no more gutters please.....well okay suppose i need the money....

[cheapncheerful]

No more gutters please....

I thought I would have an easy week as I was feeling a bit on the tired side.....didnt really work out like that though.....

I was going to do just what was booked in and then spend some time on jobs around the house....but going out for a tenner is a bit of a waste of time so I had a thought and realised I had to do some gutters on my contract work and thought that would make it worthwhile.....but, thinking it would be easy as they are cleaned twice a year....hmmm.....well the mild weather in November meant the leaves were still on the trees...and now they had lay in the gutters for six months and boy do they pong....

Now I’m getting on a bit and have been cleaning windows since I was fourteen......you would think I had little to learn by now.....so why do I not carry a set of dirty clothes in the car??????? I do carry a bucket and gloves....

Lesson learnt....well they are only bungalows and I thought I could not spill it everywhere but as you know all the smelly gungy stuff splashes up in your face and your dirty gloves spread all the gunge down the ladders and it manages to splash on you....it stinks......lesson learnt....well almost....because after scrubbing my smelly hands for ages....the very next day someone had blocked gutters which were dripping on my clean windows and so the cycle starts again ....and then I had one booked in for Friday .....but there was time to fit it in ....and again that was gutters.......so no more gutters......well okay I need the money....as I keep saying ....where there’s muck there’s brass....

You see some days just work out great.....and some go bad....today was a good un......I mean she’s a lovely old lady I am sure.....can you come and clean my windows it’s a lovely day.....but to be honest I was miles away and her bungalow is only a fiver....and a fiver isn’t what it used to be.....well as long as I have done the job it’s been a fiver....hmmmm.....so I admit to pretending to being stuck in traffic...and this afternoon she was out.....so got that out of the way and went to see if tomorrows booked in gutters/windows was available.....no. she was on the drive and not wanting to mither...but then again I had an idea she may be off to work soon.....so I pulled into a lay bye and went to sleep and as I opened my eyes her car was gone.....it’s all about timing this job....so got stuck into that and thought if I was really lucky she had put the money out for me even though it was booked in for tomorrow and there it was......you couldn’t get a better day..

Mind you I then had to go home and take the daughter to some charity thing she does in Congleton and really it’s not worth coming back two hours later....think of the petrol.....so what could I do to kill two hours....hmmm let me think.....oh I suppose I will have to sit in a pub.....not through choice you understand....

 

[mrtaytay]

Sounds like you have quite a week. Days often go belly up. I book my days quite tight so when customers ask me to do additional jobs it sometimes means jobs booked in for the end of the day dont get done. Sometimes I decline the requests, but not very often as I am soft. Its not just gutters though. I have customers who suddenly want their garage doors cleaned, gates cleaned, shower doors and tiles cleaned. I even had one who wanted all the decorated pots on her exterior wall cleaned. I had to get rid of a dead badger for another!

 

[Smurf]

How much do you clear blocked gutters and/or downspouts for?

 

[cheapncheerful]

hey.....maybe my lifes not to0 bad after all....must admit i kinda sneak around trying to do the work when no one is around and generally i am, as my vicar customer told me....a procrastinator....yes sounds dirty to me too!

i must admit.....i did do a lot of things like that when i was in the flush of youth but once you past fifty.....

 

[cheapncheerful]

How much do you clear blocked gutters and/or downspouts for?

good question....it depends on who is asking.....but the windows were 9 and the gutters were 10....yes too cheap but it be rough up here in the north....probably would say 20 to a newbie customer or one off maybe even 30 depends a lot on mood i suppose....yes i am not really as business/money orientated as my dad...who is almost retired....he charges a lot more....but there is only me and that keeps all costs down....probably why i am home on a lovely friday afternoon typing this......well i am actually supposed to get my invoice printed to put in over the road before he gets back home.....i do other things too....as long as its outside work...i have mended his fence from the gales and its now grass cutting time ...so i have done some work today....and of course it will all start again on monday....

 

[Smurf]

Fair play bud earn what/when you can /emoticons/wink.png

 

[mrtaytay]

Fair play bud earn what/when you can /emoticons/wink.png

How long did the gutters take.

 

[cheapncheerful]

well after my sleep was probably two thirty ish....and i had to be back to do a taxi run....and was back home for four thirty ish....so that would be two hours for windows and gutters and driving .....and i did fix a gutter....didn't seem that long to be honest....so probs an hour for gutters....your not the tax man are you?

 

[mrtaytay]

well after my sleep was probably two thirty ish... had to be back to do a taxi run....and was back home for four thirty ish....so that would be two hours for windows and gutters and driving .....and i did fix a gutter....didn't seem that long to be honest....so probs an hour for gutters....your not the tax man are you?

No worries cheapandcheerful, I am not the taxman. Was just thinking the gutters seemed a bit cheap. I know Its difficult with regular customers. It can often be tempting to discount them a little, but how much would it cost them if they got a builder out to do it.

 

[cheapncheerful]

No worries cheapandcheerful, I am not the taxman. Was just thinking the gutters seemed a bit cheap. I know Its difficult with regular customers. It can often be tempting to discount them a little, but how much would it cost them if they got a builder out to do it.

yeh, but i am cheap n cheerful.....yeh probably true....my prices are going up all the time mind you somebody else was doing them for a pound a metre and that is probs what mine worked out at....and she has since said she was happy with the job and wants me to quote to paint her stone window cills....so it does keep me busy....but yeh i am all for uping prices...mind you not had much new work for a while but when ever i have i always find out the last windy was charging the same....mind you thats maybe why he left the job...

 

[cheapncheerful]

well after my sleep was probably two thirty ish....and i had to be back to do a taxi run....and was back home for four thirty ish....so that would be two hours for windows and gutters and driving .....and i did fix a gutter....didn't seem that long to be honest....so probs an hour for gutters....your not the tax man are you?

oh and i did call and collect one....forgot that...

 

[Smurf]

I mostly clear gutters so I charge a fair wack for my troubles and think you should too as is dangerous work...

 

[sdrah]

when cleaning the gutters - do you always clean them from outside too plus fascia ? I mean all the whites around and pipes ? or depends how much they pay ?

Ive cleaned a 3 bed end of terrace yesterday and I charged 50 quid - the lady said that the previous cleaner charged her 20 only etc however she was happy to pay 50 this time . I think may be the other guy just emptied the gutters without cleaning them from outside

 

[cheapncheerful]

I mostly clear gutters so I charge a fair wack for my troubles and think you should too as is dangerous work...

yeh i just doubled the price too two pound a metre......some poor guy died from the flesh eating bug in tonights mail on line......and it was only a scratch....i got a big scratch through thick rubber gloves....in fact i am always getting scratches....anyone want to tell me a price per metre and then i can just blame them if they say its too dear...dont get too many ...and i did clean the windows on the same climb....but yes it is dangerous especially on plastic gutters when they are wet....probably sounds cheaper if i can say so much per metre...and a lot of people always ask me in winter when its bloomin freezin...

 

[cheapncheerful]

when cleaning the gutters - do you always clean them from outside too plus fascia ? I mean all the whites around and pipes ? or depends how much they pay ?
Ive cleaned a 3 bed end of terrace yesterday and I charged 50 quid - the lady said that the previous cleaner charged her 20 only etc however she was happy to pay 50 this time . I think may be the other guy just emptied the gutters without cleaning them from outside

thats a great point ...i never really know which they mean but i only clean the insides. and of course leave a little mess so they know its been done...usually fascia and gutter cleaning is a separate thing....and that i limit to one hour as i get bored....oh well its not the same as windy cleaning...

 

[Smurf]

I charge seprate for both when I say "clear the guttering" and "clean the oustside of the guttering, fascia and soffits (if applicable)" so confirm with customers what they want doing.

As an example I quoted one customer this week as follows and got the job /emoticons/smile.png

To check & clear guttering & downspouts £95

To clean oustide of guttering, fascais & soffits £95

To clean glass on hardwood conservatory roof £65

To clean house windows using wfp one-off FREE

To pressure wash block driveway £250

To resand block driveway on another dry day £60

Funny enough most jobs I get customer already has a regular window cleaner

 

[Smurf]

@cheapncheerful as you can see I'm not that cheap but I am always cheerful

 

[cheapncheerful]

i be always ready to learn...to be fair i have been on a rest for supposedly five years which turned to ten...in this time i did do a small amount of windows but was mainly building an extension, converting the garage to put the daughter in....or to separate the daughters........i did the first twenty years on the windows and of course doing the neverending jobs at home and moved to have a complete break but the bills and four kids eventually drove me back....so i think i am still on the olden prices! having only really started back full time recently...well not quite an 8 am start more a 10 am start....and not like i used to finish at 6pm more often home for three....he he that's when da wifey goes to work......i have grown lazy....any new jobs will now be at smurf prices........mind you i have to knock a bit off for living in the sticks....the guy over the road had his house on the market at 185 for years and nearly sold it at 179 but the valuer came back and wanted another 15 off that....it be grim in the north....thanks for the price guide though...very honest and helpful you are......maybe i will change to cheapishncheerful.../emoticons/smile.png

 

[Tuffers]

thats a great point ...i never really know which they mean but i only clean the insides. and of course leave a little mess so they know its been done...usually fascia and gutter cleaning is a separate thing....and that i limit to one hour as i get bored....oh well its not the same as windy cleaning...

Spread some of the muck on your face so it looks like you've really grafted /emoticons/wink.png I do.

 

[Smurf]

Trouble is if you use a name like cheapncheerful as a business name then you are shooting yourself in the foot before you even start. The name in itself give the wrong impression I think as ppl will also expect really cheap prices. So even though you might get very busy with low paid jobs it will defo be an uphill battle to gain high value profitable work.

 

[cheapncheerful]

great idea tuffers....and especially now i am charging smurf prices...