Cleaning Method And Pricing

[Mr B shine]

I am going to try this question in a diffrent way.

as a traditional cleaner I have been showen on a house at £10 say

Normal windows applicator and squegie then cloth edges

modern leaded, the stick on type, wet cloth then dry cloth rub 50% extra so it is a £15 house

georgian wooded or plastic, wet cloth then dry cloth rub, double normal price so £20

The modern new build estate houses with the sill plastic bars that are stuck onto the glass and make a normal piece of glass into fout parts..........I am unsure of the best meathiod for them or how to price them/

How do other people price in relation to all this. cheers

 

[Major_MInus]

A lot of people would just judge it on how long the window would take to clean and price accordingly... So if it's the same as a normal window that you would clean with an applicator and squeegie then I would probably price the same as the time taken to clean would be approximately the same. If it takes longer/the same as modern leaded then adjust as necessary, and so on.

Having said that I am no expert by any means and there are far more experienced people on here who can help... that's just my two cents anyway! Many price by the time it takes to clean, I guess that's something that comes with experience lol :Image7:

 

[OoO]

Price as you doing now.

I'm afraid we are picking up houses left right and centre from these "new estates with stuck on bars" as we are WFP.

last two Georgian houses have been priced at £13 and £14 trad cleaner was charging £20 plus.

We are charging less but we do the house in less time. Customer gets cheaper price and we get the house.

My advice would be to stick to your pricing maybe avoid the new estates as to be honest I very very rarely see traditional cleaners on these new estates. Harsh but true.

 

[Mr B shine]

Price as you doing now.

I'm afraid we are picking up houses left right and centre from these "new estates with stuck on bars" as we are WFP.

last two Georgian houses have been priced at £13 and £14 trad cleaner was charging £20 plus.

We are charging less but we do the house in less time. Customer gets cheaper price and we get the house.

My advice would be to stick to your pricing maybe avoid the new estates as to be honest I very very rarely see traditional cleaners on these new estates. Harsh but true.

I am getting pleanty of work but i feel i am having to price them higher than wfp will which leaves it open for them to undercut me, I am starting to consider looking at getting some wfp for this reason and then it would allow me to look at commercial work as well giving the buissness more scope.

would you say this is a fair assesment?

 

[OoO]

WFP Is usually more expensive on most houses. But on these cheap style Georgian houses or leaded WFP seems to be cheaper.

Getting setup for WFP doesn't cost a bomb.

But you view is spot on.

 

[Smurf]

Indeed...That's why so many trad guy's turn to using wfp aswell. :Image9:

 

[Posh]

That's right smurf. I am 100% trad but could not do without my backpack & pole. I must use it on at least 100 house which is a quater of my round.

 

[Duncs]

I AM all trad do find these new builds with the dormers a nightmare ,walking on slanted roofs, ladders kicked out not good.

I dont take on any more of this work takes to long and the roofs are not the best .W F P could be the way to go even just for tops

 

[Smurf]

I've probably said this before lads like Posh mentioned a good trade person should choose the most suited tools & equipment for the job that will make it easier/safer to do. Not to mention the potential to increase turnover/profits whilst doing so which is a big plus in itself.

 

[Vince Green]

dormers a nightmare ,walking on slanted roofs not good.

You are dead right its not good, its just a job, not worth getting yourself killed or seriously injured just so some customer has shiny windows, WFP for definite

 

[Duncs]

vince I dont think that is what the guys are putting across w f p for definite!!

when you have enough work you will get rid of the work which is no good , so you end up with your best work weather your trad or W F P

 

[Mart1001]

I just can't get my head around this thread !

Why is Damo afraid ? Why is not seeing trad cleaners on an estate a harsh statement ?

How can Posh be 100% trad, when he uses a wfp on a quarter of his round ?

Why is it that because a pane of glass has plastic dividers, you can't squeegee it and must convert to wfp ?

Where did slanted roofs suddenly come into it and why does it automatically equate to, using a wfp or breaking your neck ?

Why is the correct tool for the job, a wfp and not just a trad pole ?

Why is there suddenly a distinction between which is cheaper on a given house, wfp or trad ? Surely that depends on the cleaner as it has always done.

I'm sorry lads, I just don't see why someone should convert to wfp pole just because someone has stuck plastic or lead on their windows...christ, how did we used to clean leaded windows before wfp ? We used to clean them with a wet cloth and buff and once the first clean is out of the way, it's really not that hard.

If you can clean a window with normal panes for a quid, then if there's an identical window that someone has stuck plastic dividers on to, then you charge 1.50 or 2 quid or whatever you think you should, to make up the time taken, it really shouldn't take that much longer if you use the best sized blade....and every good tradder should be fully armed in this area ;-)

This talk of being undercut by a wfp is quite honestly tall, the majority of us know that a tradder tends to be a little cheaper than a wfp but on ocassion it's not, then so be it, the customer can decide what's best. The average 3 bed house has 6 to 8 windows and so even at 2 quid a window, that's 16 quid and that should be the maximum average in my opinion, whatever the method.

Damo's pricing of 14 quid sounds about right, the tradder doing the same house for 20 quid however, sounds over priced.

These are just my views lads....

Mart.

 

[Mr B shine]

what method do you use and how do you deal with the plastic dividers?

I am 100% trad at the moment but I am trying to work out if on some houses it would be worth getting a backpack set up especially some of the three story town house style that are becoming more common, of the type with the garage at the bottom and two storys on top.

i am also trying to work out if wfp would be quicker on the windows with dividers.

Thats where I am coming from.

 

[OoO]

I just can't get my head around this thread !

Why is Damo afraid ? Why is not seeing trad cleaners on an estate a harsh statement ?

How can Posh be 100% trad, when he uses a wfp on a quarter of his round ?

Why is it that because a pane of glass has plastic dividers, you can't squeegee it and must convert to wfp ?

Where did slanted roofs suddenly come into it and why does it automatically equate to, using a wfp or breaking your neck ?

Why is the correct tool for the job, a wfp and not just a trad pole ?

Why is there suddenly a distinction between which is cheaper on a given house, wfp or trad ? Surely that depends on the cleaner as it has always done.

I'm sorry lads, I just don't see why someone should convert to wfp pole just because someone has stuck plastic or lead on their windows...christ, how did we used to clean leaded windows before wfp ? We used to clean them with a wet cloth and buff and once the first clean is out of the way, it's really not that hard.

If you can clean a window with normal panes for a quid, then if there's an identical window that someone has stuck plastic dividers on to, then you charge 1.50 or 2 quid or whatever you think you should, to make up the time taken, it really shouldn't take that much longer if you use the best sized blade....and every good tradder should be fully armed in this area ;-)

This talk of being undercut by a wfp is quite honestly tall, the majority of us know that a tradder tends to be a little cheaper than a wfp but on ocassion it's not, then so be it, the customer can decide what's best. The average 3 bed house has 6 to 8 windows and so even at 2 quid a window, that's 16 quid and that should be the maximum average in my opinion, whatever the method.

Damo's pricing of 14 quid sounds about right, the tradder doing the same house for 20 quid however, sounds over priced.

These are just my views lads....

Mart.

I don't like knocking trad cleaners whats why. But i havent seen a trad cleaner on the estate yet (1 - 2 years)

As for being the average house? Where did you get that from?

Its a 5 bed detached house with sash windows.

I am due to clean it this week

 

[Duncs]

depends maybe on your work load do you really need that work three storey i am trad personally I avoid that work!!

to high I want easy normal work your on your ladders all day

guys just my own view

 

[Smurf]

I'm not saying anymore as see where this is going yet again :Image13:

 

[Mr B shine]

depends maybe on your work load do you really need that work three storey i am trad personally I avoid that work!!

to high I want easy normal work your on your ladders all day

guys just my own view

I am building a round just now and they are building more and more estates with this kind of housing so i feel it would be foolish of me to ignore it as it seems it has not been canvessed atall or not well and i am getting a lot of work in these areas so far.

 

[OoO]

I'm not saying anymore as see where this is going yet again :Image13:

WFP is better than TRAD do you mean? LMAO, i just laugh now lol lol

 

[Duncs]

same here saying nowt lol

not like you smurf saying nowt eh

 

[Smurf]

:Image13:

 

[Mart1001]

I don't like knocking trad cleaners whats why. But i havent seen a trad cleaner on the estate yet (1 - 2 years)

As for being the average house? Where did you get that from?

Its a 5 bed detached house with sash windows.

I am due to clean it this week

But why should you think you're knocking tradders because you haven't seen any ? Even if there isn't any on that estate, doesn't mean it's cause they can't do it....tell me where it is and I'll come and knock it if that case and thanks for the heads up :Image3:
I was only using the avergae house to indicate the price if he was to charge double for the windows with plastic on and it had nothing to do with the house you were talking about but, 14 quid for a 5 bed house is excellent value mate....I'm not against you here mate, relax ;-)

Mart.