[Jan K]

Hi Guys!

One of my new ladies and I have just finished a Builder's clean for an independent property developer, who had just renovated an older property, and it has been a nightmare. I am lucky in one respect that I way underestimated how long it was take, but customer is happy to pay the extra.

I nearly electrocuted myself on some bare wires poking up thro the floorboards between the skirting and the carpet gripper, spent hours cleaning grout off white tiles in one of the bathrooms where the plumber (yes the plumber) had wiped over after grouting and covered all the tiles from top to bottom in a fine layer of grout. And also spent ages cleaning white gloss paint off the newly laid laminate flooring in the huge kitchen.
 
Firstly how would you guys have gome about solving those little problems above and secondly what have you guys experienced as the worst thing you have had to contend with cleaning up after builders, and what you did to sort it out!

Cheers!

Jan

[Derek_Walker]

Hi Jan,

When we first started out in business 17 years ago our main contracts were builders cleans. After the first couple of cleans, we realised that the price definately had to go up because of the problems with builders walking in and out doing last minute snagging. Plus the standard of workmanship sometimes used to be pretty poor, mainly because of the rush to get them completed as quickly as possible and obviously the cheapest quote won the contract etc.

The worst problems we faced were paint and grout on the bathroom surfaces, in fact we had a standing joke, whats the difference between a ceiling and a bathroom suite? Answer " nothing if you are a painter" .
The other worst offender was in those days they used to put sticky labels on the suites which were a real pain to get off.
The painters also used to rub down the timber window frames as well as all the glass inside it, meaning we had to use a signed disclaimer in case we got the blame for it when we cleaned all the paint of the glass.
Last but not least, silicone sealer, this used to go everywhere, worktops, carpets, bathrooms, you name it.
We found that builders cleans were hard work but looked really nice in the end, sore fingers were the order of the day.

Derek

[Jan K]

Thanx for the reply Derek!

Just wondered really, as this last cleans was only the second I had done and the first was for someone who was actually going to live in the property and was easy in comparison to this second one. This second one, the owner is not living in it but renting it out or selling it on. I think this may be the reason why the workmanship is so bad.

I suppose I was really lucky that the shock was not big enough to electrocute me...but having said that I was wearing rubber bottom flip flops at the time (so maybe that helped)!!

What is your best tip for getting rid of grout on the tiles and paint on the floor (bearing in mind its a laminate floor). I am not really very happy with how I've left it, and I am seeing the owner this afternoon.

Any advice would be most appreciated!

Cheers!

Jan

[Derek_Walker]

Jan,

We found the best way to clean tiles and grout was to use hot water to soften the grout, then scrub with a white abrasive pad so as not to scratch the tiles. Then follow up with a buff dry. Now of course you would buff dry with your microfibre cloths.

We did not come across laminated floors back then but anything oil based like gloss you would need to use a solvent based cleaner, always test a small area before using any product and rinse well afterwards.
You will sometimes find that there is no easy option apart from labour intensive cleaning and will obviously need to allow for this.
What you need to remember is, that paint on a new floor is actually neglect on the painters part by not using dust sheets etc, once you start to clean any surface it becomes your liability unless you have specified before hand.

We have not done builders cleans for quite a few years so there may be other better methods available now which I don't know about. There are some on here that do them all the time who may be able to give you more up to date advice.

Good luck.

Derek

[maggie67]

Hi Jan

Hope you're keeping well. Nice to hear that you are branching out into areas other than domestic, it is quite nice to have a change every now and then .

I hope you are not charging your domestic hourly rate for these cleans they are such hard work! Even if you quote a fixed figure I would make sure that you allow around £15p/h. Good luck.

How are you managing with work/school holidays, bit of a headache for me at the mo! Take care.

Maggie

[Jan K]

Hi Maggie!

I'm quite lucky with the holds, as my other half works shifts and my mum and dad are happy to help with sitting, as the kids are 9 and 13 they don't need much amusing, they make their own (like arguing with each other lol).

Yes I did make the mistake of charging the same rate as the domestic, won't do that again! Also underestimated the amount of time taken to do the job, but I am charging her for an hour les than it took.

I still have the keys to the property, have texted her to say it is finished (on my part that is), but haven't heard from her for over a day now (strange as she was going to meet me at the property at the end of the final clean yesterday).

I dunno if these Builder's cleans are worth the hassle, as I had another to do on Thursday, a fair bit away from where I live, and when we got there the Builder's hadn't finished and the carpet layers had been in and laid the underlay (which  shouldn't have happened until after we'd been in a cleaned), so we had to leave (what a waste of my time and effort.............as I had to pick up one of my girls who can't drive, to help with the job, and then drop her back.....in total about 1 1/2 hours driving around etc).

Maybe £15.00 an hour is the way to go for me..........if they won't pay it then it ain't worth doing, is it?

Hope work is good for you too!

Cheers!

Jan

[BSF]

Hi Jan,

the way forward for you with the new-builds is to price on the Sq ft of the property, you'll find the hourly rate will be well above £15, If you do a search you'll find more info.

Kind regards

Paul

[Jan K]

This wasn't a new build is was an old build completely renovated, does it work the same way?

And I still haven't heard from the owner......think I will squat! lol

Cheers!

Jan

[martin19842]

hi there,

bulkid cleaning is a fantastic business, its all about having an understanding with the client of at which point you will be doing the cleaning, cause if you havent got the communication there then you are on a back foot from the start, and it wont get easier.

weve been build cleaning the new regional offices of a national house builder this week, and weve just come off site at 4.30 today after haveing 8 people on site for 7 hours today SUNDAY, how great is that the invoice is fantastic, and the brownie points HUGE, ive been talking to all the qs's today as they unpack the moving crates and even had a coffee with the MD whilst he got stuck in woth the unpacking aswell.

we have done ourselves proud this week and expect the relationship to continue.

therefore communicate with the site, the qs and make sure that you all understand what you are doing for each other.

regards

martin

[Jan K]

Martin who are qs's (duh on my part)

Spoke to owner today, she paid and picked up keys.....got another one to do for her in a month!!

Got one to do tomorrow and thursday and poss 1 or 2 more visits next week........trial and error (although not too many errors), but we al live and learn!

Cheers!

Jan

[martin19842]

hi there,

qs quantity surveyor, they make a lot of the decisisions re the tenders.

regards

martin

[Jan K]

ah yes course....thanx Martin!

I'm not a big enough set up for NEW build cleans as I see from you bigger guys that large teams are needed, and I have a hard enough time putting a team of 2 together lol

[BSF]

Hi Jan,

This wasn't a new build is was an old build completely renovated, does it work the same way?

And I still haven't heard from the owner......think I will squat! lol

Cheers!

Jan

yes charge per Sq ft, any builder or developer in their right mind would want a fixed price anyway,

regards

Paul

[Jan K]

ok so charge by the square foot, is that square foot of each room or property as a whole or square footage per floor (sorry lots of questions).

Do I measure up myself and if so how? Might seem a daft question to all you experienced guys and gals out there, but I am a novice at builders cleans!

Ta very much!

Jan

[martin19842]

hi there,

you can get the area from the plans, of the house types.

regards

martin

[keith b]

Jan,

Just to add to Dereks advice, I would finish off cleaning the tile grouting with a `Grouting Pen` which you can buy from homebase, basically it coats a thin layer of grout on top of the staining! 

On removing paint from laminate floors, you need to use a small amount of alcohol or nail polish remover containing acetone on a white cloth, but do a small test first!

Good luck

keith

[Jan K]

Hi Keith!

Thanx for the advice.......the tile grouting wasn't a problem in respect of discolouring, as it was all brand new.....the plumber just didn't wipe the grout off the actual tiles themselves....he had wiped the excess grout over the surface of the tiles and left it so the grout dried on the tiles and they had a fine covering of grout giving the appearance of a matt look.

In the end I left the owner to sort the paint on the laminate out with the painter!

Cheers!

Jan

[keith b]

Hi Jan,

Sorry my mistake, I got side tracked and didn`t read & answer your post correctly!

good luck with your future builders cleans!

keith

[BSF]

Hi Jan,

wipe over with stardrops in hot water and use a plastic scraper, works a treat!

regards

Paul

[BSF]

Hi Jan,

ok so charge by the square foot, is that square foot of each room or property as a whole or square footage per floor (sorry lots of questions).

Do I measure up myself and if so how? Might seem a daft question to all you experienced guys and gals out there, but I am a novice at builders cleans!

Ta very much!

Jan

If the builder or developer gives you the measurements (sq ft) and you dont think its right, pace the length and width of the property and multiply it, then if its 2 floors multiply by 2, three floors multiply by 3 etc; then divide by 0.092903 this gives you the sq ft, this will give you a rough idea of the area to clean, but always allow for the windows these can be the most time consuming job on a new build, price your pence per sq ft accordingly.

Regards

Paul

[Jan K]

Hi Paul!

Thanx for that valuable advice.......now when I go look at a property I won't be so worried I am under pricing myself!

Cheers!

Jan

[BSF]

Hi Jan,

No problem, when a builder/developer gives you the sq ft of the property, always check for yourself, because it has been known for them to get it wrong, if you get my drift!

As I said check out the windows, they are a major part of the job.

regards

Paul

[Jan K]

yea windows are a real pain regardless of whether is after a build or a regular domestic clean.......my insurance excludes us from cleaning anything above 2 metres.....wonder if that's a standard clause with domestic cleaning insurance?

Jan

[BSF]

Hi Jan,

Check your policy, I think you might find that it excludes external cleaning,  I'm a Ltd company so by law I have to have employers liability for ladder's, its very very expensive!  public liability is really cheap, this could open a can of worms, without giving too much away, their are cheaper ways of getting ladder insurance if your a Limited company.

But if your doing newbuilds you and/or your staff do need to be insured for external cleaning.

Regards

Paul

[pristine cleaning]

HI, WITH REGARDS TO CLEANING WINDOWS IT'S WORTH NOTING THAT ON SOME NEW PROPERTIES THE EXTERNAL PART OF THE WINDOW CAN BE CLEANED FROM THE INSIDE. THAY ARE "EASICLEAN" WINDOWS AND OPEN AND SLIDE, SO THE EXTERNAL PART CAN BE REACHED WITHOUT HAVING TO SIT ON THE WINDOWSILL OR LEAN OUT OF THE WINDOW (MOST DEFINITELY NOT ADVISABLE). ITS HARD TO DESCRIBE, BUT WHEN YOU SEE ONE YOU'LL KNOW WHAT I MEAN. I'M NOT SURE IF THEY ARE FITTED ON ALL NEW PROPERTIES BUT THEY ARE AN ABSOLUTE GODSEND ON 2 AND 3 STOREY BUILDINGS!!! HUGE HELP WITH THE INSURANCE SIDE OF THINGS TOO. MICHELLE 

[Jan K]

Hi Paul!

Indeed you are right, I am NOT insured for exterior cleaning.......I don't often get requests for that in domestic cleaning but I guess it would all be part and parcel of a builder's clean!

The daftest thing I find myself saying is that we can't clean anything above 2 metres....but that proved me right as last week one of my girls was asked to clean some spider wens from the corner of a very high and difficult to reach room..........she lifted the vac up to stretch and reach over a bulky curtain pole and subsequently pulled her back hence ensuring she wasn't able to work the next day (one of her busiest). Needless to say, after seeing that she was ok, I gave her a slap on the hand and told her that she's not to do that again! She is one of my best girls and will quite often do more than she is contracted to do (which is good, but sooo baaad too)

Cheers!

Jan

[BSF]

Hi,

Yes Michelle your right alot of new properties do have windows that can be cleaned from the inside, which does make them less hassle, but be very cautious in regard to the insurance because it is still classed as external cleaning,

Regards

Paul

[craig lindsey]

Starting with the worst, a tradesman had done a no2 in the toilet with no water in the bowl, S/M got plumber in replaced the toilet. sackable offence on most sites?.
Most builders send plans, as this is good because you dont have to visit the site, but i have learnt from experience that most houses are not as straight forward as the plan.(15)  4 bedroom houses with brass electro plated hinges covered in white paint, all paint had to be removed, always speak with the Q/S or Site Manager and ask him to sign for extras. They dont always like to pay for extras. just had plans to quote on 224 houses (daunting task).