Traditional problems with wind

[bigm1ck1]

Hi everyone I have been running a traditional window cleaning company for 5 years now.
I run it solely on my own and I'm at my limits for customers
The problem is the wind it always puts me behind because I use ladders and my customers do not want water fed pole cleans .
I was just wondering how other traditional window cleaners deal with the wind gusts and what are the maximum mph gusts you should go up a ladder.
Wishing all you fellow window cleaners sun and dry days for the rest of the year

 

[eson]

Hi everyone I have been running a traditional window cleaning company for 5 years now.
I run it solely on my own and I'm at my limits for customers
The problem is the wind it always puts me behind because I use ladders and my customers do not want water fed pole cleans .
I was just wondering how other traditional window cleaners deal with the wind gusts and what are the maximum mph gusts you should go up a ladder.
Wishing all you fellow window cleaners sun and dry days for the rest of the year

I only have a few customers at the moment, but they each one and all are very pleased I don't use a ladder. I trad extended to 63ft, got caught by a squall while extended up at 50ft such that I was jamming my applicator hard against an external high bay window to stop it all blowing away sideways (I work just off the coast so the winds can come up really quick off the sea). Hell of a bend what with my weight and the wind. So tell your customers that you are changing over regardless as its safer and cheaper insurance or whatever I reckon. I'm glad I won't ever be even just 10ft up on a ladder with the wind I had.

 

[Part Timer]

I wouldn't like to see someone trad at 30' let alone 63' The weight and accuracy must be very hard to control

 

[mupps]

Abit late on this one. We changed 600 customers over from trad to watered. Literally showed up on the day, started water fed cleaning the houses and explained on the day the reasons why we are changing over “health and safety etc” told them to trust the process and we only had 2 that cancelled. It’s worth changing over ??

I started loosing so much income from not being able to clean on windy says that I decided to bite the bullet and go for wfp. Apart from just a couple of customers everyone accepted the reason for the change.

 

[eson]

I wouldn't like to see someone trad at 30' let alone 63' The weight and accuracy must be very hard to control

It is . . . I have to train with weights to be able to do this and the pole, even though it is carbon, is heavy with all the extensions on it.

 

[Elliott randall]

I started loosing so much income from not being able to clean on windy says that I decided to bite the bullet and go for wfp. Apart from just a couple of customers everyone accepted the reason for the change.

Exactly! Your running a business and in order to be successful you need to make the changes

 

[K in Kent]

If your round is full now, going wfp will free up space and allow you to expand it due to the faster working speed.

 

[Iron Giant]

I only have a few customers at the moment, but they each one and all are very pleased I don't use a ladder. I trad extended to 63ft, got caught by a squall while extended up at 50ft such that I was jamming my applicator hard against an external high bay window to stop it all blowing away sideways (I work just off the coast so the winds can come up really quick off the sea). Hell of a bend what with my weight and the wind. So tell your customers that you are changing over regardless as its safer and cheaper insurance or whatever I reckon. I'm glad I won't ever be even just 10ft up on a ladder with the wind I had.

What pole are you using? https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/gardiner-ultimate-high-reach-pole-63.html

 

[eson]

What pole are you using? https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/gardiner-ultimate-high-reach-pole-63.html

The pole + extensions I use are in my banner . . . They are Gardiner Supermax 27-3k + Supermax 3k Triple Extension Pack #7-9 + Supermax 3k Triple Extension Pack #10-12. I have a red Phantom cone in the end with a cut down Unger VisaVersa applicator and a modified Unger aluminium channel with soft Unger rubber. I wear a helmet, safety glasses, bright orange Rock Exotica jumper with ‘Expert Use Only’ text emblazoned across the back in black text and wide Stihl trouser braces to prevent anything untoward happening down below which might scare the customers away lol.

 

[Iron Giant]

The pole + extensions I use are in my banner . . . They are Gardiner Supermax 27-3k + Supermax 3k Triple Extension Pack #7-9 + Supermax 3k Triple Extension Pack #10-12. I have a red Phantom cone in the end with a cut down Unger VisaVersa applicator and a modified Unger aluminium channel with soft Unger rubber. I wear a helmet, safety glasses, bright orange Rock Exotica jumper with ‘Expert Use Only’ text emblazoned across the back in black text and wide Stihl trouser braces to prevent anything untoward happening down below which might scare the customers away lol.
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Just genuinely surprised that you can even get the windows to a reasonable standard at that height, I use a 45ft pole on some jobs and I can't exert very much pressure on the glass at all so struggling to get my head around how you can trad above 20ft let alone 63ft

 

[eson]

Just genuinely surprised that you can even get the windows to a reasonable standard at that height, I use a 45ft pole on some jobs and I can't exert very much pressure on the glass at all so struggling to get my head around how you can trad above 20ft let alone 63ft

I find 45ft okay to be honest. It is quite slow going . . . I find the slower I go the better the result. My customer, her visiting son and I are all happy with the outcome. I’ll see if I can take some inside looking out photos next time I do this for everyone to see . . . that will be in mid January 2023 due to Christmas 2022 holidays. I don’t rate this particular customer-job as a good payer as it can be so time consuming and fickle what with the wind and everything, but at least I can get it done. Once I get some photos for here they’d make a good advert to have in my arsenal !

Note: I’m not saying the finish, particularly the frames, is as good as nose to glass of course not but it is plenty good enough to be impressive after a first clean and good enough to be asked back for a four weekly (where things will improve each visit).

As for 63ft I’ll have to call it 55ft to 60ft and try and get some photos inside looking out too. I’ll have to find a ‘customer’ as I don’t currently have a regular for this.

And yes going this high is sketchy and can be quite dangerous (and can snap your pole as well !).

Oh, and my circle avatar is one of the buildings I clean at . . . the 5th window up is the storey I do.

 

[Pjj]

I find 45ft okay to be honest. It is quite slow going . . . I find the slower I go the better the result. My customer, her visiting son and I are all happy with the outcome. I’ll see if I can take some inside looking out photos next time I do this for everyone to see . . . that will be in mid January 2023 due to Christmas 2022 holidays. I don’t rate this particular customer-job as a good payer as it can be so time consuming and fickle what with the wind and everything, but at least I can get it done. Once I get some photos for here they’d make a good advert to have in my arsenal !

Note: I’m not saying the finish, particularly the frames, is as good as nose to glass of course not but it is plenty good enough to be impressive after a first clean and good enough to be asked back for a four weekly (where things will improve each visit).

As for 63ft I’ll have to call it 55ft to 60ft and try and get some photos inside looking out too. I’ll have to find a ‘customer’ as I don’t currently have a regular for this.

And yes going this high is sketchy and can be quite dangerous (and can snap your pole as well !).

Oh, and my circle avatar is one of the buildings I clean at . . . the 5th window up is the storey I do.

Serious question why do you do it trad ? WFP would give better results to the frames and glass, this isn’t a criticism just interested that’s all .

 

[DeLaCruz]

I started 5 years ago - overall i have 90% WFP and a 10% trad - trad i do on fussy customers with hydro phobic glass, or on large shop fronts / hotels + interior. Overall i still prefer the trad finish on large glass bc its just an instant transformation that cant be argued with. I have one large block of flats with the seafront saltyest windows + worst rubber streaking ever. On this i use 85 flow (gotta be at least 1.75-2L/min) and i use wide green gardiner pencil jets and i just rinse it relentlessly - its not perfect but gets the jon done and after initial complains about spotting the clients are happy. Also on this clean i generally make sure my tds is <5 so there is nothing left to chance. defo consider expanding into WFP and educating the client on the process - GL

 

[eson]

Serious question why do you do it trad ? WFP would give better results to the frames and glass, this isn’t a criticism just interested that’s all .

Why trad and not wfp you ask . . . Drips ! That all . . . just drips !. The people in the apartments (they are gorgeous inside) below the 5th windows-and-up that I clean simply don't want the drips on their windows that wfp would bring. What they want they get as the building manager (a great bloke) would simply ban me from site if any of the residents are unhappy. Would I want all the windows of all the floors? YES PLEASE but for now I have to accommodate even the most unhelpful demand of the tenants (sounds like a building full of Dr Who's lol). The windows to the 4th are wfp by someone sometimes. I hope to get more customers from this building in 2023 and if needs be sure, a wfp system would be a go. But for now the art of Tradeneering (see what I did there with trad and mountaineering lol) is the way. Keep in mind some of the highest windows have not been cleaned for many years so prolonged wfp would drip on all the lower windows and dirty wash water would get blown across the building too so I'd have to find and clean all those dirtied by me windows for free Nooooooooooo! Also as stupid as it sounds, the pole and [custom] VisaVersa are easy to show to people while saying 'Hey, look how long my pole is, I can clean right up to there - look' (customer swoons in amazement - I am a first aider in case they swoon too much). This hasn't worked yet as I haven't tried it but it sounds good. Finally coming back to why do I trad it . . . I can use the least amount of water simply by squirting some onto the applicator. And yes, sometimes by the time I get to a window the water has dried off and I have to bring it down again. But NO DRIPS is actually my official brief even though it is a lot of grief. Lastly I'm looking to switch bungalows if anybody knows of some (jk) lol !

 

[Pjj]

Why trad and not wfp you ask . . . Drips ! That all . . . just drips !. The people in the apartments (they are gorgeous inside) below the 5th windows-and-up that I clean simply don't want the drips on their windows that wfp would bring. What they want they get as the building manager (a great bloke) would simply ban me from site if any of the residents are unhappy. Would I want all the windows of all the floors? YES PLEASE but for now I have to accommodate even the most unhelpful demand of the tenants (sounds like a building full of Dr Who's lol). The windows to the 4th are wfp by someone sometimes. I hope to get more customers from this building in 2023 and if needs be sure, a wfp system would be a go. But for now the art of Tradeneering (see what I did there with trad and mountaineering lol) is the way. Keep in mind some of the highest windows have not been cleaned for many years so prolonged wfp would drip on all the lower windows and dirty wash water would get blown across the building too so I'd have to find and clean all those dirtied by me windows for free Nooooooooooo! Also as stupid as it sounds, the pole and [custom] VisaVersa are easy to show to people while saying 'Hey, look how long my pole is, I can clean right up to there - look' (customer swoons in amazement - I am a first aider in case they swoon too much). This hasn't worked yet as I haven't tried it but it sounds good. Finally coming back to why do I trad it . . . I can use the least amount of water simply by squirting some onto the applicator. And yes, sometimes by the time I get to a window the water has dried off and I have to bring it down again. But NO DRIPS is actually my official brief even though it is a lot of grief. Lastly I'm looking to switch bungalows if anybody knows of some (jk) lol !

Ok I understand that , I would be trying to get the whole building and WFP the lot ???? much more lucrative especially if you can get them on 8 cleans per year , that way they won’t be so dirty either .

 

[eson]

I find 45ft okay to be honest. It is quite slow going . . . I find the slower I go the better the result. My customer, her visiting son and I are all happy with the outcome. I’ll see if I can take some inside looking out photos next time I do this for everyone to see . . . that will be in mid January 2023 due to Christmas 2022 holidays.

Update: Too windy to clean with a pole mid-Jan as hoped so no photo.

 

[Yogi1872]

I jam the ladders under the window sill so it stops it from blowing down when I'm up it if it's really windy. I probably don't go any higher than 12 rungs though for my work that I still use a ladder for so it's not really high.