First Conservatory clean done

[eddyl3000]

I completed my first Conservatory roof clean the other day and wanted to let you guys know my method and see what you think and if you'd reccomend anything for me to do different next time

It took around 2-3 hours, the customer didn't have outside water or hose and we were using a gardiner back pack and an slx22 pole, flocked ztreme brush and solution was called no nonsense heavy duty degreaser screwfix

The whole roof was 6 large panes, I rinsed down 2 of the panes to start with, then had a bucket full of the diluted solution, dipped the brush in that then gave it a good scrub down, then put the gardiner system on full and tried to blast it down once the solution had been left to settle a little

I basically did this for the whole conservatory but found towards the end there was still little bits on the glass which just seemed to never rinse away, always more appeared so I put a clean cloth on the end of the brush and pull dried it towards myself if that makes sense, this got rid of majority of dirt lying on it still and dried it clean

This seemed to work and left a decent finish ?

So just wondering what you guys think and what you'd do instead or add to what I did,

Was a good learning curve ?

Thanks

 

[Pjj]

To do a job like that without a garden hose is always difficult the more water you can rinse with the better , the bits come out from under the seams and joints etc , one way I have found is to squeegee the glass off this will usually remove 99% of it . And will look good from inside the house .Also that roof has a very shallow pitch so won’t run very well, looks ok for a first job after a few you will become quicker

 

[eddyl3000]

To do a job like that without a garden hose is always difficult the more water you can rinse with the better , the bits come out from under the seams and joints etc , one way I have found is to squeegee the glass off this will usually remove 99% of it . And will look good from inside the house .Also that roof has a very shallow pitch so won’t run very well, looks ok for a first job after a few you will become quicker

Thank you ?

 

[ched999uk]

Looks good. Sometimes the end caps can be pushed on but other times they have been bodged on with silicon and wont go back straight.
Rinsing a glass roof is a tricky one as you say the bits keep coming. Cloth was probably a good call.
Don't worry about the time it took as you will speed up naturally. One thing I would suggest is keep notes i.e what mix of solution, dip brush in bucket, how much water did you use, how many panels and how long from arriving to departing site, using a cloth to wipe panels - lots of notes to help you quote and do the job a little quicker next time. Then before next quote and job re read your notes to refresh your memory.

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

I have an Alpha Scrubber or whatever they're called from Tucker - expensive and probably not worth the price as there are probably cheaper alternatives but it's great for a shallow pitch roof like this

 

[Part Timer]

Glass roofs are always a pain, my only advice would be is I wouldn't use an Xtreme brush on any FSG / Conny Roof job as I find there aren't enough bristles to get into the awkward bits quickly. Otherwise you seem to have read up about how to do the job and looks like you've done it well.

 

[eddyl3000]

Thanks for the feedback so far, also how much would you guys quote for something like this, with of course the gutters, frames sills and windows around the conservatory too,

I went in too cheap in the end but I was fine with it for the learning curve, was £60 including all the windows on the house, I'm thinking around £50-£60 just for the whole conservatory in future ?

 

[eddyl3000]

Looks good. Sometimes the end caps can be pushed on but other times they have been bodged on with silicon and wont go back straight.
Rinsing a glass roof is a tricky one as you say the bits keep coming. Cloth was probably a good call.
Don't worry about the time it took as you will speed up naturally. One thing I would suggest is keep notes i.e what mix of solution, dip brush in bucket, how much water did you use, how many panels and how long from arriving to departing site, using a cloth to wipe panels - lots of notes to help you quote and do the job a little quicker next time. Then before next quote and job re read your notes to refresh your memory.

Thanks, I'll bare this in mind for the next one ?

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I always use my scaffold tower so i can stand above the conny. It means I'm working down the way and no stress on shoulders. I charge £160 for a conny clean but don't do many of them. I do have a massive two day SFG on Monday and Tuesday so hopefully weather is good.

 

[Pjj]

Thanks for the feedback so far, also how much would you guys quote for something like this, with of course the gutters, frames sills and windows around the conservatory too,

I went in too cheap in the end but I was fine with it for the learning curve, was £60 including all the windows on the house, I'm thinking around £50-£60 just for the whole conservatory in future ?

Some charge £10 per strip on conservatory roofs and then charge for the sides and gutters and house window’s separately , each job is different so prices will need to be adjusted accordingly .

 

[eddyl3000]

Some charge £10 per strip on conservatory roofs and then charge for the sides and gutters and house window’s separately , each job is different so prices will need to be adjusted accordingly .

Thank you

 

[AndyD]

I completed my first Conservatory roof clean the other day and wanted to let you guys know my method and see what you think and if you'd reccomend anything for me to do different next time

It took around 2-3 hours, the customer didn't have outside water or hose and we were using a gardiner back pack and an slx22 pole, flocked ztreme brush and solution was called no nonsense heavy duty degreaser screwfix

The whole roof was 6 large panes, I rinsed down 2 of the panes to start with, then had a bucket full of the diluted solution, dipped the brush in that then gave it a good scrub down, then put the gardiner system on full and tried to blast it down once the solution had been left to settle a little

I basically did this for the whole conservatory but found towards the end there was still little bits on the glass which just seemed to never rinse away, always more appeared so I put a clean cloth on the end of the brush and pull dried it towards myself if that makes sense, this got rid of majority of dirt lying on it still and dried it clean

This seemed to work and left a decent finish ?

So just wondering what you guys think and what you'd do instead or add to what I did,

Was a good learning curve ?

Thanks

One thing I do is take a very stiff had brush and give the eaves edge strips and end caps a good scrub (after applying solution), particularly if the end caps have embossed features. Apart from that your method is pretty spot on, well done ??

 

[K in Kent]

Thanks for the feedback so far, also how much would you guys quote for something like this, with of course the gutters, frames sills and windows around the conservatory too,

I went in too cheap in the end but I was fine with it for the learning curve, was £60 including all the windows on the house, I'm thinking around £50-£60 just for the whole conservatory in future ?

Well you're still £60 better off than you started the day and got some experience so well worth it I'd say. But yes in future £50-60 as a minimum for a conservatory + roof and ideally a bit more than that. But it depends if you need the money. And if customer doesn't like the price tell them to get more quotes because that's what everyone else will be charging.
Screwfix Degreaser is a quality all round cleaner (v good on oil stains) and the other go to product is Virosol for similar price and excellent multi surface cleaner. I used it this week for some unknown sticky looking marks on render and it worked a treat and routinely use it for conservatories and upvc. Also agree with Pjj comment about squeegee. They take some getting used to on a pole but do the job and you can put a microfibre cloth on them to go over the glass afterwards - gets the job done which is all that matters.

 

[Crystalalan]

Also If its a glass roof, its good to check with the custy if its self cleaning as detergents can harm the treatment so i`ve heard but yes looks like you have done a good job!

 

[K in Kent]

Also If its a glass roof, its good to check with the custy if its self cleaning as detergents can harm the treatment so i`ve heard but yes looks like you have done a good job!

Good point. My understanding (which is limited) with it is that abrasives are what need to be avoided but I've not Google'd it and stand to be corrected

 

[Crystalalan]

Good point. My understanding (which is limited) with it is that abrasives are what need to be avoided but I've not Google'd it and stand to be corrected

Well it would be good if that was the case as cleaning agents do make life a lot easier on really dirty roofs.

 

[K in Kent]

Well it would be good if that was the case as cleaning agents do make life a lot easier on really dirty roofs.

They certainly do - even Fairy is a quality soap.
Anyway, I decided to look it upand the general concensus is to use soapy water, e.g. washing up liquid or liquid glass cleaner that are non abrasive and non solvent based.
But don't take my word for it and I'd advise anyone who might come across self cleaning glass to look it up for themselves and read the details.

 

[Pjj]

They certainly do - even Fairy is a quality soap.
Anyway, I decided to look it upand the general concensus is to use soapy water, e.g. washing up liquid or liquid glass cleaner that are non abrasive and non solvent based.
But don't take my word for it and I'd advise anyone who might come across self cleaning glass to look it up for themselves and read the details.

I think the main concern is the brush scratching the film on the glass , I did read of a guy that used Virosol on self cleaning glass and turned the glass opaque apparently it’s a chemical reaction with the film that can be reversed by applying something to it cant remember what it was but think it was a lime scale remover ?.. we have cleaned literally hundreds of panels of self cleaning glass with Virosol diluted 10-1 and Evan let it dry out and never had any issues , but of course it pays to be careful .

 

[DeLaCruz]

Sometimes the end caps can be pushed on but other times they have been bodged on with silicon and wont go back straight.

Stix-All is fairly awesome for lots of different things and really good for this kinda quick job (also good if youve been a bit heavy handed with your brush and pinged one of those caps off ? Also realld for quick gutter repairs as its seals spots where gutter sealing rubbers have perished.

Stix All

 

[K in Kent]

Yes you're right and the other point that is emphasised is the use of clean soft cloths and avoiding sponges/ squeegees etc - so needs some prior knowledge for anyone likely to be dealing with it

 

[Chris34]

One of my customers is having a pyramid lantern built on top of a extension, it's going to be a big job (10 months) and they are having all types of fancy glass. The builder was saying that it will be more work for me... etc... he then starts asking about the equipment I was using, he said that they are having self cleaning glass installed and that they just install what the customer wants but he said that with the pyramid glass it's self cleaning and if you read the documentation you find in the small print that it basically voids the warranty if you clean it in a way that isn't accepted by them.

He was basically saying to be careful, as after they have installed it they have nothing to do with it, they just fit it and then that's it no comeback on them.