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Builders clean- worth it ?

tino8358

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22
Location
grantham
I've recently been asked to quote an estimate on some houses(she wants it by Thursday)that are to be built for moving in by April for end builders clean, then a 2nd prior to moving in, I've not done these before and am sceptical after reading posts on this, but surely I need to be quoting when I see the condition of them, as I cant judge how long they will take to price it right, and dont want to lose money/time.

Can i quote a decent estimate on bedroom house size to assure its worthwhile?

Do you do interior aswell?

Can I have them sign a waiver for any marks/damage i notice beforehand to stop disagreements once the jobs done?

Any rough idea on an average time of a standard size house needing films/cement etc removed, or is it as usual, to be seen before we clean?

 
Personally I wouldn't do it, they're a nightmare! But if you do decide to do it, £5 a window minimum, it'll take ages with scraping, sticker residue etc. Each job will take at least 5x longer then usual, so only expect to do 1-3 a day. You can try to get them to sign a waiver, but it's unlikely they will, as they would rather use you as the scapegoat if there's any problems.

 
Last one I did was a 2 bed semi, took me 4 hours without touching the frames, I charged per hour. 

Depending on size and condition if on your own you could spend a whole day

I don’t touch them now as don’t have the time or energy.

Get them to sign a waiver.

 
On builders cleans it can be like the flip of a coin from one house to the next in the past when I did them one house could be fine the other could have windows caked in cement quite a few of the big builders have a protective film over the glass now which helps I've had site foreman tell certain windows couldn't have been damaged by the guys who rendered the house as there were no windows in at the time ? 

You will need extra tools possibly cleaning agents like Cement Off and be fully covered with a proper P/L  insurance  policy which covers you for the item been worked on, they will want the windows like brand new and you need to cover yourself for the worst case scenario on every house if you are still keen for the work go do a walk around over the weekend if you can or Monday and ask questions of them if you feel you need to and if you are still happy make sure you put down in your quote that there will be two cleans on each completed house, one house builder changed from two cleans to one then a good few months down the line they got someone cheaper I was subbed by another cleaning firm who did the full internal house clean 

 
I lost  a customer as I refused to do a builders clean on a bungelow she had built next door to her existing property and was told by her new cleaner that she scratched shyte out of  two windows before calling him she was a bit of a messer  anyway so wasn’t bothered losing her as she was on my Cull list. 

 
Last one I did was a 2 bed semi, took me 4 hours without touching the frames, I charged per hour. 

Depending on size and condition if on your own you could spend a whole day

I don’t touch them now as don’t have the time or energy.

Get them to sign a waiver.
the houses aren't up and she asked for a quote beforehand, would it be more ideal instead of pricing the houses then charging per hour instead so i wont be cut short, same as my current working hour wage atm.

 
On builders cleans it can be like the flip of a coin from one house to the next in the past when I did them one house could be fine the other could have windows caked in cement quite a few of the big builders have a protective film over the glass now which helps I've had site foreman tell certain windows couldn't have been damaged by the guys who rendered the house as there were no windows in at the time ? 

You will need extra tools possibly cleaning agents like Cement Off and be fully covered with a proper P/L  insurance  policy which covers you for the item been worked on, they will want the windows like brand new and you need to cover yourself for the worst case scenario on every house if you are still keen for the work go do a walk around over the weekend if you can or Monday and ask questions of them if you feel you need to and if you are still happy make sure you put down in your quote that there will be two cleans on each completed house, one house builder changed from two cleans to one then a good few months down the line they got someone cheaper I was subbed by another cleaning firm who did the full internal house clean 
thanks, I have liability, does this need to be altered for jobs like this then? Im still keen until I've actually tried it firsthand personally, as long as I have solutions to problems before they happen, thats why advice like this is appreciated, I intended on having  help doing it and overseeing it being done to a good standard, with being sub-contracted to the interior cleaning firm, would payment be more prompt and can I specify the timeframe Id like to be paid to make it happen, say end of each week, before starting any others? than what Im hearing trying to get it recovered from builders is not a great joy.

 
the houses aren't up and she asked for a quote beforehand, would it be more ideal instead of pricing the houses then charging per hour instead so i wont be cut short, same as my current working hour wage atm.


If they agree to your hour wage great but more common for people to agree a price. Just price high if that’s the case

 
Personally feel builders cleans are more hassle than they are worth , the potential for problems ie you being blamed for scratches etc are just not worth the effort far better to do normal regular repeat window cleaning easier quicker better money 

 
There are much easier ways to make a living mate!

If I could go back and start again I can think of a good handful of jobs I would have swerved in the last 10 years. I'll never again be scraping render out of the corners of frames.

Having said that learning the "hard way" is a good way to learn. To know all the in's and out's of the game then a few of these complete ball ache, pull your hair out jobs go a long way. Just go into it with your eyes open, you might not earn what your after and may regret taking on the job. If you do it just for the experience then you can't lose, whatever your experience may be.

 
thanks, I have liability, does this need to be altered for jobs like this then? Im still keen until I've actually tried it firsthand personally, as long as I have solutions to problems before they happen, thats why advice like this is appreciated, I intended on having  help doing it and overseeing it being done to a good standard, with being sub-contracted to the interior cleaning firm, would payment be more prompt and can I specify the timeframe Id like to be paid to make it happen, say end of each week, before starting any others? than what Im hearing trying to get it recovered from builders is not a great joy.
https://www.gleaminginsurance.co.uk/cleaners-insurance-cover is either the only one or one of 2 that will cover you for damage to what you are cleaning

 
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