Get listed in the Spick and Span Directory

General Cleaning Issues - Floorcare, car valeting, buying and selling businesses, pricing, staffing, market research, etc.

rotary washers

Posted by johnstanley (johnstanley), 5 January 2004
hi all
has anyone got any info or heared of rotary washers for driveways / patio cleaning (whirlaway??)where you can buy them (new or secondhand)
thanks for all your help Smiley
Posted by denzle (denzle), 5 January 2004
John,
I use a whirlaway and i have to say i'm very impressed, they take a little time to get used to but once you learn to "slow down" they certainly get the job done. The first thing you will find is that you find the odd swirl or miss, that is because you are moving too quickly over the surface. The great thing about them is you don't splash water all over the place and end up cleaning the windows afterwards, you can work real close to plants and gravel borders etc without causing damage. Jobs take a lot less time because you are cutting an 18" swayth through the driveway each pass. Yopu will need to go over some areas with your normal lance to remove the odd bit and to swill away the dirty water and debris off the drive.
Mine is linked to a 200bar cold water pressure washer and i haven't found anything it won't clean. There are 2 types... one runs on castors and the other runs on a nylon bristle skirt. Mine is an 18" unit and runs on castors and its a bit like trying to control a shopping trolley so i think next time i would go for the skirted one ( And the're cheaper )
Cost wise, i think i paid about £500 for mine.
I bought mine from a local company ( Worcestershire ) and the service was first class, The guy to speak to is Robert Higgot on 01386-860032 ( office) or 07860-707035 mobile ( Tell him you spoke to Dennis Taylor )
I hope this helps
Denzle
Posted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 5 January 2004
Hi John
We supply the Whirlaway range too - perhaps we could post you some info and prices?
Do we do any business with you Dennis? You're in Worcester aren't you?
Regards
Mike


Posted by denzle (denzle), 5 January 2004
Mike thats right i am in Worcester, every time i come through Malvern i mean to find you and call in for a chat.
Dennis
Posted by MB (Mark Betts), 5 January 2004
Denzle

I am thinking of offering a drive way cleaning service?

What do you charge per sq yard?

Thanks

Mark


Mike

What would it cost to set up to offer this service?

eg Reasonable power washer etc?

Thanks

Mark

You can e mail me if you like with the reply

sales@carpet-magic.co.uk

Ta
Posted by denzle (denzle), 6 January 2004
It depends how bad you want the job, I seldom give a price per Sq Yrd but work on about £1- £1:50 per sq yrd in my head. You want to be making about £25- £30 per hour so give them a price to clean and re-sand block paving. Sanding takes a while to do and the surface needs to be dry before starting, so try and get a couple to do at a time. While ones drying you can be cleaning the other and then drop back and sand them. I would stay away from sealing them as this can be very time consuming and expensive.
Getting back to price, its a good idea to have a minimum price so that you don't get burned on the small jobs. I would say about £50 - £60.
This type of work is very seasonal though, usually from spring until early summer, but it is a good add on service.
Denzle
Posted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 6 January 2004
on 01/05/04 at 21:43:38, Mark Betts wrote:
Mike

What would it cost to set up to offer this service?

eg Reasonable power washer etc?



Hi Mark

This is the same as asking how much to spend on a carpet cleaning machine - will you be in the Prochem Steempro market or the Karcher Puzzi 100 one?  Wink

My machine of choice would be the Delta with a Whirlaway (coincidentally the same as Denzle) approx £1600 but you could arguably start with a half decent electric machine (provided you had access to the customers electricity supply and / or your own generator) and one of the new smaller Karcher rotary heads which they've just launched. A Karcher electric setup would cost in the region of £600 - 700 including thier rotary washer which you could compare to a 'Rugdoctor' setup in the carpet cleaning business.

To go for a Karcher domestic machine and T-racer from ourselves (or the likes of B&Q Etc  Sad) would be the carpet cleaning equivalent of the Numatic George!!!

Mark, I'll send you a catalogue and you can have a look but as I've said before like anything you get what you pay for.

Regards

Mike

By the way, if you were going to jump straight into the 'Truck mount' market with a fully self contained, mobile hot water machine that could also do gum and graffitti you'd be looking at £12,000 plus! This is the sort of equipment you'd need to do local authority work.
Posted by MB (Mark Betts), 6 January 2004
Thanks Mike

I was thinking more along the lines as an occassional add on service to my cc.

Thanks very much I will have  asquint on your website

Mark


Posted by catrodney (catrodney), 6 January 2004
Mark,
Why Buy the machines when there are companys who will do long term rentals.
in the long run better for your books,also any probs with machinary you could get repaired next day in most cases.
we only do driveways in the spring and hire a machine for about five weeks cant see the point of buying one to sit in the lock up for the rest of the year.
catrodney.
Posted by MB (Mark Betts), 6 January 2004
Catradoney


Excellent idea!!!!

Where would u recommend sourcing the hire, local hire shops?

Thanks for that


Mark




This page is a thread posted to the cleanitup forum at www.cleanitup.co.uk and archived here for reference. To jump to the archive index please follow this link.