Welcome to the UK Window Cleaning Forums

Starting or own a window cleaning business? We're a network of window cleaners sharing advice, tips & experience. Rounds for sale & more. Join us today!

Fallen from ladder, lost confidence..

Ainsley

New member
Messages
5
Location
Suffolk
Hi guys, 

Firstly i love reading this forum it is very helpful and would appreciate some advice. 

Recently fell off my ladder, broken my elbow, hit my head and hurt my ankle. I have no personal injury insurance and im looking at quite a few weeks to recover. 

Now my problem is I work with my 54 year old dad who has been doing it a long time, but since the fall i cannot stand the thought of him coming off as i did. We are considering getting a WFP but it is going to cost us a fair bit and all of our customers are used to our traditional work. I need opinions on whether we should take the plunge and convert. We clean mostly domestic so hoses are a bit of a concern and also DI Resin prices and water usage may drown out any profits. Some correspondence to our situation would be appreciated. TIA

Im really stuck and am even trying to convince him to a career change but i know he doesn't want that. 

 
Really sorry to hear about your accident, hopefully you will have a speedy recovery.

Making the switch is always going to be expensive compared to trad there isn't anyway of getting away from it, as you are in Suffolk which is a hard water area a DI only is totally pointless and will cost you a fortune you will need an R/O which is more expensive in the begining but will save you £1,000's over the years, 

If custys know about your accident then tell them you have to think of yours and your dads health over going up ladder and having a bad accident again, as long as you do a proper job then they will have no complaints as they will get a much better clean. 

 
Ouch! Firstly, I’m very sorry to hear this.

secondly,  If falling off your ladder and breaking your elbow isn’t enough to convince you to switch then nothing will!

I fell off and hit my head first with my whole body weight hitting the back of my head and neck as I clamped to the concrete from the first floor windows. 
 

I could carry on and write an essay, but all I can say is definitely 100% make the switch. You will not regret it and the loss of profits really isn’t an issue at all. It will fill you with new vigour and breed extra life into you and your business. Your mindset will change with it and it will be like having a new job. Change in all things of life is inevitable. People used to have their telephones attached to a line in the homes and never thought the mobile phone would takeoff. Here you go, the essay is starting. I better sign off!

please make the switch. You won’t regret it, trust me. I really didn’t want to switch because of all the financial implications and my customers like yours were used to trad. 
 

you really won’t lose all the work you think you will. It’s all in the mind, and there really are lots of people out there that only want WFP on their windows. You’ll be surprised. 
 

Now why you’re not doing much is the best time to get going with it.

Wishing you all the very best, Ainsley. 

 
... Also with any new work you pick up you will have the confidence to charge more as your outgoings are a bit more. You’ll have a more professional approach/mindset to working, and eventually, put all your existing prices up too! It will just happen because it has to and your customers will be compliant as mine were I’m sure. If you do a good job, they just want you!

 
Glad you survived, relatively unscathed, from your accident. I do some work in Newmarket, which just scrapes into Suffolk and the water there is very hard.

Initially if your Father is unsure why not do what some on here do, WFP the tops and trad the bottoms. Yes WFP is more expensive but the extra earning potential, faster completion of work and the safety aspect more than covers these costs.

 
After I read about the guy who tripped when coming down and bumped his head on concrete made me seriously think about using ladders. That guy died and he was only 53 years old so I decided not to use ladders when I have the wfp system. I explained to the few customers I had left and they understood the health and safety procedure. If I lose a few customers then so be it but my safety comes first. Glad to hear your are okay.

 
It's definitely worth making the switch, both from a safety point of view, a long term financial point of view, and also just for quality of life. Its much nicer not having to climb ladders and worry if they're secure, especially on those awkward windows which every round has where you know it's not really safe but you've got no choice. 

You just have to be prepared for the difficulty at first. It's going to take you longer than trad initially, it's going to be hard work scrubbing off years of soap residue and it's going to be a steep learning curve both with your technique and using new muscles. 

Once you've got through the round a couple of times though, it's so worth it! 

 
With WFP you will get through your work faster which means you can take on more customers which will more than cover the extra costs. You do need to lose the mindset of only spending a few pounds here and there on rubbers and fairy though, WFP requires more investment but the rewards are much greater.

 
My Dad is in his late 50's now, about 3 years ago he had a fall at work, only 2 or 3ft from a loading dock, and landed on his side/arm/shoulder. He had to have 2 years off work and still struggles today with  washing the car, windows, even sleeping comfortably. 
Don't take the risk with your Dad, if he's anything like mine (independent, active and handy), he won't bounce back as quick (or at all) if he has an accident. Mentally it takes it's toll when you can't even do the basics you used to be able to do.

I'm new to window cleaning in general. I considered trad to start with, save my money to reinvest into wfp and then expand from there. However, when I started to work out how much ******* around I'd have to do with ladders ( not to mention I don't like being up ladders), and how I wanted to be able to offer a comprehensive service, not just glass, I soon realised it would be beneficial for me in the short-term and long-term to start with wfp. A few GFS jobs and I'll have recouped the cost in no time.

At 6am today I placed my first order with Gardiner, a clx22 and backpack. 10am today I get an email, with a tracking number, saying it has been shipped and to expect it tomorrow! As many on here would no doubt agree with, you can't really go wrong with Gardiner!  (@Alex Gardiner& team, keep up the good work!)

I can't say that I would be considering window cleaning if it wasn't for wfp. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sorry to hear of your accident mate, wishing you a speedy recovery.

Start looking for second hand systems or 

Maybe a fully kitted out van.

The obvious question is where do you live (County/ City) whats your home water TDS reading 

Do you have a spotless water supply near you 

The TDS reading pretty much gives you a starting point 

 
if you ve broke your elbow then using a water fed pole will be tricky for a while until it heals properly.....you need something light like a clx 22 which is a good budget pole for starters/newbies...good luck....

 
Sorry to hear of your accident mate, wishing you a speedy recovery.

Start looking for second hand systems or 

Maybe a fully kitted out van.

The obvious question is where do you live (County/ City) whats your home water TDS reading 

Do you have a spotless water supply near you 

The TDS reading pretty much gives you a starting point 
Suffolk is over 400ppm so Google tells me 

 
Out today doing a PW job and they knew I was coming. Drove up the driveway and woman came out and told me I had the wrong house. Turns out I priced the wrong house and job was on the other side because no one was in when I priced the job. Turned out fine because they had the same patio area. When I was there a windy drove up and begun cleaning down the road a bit. Two guys with ladders which must have taken them 30mins to clean two houses. I realised how lucky I was to have the wfp system which would take me less than 30mins to clean both and leave a better job. If you don't move with the times then you get left behind. Can you imagine a joiner not using a nail gun to build a timber frame house?

 
Thank you for your replies, some great feedback, we think a trolley set up would be best for us. The only problem we are having is finding a reliable water supply, we would consider installing a DI or RO system at home as a van mount doesn't seem to be ideal for our round due to trailing hoses. I know our water here is hard so RO or DI?! I haven't done a lot of research on RO. Could you possibly recommend somewhere that sells a quality reliable system? Also how long does it take to filter through 400l as i think thats roughly what we will use in a day. I know i am asking a lot but i want to get it right for us. Thank you!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you for your replies, some great feedback, we think a trolley set up would be best for us. The only problem we are having is finding a reliable water supply, we would consider installing a DI or RO system at home as a van mount doesn't seem to be ideal for our round due to trailing hoses. I know our water here is hard so RO or DI?! I haven't done a lot of research on RO. Could you possibly recommend somewhere that sells a quality reliable system? Also how long does it take to filter through 400l as i think thats roughly what we will use in a day. I know i am asking a lot but i want to get it right for us. Thank you!
You will need both to filter your water and depending on how much you want to spend and your storage capabilities it will take you anything from 90 minutes to 24 hours to produce 400 litres. Spotless have sites in Colchester and Braintree, not much help unless you're south Suffolk.

 
I had similar worries about losing customers, didn't lose any. I still trad a lot of the ground floor windows, make my way along the road doing the tops, put the WFP away then trad the rest. I'm still using backpacks with a very long pole hose, I did fit a tank in the van that fills a backpack using a submersible pump in about 15 seconds. This kind of setup could come come in at well under £500, I've spent more by upgrading poles but you can get started cheaply. As others have said "Spotless water" filling point if you have one near you. Alternatively, I know window cleaners that buy water from larger window cleaning companies, might be an option if you're on friendly terms with one.

 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest Posts

Back
Top