Window Cleaning Issues - Canvassing, pole systems, pricing, problems, etc.
Do u charge extra for wiping the frames?Posted by simonb (simonb), 10 February 2004
I know someone who adds 20%
IE £12.50 for glass, £15 for + framesPosted by Silly_Philly (Silly Philly), 10 February 2004
That sounds about right to me. We always charge extra for frames. Unless its the first clean and they're really mucky. In that case its more hassle in the long run not to do them.
We usually wipe away the dirty water once we're done.Posted by sc (sc), 10 February 2004
I was shown to clean the frames everytime. It attracts a lot of customers and I'm able to charge a quid more than other w/c.
Once the frame is scrubbed the first time it only takes a second to whizz round the frame with a damp cloth.
A lot of customers come to me complaining about there old w/c not wiping frames and sills, what do they expect when he was only charging £3.50Posted by Sunshine (Sunshine), 10 February 2004
Hi guys, we have only just started and we wont do a job unless we wipe the sills and the surounds. For the extra time it takes and for the extra you can charge its well worth it.Posted by Majestic (Majestic), 10 February 2004
I add it on to the price I quote ,and then say that I will do the frames as well .They think that they are getting it for freePosted by mickeyfat (VGC), 10 February 2004
on 02/07/04 at 01:40:03, VGC wrote:i know its extra 
!
average size 2/3semi
bronze clean.. 3.00...no frills..no scrim or upvc, no bathroom or doors (only when real bad(maybe every 4 months))
silver clean£6.00 wipe ledges(with mop!) and any large lines on edges
gold clean ..all upvc...all windows... all ledges wiped and dryed ..and the glass to be scrimed on all 4 edges and doors all wiped over...£10.00 
SOME PEOPLE JUST WONT PAY FOR ITPosted by Neil (wylie), 10 February 2004
I always clean frames and sills as part of the service
After all my job title is window cleaner NOT glass cleaner
And a window consists of a lot more than just a pane of glass
Loads of my customers complain about previous cleaners only doing the glass.
It seems to most people that the guys who only do the glass are after as much cash as possible and are not professional in there approach to the job and have no pride in there work.
My price is based on how long it will take me to do a job to a standard I set.
One standard one price!Posted by lbcleaning (lbcleaning), 11 February 2004
I ensure ALL frames are wiped on EVERY job. Most of my custom comes from people who's last cleaner only cleaned the glass. Even if they don't mention the last cleaners downfalls I always include the frames as a point of professionalism.Posted by paul (paul), 11 February 2004
ME AND MY TEAM WIPE ALL THE FRAMES AND CILLS EACH AND EVERY TIME .WHATS THE POINT OF HAVING CLEAN GLASS AND DIRTY FRAMES DOESENT DO MUCH FOR YOUR REPUTATION Posted by Bones (Mikey aka Bones), 11 February 2004
Hi Lad's,
I always give a quick wipe round the frames (and scrub the bird kak off) and mop up my mess after for no extra, but then, i seem to be a couple of quid dearer than other cleaners round here but i always get told "Well my other cleaner never done that" 
Wipe round the frame, clean the glass and then wipe your mess up,... few seconds more per window, but your customers appreciate it 
MikeyPosted by g_griffin (g_griffin), 11 February 2004
I`ve heard of customers complaining about suds running down the brickwork. Does anyone wipe this up or had similar complaint ?
Gerry.Posted by steve-mark (steve-mark), 11 February 2004
I always clean the window sills and frames,
I won't do a job without doing them.
If my customers are happy, then so am I.
A happy Customer will tell there friends about the sot of job you do and that WILL lead to more customers and more work, = More Money.
An un- happy customer will also tell there friends about the sort of job you do, But it will lead to less or no work
NO Money
Steve ( Tone Clean ) Taunton Somerset
Cider country!! HicPosted by stevekennedy (stevekennedy), 12 February 2004
I only clean them if they're white, in good condition, and if customer is prepare to pay at least 20% extra.
I clean frames on all new jobs and tell them that it is included in the price. No-one ever objects. They seem happy to pay the extra to get the frames cleaned.
We do always wipe the cills though, watever the condition or price.
Now I'm using pure water, hopefully it won't be an issue.Posted by elfords (elfords), 21 February 2004
We usually offer to clean the frames twice a year which is in our opinion frequent enough to keep them sufficiently clean and we charge twice the normal window clean price as in our experience it takes twice as long if done properly. On a slightly different point it would be interesting to know how the wfp guys get on with cleaning the frames using there systems as a lot of guys seem to state that they will clean the frames as well as the glass every time. We have tended to avoid this and only clean frames specifically as stated above to ensure they are done thoroughly and to avoid leaving contaminated water on the glass which you are risking if you clean the frames every time as part of the general window clean. We always clean the frames first and then go over again cleaning just the glass to ensure they are left spotless, this is the only way from three years wfp experience we have been able to guarantee good results, dont get me wrong if I thought we could clean the frames and sills every time and still have a clean brush to leave the glass spotless then that would be great and we would only charge a little extra to include this, but we have never found this to be the case, so either wfp guys who say they include the frames are either in-experienced, not cleaning the frames each time as stated and just using this as a sales gimmic when really only cleaning frames periodically, leaving glass in worse condition than they could, very lucky or we have been doing it all wrong for three years! Please enlighten us of your views Posted by steve1 (steve1), 21 February 2004
Hi guys
I'm thinking of starting my own round as i feel there is a need for a Window cleaner within my area . I have it all set and ready to go and to do the canvassing but im a bit stuck on what to charge and what to charge for . i.e cills and a basic window cleaning service's.
what would be a fair price ... i was thinking of pricing up per window as some houses have more windows than others etc which would reflect in the area of the house's.
any feed back would be gr8fullPosted by WavieDavie (WavieDavie), 21 February 2004
Hi Steve1 and welcome!
If you haven't already found it, another part of this site might be useful to you too - try . . . http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Startingwindowcleaning
How about cleaning your own house, timing yourself and work things out from there. Decide what hourly rate you need, how long your own place took, and divide by the amount of windows you have. That'll give you a "window rate", but we have identical houses which take different times because of different types of windows - paners v double glazed panels - or difficult access like rose bushes, kids trampolines etc.
Remember there'll be dead time between jobs too.
All the best for your venture - you've come to the right place to help you get going.
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.