Boring conny price question

[scottish cleaning service]

I would price it £120 all day long and if it was my windy customer then £100. Last week I got talking to one of those chancers who does window cleaning. We got talking prices and I told him I charge £8 for small semi and he said I was ripping the customer off as he charges a fiver. I told him I have a sign written van, website, insurance and most importantly a license. He looked at me as if I was stupid. I asked him how many houses he does with his 25l drum of pure on his trolley? He told me he gets around 10 houses. So that's why all his customers are leaving him and coming over to me, he is obviously not rinsing which is the most important thing in WFP or how else can the dirt fall away. Slowly but surely this crowd are becoming redundant in schemes.  

 

[Dane]

Couple of problems i encountered.
1. I couldn’t get to the far side of the conny and had no access through the neighbours so had to leave it.

2. She wanted me to clean the window above the conny and it was a proper struggle I tackled it from the side and was constantly having to change the angle of my brush. Would you use one of those swivel heads?

It’s Saturday night and I’m sat thinking about window cleaning sad I know [emoji85] but any help appreciated as always


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I use the swivel attachment for such windows mate, I think it’s a great bit of kit (personal opinion).

Dane


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[Incheck]

Top tip. When doing conny roofs, take a piece of pipe lagging about 2ft long with you.
Cut it the whole length with a Stanley knife and use it to put over the guttering where the ladder will rest against it
This will do 2 things. Stop the ladder scratching the guttering, and stop the ladder sliding about [emoji106]

Niiiiiice [emoji41] another trick in the book thank you sir


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[ks789]

They are a sod the conny roofs. Ive done some much lower price than what everyone reckons and often still been turned down. They seem to balk at the quote but im gonna quote them higher, like you say, about £100 for that whole conny inc roof. If they dont want it, great as I dont like doing them anyway. I think for my new flyers Im gonna have a bit of price list on it to set the record straight from the start.

 

[RWCleaning]

I'm praying you live near me cause if you do then you're hired just to do conny roofs all day and expect all the overtime you can handle. 

As to the OPs question I would be asking £120 - £140 as well but that's for the whole roof. Access the neighbours to get far side of roof if needed. As for windows over connies  yes swivel heads make a huge difference. 

How long would you expect that roof to take you Darren? Just out of interest. 

 

[trevor peacock]

If it's a regular customer £40, if it's a one off £50 - £60 depending on the state of it. About an hours work.

A lot of my customers have their roofs done once a year in the autumn. If i've got a quiet week I give them a gentle reminder and they always have them done.

If they're done once a year it's a doddle!!!

 

[steve garwood]

They are a sod the conny roofs. Ive done some much lower price than what everyone reckons and often still been turned down. They seem to balk at the quote but im gonna quote them higher, like you say, about £100 for that whole conny inc roof. If they dont want it, great as I dont like doing them anyway. I think for my new flyers Im gonna have a bit of price list on it to set the record straight from the start.

Why? Just spray them with either ubik or virosol, leave ten minutes, brush em down, watch the algae melt away. Piece of doddle 

 

[Pjj]

Price wise I think you are spot on it’s only a polycarbonate roof window above looks like it might be able to be done from the ground but pictures can be deceptive, timewise I recone I could do that in an absolute maximum of 1:5 hours taking my time I would use a pair of steps to get to the right hand side we do loads like this , the first few will take you a lot longer but once you are more experienced you will do it in half the time 

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

How long would you expect that roof to take you Darren? Just out of interest. 

As long as it takes mate, however.............

In my garden I have a SMALL conservatory, it has 9 roof panels.   One day, a long long time ago, I called Thomas Sanderson, out of interest to get a quote.  The asked about access (easy easy) then they asked last time it was cleaned ( I made up 2 years ago) then they asked how many panels it had in the roof counting all sizes (I told them 9, all my panels are pretty much full length triangular to make the conny a semi circle, in fact you'll see my conny in my vid on how to tad windows for beginners) they then said.......................

£735.00  

Without dropping dead from shock I calmly asked 'What about the inside'  Oh we can include that for free if you book today'  

Now doing a conny roof is not a long or complicated job, the one above I would estimate a first clean of no more than 2 hours, this is to coat it with solution of choice, scrub all the green and crud off then break out the 'Rub Out' to remove any 'greying of the frames' that occurs.  However I still estimate no more than 2 hours.  

Customer will then get told that if they have it done at least once a year it will be 1/3rd off as it will be a maintenance job as opposed to a full on deep cleaning job.  Most book for an annual.  

With companies Like Thomas Anderson charging £700 + for a conny I can do in two hours or less and with the fact that connys start (when you're shopping for a new one) in the many thousands of pounds then I don't get why people would clean them for £30 a pop but hey, that's their business, I'm not criticising just saying it's not what we do.  

 

[RWCleaning]

As long as it takes mate, however.............

In my garden I have a SMALL conservatory, it has 9 roof panels.   One day, a long long time ago, I called Thomas Sanderson, out of interest to get a quote.  The asked about access (easy easy) then they asked last time it was cleaned ( I made up 2 years ago) then they asked how many panels it had in the roof counting all sizes (I told them 9, all my panels are pretty much full length triangular to make the conny a semi circle, in fact you'll see my conny in my vid on how to tad windows for beginners) they then said.......................

£735.00  

Without dropping dead from shock I calmly asked 'What about the inside'  Oh we can include that for free if you book today'  

Now doing a conny roof is not a long or complicated job, the one above I would estimate a first clean of no more than 2 hours, this is to coat it with solution of choice, scrub all the green and crud off then break out the 'Rub Out' to remove any 'greying of the frames' that occurs.  However I still estimate no more than 2 hours.  

Customer will then get told that if they have it done at least once a year it will be 1/3rd off as it will be a maintenance job as opposed to a full on deep cleaning job.  Most book for an annual.  

With companies Like Thomas Anderson charging £700 + for a conny I can do in two hours or less and with the fact that connys start (when you're shopping for a new one) in the many thousands of pounds then I don't get why people would clean them for £30 a pop but hey, that's their business, I'm not criticising just saying it's not what we do.  

Blimey that’s totally ridiculous! Ive heard they’re expensive but there’s expensive and then total rip off. How do they get work?

And ok, if you’re using Unger rub out afterwards as well for a proper deep clean then I can see the extr time and price.

But the roof in question didn’t look too bad really. But hey each to their own. 

 

[Incheck]

 As long as it takes mate, however.............

In my garden I have a SMALL conservatory, it has 9 roof panels.   One day, a long long time ago, I called Thomas Sanderson, out of interest to get a quote.  The asked about access (easy easy) then they asked last time it was cleaned ( I made up 2 years ago) then they asked how many panels it had in the roof counting all sizes (I told them 9, all my panels are pretty much full length triangular to make the conny a semi circle, in fact you'll see my conny in my vid on how to tad windows for beginners) they then said.......................

£735.00  

Without dropping dead from shock I calmly asked 'What about the inside'  Oh we can include that for free if you book today'  

Now doing a conny roof is not a long or complicated job, the one above I would estimate a first clean of no more than 2 hours, this is to coat it with solution of choice, scrub all the green and crud off then break out the 'Rub Out' to remove any 'greying of the frames' that occurs.  However I still estimate no more than 2 hours.  

Customer will then get told that if they have it done at least once a year it will be 1/3rd off as it will be a maintenance job as opposed to a full on deep cleaning job.  Most book for an annual.  

With companies Like Thomas Anderson charging £700 + for a conny I can do in two hours or less and with the fact that connys start (when you're shopping for a new one) in the many thousands of pounds then I don't get why people would clean them for £30 a pop but hey, that's their business, I'm not criticising just saying it's not what we do.  

Yeah i agree with Darren, it’s worth charging a “significant” or “respectable” price, for any job. Add up what your equipment costs, the potential for claim culture customers etc (i’ve shown up on jobs where the conny roof has an existing leak and the customer hasn’t informed me about it) think about what the connys worth and what any repair bill would be should you have an accident or make a mistake and the inconvenience it could cause, chances are you’d rather settle without going through insurance otherwise your quotes will be significantly higher for following years.

One time I was doing a gutter job on a very awkward access house, large victorian, steep steps, clutter everywhere in the alleyways and garden, wouldn’t take it on now if i looked at it. Anyway, trying to navigate past all the junk, dopey me went and smashed an outside lamp with the tail end of the ladder as i was walking round the corner (victorian type lamp bracketed to the corner of the house) lamp juts out at least a foot from house wall. Swept the glass up and thought “great there goes the cost of the job”, i’m gonna have to try and find a replacement lamp that looks similar to one that was made in queen victorias reign and get an electrician to wire the thing in. Anyway..., on telling the customer what i’d done and owning up to the mistake, the elderly fella said “ooohhh don’t worry about that lad, that light hasn’t worked for over 20 years” i don’t make use of it and i’m not bothered about it. I felt awful still. But these things do happen. We are all human and the potential for misfortune is always there.

Never look at a job and assume it’s going to be easy just because it looks that way. Just a tip of course but i hope it helps [emoji4]

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[Dave B]

As long as it takes mate, however.............

In my garden I have a SMALL conservatory, it has 9 roof panels.   One day, a long long time ago, I called Thomas Sanderson, out of interest to get a quote.  The asked about access (easy easy) then they asked last time it was cleaned ( I made up 2 years ago) then they asked how many panels it had in the roof counting all sizes (I told them 9, all my panels are pretty much full length triangular to make the conny a semi circle, in fact you'll see my conny in my vid on how to tad windows for beginners) they then said.......................

£735.00  

Without dropping dead from shock I calmly asked 'What about the inside'  Oh we can include that for free if you book today'  

Now doing a conny roof is not a long or complicated job, the one above I would estimate a first clean of no more than 2 hours, this is to coat it with solution of choice, scrub all the green and crud off then break out the 'Rub Out' to remove any 'greying of the frames' that occurs.  However I still estimate no more than 2 hours.  

Customer will then get told that if they have it done at least once a year it will be 1/3rd off as it will be a maintenance job as opposed to a full on deep cleaning job.  Most book for an annual.  

With companies Like Thomas Anderson charging £700 + for a conny I can do in two hours or less and with the fact that connys start (when you're shopping for a new one) in the many thousands of pounds then I don't get why people would clean them for £30 a pop but hey, that's their business, I'm not criticising just saying it's not what we do.  

Did a conny with a mate who's job it was for a guy who had been quoted over £1800 as it was a huge country property with full length conny

From memory we charged about £900 and spent a whole working day on it including changing the end caps for new ones

He was over the moon at half the price of thomas sanderson

Wish I could get them every day

That did include roof ladders and magic sponging all whitework though

Wish we could have done inside also

 

[Pjj]

I recently picked up a new customer they have a reasonable size conservatory he said that Thomas Sanderson cleaned it last year but he wasn’t happy with what they had done once he mentioned them I knew that he was prepared to pay a good price , we cleaned the Conservatory  all the plastics on the house all dormers and windows for half Thomas sanderson  price just for the conservatory,after we did the job he told me they charged him £1200 just to clean the outside of the conservatory. We now do the job every year and enjoy doing it .When I get asked to do a full clean on a conservatory in and out I openly tell them to get a quote from Thomas Sanderson and I’ll do it for half there price  and 99 times out of 100 we get the job, we are doing one the week after next that I got by this method . People initially nearly have a heart attack when we price up the job but when you explain exactly what you are going to do they start to understand it’s not a £100 job , it they don’t want to pay a good price Ime not intrested in doing it as we could be doing easy windows so it has to pay considerably more than that 

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

I recently picked up a new customer they have a reasonable size conservatory he said that Thomas Sanderson cleaned it last year but he wasn’t happy with what they had done once he mentioned them I knew that he was prepared to pay a good price , we cleaned the Conservatory  all the plastics on the house all dormers and windows for half Thomas sanderson  price just for the conservatory,after we did the job he told me they charged him £1200 just to clean the outside of the conservatory. We now do the job every year and enjoy doing it .When I get asked to do a full clean on a conservatory in and out I openly tell them to get a quote from Thomas Sanderson and I’ll do it for half there price  and 99 times out of 100 we get the job, we are doing one the week after next that I got by this method . People initially nearly have a heart attack when we price up the job but when you explain exactly what you are going to do they start to understand it’s not a £100 job , it they don’t want to pay a good price Ime not intrested in doing it as we could be doing easy windows so it has to pay considerably more than that 

Yet people will still do it for £30 a clean.  ?

 

[Part Timer]

Yet people will still do it for £30 a clean.  ?

And for some needs must. 

 

[RWCleaning]

It’s a hard one for people/customers to judge how much roughly (especially a dirty glass roof, plastic isn’t too bad in my opinion)

I’ve had customers who can’t be I’ve quoted £60/£80/£100+ whatever before, when I asked what were you expecting they go “dunno £20 quid”

I aim for £40 on the harder to do stuff (gutter clearing & cleaning & con roof cleaning) I think that’s reasonable. Yes I’ve had the odd few one off jobs which I quoted high, and it ended up paying £50/£60 a hour but I don’t expect that every time. I’m not the fastest worker.

But as already noted on this topic, there’s some people out there quoting too low, I had a customer (who moved and I didn’t get the new people) who said her last window cleaner cleaned the glass conservatory roof (I’d say same size as the plastic roof in this topic) but with easy access for £20! £20 guys! All that glass and plastic! Every summer she said. I quoted £50 and it took me 1 hour 20mins. And a hard & rushed hour & 20 mins that is. 

Some on here would of said £200 probably 

oh well

 

[Part Timer]

It’s a hard one for people/customers to judge how much roughly (especially a dirty glass roof, plastic isn’t too bad in my opinion)

I’ve had customers who can’t be I’ve quoted £60/£80/£100+ whatever before, when I asked what were you expecting they go “dunno £20 quid”

I aim for £40 on the harder to do stuff (gutter clearing & cleaning & con roof cleaning) I think that’s reasonable. Yes I’ve had the odd few one off jobs which I quoted high, and it ended up paying £50/£60 a hour but I don’t expect that every time. I’m not the fastest worker.

But as already noted on this topic, there’s some people out there quoting too low, I had a customer (who moved and I didn’t get the new people) who said her last window cleaner cleaned the glass conservatory roof (I’d say same size as the plastic roof in this topic) but with easy access for £20! £20 guys! All that glass and plastic! Every summer she said. I quoted £50 and it took me 1 hour 20mins. And a hard & rushed hour & 20 mins that is. 

Some on here would of said £200 probably 

oh well

I was asked a couple of years ago, from someone I didn't clean windows for but recommended to by a customer, for a price to clean a small conny and small fascias and gutter. It was an hour and a half max and she was an old age pensioner living in not the nicest area so I quoted £50. Never got the job, not duly concerned and not surprised. 

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

And for some needs must. 

Agreed

 

[Nudel]

I asked him how many houses he does with his 25l drum of pure on his trolley? He told me he gets around 10 houses. 

? Wow.. 2.5 litres per house? That is absolutely amazing. Can't see how he even get to wet the windows like that.

When I did barrels I could do a average sized house with a little less than 25l.

rinsingwhich is the most important thing in WFP 

I would say agitating is more important than rinsing. ? Darrens video about rinsing is interesting though, and I rinse way less after watching that.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I'm doing a gutter clear tomorrow on a mi-terrace with conservatory and I quoted £80 or £4 a metre. Woman very happy that I am using a vac. Told my mate today and he said I'm ripping her off then I reminded him how much he charged to replace 3 tiles on a roof. Yes £80 for 5mins work. He then tried to justify it and his case collapsed and he then told me what factors charge £280 for 4 in a block tenant's, so £70 each.

Now I have another to do at the same price and he is happy with it. You need a minimum call out fee for these jobs, I have now noticed.

 

[Incheck]

If somethings been pre-soaked and softened up it will also come off a lot easier, if you spray noticeable bird poos prior to cleaning the windows they should be softened up nicely so that you shouldn’t have to be scrubbing too much at them. The heatwave produced the invincible bird poo this year though. Weeks and weeks of being baked on to the glass. I remember two in particular on loft conversion windows, pole extended to 35 ft and took around 5 mins to get each one off even with a pre-soak lol. If only it was low enough to get a scraper to.
I will use de-greaser next time. Its fantastic for removing egg. Has it off in a flash!


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