[easy clean]

Hi guys, I've already got a generator and decent wet vac from omnipole when I bought all my pressure washing equipment so all I would need is some carbon poles really.

Guys that do it is it really worth the hassle and how well does it earn In comparison to window cleaning?

Thanks in advance

[NWH]

Not as well as Windows I use it as an add on,once a year isn't as good as once every 6 weeks is it. You have to have a minimum charge to weed out the idiots if your pricing highish it will be more worth your while but even with a vac it's messy and harder to earn than cleaning windows with gloves on.

[SeanK]

It will all depend on what you can charge, the biggest problem with using a gutter vac is the roofs tiles can sit out too far
which stops the nozzle getting into the gutter, you can either push/force the nozzle in risking damaging the tiles and guttering or
get a smaller nozzle which in my opinion is next to useless.
I tend to avoid them now as more often than not it will still require some ladder work to get the job done.

[johnny bravo]

it is not regular work,       you may have to go and look for the work

[Perfect Windows]

Hi guys, I've already got a generator and decent wet vac from omnipole when I bought all my pressure washing equipment so all I would need is some carbon poles really.

Guys that do it is it really worth the hassle and how well does it earn In comparison to window cleaning?

Thanks in advance

Did it and it significantly lowered our hourly rate so we dropped it.

Vin

[NWH]

I agree with Vin you have to charge a lot it's almost a favour as you can earn more on the glass.

[Tony dunmall]

Depends how you chose to run it

I've a friend who does nothing but gutter cleaning

He has 2-3canvassers 2 staff  and they contact every new customer year later
He turns on average about 3-3.5 k a week all year round

Down side he covers a very large area

Not a bad income, just having a small business on the consent run

[ascjim]

You will make more money clearing gutters for the day then cleaning windows.

Windows are regular, this isn't. So you need to get the work in and do more quoting.

I'm not sure how long you have been doing this for, but I would become an expect at window cleaning first (having a good round and everything is running  like clockwork) before adding another service to your business.

[NWH]

Depends how you chose to run it

I've a friend who does nothing but gutter cleaning

He has 2-3canvassers 2 staff  and they contact every new customer year later
He turns on average about 3-3.5 k a week all year round

Down side he covers a very large area

Not a bad income, just having a small business on the consent run

Do you know what he charges for an average detached house.

[windowswashed]

Emptying gutters aint regular work so pri ce higher to make it worthwhile. I use to price it ridiculous and still get.....hated doing it but the money was good. Use to concentrate on getting repeat contracts with commercial properties but gave it up for health reasons.

[8weekly]

You will make more money clearing gutters for the day then cleaning windows.

Windows are regular, this isn't. So you need to get the work in and do more quoting.

I'm not sure how long you have been doing this for, but I would become an expect at window cleaning first (having a good round and everything is running  like clockwork) before adding another service to your business.

I'd have thought if you're going to offer this service you'd be better offering it from the start to fill your day rather than waiting until you've filled your day and then offering it?

[Tony dunmall]

Depends how you chose to run it

I've a friend who does nothing but gutter cleaning

He has 2-3canvassers 2 staff  and they contact every new customer year later
He turns on average about 3-3.5 k a week all year round

Down side he covers a very large area

Not a bad income, just having a small business on the consent run

Do you know what he charges for an average detached house.

No idea what he charges, on average detached house I'm about £115 upwards, more if its facia washing but I'm way to  busy with Windows to have that much time to give to extras,  I take one off cleans on Windows as there really good earners as no one seems to want to do them this way

[easy clean]

James purewash

Not sure if I'm quite an expert yet, but maybe you can answer that for me!

I started out in 2005 on my own with no customers I now have just under 2000 domestic customers that we clean every 4 weeks, I have 3 vans on the road full time with a full time canvasser and a part time office staff.  I personally don't have to do anything as the business does run itself. Tell a lie, the only thing I do have to do is take just under a six figure salary, but 2016/17 it will finally become six figures, the reason I am looking at other things now is believe it or not I'm not happy with 100k a year, I now have set myself a target for 250k within the next 10 years!

So again I ask, does this make me an expert yet or not?

[tlwcs]

James purewash

Not sure if I'm quite an expert yet, but maybe you can answer that for me!

I started out in 2005 on my own with no customers I now have just under 2000 domestic customers that we clean every 4 weeks, I have 3 vans on the road full time with a full time canvasser and a part time office staff.  I personally don't have to do anything as the business does run itself. Tell a lie, the only thing I do have to do is take just under a six figure salary, but 2016/17 it will finally become six figures, the reason I am looking at other things now is believe it or not I'm not happy with 100k a year, I now have set myself a target for 250k within the next 10 years!

So again I ask, does this make me an expert yet or not?

Go to bed.

[Shane sharples]

James purewash

Not sure if I'm quite an expert yet, but maybe you can answer that for me!

I started out in 2005 on my own with no customers I now have just under 2000 domestic customers that we clean every 4 weeks, I have 3 vans on the road full time with a full time canvasser and a part time office staff.  I personally don't have to do anything as the business does run itself. Tell a lie, the only thing I do have to do is take just under a six figure salary, but 2016/17 it will finally become six figures, the reason I am looking at other things now is believe it or not I'm not happy with 100k a year, I now have set myself a target for 250k within the next 10 years!

So again I ask, does this make me an expert yet or not?

Sounds to me like your an expert , so wtf are doing on here

[easy clean]

I was on here asking a question about an area that I'm not familiar with!

I like others would post and learned a lot of information from this site in the beginning but since being reinstated I've remained very quiet but still continue to read and learn from others.
 I did not start this post to boast or start an argument but that seems to always happen no matter what you post here.
Oh well, thanks guys for the decent replies, I suppose you'll always get a few exceptions.

[Perfect Windows]

Didn't realise you employed.

If you're employing, my advice may not be as relevant.  If you're self-employed as a sole trader (as our franchisees are) then the limit on your annual earnings is your hourly rate; you can't add hours to your working year, so you need to maximise the cash you take for each one.  So, for us and anyone self-employed (the majority on here), the hourly rate is key.  Gutter vaccing cut our hourly rate by a big chunk so we now spend that time cleaning windows instead.

However, if you're able to grow by employing, you just need to be making more per hour than you're paying.  So my advice about its being a bad idea for us might not be relevant to you. 

HTH,

Vin

[the king]

It will all depend on what you can charge, the biggest problem with using a gutter vac is the roofs tiles can sit out too far
which stops the nozzle getting into the gutter, you can either push/force the nozzle in risking damaging the tiles and guttering or
get a smaller nozzle which in my opinion is next to useless.
I tend to avoid them now as more often than not it will still require some ladder work to get the job done.

i gota say ive just got in to gutter cleaning with a vac and not had a prop with the fin nosel yet geting in tite areas  also i thault it suckes very well i was unshore at first as it looked to fin but ive not had a issue yet early days tho as ive only done like 25 jobs with it so far my 3tear is sat colecting dust lol

[Tony dunmall]

Hi easy clean sorry don't know your name

I would look at carbon poles from  Grippa, Or same ones from  gardeners , Oliver is also very helpful with advice in that area he also has fairly good attachments which I like

Gutter cleaning can earn similar to window cleaning but it's harder work in my opinion and dirtier work

I would say though a dedicated member of staff would probably work well with some training  and get used to  set up  on site to increase speed and efficiency

It would seem you already have structure to bring on board gutter cleaning,  ie canvassers, I would say it can earn well but the person doing work needs to be  methodical,  I find it works better two people together but whtether that's cost effective not sure

Down this way 4 cleans a day starting at £115 is not a long day and easily done , to be fair a 9-5 and if close enough  to each other 5-6 cleans would be attainable for 2 men

Hope that helps

Hope that helps,

[8weekly]

James purewash

Not sure if I'm quite an expert yet, but maybe you can answer that for me!

I started out in 2005 on my own with no customers I now have just under 2000 domestic customers that we clean every 4 weeks, I have 3 vans on the road full time with a full time canvasser and a part time office staff.  I personally don't have to do anything as the business does run itself. Tell a lie, the only thing I do have to do is take just under a six figure salary, but 2016/17 it will finally become six figures, the reason I am looking at other things now is believe it or not I'm not happy with 100k a year, I now have set myself a target for 250k within the next 10 years!

So again I ask, does this make me an expert yet or not?

Good going. I'm guessing they are two man vans as that's 33 houses per van per day?

[easy clean]

All my vans are single operator vans, they do between 35-50 houses a day approx £300 a day, that's what they are targeted to do. Never thought it would benefit by putting 2 in a van, that's just me, not saying it doesn't work for some people.

[Ste b]

35-50 a day 

Id last about 2 days before i walked away

[8weekly]

35-50 a day 

Id last about 2 days before i walked away

That's why I assumed two man vans. That's a lot of houses. One man, one van is definitely more profitable,. At £7 a house though, you aren't gonna mess about. It would have to be quick.

[dazmond]

i hate gutter clearing.always have regardless of the money earned.ive only ever used a bucket and a ladder though.so i for one wont be investing in a gutter vac.

how come easy cleans employees can clean 35-50 houses a day on their own?when most of us who ve been going years might clean 25-30 in a day if their very compact.10 hour days perhaps?

[SeanK]

i hate gutter clearing.always have regardless of the money earned.ive only ever used a bucket and a ladder though.so i for one wont be investing in a gutter vac.

how come easy cleans employees can clean 35-50 houses a day on their own?when most of us who ve been going years might clean 25-30 in a day if their very compact.10 hour days perhaps?

They clean in Lego Land.

[Mick Kent]

Jon.
We do gutter clearing,
We get away with £40 per side or £60 for back and front on clearing gutters or £100 for all wfpoled the exterior of gutters and soffits as well as vacuumed out.
 Advertise it on your collection slips and you will be surprised on how many customers want it done, then get them to have it as a rolling 6monthly or yearly clean of gutters. I only have 800 domestic customers now but out of those we generally get 20/30 odd gutter cleans a month and then i put them on rolling 6 month and yearly cleans to keep them clear. Most customers go for this. As for being worth doing,, yes 100 percent, best day doing gutters by myself was £840 due to a lot of walkups but on a Average you will hit £600 for a day of gutters providing you book them all for a certain date of the month to do or tell them when weather is wet. It does feel great when so much can be earnt from being out in the rain.
Only been doing gutter cleans myself for 6 months but can say its defo worth it especially with the amount of customers you have you should realy smash it.
I do a lot of commercial buildings with the vac and that is also a great earner and gets you further in the door when giving quotes being able to offer both windows and gutters.

[Woody123]

Which system are you using

[Shane sharples]

i hate gutter clearing.always have regardless of the money earned.ive only ever used a bucket and a ladder though.so i for one wont be investing in a gutter vac.

how come easy cleans employees can clean 35-50 houses a day on their own?when most of us who ve been going years might clean 25-30 in a day if their very compact.10 hour days perhaps?

Because they're experts , 50 houses per day per employee , 10 hours a day 5 houses every hour .... Gotta be experts..... Or 50 front onlys 

[Smurf]

Hi guys, I've already got a generator and decent wet vac from omnipole when I bought all my pressure washing equipment so all I would need is some carbon poles really.

Guys that do it is it really worth the hassle and how well does it earn In comparison to window cleaning?

Thanks in advance

There is good money to be made in gutter clearing that's if you charge top dollar.
Can be hard graft and fithy work at times that is probably why many just stick to cleaning windows as is easier.

[SeanK]

In response to Mick Kent's post unless your in a heavily wooded area why would you need to clean out a gutter every
6 months to a year? I checked mine a few months back and even though they haven't been cleaned out in 3 years they still
didn't need cleared, checked a customers on Monday who hadn't had them cleaned in five years and there was virtually
nothing in them, I would have been ripping her off if I had told her anything else.
Certainly in my area the majority of properties would only need a gutter clear every five years or so.

[Smurf]

In response to Mick Kent's post unless your in a heavily wooded area why would you need to clean out a gutter every
6 months to a year? I checked mine a few months back and even though they haven't been cleaned out in 3 years they still
didn't need cleaned, checked a customers on Monday who hadn't had them cleaned in five years and there was virtually
nothing in them, I would have been ripping her off if I had told her anything else.
Certainly in my area the majority of properties would only need a gutter clear every five years or so.

From my own experience it all depends on a number of factors if guttering and downspouts remains free flowing or not.
After saying that I very rarely see completly clear guttering and downspouts. Some properties need clearing every 6 months and the normal gutter clearing frequancy seems to be yearly but some leave it 2 years.





 

[SeanK]

In response to Mick Kent's post unless your in a heavily wooded area why would you need to clean out a gutter every
6 months to a year? I checked mine a few months back and even though they haven't been cleaned out in 3 years they still
didn't need cleaned, checked a customers on Monday who hadn't had them cleaned in five years and there was virtually
nothing in them, I would have been ripping her off if I had told her anything else.
Certainly in my area the majority of properties would only need a gutter clear every five years or so.

From my own experience it all depends on a number of factors if guttering and downspouts remains free flowing or not.
After saying that I very rarely see completly clear guttering and downspouts. Some properties need clearing every 6 months and the normal gutter clearing frequancy seems to be yearly but some leave it 2 years.

That sales pitch might work on your customers mate.

[NWH]

I have some that are full every 6 months but as said in a house surrounded by close trees,you'd be better off if it looked like a £150 go in at over £250 so if it ends up being every couple of years your still winning. I generally say if you have it down again in a year or so I'll knock a bit off if they are not to bad,I might clean the roof for free lol.

[easy clean]

Hi guys,
Yes most of our houses are fronts only and it's very compact my round, there is very few times that the van will do 2 houses then move, it normally sits still for about 6/7 on average then moves. Admittedly they wouldn't do 50 all rounds, no chance.

And the reason they don't leave is because I pay the very good money.

[8weekly]

Hi guys,
Yes most of our houses are fronts only and it's very compact my round, there is very few times that the van will do 2 houses then move, it normally sits still for about 6/7 on average then moves. Admittedly they wouldn't do 50 all rounds, no chance.

And the reason they don't leave is because I pay the very good money.

Ah, ok - makes sense now. Nice going.

[windowswashed]

Cleaning 35-50 houses per day, that's a lot of hard graft

Some days I'll only clean 4 or 5 really big houses and other days it may be 10-20 just depends on size of houses and location. Normal houses as in box standard matchbox houses could do 25-30 but that's a hard days graft. Good job I don't have to clean 35-50 houses a day, every day, because that must be long hours with not many breaks; bugger that for a regular job, poor lads must go home knackered every day.

[8weekly]

Cleaning 35-50 houses per day, that's a lot of hard graft

Some days I'll only clean 4 or 5 really big houses and other days it may be 10-20 just depends on size of houses and location. Normal houses as in box standard matchbox houses could do 25-30 but that's a hard days graft. Good job I don't have to clean 35-50 houses a day, every day, because that must be long hours with not many breaks; bugger that for a regular job, poor lads must go home knackered every day.

If you read the thread, you'd see it's mostly compact fronts only.

[Mick Kent]

Fronts are king