Cleaning window sills with wfp - From a trad cleaner

[vinchenzo19]

Hello all,
I’ve been trad cleaning for a few years part time and have always spent good time cleaning frames and sills as part of the service.

Recently the company I do a care home for, asked me to clean all of their other homes around the county. This meant I needed to get a pole system in place which I duly did and have been doing alright with it.
Once thing I’m not so sure on is how to get the sills nice and clean especially at 3 storey height.

I’m really used to seeing everything up close and (probably being too picky) getting sills as spotless as possible when doing my usual trad work.
I really like using the pole and would like to do my current round with it in the winter months to keep safe. I am working from my old Astra estate and will be for the foreseeable future.

How do you all currently work on sills to keep them in good condition when working from the ground?

Cheers all. Sorry for the long winded post!

 

[Part Timer]

Easiest way is to buy a sill brush. Obviously you can’t see if they're clean but as long as you're consistent then they should be clean enough.

 

[vinchenzo19]

Easiest way is to buy a sill brush. Obviously you can’t see if they're clean but as long as you're consistent then they should be clean enough.

Cheers mate. I’ve just been quite nit picky with detailing when doing trad, especially on first cleans. Always go by spending extra time getting them spot on the first time to make maintenance easier and quicker in the long run.

I’ll pick up a sill brush from Gardiners

 

[ched999uk]

I've used a gardiners water through pad on particularly green sills.

 

[Scrubsy]

@vinchenzo19 if you buy a standard Gardiner sill brush - especially the flocked one - they do a great job on window sills. Well done one getting the contract for all the care homes buddy, that's a nice steady earner for your round.

 

[vinchenzo19]

@vinchenzo19 if you buy a standard Gardiner sill brush - especially the flocked one - they do a great job on window sills. Well done one getting the contract for all the care homes buddy, that's a nice steady earner for your round.

Much appreciated Scrubsy! I’ll get one ordered

 

[spruce]

Hello all,
I’ve been trad cleaning for a few years part time and have always spent good time cleaning frames and sills as part of the service.

Recently the company I do a care home for, asked me to clean all of their other homes around the county. This meant I needed to get a pole system in place which I duly did and have been doing alright with it.
Once thing I’m not so sure on is how to get the sills nice and clean especially at 3 storey height.

I’m really used to seeing everything up close and (probably being too picky) getting sills as spotless as possible when doing my usual trad work.
I really like using the pole and would like to do my current round with it in the winter months to keep safe. I am working from my old Astra estate and will be for the foreseeable future.

How do you all currently work on sills to keep them in good condition when working from the ground?

Cheers all. Sorry for the long winded post!

I'm sure that getting the sills clean at 3 stories isn't your top priority at the moment. I personally would have thought that upgrading your vehicle and kitting it out properly would be top of the list, as would be planning a source of water supply when away from home. You don't say what you mean by 3 stories, but if you are talking about ground floor and 3 floors above, then a much longer pole would be required. You are entering the world of big investment and business agreements that can be cancelled at any time. You will have to wait for your money and probably spend time being messed around for payment. You will not be working part-time, and it sounds as though you will have nearly all your eggs in one basket.

Most of us started wfp on the residential work we did traditionally and gradually worked our way up. You are taking a giant leap into the unknown.

Please don't take offence, but are you not biting off more than you can chew? I was thinking back to when we changed over to wfp 20 years ago. There is no way I was geared up to take on a cleaning 'contract' or agreement like that due to a lack of experience and the right equipment.

@Part Timer cleans contract work around the country. I wonder how he reacted to your post. He is too nice to say anything negative though, so just gave you a simple answer to your concern.

 

[Part Timer]

I'm sure that getting the sills clean at 3 stories isn't your top priority at the moment. I personally would have thought that upgrading your vehicle and kitting it out properly would be top of the list, as would be planning a source of water supply when away from home. You don't say what you mean by 3 stories, but if you are talking about ground floor and 3 floors above, then a much longer pole would be required. You are entering the world of big investment and business agreements that can be cancelled at any time. You will have to wait for your money and probably spend time being messed around for payment. You will not be working part-time, and it sounds as though you will have nearly all your eggs in one basket.

Most of us started wfp on the residential work we did traditionally and gradually worked our way up. You are taking a giant leap into the unknown.

Please don't take offence, but are you not biting off more than you can chew? I was thinking back to when we changed over to wfp 20 years ago. There is no way I was geared up to take on a cleaning 'contract' or agreement like that due to a lack of experience and the right equipment.

@Part Timer cleans contract work around the country. I wonder how he reacted to your post. He is too nice to say anything negative though, so just gave you a simple answer to your concern.

@spruce you nearly made me blush It would very much depend on how big, how many and the frequency, the care homes are. I'd assumed that they are 3 floors, rather than 4, so a 25' pole should get them unless they're old Victorian buildings. I had also assumed he had a track record with the company, regarding payment, as he is already doing one of their homes. Sometimes in business you need to take a flyer, shut your eyes and go with gut feeling.

You will get it wrong from time to time but as long as he doesn't totally rely on this contract he should be ok if he lost it.

 

[ched999uk]

@spruce the OP does say 'County' so it might just be his local area not the whole country.

 

[spruce]

@spruce the OP does say 'County' so it might just be his local area not the whole country.

Oh. I read it as country. That all important "r". Sorry. Thanks for pointing it out as it does change his situation a bit.
We found in some instances, the local business handled and arranged payment themselves with head office.
Once we took on other sites, we were directed to deal with head office direct. Oh, we haven't received your invoice. Please provide a signature to show you completed the job. The person who signed hasn't the authority to sign. The responsible manger is on holiday for the next two weeks. The manager has been transferred to another site and the new manager doesn't know anything about this. We've got that stalling payment tee shirt.

The last leisure centre we did was in the process of having us log onto their website, submit an invoice and paperwork proof of completion. Then log on a few days later to see if the invoice was approved and then log on again to see when they were expecting to action payment.
Funnily, they often never adhered to the expected payment date. As they only did 'cheque runs' once a month, we had to wait for the next month.

Glad we don't do them anymore.

 

[vinchenzo19]

I'm sure that getting the sills clean at 3 stories isn't your top priority at the moment. I personally would have thought that upgrading your vehicle and kitting it out properly would be top of the list, as would be planning a source of water supply when away from home. You don't say what you mean by 3 stories, but if you are talking about ground floor and 3 floors above, then a much longer pole would be required. You are entering the world of big investment and business agreements that can be cancelled at any time. You will have to wait for your money and probably spend time being messed around for payment. You will not be working part-time, and it sounds as though you will have nearly all your eggs in one basket.

Most of us started wfp on the residential work we did traditionally and gradually worked our way up. You are taking a giant leap into the unknown.

Please don't take offence, but are you not biting off more than you can chew? I was thinking back to when we changed over to wfp 20 years ago. There is no way I was geared up to take on a cleaning 'contract' or agreement like that due to a lack of experience and the right equipment.

@Part Timer cleans contract work around the country. I wonder how he reacted to your post. He is too nice to say anything negative though, so just gave you a simple answer to your concern.

Hello Spruce,
No offense taken mate. I know where you’re coming from

I got the care home company through an enquiry from a parent on Facebook. She wanted the company to sort a window cleaner for the home that her daughter is in that’s in my town so I went and quoted it. It’s basically a large house so not a beast.

From there, the company emailed me and asked if I could quote the others they have in the county so I said yes and here I am.

They are all basically big houses (some are two combined next door to each other) and one is a block of flats.

My ideal move is a van and tank rather than barrels abs backpack but it’s working for now and to be honest that’s probably a bit of a way off for me financially at the mo. Cheers mate.