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Working in the rain.

Rowan

Member
Messages
45
Location
Scotland
I'm sure this has been discussed to death over the years , some work in the rain , some have the day off ; personally i do what ever i can inbetween showers . I find it's a good way to find out your good from your bad customers as well . I had a Lady ?, today tell me i was mad to be trying to clean windows in this weather , i've only cleaned her windows once before . She told me i should come back and clean the windows when i knew for sure it would stay dry , so i've crossed her off my list . I need to make a living all year in Scotland it rains every other day.

 
Tough life sometimes when the weather is against you, i am one of those that feel the guilt if i know if its going to rain, or storms are coming. I dont want to clean windows tomorrow as know another storm coming on friday.  only cleaned 4 shops last week about £30 of work n put diesel in van so not a good week.  im trying to figure out what to do when weather is nasty to keep myself n custys happy.

 
I'm sure this has been discussed to death over the years , some work in the rain , some have the day off ; personally i do what ever i can inbetween showers . I find it's a good way to find out your good from your bad customers as well . I had a Lady ?, today tell me i was mad to be trying to clean windows in this weather , i've only cleaned her windows once before . She told me i should come back and clean the windows when i knew for sure it would stay dry , so i've crossed her off my list . I need to make a living all year in Scotland it rains every other day.


Gotta love people, some real odd balls out there. 

I work as best as I can between showers much like you. Heavy rain/ torrential rain I'd be avoiding it ideally, if IM able and willing not with the shoe on the other foot.

 
Tough life sometimes when the weather is against you, i am one of those that feel the guilt if i know if its going to rain, or storms are coming. I dont want to clean windows tomorrow as know another storm coming on friday.  only cleaned 4 shops last week about £30 of work n put diesel in van so not a good week.  im trying to figure out what to do when weather is nasty to keep myself n custys happy.
It's up to you mate , but this is how we make a living . Once your customers know you work on wet days inbetween the rain showers, ( no matter how heavy ) , it will make your working life easier . I will not start cleaning a house in the rain , but if it rains when i'm part way through the clean i just crack on. My regular customers know how i work and respect , mostly , that i keep turning up every month all year long.

 
I also feel theres a difference between a weekly shop front, monthly customers and that one lady that gets her windows cleaned four times a year.

I do push the last type of customer a week or two, but the other ones I clean in all sorts of weather if I myself can stay dry. Strong winds and high work (40+ feet) are more troublesome than rain for me, but that is due to the whole safety of it.

 
I usually explain to my costumers 'its the build up of rain & marks' over the 4/6 weekly cleans that make them dirty ! so by cleaning them regularly keeps them nice wot ever the weather !

Best of luck .   

 
I must admit after all that said and done i had today off , just too much rain . The Met office called them heavy showers , but there was hardly a break inbetween and tomorrow sounds worse . Oh well next week will be great !

 
personally i think you can clean a bit  faster in the rain most people are impressed that i turn up when its like that and for the odd complaint i say if there's  a problem with the finish i'll come back and redo it, never happened yet   i  get the odd leave it but not often and i'm not bothered by that 

 
We always work in the rain even if it’s heavy. The bills don’t stop coming in when it rains.

 If you’re hopping in and out of the van all day or sitting around for half an hour at a time praying it will stop then you’re only prolonging your day really, and if the days full and you wish to keep your rounds organised then you dont want to end up with the round split over seperate days epsecially if its all in the same area.

my problem is with the wind. We lost 3 days this week, worst month of winter by far for us march has been. 

in my personal opinion it’s pretty irresponsible/unpractical to be using ladders and wfp’s poles in the gales we’ve had. We did manage a couple of gutter clearances this morning as the winds died down but we still got drenched. Need the money in the bank as outgoings have been horrendous.

for trad guys i would understand as trad is pretty impractical in the rain as opposed to 

WFP. 

if i wake up in the morning and theres torrential rain forecast all day then i may think twice but normally we just deal with it except the very worst cases. For those who’ve paid off their mortgages or have a partner working full time fair enough whats the point if you don’t need the money that bad, but my partner isn’t working full time so money is, & always will be tight.

 
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This week despite the forecast writing off most of this week with rain and winds up to 45mph and it has been quite windy at times but dry and sunny, I have done a full week and worked flat out, but covering the subject about working in the rain no matter what the forecast I get the van sorted for a full days graft and work near enough through it all apart from when the rain is lashing down with gusty winds all my clients know I am year-round window cleaner and I will be out in most weather. 

I spoke to a trad guy this morning who said he had only done a full day in total all week, seriously even when I was trad I was out in most weather and he has 2 lads working for him and doesn't want to go wfp yet despite health issues as well, I've no doubt he could have kitted out a van with his loss of earnings this week and been out all week. 

 
Good to hear a few of you work in the rain , it's the customers that need educating . Personally i don't see the differance if it rains a couple off minutes or a couple of days after you've cleaned them ; the windows have been a month getting dirty . Like i said when i started this i do work inbetween showers but not start a clean  in heavy rain , ( just because i've had enough of getting soaked ), if my customers don't like this then they get the order of the boot < next customer is waiting !

 
when i changed to 99% wfp i did my mates house in torrential rain  now his mrs can spot a mark/smear from about 3 mile off and she was impressed with the finish so im confident its ok to do   but i wear glasses so i'll only work  till i can't see anymore lol

 
when i changed to 99% wfp i did my mates house in torrential rain  now his mrs can spot a mark/smear from about 3 mile off and she was impressed with the finish so im confident its ok to do   but i wear glasses so i'll only work  till i can't see anymore lol
I wear specs at home otherwise i cant read the words. Nothing worse than when you go to open the oven & forget you’ve got them on lol

 
We work in the rain unless it’s really lashing down on domestic I have got rid of those that say leave it today looks like it’s going to rain types , when quoting jobs I stress we work in all weather s all year round , if they hesitate I suggest that we are not the window cleaners for them , I can honestly say I cannot remember the last time someone said not today , when starting out you take on all work you can get but once well   established you can refine your work and get rid of the dross building good solid regular customers . Commercial work is done what ever the weather providing it’s safe to work of course 

 
Yep weather this week has been the worst since last winter ! i have managed to do my 'weekly amount' & two gutter cleans. I have just only gone WFP this winter as couldnt bear to watch my girlfriend(partner) cry in agony with raynards syndrom lol, she gets frozen hands in the summer so i started to 'Accumulate ' info on WFP as trad was getting boring & sometimes unsafe as i tend to think im still younger on the ladder work but you do loose reaction time as you get older ! Now more or less 99% pole & taken on more work as its much quicker & safer.I did a gutter clean out yesterday & boy i was clinging on to the fascia whilst clearing muck out of gutter with the other hand with one leg through a rung also.

Bills & food money done for this week !!  

 
I’ve made sure I’ve invested in good waterproof and winter gear so the rain and cold doesn’t bother me at all. 

The wind has been the problem this week, had to have 3 days off. I think that’s the most consecutive days I’ve had off since I started but there’s nothing you can do about it really. 

 
Turned up at a pub on the seafront yesterday, fortnightly job, opened the back doors and 2 tiles blew off the gable end. Got the 35' windows done quickish, finished the job and sent a text to the manager telling him about the gable end. 

The wind was circa 45mph so to strong to work at that height but I'm  working away next week so couldn't reschedule it. 

 
Turned up at a pub on the seafront yesterday, fortnightly job, opened the back doors and 2 tiles blew off the gable end. Got the 35' windows done quickish, finished the job and sent a text to the manager telling him about the gable end. 

The wind was circa 45mph so to strong to work at that height but I'm  working away next week so couldn't reschedule it. 
Dread to think if one of them came down on somebodies head ? 

it has been bad...showed up to a gutter clearance yesterday, initally i thought happy days i can take the van down the back lane and park the van outside the back garden, but when we arrived a neighbors fence & wall had come down the night before and was blocking the lane so we had to carry everything down instead haha.

 
i work in all weather be it rain snow or sun, money is money and the windows will still be clean it could rain 2 mins after or 2 days after it will not matter 

 
This is Britain you have to work in bad weather or you might be as poor as window cleaners get!!? In Europe they dont have window cleaners as it doesn't rain as much. The rain keeps those windows regularly mucky. Joy. The wind is a nightmare though.

 
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