because we use the one button for a number of different operations the processor needs to know what function is being used. So to turn On or Off the buttons need to be held for a couple seconds. The second point on first switching on. The controller at first power up might initially show DE and not turn the pump on straight away. This may just be due to the flow setting used. If

It’s like granules you put it in hot water goes turns into a clear jelly like substance you can mould and when it’s cools it turns white. lasts approx 12 months then wears onthe ears of the o clips just put it into hot water again take off the old stuff it’s still reusable add a little more granules and remould around the joint, never have a leak and also reduces snags considerably. Have been using it for years two reel setup £5 a bag and still got half a bag left.

The r/o will become useless if it isn't used regularly, like 2 or 3 times a week. I'm sorry, but the tank frame made from Unistrut just doesn't inspire any confidence in me. Unistrut is a C section steel profile which can easily open out under load. Its not designed for building tank frames. Personally I would look at a delivery system from PureFreedom minus the pole. Get a carbon fibre pole from Gardiners. I would rather pay a little more and have a crash tested frame in the back of my van than a Meccano set bolted together from Unistrut section. BTW, I have no issue with Unist

The easiest option is either via my Facebook business page or WhatsApp I ask them to send me photos of each side of their house with windows then I can quote them asap, I have used this method for over 3 years now and quoted 100's of houses this way it's worked just fine without any issues, if it's a larger property or an older custy then I will go to the house to price up.

In 9 weeks time, the days start getting longer again. Something to look forward to!

Sorry but this isn't Government advice. Absolutely no need to do this - just maintain your distance.

I know exactly where you are coming from and have been there myself. A genuine question for you? Do you actually enjoy your work? Darker mornings darker nights is never good for mental health and wellbeing and it's going to be a fight but a fight you'll win. I'm knackered all the time and having a body that’s been blown up is painful but I put it to the back of my mind and keep going strong. You're not alone mate, always here if you want a chat

With WFP you will get through your work faster which means you can take on more customers which will more than cover the extra costs. You do need to lose the mindset of only spending a few pounds here and there on rubbers and fairy though, WFP requires more investment but the rewards are much greater.

Just one polite word of warning to anyone starting out as a window cleaner Do NOT buy your equipment from ebay.... you'll get your fingers burnt with total garbage equipment You can get the very basic to the best equipment from local cleaning equipment suppliers or national recognised trade retailers. Shop local where possible and support your local community Or use the recognised channels Daqua Window cleaning warehouse Bladeright Cleaning supplies DA components Wintecs The Cleaning Warehouse Window cleaning stuff Window c

Included in the original quote

I gave swivel ago about six months ago I use it with a 45cm brush. I am happy with it have not issues using it I.e. joint pain. Would not go back to standard now. I don't use it for fsg.

You don’t want a swivel for gfs cleans you need a ridged fixed head , you cannot apply any pressure with a swivel they are good for windows though

i never understand these window cleaners who give a next clean date..... THEY ARE TAKING AWAY ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT BEING A WINDOW CLEANER!.......FLEXIBILITY!!.... im roughly on time but move some work about here and there depending on other things ive got planned like holidays,days off,etc......