Conservatory Cleans Pricing and Access

Hi All

I'm wondering how you guys all price for conservatory windows and conservatory roof cleans?

I'm finding Im doing the conservatory windows in with the house windows and maybe under selling myself?

Also wondered how pricing works for conservatory roofs and rough charges and any tips or equipment used i.e. specialist ladders as finding my heavy duty ladders leaning onto conservatory gutters a bit like a disaster waiting to happen (broken guttering)?

Interested in all your thoughts as only been trading a few months and looking to maximise my income..£20 for a house and conservatory windows seems a bit cheap to me ??

Cheers 

Paul

For conservatory roofs inside or out we use little giant ladders they fold into steps and all sorts of angles this helps a great deal .

pricing we have a minimum price for a glass conservatory roof of £60 fir a small one and prices go up depending on size style and access . 

A typical inside and out side clean on a conservatory starts from £300 upwards , we don’t get all we quote but the vast majority will pay  that , I suggest they get a quote from Thomas Sanderson and tell them I’ll do it for half the price , it’s suprising how many will phone them and ask there minimum price I have found is £1000+ vat , we have one booked in for the middle of August at £500 will take around 5 hours to do . I would describe it as a medium size . 

When just doing the house windows and the conservatory windows below the gutter line I price it per side depending on the number of pains they don’t take long after the initial clean generally the conservatory windows are priced at half the house windows price . 

Time wise a 3 bed semi with a small 3 sided conservatory will take us around 10-13 muinits maximum after the initial clean 

I have the little giant ladders on the van for smaller connies.

For bigger ones I have 12 step fibre glass step ladders.

Thanks guys..that's really helpful..I'm definetly under selling myself ?

Hi Paul , hope business is going well?

I have a set of these ladders on the roof: 

https://www.laddersandscaffoldtowers.co.uk/acatalog/3-Section-Combination-Ladders.html

You can set them up as an a frame so you can get high enough to clean the roof with wfp without leaning against the guttering.  

I also have a large squeegee on an extendable pole to clean off any bits on the glass roof panels as you can rinse forever and not get them otherwise.  Or you get them and then rinse the other side and blow new bits over what you've just finished...

Regarding pricing rooves, it can be tough.  If it's an existing customer I'd be looking at about £3-5 per panel (depending on how bad they are).  If it's a one off conservatory clean then push the price up and as mentioned Sanderson are a good reference point but they do more of a "restoration" than just a wash over.

Pricing windows, I add on £4 for a normal conservatory but in reality it should be more.  I know it's a bit of a cop out but you will soon be able to tell how long a job will take (travel, obstacles, access, window styles etc) and plump for your hourly rate.  

Hi Adam

Its started pretty well so far just under priced myself a bit but getting there. I've got a similar ladder set up just need some supports to hold the frame for conservatorys.

Thanks to your input Ive  installed a van delivery system and static at home and producing 1000l a day! 

Enjoying the weather too and gradually building up a customer base.

Squeegee on a pole is genius def going to get one.

Thanks so much for your support it's helped me turn an idea into a steady small business.  ?

Paul L said:

Hi Adam

Its started pretty well so far just under priced myself a bit but getting there. I've got a similar ladder set up just need some supports to hold the frame for conservatorys.

Thanks to your input Ive  installed a van delivery system and static at home and producing 1000l a day! 

Enjoying the weather too and gradually building up a customer base.

Squeegee on a pole is genius def going to get one.

Thanks so much for your support it's helped me turn an idea into a steady small business.  ?

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Good to hear!  Don't worry about underpricing , do it, and learn from it.  Just make sure you overprice now and again to make up for it lol.  You'll also get faster so some underpriced jobs can be ok when you're up to speed ?

And no need to thank me mate, you've done it all yourself - well done!

Pjj said:

Time wise a 3 bed semi with a small 3 sided conservatory will take us around 10-13 muinits maximum after the initial clean 

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Pjj, Just reading your post from July on conservatory pricing/cleaning. That's really shifting for a three bed semi and small conny from my perspective. Can I ask, are these monthly cleans and do you carry out just one pass on each bit of glass and then rinse or no rinsing ?

I'm just curious how others do them as a clean of a semi with small conny would undoubtedly take me double that at 20 mins. I'm always looking  at how I can improve/speed up my work to get more done in a day and it seems like I'm spending far too long on my cleaning going by your example. Could you advise pls.?

jack b said:

Pjj, Just reading your post from July on conservatory pricing/cleaning. That's really shifting for a three bed semi and small conny from my perspective. Can I ask, are these monthly cleans and do you carry out just one pass on each bit of glass and then rinse or no rinsing ?

I'm just curious how others do them as a clean of a semi with small conny would undoubtedly take me double that at 20 mins. I'm always looking  at how I can improve/speed up my work to get more done in a day and it seems like I'm spending far too long on my cleaning going by your example. Could you advise pls.?

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Ah, he said will take 'us' 10-13 minutes so 2 men?

ks789 said:

Ah, he said will take 'us' 10-13 minutes so 2 men?

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Ah yes of course that could be the case ks789. I just read it straight off as "us" meaning The business. ?

jack b said:

Pjj, Just reading your post from July on conservatory pricing/cleaning. That's really shifting for a three bed semi and small conny from my perspective. Can I ask, are these monthly cleans and do you carry out just one pass on each bit of glass and then rinse or no rinsing ?

I'm just curious how others do them as a clean of a semi with small conny would undoubtedly take me double that at 20 mins. I'm always looking  at how I can improve/speed up my work to get more done in a day and it seems like I'm spending far too long on my cleaning going by your example. Could you advise pls.?

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No it’s not two people per house we work as a pair  in each van but both do our own properties I do up to 7 three beds per hour my guys do up to 5 per hour . Theses 3 bed semis are modern housing estate houses with two top windows front ,two bottom windows and a front door ,the back is two top windows and one bottom with a large lair of patio doors . Yes they are 4 weekly jobs mainly but some are 8 weekly , provided they arnt covered in seagull poo that’s how long it takes , to be fair the ones with a conservatory might take a couple of muinits more but that’s it , as you arnt doing the house windows where the conservatory is , we generally do two passes with the pole ,and rinse after off the glass , we do however use hot water and I mean hot 65-70 degrees this eats through the dirt much quicker .

having been doing this job for twenty years Ime used to doing a clean and do work very fast , and before someone sais you must be doing a poor job we haven’t had a complaint in years , and a couple of times a week I will re cheak jobs that we have done the day before when driving past , I don’t expect everting work at the same speed I would rather my guys did less work but get it 100% right on every job they do , that’s what we do it has taken a lot of staff to get to this point , I believe in thorough training before letting them loose on there own but if Ime not happy with there attitude or quality of work and they dont change then they are up the road .

Pjj said:

No it’s not two people per house we work as a pair  in each van but both do our own properties I do up to 7 three beds per hour my guys do up to 5 per hour . Theses 3 bed semis are modern housing estate houses with two top windows front ,two bottom windows and a front door ,the back is two top windows and one bottom with a large lair of patio doors . Yes they are 4 weekly jobs mainly but some are 8 weekly , provided they arnt covered in seagull poo that’s how long it takes , to be fair the ones with a conservatory might take a couple of muinits more but that’s it , as you arnt doing the house windows where the conservatory is , we generally do two passes with the pole ,and rinse after off the glass , we do however use hot water and I mean hot 65-70 degrees this eats through the dirt much quicker .

having been doing this job for twenty years Ime used to doing a clean and do work very fast , and before someone sais you must be doing a poor job we haven’t had a complaint in years , and a couple of times a week I will re cheak jobs that we have done the day before when driving past , I don’t expect everting work at the same speed I would rather my guys did less work but get it 100% right on every job they do , that’s what we do it has taken a lot of staff to get to this point , I believe in thorough training before letting them loose on there own but if Ime not happy with there attitude or quality of work and they dont change then they are up the road .

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Thank you for the comprehensive reply Pjj. I need to up my game to get the time down a bit. I use cold water in summer and hot in winter and i'm doing 90% of them on the 6 weekly schedule.That makes them a little grubbier before I start I guess. Cheers.? 

Pjj said:

No it’s not two people per house we work as a pair  in each van but both do our own properties I do up to 7 three beds per hour my guys do up to 5 per hour . Theses 3 bed semis are modern housing estate houses with two top windows front ,two bottom windows and a front door ,the back is two top windows and one bottom with a large lair of patio doors . Yes they are 4 weekly jobs mainly but some are 8 weekly , provided they arnt covered in seagull poo that’s how long it takes , to be fair the ones with a conservatory might take a couple of muinits more but that’s it , as you arnt doing the house windows where the conservatory is , we generally do two passes with the pole ,and rinse after off the glass , we do however use hot water and I mean hot 65-70 degrees this eats through the dirt much quicker .

having been doing this job for twenty years Ime used to doing a clean and do work very fast , and before someone sais you must be doing a poor job we haven’t had a complaint in years , and a couple of times a week I will re cheak jobs that we have done the day before when driving past , I don’t expect everting work at the same speed I would rather my guys did less work but get it 100% right on every job they do , that’s what we do it has taken a lot of staff to get to this point , I believe in thorough training before letting them loose on there own but if Ime not happy with there attitude or quality of work and they dont change then they are up the road .

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Yeh hot water must help. i can do those small estate houses in 15 mins but ive only been going not quite 2 years, and so hopefully jack b, myself and others will all slowly be improving. it takes a while. i find my biggest issue is trying to group the work together, and customers wanting 'oh, can you come bla bla' etc. I hope to one day get it all fine tuned but by then be near retirement lol ?

ks789 said:

Yeh hot water must help. i can do those small estate houses in 15 mins but ive only been going not quite 2 years, and so hopefully jack b, myself and others will all slowly be improving. it takes a while. i find my biggest issue is trying to group the work together, and customers wanting 'oh, can you come bla bla' etc. I hope to one day get it all fine tuned but by then be near retirement lol ?

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Maybe Ime lucky we have estates of houses that we work on for 5 days and don’t move more than a half mile around the estate . We spend extra time on the first clean with new jobs so that on the second visit they don’t take any longer than work we have been doing for years , this is time well spent as I can predict very accurately how many properties can be done per day ,and it’s easy to pick up very quickly if ones arnt pulling there weight without needing to be there .

The more windows that you clean and different types you clean over time you will develop different ways fir different window types and speed will increase , speed is also down to van set up , we pull up and are on the window within seconds due to the way we are set up , also the rout you take with the hose can save muinits per property. When we have ten or more houses in a row we park at the far end of the road pull the hose off and go to the furthest house start there and work each house going back to the van , this alone will save a considerable amount of time , I have had three guys from the forum come out with us tk see how we work and all have said that they were amazed how smoothly we work and what we do in a day 

Pjj said:

Maybe Ime lucky we have estates of houses that we work on for 5 days and don’t move more than a half mile around the estate . We spend extra time on the first clean with new jobs so that on the second visit they don’t take any longer than work we have been doing for years , this is time well spent as I can predict very accurately how many properties can be done per day ,and it’s easy to pick up very quickly if ones arnt pulling there weight without needing to be there .

The more windows that you clean and different types you clean over time you will develop different ways fir different window types and speed will increase , speed is also down to van set up , we pull up and are on the window within seconds due to the way we are set up , also the rout you take with the hose can save muinits per property. When we have ten or more houses in a row we park at the far end of the road pull the hose off and go to the furthest house start there and work each house going back to the van , this alone will save a considerable amount of time , I have had three guys from the forum come out with us tk see how we work and all have said that they were amazed how smoothly we work and what we do in a day 

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 yeh that does sound what you want. its a funny old game, theres all manner of different work days. Round mine theres all different cleaners all doing dribs and drabs all over the place. if they actually got together, could do some dealing and swaps of customers.

ks789 said:

 yeh that does sound what you want. its a funny old game, theres all manner of different work days. Round mine theres all different cleaners all doing dribs and drabs all over the place. if they actually got together, could do some dealing and swaps of customers.

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I totally agree with you that would work to everyone’s advantage, but doubt it would ever happen , having said that I have done job swaps with other cleaners or evan given them jobs that arnt cost effective for us to cover and they have done the same in return .