Too many cleaners in my area

[Yogi1872]

Depending on the properties location etc I do around four an hour on new build estates with all houses side by side but some are larger than others so there is a bit more graft in them

They were 6 in a row, small fences at the back, I'm able to go right up the backs from the first house.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Doing my usual Friday end of month run today. Met 4 windies with ladders mostly young lads. I turned up and was away and they were still on 2 corner houses. They all seem to have ladders, I wonder when they will convert to wfp.

 

[Yogi1872]

Doing my usual Friday end of month run today. Met 4 windies with ladders mostly young lads. I turned up and was away and they were still on 2 corner houses. They all seem to have ladders, I wonder when they will convert to wfp.

They must have been small square windows in the hoppers or something, they take ages to do trad.or windows that needed footed. The part of my run where the top windows only involve going up about 7 or 8 rungs and none are over roofs etc. Then the way I do trad (clean only glass) is quicker than the pole.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

They must have been small square windows in the hoppers or something, they take ages to do trad.or windows that needed footed. The part of my run where the top windows only involve going up about 7 or 8 rungs and none are over roofs etc. Then the way I do trad (clean only glass) is quicker than the pole.

I couldn't go back to Trad bar insides which I occasionally do.

 

[Iron Giant]

They were 6 in a row, small fences at the back, I'm able to go right up the backs from the first house.

Is that a glass only clean

 

[Iron Giant]

Amazing what you can find if you search, and I quote from his FB page,

"FAQ Here are the five most asked questions About Window Cleaning Answered for You...
1) How long does each monthly clean take ? between 20-30 minutes but i will stay as long as it needs so it is 100% clean Everytime."

So he's telling his potential customers it could take 20 minutes and then insulting everyone that says they can do a good job in less than 30 minutes

Not sure if I found the right page, the profile pic is of two waiters

 

[steve garwood]

Not sure if I found the right page, the profile pic is of two waiters

Talking of waiters , I was in a restaurant with my wife last night when the waiter came over and asked to take our order.
I said ‘well my wife is in the ladies at the moment’
He asked ‘well do you know what she’s having?’
I said ‘she’s been gone fifteen minutes so probably a dump’ ?

 

[Yogi1872]

Is that a glass only clean

No, when I use the pole I have to clean the frames aswell. To many windows would leave streaks only doing the glass, am no believing people wouldn't end up getting the top of the frame wet on a good few throughout the day when trying to only do glass using the pole. The time spent on trying to be carefull not get the top wet so it didn't drip wouldn't be much difference in just doing it. And the invetable would happen leaving x amount of windows with streaks on them. I don't use the small size brush head. I use the wider one with 4 pencil jets. I do only agitate the dirt with the brush once though, mines is all 4 weekly cleans and when I swapped over to wfp I was constantly going back checking them to see if they were okay. I was doing it twice with the brush scrubbing to begin with. After a few months to see if I could speed it up I done one window for half a shift only going over it once. Went back amd checked each one and there was no difference from the ones that I had gone over twice. I'm not sure if it would be okay on 6 weekly cleans though. If there really dirty I would go over it more too.

 

[Dave B]

We don’t leave a mess and it doesn’t take 30 muinits to clean an average house and leave it 100% clean . Come down here and we will take you out for a day and show you first hand how to do the job properly and at a reasonable speed .

That is why my weeks work was done this morning and I’m now sitting round a lake with mates with my 3 new daiwa basia 4500 qd reels at £400 each on my rods until Sunday
Bit breezy but the bbq is coming out soon

 

[JEM]

It's a real balance between speed and being thorough
I'm not the fastest but have sped up considerably since I first started

I have chatted to a local wfp cleaner he's been going a good few years and has been great with advice etc

He's quick from what I've seen, and with how many houses he said he does a day, I was working on a house and could hear someone in the garden behind, brush banging away from side to side making a right racket, fan jets on 100psi it looked really frantic and not how I work

I use pencil jets and like to clean the vents then on the rinse i work from just below the vents wouldn't be possible with fan jets so I think where I'm slower is on the rinse i also turn off my water with my remote so i can swipe the water from the sills about 3 times maybe that's something people don't do

I've had a couple of people while I've been working out the front of a house come out from over the road to say I'm really thorough compared to their windy and asked for a quote and gave them a card, but I know I charge a bit more so for the customer do they want thorough and pay more or pay less and the guy is only there 5 mins, i never did hear back from that customer because i think I'm about £5 more expensive

 

[JEM]

That is why my weeks work was done this morning and I’m now sitting round a lake with mates with my 3 new daiwa basia 4500 qd reels at £400 each on my rods until Sunday
Bit breezy but the bbq is coming out soon

Nice what rods do you have? I've not been to my lake this year yet and just renewed my membership at a lake in Oxfordshire

 

[JEM]

Yeah, don't make me make another video or il no be happy

I'd like to see said video!

 

[Yogi1872]

I'd like to see said video!

My houses aren't really scattered about. When using the pole the van only needs moved 2 or 3 times max throughout the day when 100 metre is pulled out. When all of it was done with ladders you could walk it from the start of the 4 weekly cycle to the end of it, as there's no big gaps between houses. All my works in one town.

 

[Dave B]

3 x daiwa emcast 12’

 

[Pjj]

3 x daiwa emcast 12’

What fish are you after carp ??

 

[Crystalalan]

Not really into fishing to the extent I have my own equipment but I do sometimes go mackeral fishing on a chartered boat in poole harbour with my Dad. Thats absolutely ace the skipper has a little stove on board and we cook up the fish in some boiling water with some vinegar in it. Oh man its the tastiest fish I`ve ever eaten. Can highly recommend it.

 

[Dave B]

What fish are you after carp ??

Yes Paul
Gone with my son and a couple of friends
Son forgot cutlery so just made a curry stirring with a digestive biscuit lol
And another for a spoon

 

[Pjj]

Yes Paul
Gone with my son and a couple of friends
Son forgot cutlery so just made a curry stirring with a digestive biscuit lol
And another for a spoon

Hope you have a nice few days , I don’t do fresh water fishing , but love sea fishing both shore and boat .

 

[Iron Giant]

Yes Paul
Gone with my son and a couple of friends
Son forgot cutlery so just made a curry stirring with a digestive biscuit lol
And another for a spoon

You'll go through half a packet eating your curry

if I forgot my spoon for my bate at work I have to fold up a payment card to use it as a spoon

 

[dazmond]

Really well i have found doing cheap quick cleans would make anyone bankrupt very quickly indeed, 30 minutes makes for a better clean, so if your saying i should cut my time down to 5 minutes per clean and charge less, i could do that but i would loose so many customers and be bankrupt in a week... This is the problem i am trying to get at, that speed cleaning makes the customer feel like they have been robbed by bilbo baggins.

You might make a lot, but i bet you get a lot of complaints & messers on your rounds doing it that way. we did and when we were doing speed cleans, i looked at those complaining there was nothing really wrong with the cleans they were ok but there were bits left behind & that's what lead to me really starting to see what worked better, this silly culture of speed cleaning is whats given us all a bad name as window cleaners... Beer money prices no thank you... ppl who are desperate for money charge cheap and speed clean instead of slowing down and doing a quality clean... quality can not be done in less than 30 minutes..

The trick IMO is to work at a brisk pace AND charge a fair price(not too expensive not too cheap)...30 mins is a long time to clean a house..if its a large house with a conny then maybe but I will usually clean them in less time...I aim for a steady £50 an hour...again not too greedy and enough to make a half decent living....

I've found in my 30 years experience of window cleaning the middle ground is the way to go...

I have in the past been guilty of charging too little and on occasion too much(and lost the jobs to cheaper cleaners)...

It's a fine line.....?