Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: KINGAKNAA on February 22, 2011, 04:31:53 pm
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I was asked to price up a retirement home today.
Called to view the property, nice big old house with a few annexes. Quite a few old wooden sash windows that were a bit rotten but should'nt cause any problem. Good access all round.
Altogether around 78 windows. So off I trot to see the manager for some details. She wants it done every 2 months and has already had 2 quotes of.....wait for it....£40 & £50!!! :o :o :o
Now I'm not cheap but not expensive and I nearly collapsed when I heard this, I was thinking £120!!!
Got to speaking to the handyman outside and he said the lads who were cleaning before were charging £23! He also mentioned an email from the homes owner who wanted the windows cleaned for £15!!! WTF!!!!
Needless to say I will be putting a quote in but fully expect NOT to get it! :o
How can you make any money from a clean like this? ???
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I was asked to price up a retirement home today.
Called to view the property, nice big old house with a few annexes. Quite a few old wooden sash windows that were a bit rotten but should'nt cause any problem. Good access all round.
Altogether around 78 windows. So off I trot to see the manager for some details. She wants it done every 2 months and has already had 2 quotes of.....wait for it....£40 & £50!!! :o :o :o
Now I'm not cheap but not expensive and I nearly collapsed when I heard this, I was thinking £120!!!
Got to speaking to the handyman outside and he said the lads who were cleaning before were charging £23! He also mentioned an email from the homes owner who wanted the windows cleaned for £15!!! WTF!!!!
Needless to say I will be putting a quote in but fully expect NOT to get it! :o
How can you make any money from a clean like this? ???
Why do ppl want to work for these crazy prices, have they no self respect?
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is that just external?
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Yes, external only.
It's in Northumberland where the prices are lower than down south but I thought that was extremely low!
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Sounds the way forward up there is domestics only. That's the most stupid price I've ever heard.
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How long do you think it would take wfp?
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Its not April 1st is it....Thats a joke , I think.
I had to do a quote about 3months ago now, I over priced the job and put the quote in. The next thing the phone rang and they said you got the job, but could you make sure you use proper invoice,s and not just hand written on a piece of paper as the last windy was a bit of a cowboy. I said no worries it will be posted out soon after they get cleaned. They also said that my quote was the most expensive.
ALWAYS BE POLITE... FRIENDLY... AND MOST OF ALL PROFFESIONAL... ;)
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There will always be a dick head on every street corner who thinks he can charge cheap and get rich.
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had 1 today ... i cleans a customers house and when she pays me says her friend mrs whatsherface from number 7 needs a window cleaner and would i pop over and see her ... no problem me thinks another one to the fold :) ... so knocks tells her why im there and says how much so 3 bed semi with conny so tells her £12 her face hit the floor ... she then says she got a windie last week and hes doing the whole lot with a "water squirty thing for £4" .... either a newbie or someone who does the whole street but even @ £4 still way way too low
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heres how we price retirement homes.
say for example there is 20 flats within the building eg 3 windows per flat ....
we would say each flat pays £4 for the window cleaning.
very simple £1 per window and £1 towards the communal windows.
doesnt always work as buildings can be so different, so its just a rough pricing example.
we tell the house manager the price per flat and tell them we can offer internal clean for the flats, just leave a note on the notice board for any flats to place there flat nymber down to be done.
for some reason a break down of price per flat seems to work well, for us anyway.
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Jobs like that are worked out by square meter price and ladder/high work. From what I've read on some forums, this isn't done in UK.
I suppose if every firm works with that system, then it works.
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had 1 today ... i cleans a customers house and when she pays me says her friend mrs whatsherface from number 7 needs a window cleaner and would i pop over and see her ... no problem me thinks another one to the fold :) ... so knocks tells her why im there and says how much so 3 bed semi with conny so tells her £12 her face hit the floor ... she then says she got a windie last week and hes doing the whole lot with a "water squirty thing for £4" .... either a newbie or someone who does the whole street but even @ £4 still way way too low
ian wheres this !!!!!!!!!
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kingsway, chester ... not u is it @ £4 ;D
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not me m8 lol
tenner a pop me chester !!!!!
mind you over hough green
im closer to 25 quid lol ;D ;D ;D
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i fancy getting a few in at Eccleston so I can spread my grasp on Chester ;)
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not my area u dont lol ;D ;D
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i got undercut on a shop front this week, i was charging £25 in and out every month, and this guy is willing to do it for £8!
picked up a £75 job today though from my free listing on yell, so you win some and lose some!
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25 quid to 8 quid? He must be living in a tent and eating baked beans all week!!! Poor sod.
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25 quid to 8 quid? He must be living in a tent and eating baked beans all week!!! Poor sod.
its a shame that these guys dont realise their true value, some of them have been at it 20yrs so theres no excuse for low prices. you would swear they were still in the 1980's!
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whos cleaning them laurel and hardy mate £40 wont even entertain it at that price had a bupa home a few yrs back was charging £100 took me 3hrs to do lost it to a national window chain
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78 windows £120?sounds like a rip off to me!! ;D ;D
if good access how long do you think itll take to clean including set up and driving to next job?
2 hours say.id want £70.
all the other prices are way too low IMO.they ll be doleys at them prices.deserve to lose the work!! >:( >:(
dazmond
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as the man sez they are way beyond the times on pricing just bin canvassing and the rediculas prices thats goin around shocked me man £5 for a semi what these blokes on or just some cash for the drugs maybe
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i fancy getting a few in at Eccleston so I can spread my grasp on Chester ;)
it was me actually,i have taken it on myself to stop you taking over chester,im doing for the good of the people ;D ;D
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u still got that 250l flat tank bob
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78 windows £120?sounds like a rip off to me!! ;D ;D
if good access how long do you think itll take to clean including set up and driving to next job?
2 hours say.id want £70.
all the other prices are way too low IMO.they ll be doleys at them prices.deserve to lose the work!! >:( >:(
Not necesarily doleys daz
If you reckon you can do it in 2 hours, 2 guys can do it in 1 hour
Thats what? £15 in wages a bit more in costs, so if you charge £50 your 50 % in profit as an employer, however its a shaky way to run a business as the profit would drop on larger jobs, and they have to drive between etc, i dont understand why people who have staff price lower than what seems normal to a sole trader(although not all do ) as they dont seem to last/make money
But some do !! Although if they had 100;s of them they would make money i suppose
dazmond
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not me m8 lol
tenner a pop me chester !!!!!
mind you over hough green
im closer to 25 quid lol ;D ;D ;D
Gav do you do Hough green ,widnes?
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It sounds like less than 2 hours worth of work so £20 - £25 per hour, oh yeah thats shocking
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i know....i want £50 an hour!!
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It sounds like less than 2 hours worth of work so £20 - £25 per hour, oh yeah thats shocking
;D
thought it was just me thinking that ::) commercial any weather £20 an hour is not bad
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I was asked to price up a retirement home today.
Called to view the property, nice big old house with a few annexes. Quite a few old wooden sash windows that were a bit rotten but should'nt cause any problem. Good access all round.
Altogether around 78 windows. So off I trot to see the manager for some details. She wants it done every 2 months and has already had 2 quotes of.....wait for it....£40 & £50!!! :o :o :o
Now I'm not cheap but not expensive and I nearly collapsed when I heard this, I was thinking £120!!!
Got to speaking to the handyman outside and he said the lads who were cleaning before were charging £23! He also mentioned an email from the homes owner who wanted the windows cleaned for £15!!! WTF!!!!
Needless to say I will be putting a quote in but fully expect NOT to get it! :o
How can you make any money from a clean like this? ???
Why do ppl want to work for these crazy prices, have they no self respect?
Good job they didnt asking me to give them a price as my price for them would of been near the £250.00 mark or about £3.21 per window. As I have done a one off clean in Madeley for similar amount of windows.
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It sounds like less than 2 hours worth of work so £20 - £25 per hour, oh yeah thats shocking
;D
thought it was just me thinking that ::) commercial any weather £20 an hour is not bad
Exactly.Any weather,Saturday morn,earlier in the morning,later during the summer. I'm sure i'd squeeze in a 2hr commercial for £50
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I was asked to price up a retirement home today.
Called to view the property, nice big old house with a few annexes. Quite a few old wooden sash windows that were a bit rotten but should'nt cause any problem. Good access all round.
Altogether around 78 windows. So off I trot to see the manager for some details. She wants it done every 2 months and has already had 2 quotes of.....wait for it....£40 & £50!!! :o :o :o
Now I'm not cheap but not expensive and I nearly collapsed when I heard this, I was thinking £120!!!
Got to speaking to the handyman outside and he said the lads who were cleaning before were charging £23! He also mentioned an email from the homes owner who wanted the windows cleaned for £15!!! WTF!!!!
Needless to say I will be putting a quote in but fully expect NOT to get it! :o
How can you make any money from a clean like this? ???
Why do ppl want to work for these crazy prices, have they no self respect?
Good job they didnt asking me to give them a price as my price for them would of been near the £250.00 mark or about £3.21 per window. As I have done a one off clean in Madeley for similar amount of windows.
madeley nr stoke i know it well ;) ;)
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If you are quoting commercial work - which this is - then make a big play of the fact that you have insurance. Scare them witless about being claimed against if they let an uninsured windy on their site and the consequences to him if he breaks a window onto a resident or falls off of his ladder onto a resident!!!! ;D
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It sounds like less than 2 hours worth of work so £20 - £25 per hour, oh yeah thats shocking
;D
thought it was just me thinking that ::) commercial any weather £20 an hour is not bad
Exactly.Any weather,Saturday morn,earlier in the morning,later during the summer. I'm sure i'd squeeze in a 2hr commercial for £50
agree entirely £50 sounds fine to me
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£20 an hour is rubbish money on commercial IMO
a few commercial jobs i clean im earning between £40-£60.never below £30 an hour.
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£20 an hour is rubbish money on commercial IMO
a few commercial jobs i clean im earning between £40-£60.never below £30 an hour.
other way round up here dazmond, commercial cheap as chips and domestic well it is up to you, some are cheap and some make more ;)
as long as we are all making money who cares ;D I put up a pic on a job that takes me 2 hours on a forum and it was getting quoted at £200 + by some, I get £50 wind ,snow, sleet whatever and I am happy enough but each to their own I suppose
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78 windows wouldn't take much longer than an hour,surely?
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I was asked to price up a retirement home today.
Called to view the property, nice big old house with a few annexes. Quite a few old wooden sash windows that were a bit rotten but should'nt cause any problem. Good access all round.
Altogether around 78 windows. So off I trot to see the manager for some details. She wants it done every 2 months and has already had 2 quotes of.....wait for it....£40 & £50!!! :o :o :o
Now I'm not cheap but not expensive and I nearly collapsed when I heard this, I was thinking £120!!!
Got to speaking to the handyman outside and he said the lads who were cleaning before were charging £23! He also mentioned an email from the homes owner who wanted the windows cleaned for £15!!! WTF!!!!
Needless to say I will be putting a quote in but fully expect NOT to get it! :o
How can you make any money from a clean like this? ???
If the access was OK and there wasn't anything too fiddly, it would be possible to make a fairly reasonable hourly rate at £50 - especially once the first clean is out of the way. I would probably be looking for a bit more though. I find that as jobs get a little larger, any price per window that I have in mind starts to look a bit silly (on the high side) so I sometimes start thinking more about how long it would take me. Some jobs you can fly around but some just aren't like that.
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£20 an hr up nawrth is pretty reasonable imo if it can be done in most weathers and to be honest those who mock this (imo)have less than 2 yrs experience trad they get some expensive equipment and reckon their the bees knees done this done that been there blah blah instead of any REAL window cleaner worth their salt who knows the score and hasnt picked up window cleaning from a brochure,the internet or a forum lol.
oh and btw i used to be one of those doleys noone has the balls to admit,because there was a time when window cleaning was beneath people and yes i was unemployed during the last Thatcher enduced recession and am proud to admit i went out to earn a bob or two when times were hard and jobs were scarce like now but before w*nkers thought up city and guilds to be a window cleaner or health n safety or how much i spent on emporers clothes to be better than anyone!
and p.s im going wfp because it is safer and slightly quicker but i will always know where i came from and realise noone is beneath me except my customer looking up to me on me ladder ;-)
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£20 an hr up nawrth is pretty reasonable imo if it can be done in most weathers and to be honest those who mock this (imo)have less than 2 yrs experience trad they get some expensive equipment and reckon their the bees knees done this done that been there blah blah instead of any REAL window cleaner worth their salt who knows the score and hasnt picked up window cleaning from a brochure,the internet or a forum lol.
oh and btw i used to be one of those doleys noone has the balls to admit,because there was a time when window cleaning was beneath people and yes i was unemployed during the last Thatcher enduced recession and am proud to admit i went out to earn a bob or two when times were hard and jobs were scarce like now but before w*nkers thought up city and guilds to be a window cleaner or health n safety or how much i spent on emporers clothes to be better than anyone!
and p.s im going wfp because it is safer and slightly quicker but i will always know where i came from and realise noone is beneath me except my customer looking up to me on me ladder ;-)
Yea right on, been there on my arse scribing on each fortnight after loosing my first business until I god totally p***d off and started up, now I have two branches repairers and windows.
on learning trad I just got on with it, didn't touch a coustomers windows for 6 month. just did own and family time and time again over and over. week ends cleaning the same dam windows until they were spot on first time every time.
as for costing up north yes they can squeak when they walk so you got to be a little low on some and make up on others. I ain't rich and don't drive some flash car or vans for that matter but what the hell my family are cared for !
O and I do were embroidered work gear and look real posh at times but I don't think I'm better than anyone yet some window cleaners look down there noses at me when i am in my roughs. Hummm
I never worry if someone costs me a custy by doing there semi for £5 a pop, they only get £5 of work and soon the frames are growing spuds and I usualy get the call to pop around and sort the mess out or to fix the now leaking bay roof due to bodge it and scarper walking on the thing. thinking about it most of my window work has come to me this way!
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I was asked to price up a retirement home today.
Called to view the property, nice big old house with a few annexes. Quite a few old wooden sash windows that were a bit rotten but should'nt cause any problem. Good access all round.
Altogether around 78 windows. So off I trot to see the manager for some details. She wants it done every 2 months and has already had 2 quotes of.....wait for it....£40 & £50!!! :o :o :o
Now I'm not cheap but not expensive and I nearly collapsed when I heard this, I was thinking £120!!!
Got to speaking to the handyman outside and he said the lads who were cleaning before were charging £23! He also mentioned an email from the homes owner who wanted the windows cleaned for £15!!! WTF!!!!
Needless to say I will be putting a quote in but fully expect NOT to get it! :o
How can you make any money from a clean like this? ???
Why do ppl want to work for these crazy prices, have they no self respect?
Good job they didnt asking me to give them a price as my price for them would of been near the £250.00 mark or about £3.21 per window. As I have done a one off clean in Madeley for similar amount of windows.
£3.21 per window wtf, not even Dick turpin was that harsh
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EWC ive been window cleaning 17 years.16 years of them trad!! ;D ;D
to me personally £20 an hour for bigger jobs is not very good.most of my cheap ultra compact estate work im on £25 an hour.bigger domestic £30 plus.
i personally think bigger jobs should be £30+an hour.
im up north as well(manchester)
dazmond
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christopher b listen mate some of us still earn ok with £5 jobs!
i average £25 an hour on my super compact estate work on prices ranging from£5-£10.
no other window cleaner gets a look in because they would have to charge twice as much to make any money so i keep my work nice and compact.no driving between jobs etc! ;)
oh and by the way i always clean frames,sill,doors including the £5 jobs!!
im 80% WFP/20% TRAD
DAZMOND
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If the custy is happy with the price and you are whats the problem. Some people can live on £350 a week and some need more.Different lifestyles ah :)
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Is Northumberland in the U K ?.I believe so .Do they sell petrol there?Yes. Is its cheaper there.No. Is beer cheaper there? no. Then why is there a rule window cleaning must be cheaper. DAAAAAAAAAAAA ITS IN YOUR LOCAL MIND START CHARGING MORE AND THINGS WILL CHANGE FOR YOU ALL .GROW SOME.
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If £25 an hour, which for a forty hour week equates to £52000 a year is not enough then to be charging customers then I staggered. Sure there are expences, but overheads in this game are not an awful lot and 52k a year is way above average wage. But what about holidays I hear you say, ok two weeks off and earn 50k instead of 52 or God forbid work a couple of Saturdays every now and then
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If £25 an hour, which for a forty hour week equates to £52000 a year is not enough then to be charging customers then I staggered. Sure there are expences, but overheads in this game are not an awful lot and 52k a year is way above average wage. But what about holidays I hear you say, ok two weeks off and earn 50k instead of 52 or God forbid work a couple of Saturdays every now and then
Hi
Mortgage costs?
Kevin WINDOLENE
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If £25 an hour, which for a forty hour week equates to £52000 a year is not enough then to be charging customers then I staggered. Sure there are expences, but overheads in this game are not an awful lot and 52k a year is way above average wage. But what about holidays I hear you say, ok two weeks off and earn 50k instead of 52 or God forbid work a couple of Saturdays every now and then
Hi
Mortgage costs?
Kevin WINDOLENE
Glad I don't have your mortgage Kev ;D
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mike G it works out nothing like 52 grand a year!!
lost days due to weather,sickness,low motivation,van repairs,late starts,early finishes,holidays etc,etc.
tax and insurances,accountant fees and all the other overheads,fuel equipment,resin etc.
most days you ll only manage 7 hours tops in an 8 hour day actually cleaning.less in winter,more like 5 or 6 hours a day.
so you see it doesnt quite work out that way spread out over 52 weeks a year.
your seriously deluded my friend if you think most of us earn that!more like half that!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Mortgage costs? Whats that got to do with it?
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mike G it works out nothing like 52 grand a year!!
lost days due to weather,sickness,low motivation,van repairs,late starts,early finishes,holidays etc,etc.
tax and insurances,accountant fees and all the other overheads,fuel equipment,resin etc.
most days you ll only manage 7 hours tops in an 8 hour day actually cleaning.less in winter,more like 5 or 6 hours a day.
so you see it doesnt quite work out that way spread out over 52 weeks a year.
your seriously deluded my friend if you think most of us earn that!more like half that!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
it still works out the same, 8 hours a day mon - fri is 40 hours a week at 25 per hour your GROSS income will be 52k a year. I didnt say you would take home 52 k a year. But I know one thing for sure I do as many hours in the winter as I do in the summer, 5 hour days would be a luxury, I think I'll put my prices up, drop some who moan and do less for the same money.
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im sorry mike your talking rubbish!.most window cleaners only actually work "on the glass" so to speak 25-30 hours a week.the rest of the time is spent driving/filling up/admin.coffee break,dinners.or simply chatting to customers.the odd day for bad weather so the figures just dont add up mate!!
i should know ive had a window cleaning business for 17 years!!
im being realistic YOUR NOT!!! ;D ;D ;D
DAZMOND
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Dazmond, just wondered how long you have been a window cleaner ? :P
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HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY DO AS MANY HOURS IN THE WINTER AS YOU DO IN THE SUMMER?IT GETS DARK AT 4PM.SOMETIMES 330PM!!!NEAR THE SHORTEST DAYS!!
AND WHAT ABOUT THE SNOW AND ICE?
your being unrealistic mike.
dazmond
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You do actually get 8 hours daylight in the winter. I do a lot of shop work which has to be done before 10am so quite often I am working at 5 and yes i can see what i'm doing because they all have lights on.
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you can always do 7- 8 hours though daz if you really wanna
In winter you still get 8-4 at the worst of times, its the cold that stops play
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Its not a case of being unrealistic its a matter of fact if you work 40 hours at 25 per hour it works out at £1000
The only thing unrealistic would be to think you could actually do 40 hours worth of work in 40 hours just because of tea breaks, yapping etc
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When i started 7 yrs ago, commercial was "the holy grail", good money if you could get in but things seem to have changed. The prices i hear being quoted for commercial and shop work locally are often ridiculous. Dont think people analyse their business enough. I make better dosh on residential than a lot of the commercial boys can possibly do, if they bothered to do a simple time and motion study on their round, it would open their mind up a bit. Commercial also attracts alot more competition than residential.
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christopher b listen mate some of us still earn ok with £5 jobs!
i average £25 an hour on my super compact estate work on prices ranging from£5-£10.
no other window cleaner gets a look in because they would have to charge twice as much to make any money so i keep my work nice and compact.no driving between jobs etc! ;)
oh and by the way i always clean frames,sill,doors including the £5 jobs!!
im 80% WFP/20% TRAD
DAZMOND
Dazmond, hey man seams like I rocked your cart a bit, well sorry realy didnt mean to. I have pleanty of £5.00 hits and i should have said some of the semis around hear are well rather big, you could forget touching second floor with a 25 footer!
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Professional
One f two s
If your going to preach try and be accurate