Upgrading my domestic kit

[C Rose Cleaning Services]

Hi guys - I'm new here /emoticons/biggrin.png

I've been a traditional window cleaner since 2004. 3 months ago by employee of 7 years dropped me in the **** by leaving without notice. I panicked, but before hastily employing someone else I bought a basic WFP kit to tide me over. Safe to say after 3 months of practice (thought it was faulty the first time I used it - awful!) I'm starting to think about moving up to some more 'professional' gear.

At the moment I have an Unger nlite aluminium 22ft pole (Christ it's heavy at full length) and am using a Facelift backpack (22L) mounted to a trolley. I purify my water at home using the Unger Hydropower DI resin and decant it into barrels to take to work.

I mix this and traditional ladder work to get me through any awkward houses that would otherwise require footing/imagination. However, I'm using a bag of resin a week (£91 for 4 bags) and sometimes running out of water during the day.

What I'm looking at doing for the next 18-24 months is to upgrade my pole etc WITHOUT moving over to a full van spec setup as I want to do this when I buy a new vehicle.

Have you guys got any favourite poles (probably not carbon as too pricey at the minute so hybrid probably more like it) and any other trolley/DI solutions that are less resin hungry?

Any advice would be great as this WFP system is a mine field for beginners.

Many Thanks

Chris

 

[Dave B]

Gardiners clx for hybrid but a full carbon slx 22ft is only a couple of hundred

Get a 450 gpd ro from collins (ebay) for £180

Then resin will last ages

Well worth the outlay to save a lot on resin from day 1

Then you can easily justify leaving the ladders at home unless using them for access over flat roofs etc and using wfp for all tops

Speeds up your day and is cheap to run

 

[spruce]

Sorry @C Rose Cleaning Services but please accept this as honest advice and don't take umbridge at what I say.

My advice is to do it now. In 18 months time the chances are you will still be where you are today.

You will find that your growth will always be hindered when you are on the upgrade cycle. You will be on that cycle for years as your business decisions are governed by price. It will end up costing you in the long run.

You have to start thinking differently. If you go into wfp from trad you can no longer think and run your business as a trad cleaner. If you honestly can't afford to do it now you never will be able to afford it. Once you go wfp you move into the Premiership.

Lets talk resin. You don't tell us what your tap water tds is, but let's say you are so busy forking out money for resin you can't afford an r/o. But your r/o will possibly pay for itself in 3 months. As @daveyboy says, you are wasting resources buying resin in those quantities when an r/o will reduce those expenses. The money you save on resin can be put toward a carbonfibre pole.

You need to look at how buying a carbon fiber pole will speed up your work. Do an extra house a day and the pole is soon paid for.

If you can't do it now then you need to stay trad and canvass replacement houses for those ones you have that need the ladder footing.

-

 

[C Rose Cleaning Services]

Cool, thank you. Didn't realise an RO filter could be obtainable for that amount of money.

And Spruce, it's more of a case of priorities at the minute and trying to buy a house Vs a new van and full setup. Hence the time frame. Gotta have good enough kit now to keep it moving forward until the point comes where I can (more or less) go fully WFP. I do prefer it as a system without a doubt but I just wanted something better than I currently have to get me through, which the above suggestion seems to be.

Thank you /emoticons/smile.png

 

[spruce]

Cool, thank you. Didn't realise an RO filter could be obtainable for that amount of money.
And Spruce, it's more of a case of priorities at the minute and trying to buy a house Vs a new van and full setup. Hence the time frame. Gotta have good enough kit now to keep it moving forward until the point comes where I can (more or less) go fully WFP. I do prefer it as a system without a doubt but I just wanted something better than I currently have to get me through, which the above suggestion seems to be.

Thank you /emoticons/smile.png

I'm sorry Chris that my above post is rather harsh now you point out the accommodation dilemma you face. I would probably agree with @peter rogers for disliking it.

I feel for you as I have also been in a similar situation where renting traps you and makes buying a house so much more difficult. I do applauded your forward planning.

The trouble with wfp is that its not something you can dabble with. Its one of those businesses that requires a full commitment to justify the initial outlay. I gave the advise above from my own experience as I also found out personally that the upgrade cycle means you are always on your back foot.

I always seemed to be 2 steps behind where I needed to be.

We found out the hard way that its better to buy now for where you need to be in 5 years time. As an example, if you see envisage employing someone then its better to buy the bigger tank, 2 man setup and bigger van now as upgrading later is more expensive.

I wish you the best.

 

[peter rogers]

Was a bit harsh. Best way to get ahead mate is to learn on here and do wat u can we all start somewhere

 

[J and S]

Chris...I'm crossing over to the dark side too in the next 2 weeks...am looking at getting the Pure Freedom 50 litre trolley starter package with a few upgrades including carbon fibre pole....looks like it will cost around £1450 with the dreaded.

The beauty I see about this system is that it would take very little at all to upgrade to full van system if required later.

I also do carpet cleaning so a tank in the van is not an option at the moment.

 

[Eviestevie]

I agree with spruce here don't think he was being funny just honest

You say your saving for house and new van so it must be a finacial strain

But them kind things take time

Your spending £91 a month on resin so a ro will save you money after couple month so more to put in house or van fund

And it will take your business further should you need more water

 

[C Rose Cleaning Services]

I'm sorry Chris that my above post is rather harsh now you point out the accommodation dilemma you face. I would probably agree with @peter rogers for disliking it.
I feel for you as I have also been in a similar situation where renting traps you and makes buying a house so much more difficult. I do applauded your forward planning.

The trouble with wfp is that its not something you can dabble with. Its one of those businesses that requires a full commitment to justify the initial outlay. I gave the advise above from my own experience as I also found out personally that the upgrade cycle means you are always on your back foot.

I always seemed to be 2 steps behind where I needed to be.

We found out the hard way that its better to buy now for where you need to be in 5 years time. As an example, if you see envisage employing someone then its better to buy the bigger tank, 2 man setup and bigger van now as upgrading later is more expensive.

I wish you the best.

Not a problem, I didn't view it as harsh, probably just honest. In an ideal world I definitely (now I've become accustomed to it and prefer it as a method) would like to go out and get the best of the best and in the long term it would be undeniably cheaper, so I value your opinion just as much as everybody else's. No need to apologise

 

[C Rose Cleaning Services]

Chris...I'm crossing over to the dark side too in the next 2 weeks...am looking at getting the Pure Freedom 50 litre trolley starter package with a few upgrades including carbon fibre pole....looks like it will cost around £1450 with the dreaded.The beauty I see about this system is that it would take very little at all to upgrade to full van system if required later.

I also do carpet cleaning so a tank in the van is not an option at the moment.

I haven't seen this yet so I'll have a look. Thanks

 

[C Rose Cleaning Services]

I agree with spruce here don't think he was being funny just honestYou say your saving for house and new van so it must be a finacial strain

But them kind things take time

Your spending £91 a month on resin so a ro will save you money after couple month so more to put in house or van fund

And it will take your business further should you need more water

I've already found one on eBay.

Quick question though: could I attach one of these to my normal taps like I do with the Unger filter? How do they connect?

 

[adamangler]

There's a saying that goes "get in where u fit in" if you can't afford the best then you can't. For some of us its a slow process. I've only just got a metal hose reel from a plastic one. I've only just bought a couple of new brushes instead of the vikan. I'm still using a battered trolley when I need a back pack and I'm still struggling with with tap when I want a univalve. Sometimes it's not as easy as go out and spend a load if money to buy the best gear especially when you have bills and dependants

 

[Jango]

J&S

We have the pure freedom stuff, it's very good, the thing with the 50 ltr one is, when you fill the barrels they are very heavy, we was going for this and a friend mentioned this to us, so we bought the 25ltr one instead, they are heavy enough to lift. Just consider it, don't buy the streamline orange brush, get a better one.

 

[J and S]

Cheers Jango going to go to see them so I can try out the different combinations see which suits best.