Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: sf on September 21, 2011, 06:26:11 pm
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Started pushing gutter cleans today.Got 6 lined up for next week so far £200 for a mornings work.Other than new builds i will be pushing this to each of my accounts for the next 3 months.Plus canvassing in evenings and weekends.I love autumn plenty of wet weather work.Happy days ;D
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We have nuts with gutters too. Good stuff!
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Funny I've been contemplating the idea myself today, because I just bought one of those gutter scoops things and got no work to do with it. I like to think, it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
I have done gutters before but I just stick my hand in there and dig it out.
Anyway..
I'm also thinking about trying to sell the installation of gutter guards. which could be fitted at the same time.
Also thinking of buying this to clear down pipes.
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/420003
I don't think I'll ever buy a gutter vac.
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wouldnt bother with drain rods. Easiest and quickest way to clear a down pipe [fill a gallon jack with water and turn upside down in to neck of down pipe the pressure of the water clears the down pipe in seconds).Over the years i have cleaned hundreds of downpipes using this method.
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what do you charge roughly.. if I say anything above a fiver they look at me like I'm a con man.
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£30 back and front 3 bed semi.Had 6 out of 21 customers snap my hand off today.Another 3 want it done next month ;D
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you going to try and sell them a gutter guard now I've mention it?
There's a few to chose from I'm just looking now..
this has me interested.
http://www.gutterguarduk.com/opportunities.html
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you going to try and sell them a gutter guard now I've mention it?
There's a few to chose from I'm just looking now..
this has me interested.
http://www.gutterguarduk.com/opportunities.html
they are a pile of dung, the moss sits on top then the grass grows out of the moss, so instead of having an easy gutter clean where the muck just slides along, you have a big length of intertwined grass and moss and gutter guard
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Gonna stick to cleaning gutters only,quick easy money.
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Well done SF - canvassing is the way to do it. I'm amazed you can do 6 in a morning though. Are they all side by side? By a morning, do you mean 4 hours? Repacking and unpacking the van often takes me nearly as long as the job itself.
Re gutter guards, IMHO they are only useful when the house is sat under trees that are shedding loads into the gutters. Got one tomorrow under huge pine trees and not looking forward to it. The gutters are full to the brim after the recent high winds and gutter guards would have stopped this. Only problem is that you can't then clean them with a vac and even with ladders they're a pain and as Stu says if you leave them for too long they need ripping out before you can clean.
Perfect solution is my custy who has booked me to do his gutters 4 times a year - I can live with that ;)
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Lhill, Why not buy a gutter vac? We have done 3 jobs this month that needed a gutter vac (3-4 floors up) and with regards to a gutter guard go for a gutter hedgehog much better way of doing it.
Regards
Alan
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£30 back and front 3 bed semi.Had 6 out of 21 customers snap my hand off today.Another 3 want it done next month ;D
assume you are only cleaning the inside of the gutters! Do you not find whilst cleaning them the outside gets dirty as well esp white upvc ???
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£30 back and front 3 bed semi.Had 6 out of 21 customers snap my hand off today.Another 3 want it done next month ;D
assume you are only cleaning the inside of the gutters! Do you not find whilst cleaning them the outside gets dirty as well esp white upvc ???
glad you dont live round here you would put me out of business in no time ;D
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Price is to clean out gutters only off ladder take roghly 20 mins per house.3 houses in 1 village, 3 in another village 10 mins drive between both villages.
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£30 back and front 3 bed semi.Had 6 out of 21 customers snap my hand off today.Another 3 want it done next month ;D
assume you are only cleaning the inside of the gutters! Do you not find whilst cleaning them the outside gets dirty as well esp white upvc ???
glad you dont live round here you would put me out of business in no time ;D
The reason why I probably wont get a gutter vac..
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would never buy a gutter vac.wfp for windows other than ground floor next spring.gutter vac never.
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Gutter vac? Never. They really suck, big time.
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would never buy a gutter vac.wfp for windows other than ground floor next spring.gutter vac never.
Never a gutter vac? Then why a WFP? Surely you should be trad right down the line.
Seriously gutters off ladders, fair enough. But have you got someone to foot the ladders? If you do then you've substantially reduced your income. If you don't then ... please be careful. Also, how many times does gutter vac allow you to reach instead of climbing on roof, conservatory roof etc.
Re gutter hedgehogs, I have heard about these but never seen them in use. Are they any good?
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purely for safety got quite a few awkward windows on my round trad.wfp would make them a lot safer.No one will be footing ladder.Im always carefull.Would also possibly open up commercial side for me.
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Dont sell gutter guard as you will be killing your own business.Just put a plastic pot scourer in the down pipe all t5he water will pass through the rest of the crud will stay at the down pipe so you can clean them again.The gutter scoop is a good tool as you can stand at one point a pull all the crud towards you by adding a extending pole.This will saving moving the ladder.
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a gutter hedgehog won me £50 last bonfire night , as i bet my mate he couldnt kick one over the house . it hit the chimney and landed in the gutter ;D
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purely for safety got quite a few awkward windows on my round trad.wfp would make them a lot safer.No one will be footing ladder.Im always carefull.Would also possibly open up commercial side for me.
sorry am I reading this right ??? wfp would make cleaning some windows safer - i think everyone agrees with that, but on the other hand you will continue to empty gutters via a ladder ??? is that correct ???
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yes,im very capable on a ladder.The windows im refering to are above pitched roofs,i consider these windows to be a hazzard off a ladder as i have to stand on roof to clean the windows.More people die/get seriously hurt falling down stairs in house than falling from ladder.I know lets ban stairs every house should have an elevator/escalator lol.
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yes,im very capable on a ladder.The windows im refering to are above pitched roofs,i consider these windows to be a hazzard off a ladder as i have to stand on roof to clean the windows.More people die/get seriously hurt falling down stairs in house than falling from ladder.I know lets ban stairs every house should have an elevator/escalator lol.
Sorry but i find your logic er mad. :P..... it just takes one accident, if it happens you will not be protected and possibly liable as your not following working at heights legs..... as there is a safer method which you could be using. wish you best Mike
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Everything in life has a risk.theres more dangerous things than climbing a ladder.Crossing the road, driving a car etc all every day tasks.Ladders are safe as long as you have experience and use common sense.
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Everything in life has a risk.theres more dangerous things than climbing a ladder.Crossing the road, driving a car etc all every day tasks.Ladders are safe as long as you have experience and use common sense.
What about gutters above Conservatories, pitched roofs (as with wfp) and over 2 stories (just confirmed another 4 blocks of flats)
Ladders are ok for certain jobs, as are lots of other things, but surely theres a right tool for every job ;)
Regards
Alan
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Everything in life has a risk.theres more dangerous things than climbing a ladder.Crossing the road, driving a car etc all every day tasks.Ladders are safe as long as you have experience and use common sense.
The logic you use is misguided.
Yes more people die crossing the road than climbing ladders.
The reason for that is because the number of roads crossed greatly outnumbers the number of ladders climbed prob by a factor of 10,000:1
As a % per road crossed/ladder climbed, for each activity, it as more dangerous to climb a ladder than to cross a road. If you fail to get this simple fact you will continue to be a danger to yourself because people who fail to see the dangers are more at risk.
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sf i have a custy with a blocked down pipe could you please explain how you clear it out? do i get a gallon "bottle" fill it and pour it down the pipe? the pressure will clear it?
many thanks ???
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sf i have a custy with a blocked down pipe could you please explain how you clear it out? do i get a gallon "bottle" fill it and pour it down the pipe? the pressure will clear it?
many thanks ???
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yer so you carry a gallon of water up a ladder reallly safe ! (at some point must use two hands to empty bottle - so only 2 points of contact on ladder! hse would love you!) then flush crap in pipe further down .... er ok ..... dont think we will be doing that!
What happens if this doesnt work?? what do you tell customer? I have just flushed crap further down pipe and its still blocked ;D ;D
Once its past the bend no gutter vac is going to do! The only real remedy is to remove guttering and empty.. we have had to do this on numerous occasions to find soakaway totally blocked via roots - conifers etc. Its then pasted back to custy
everything in life has a risk - yes but thats why we try to reduce the risks ;D ;D
its called a Risk assesment :P
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works every time never failed in 20 years.Cleaned out a downpipe with tree growing out of it on friday no gutter vac would be capable of doing.Everything has its place iv used a gutter vac for a company i worked for in the past.Wasnt at all impressed.Usless imo.knowledge and experience is everything.
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sf i have a custy with a blocked down pipe could you please explain how you clear it out? do i get a gallon "bottle" fill it and pour it down the pipe? the pressure will clear it?
many thanks ???
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yer so you carry a gallon of water up a ladder reallly safe ! (at some point must use two hands to empty bottle - so only 2 points of contact on ladder! hse would love you!) then flush crap in pipe further down .... er ok ..... dont think we will be doing that!
What happens if this doesnt work?? what do you tell customer? I have just flushed crap further down pipe and its still blocked ;D ;D
Once its past the bend no gutter vac is going to do! The only real remedy is to remove guttering and empty.. we have had to do this on numerous occasions to find soakaway totally blocked via roots - conifers etc. Its then pasted back to custy
everything in life has a risk - yes but thats why we try to reduce the risks ;D ;D
its called a Risk assesment :P
Hope you wear a safety hat while using gutter vac risk of falling debris ;D
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yes,im very capable on a ladder.The windows im refering to are above pitched roofs,i consider these windows to be a hazzard off a ladder as i have to stand on roof to clean the windows.More people die/get seriously hurt falling down stairs in house than falling from ladder.I know lets ban stairs every house should have an elevator/escalator lol.
Sorry but i find your logic er mad. :P..... it just takes one accident, if it happens you will not be protected and possibly liable as your not following working at heights legs..... as there is a safer method which you could be using. wish you best Mike
You can only break H & S regs if you have a safer method availabel to for instance if you have a gutter vac and dont use it and use the ladder instead that is a breach of H & S .
same as Trad window cleaner cannot be expected to use wfp if he chooses not to beacuse of the investment involved
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I take back what I've said.. about getting a gutter vac ;D
I was speaking to one of the management for a large job I do, and said I was thinking about getting a gutter vac.
And they instantly offered me the job to clean the gutters once or twice a year. :D
So had a look today and it seams the Omni Vac is the best one..
Can anyone else recommend a cheaper one that's just as powerful and I need about 36ft pipe.