[Pj]

This place hasn't had a windowcleaner for over a year. 
Old metal casements.  Recently repainted.

4 windows 4'6" x 4'6"  6 panes in each, two outside top openers and side openers.

4 windows 6'6" x 8'  16 panes each, 4 top openers and 4 side openers.

2 french doors with side frames

2 doors with top and side frames

Thanks

Pj

[Sarah Sarill]

Pj,

Metal ?

Have they been powder coated or painted with trad gloss paint ?

Make sure if its the latter, they were primed as IME with aggitation it flakes easily.

IMO if its powder coated , make sure its perfectly finished or leave well alone.  Milky Milky Milky - AArrgghh 

Unless of course you intend to do it traditionally then just make sure you dont get too close to the edges.

Sarah   

[Moderator David@stives]

I would quote lots and lots of money  :}

[Pj]

I guess I'll try that then

[Ian_Giles]

If they are the old fashioned metal casement windows from the 50's & 60's and they have been recently painted then they will be easy to do, I have a few of them, piece of cake.

Recently painted they won't be flaky or powdery, and the glass in them is usually of the type that comes up perfect with WFP.

Should be at least 3 years before they will start to cause problems...providing the decorator has done his job properly of course

It's a quick job, even the first clean will be straight forward.

for a repeat clean, from your description, for me it would be about £15-£18 and no more than 15 minutes work..first clean notwithstanding of course.


Ian

[Sir Squeaky]

You charge a pound or more a minute now then Ian?

You said I was being silly when I said pole users are greedy and hard nosed.

I know what you used to charge before your pole.....and you've just proved me right.

[Pj]

Thanks Ian.

Real helpful constructive reply.

Spot on.  The paint is ok.  But the glass is scummy.  1 year old pidgeon poo etc!  I just didn't know where to begin!

I'll tell you if I get it.

Pj

ps.  just before I post, I notice Squeaky has commented, which I appreciate, but...

Squeaky,  I will be cleaning trad first, then wfp to finish it off completely,  get right in all the nooks and crannies.
So at Ian's estimate, which I may or may not use,  40pence a minute at most!

My nose is quite big, but not hard.............yet.

[Ian_Giles]

Roger, Roger....Were you to price that up, done trad on a regular clean you would also be in a similar price range.
Just because I have equipment that allows me to do the job quickly does not mean that I am going to be any cheaper than you.

and I do not in a pound a minute for every hour of the working day, far from it.
I still have to travel to and from accounts, I get rained off some days, I have days off now and again, I go on holiday, I go off to use the loo when I need to, I have the occasional tea break, I write out invoices, knock on doors, talk to customers.

They are all tiny things individually (holidays and days off notwithstanding!) but they add up.

If I've done 25k at the end of the year I'll be happy, and thats turnover, not income.
Sometimes Roger your comments are irritating and don't take account of the bigger picture.

Oh, you gave me an account you hated remember?

That was a £15 account.....

It takes me....oh....I'm not going to say, but it is considerably quicker than 15 minutes, and the job comes out absolutely perfect everytime.
You clean next door, check them over anytime.

I wasn't ripping them off, it was the same price you were charging...

Ian

[Sir Squeaky]

and I do not in a pound a minute for every hour of the working day, far from it.
I still have to travel to and from accounts, I get rained off some days, I have days off now and again, I go on holiday, I go off to use the loo when I need to, I have the occasional tea break, I write out invoices, knock on doors, talk to customers.

So do we all, but doesn't mean we have to double or treble our prices to pay for equipment.

If it was a 15 minute job then I'd want more like 6 or 7 quid.

There's no point trying to tell me you haven't said "sod the customers", because like I said, I know exactly what a good turnover per hour for you was before.

If you don't make double the 25k you're talking about, then you can't do many hours.
At the rates you now charge per hour you should fly past that, regardless of stoppages.

I could make close to that myself if I wanted to, (at my sensible rates) but I don't push myself either.

[Moderator David@stives]

Squeeky

It is no easy task hitting £25k never mind £50k a year even with wfp and an high hourly rate , you dont just find a load of customers over night.

I can show you loads of wfp operators who dont get near £25k turnover.

Dave

[JohnL]

Dirty washing in public again eh guys 

JohnL

[Ian_Giles]

roger,
Did you read my post properly?
I don't think you did.

I've not doubled or trebled any of my prices, most of my work in town is still the same price as when you worked for me several years ago.

most of my domestic, the estate houses at least are all around the £8 or £9 mark.

some of my best days are spent cleaning these.
Just because I have the equipment to do the job quickly does not mean I am going to lower my prices, although in some cases what I price now is less than I would were I doing it trad.

I did a dormer bungalow today, charged the woman £45 to clean 30 windows....

sounds a lot doesn't it?

Well the regular price clean will be £22

I reckon that is more than a fair price for a rural account with 30 full size windows in it.

This time around it took an hour and 45 minutes, next time it will bemore like 20 minutes...

Up around the £60 an hour mark again aren't I?

But that first clean was a minger, the conservatory was covered in mildew, the wooden frames were badly oxidized, as were over half of the UPVC windows.
6 of them had bird feeders outside, and the glass, frames and sills were covered in a thick layer of bits of seed and peanuts.
the rest of them were black with grime, cobwebs and bird muck.
There is also a small UPVC conservatory on it, more of a porch really, but even the glass was covered in green algae.

But now it is as clean as it can get, the windows look like new again, and the Algae covered porch is spotless, including all the frames too, from the gutters down to the floor.
£45 for an hour and 45 minutes isn't bad is it?

to have done that trad you would have needed at least twice that long, and on some of the work (by the bird feeders) it WAS done trad and WFP combined.

So a regular clean at £22 for 30 windows?

That is a fair price to pay, and it has to be travelled to get to remember.

For me it will be 20 minutes work, maybe 25 if I have to knife off the windows by the bird feeder.

The proof?
took a few pics of it today, wish I'd taken some more now.

Here is the mildew'd conseratory before I cleaned it.




Here is the after picture



More to come, but I have to pick up a daughter from the bus stop!

Ian

[Sir Squeaky]

I agree that a good price for a first clean is essential.

I didn't suggest all your prices are extortionate, you couldn't put old stuff up much.
I just meant what you've picked up since you had wfp.

So a regular clean at £22 for 30 windows?

For me it will be 20 minutes work, maybe 25 if I have to knife off the windows by the bird feeder.

I rest my case.....

[Ian_Giles]

Just to finish off.

I wish I knew I was going to do this as a post, I'd have made sure I had better before and after pics.

Here is the green and mildewed porch conservatory, I don't have the after pic, but the whole thing looks mint now, not the gutters but everything else down to the floor.



Here are a few of the windows on the side, pic doesn't really show how bad they are, but these were the best of the bunch, up close they were still minging though



And Roger, just about EVERY SINGLE DOMESTIC ACCOUNT I HAVE has been picked up after I had gone WFP, including this one.

Can you honestly say that for a big awkward bungalow, for which you would need a pointer ladder on some of the windows, and for an account that you would have to travel 5 miles to reach (unless linked with other work enroute) (and look at those horrible little bits of glass above the main sheet on the conservatory) that you would charge less than the £22 I am going to be charging her?
you can see the size of the windows, and there are 30 distinct windows.


just because I can do that account in 20 minutes why should I do it dirt cheap? at a rate per window (and you reckon that at 20 minutes cleaning time I should be around...what £7.00? to earn a good income) that I was charging over 22 years ago??

I last cleaned this place about 12 or 15 years ago, I was probably charging around £12.00 then.

I AM expensive (ish) on some of my medium size commercials, but I only have a handful of them.
I make truly great money on some of my  largish georgian accounts, but I'm still charging less for those than you would if you were doing them.

On even the bigger than average houses I'll warrant I'm only a couple of quid more expensive at most than you are roger.

My prices have not gone through the roof since I changed to WFP, far from it.

The major change has been the minimum charge I now make and having the balls to charge it.

Ian