Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Ian101 on January 28, 2013, 03:05:10 pm
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Reading a post on here recently that said something along lines of too many window cleaners these days as its so easy now with WFP anyone can clean windows.
Is this true for some WFpolers out there.
Personally I started trad and went wfp after 6 months so yup I still would be using ladders and tradding if no such thing as wfp.
Using a ladder never bothered me.
Are there some wfpolers than cant trad ?
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Cleaned windows for 9 years I would still be cleaning windows trad and it wouldnt bother me one bit. My grandad who I worked for 6 years before going it alone still cleans windows on ladders no he is 71.
I think if there was no wfp there wouldnt be half as many as there is.
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Cleaned windows for 9 years I would still be cleaning windows trad and it wouldnt bother me one bit. My grandad who I worked for 6 years before going it alone still cleans windows on ladders no he is 71.
I think if there was no wfp there wouldnt be half as many as there is.
I suspect u may be correct but if people are honest then we will find out ;)
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I honestly don't know - if I hadn't fallen off a ladder and was still physically fit then probably.
But if the powers that be banned wfp I could never go back to trad.!
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For me yes as I was trad for 27 years, WFP for 5 years now. I still do about 10% trad and don't mind it at all.
Mind you, I know some out there who cannot even climb a ladder, as dont like heights, as for working off a ladder, not a chance.
I would expect at least 20% would not be out there if WFP was not here.
Steve
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I can trad just fine,its how i started.
However i hate ladders,dont feel safe on them.
If it wasnt for wfp i would have probably jacked it in by now!
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im only interested in the ladder side myself. i like a bit of a challenge and old style ways of working.
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16 years in the game and counting, 100% trad, so my answer is 'yes'.
John
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I voted 'No', but then I retired from the tools three years ago ;D
Started in the late 60's and enjoyed every minute of my ladder work days. Even after a nasty fall in '78 I still went back as soon as I could.
Kept me fit and I used to get a real 'high' from the exercise - came home every day feeling I'd earned my money ;D
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I went wfp about 12 months in due to a fall and the need for a knee op , now 7 years later i would sell up without a second thought of going back on the rungs full time again , if wfp never came to be , i dont think i would still be in it either !
Rich
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Interesting question and my honest answer ............. No!
I wouldn't have been prepared to climb ladders at my age for a living and if wfp were banned tomorrow then I'd look for another job.
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I have been a window cleaner for 12 years and wfp for the last 3 years. When I look back at some of the things I used to do before climbing on tiles etc before wfp it makes me cringe. Looking back I was so stupid just trying to please customers yet risking life and limb.
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yes, half of me work is going up the ladder.
any building is three story high the pole come out!
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im only interested in the ladder side myself. i like a bit of a challenge and old style ways of working.
eeeee when I was a lad it was all fields around here ;) ;D
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Yes I would still be trad but I would be hating going up a ladder all the time and my earnings would be lower and less work and more knackerd!
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yes to be honest I like to still use ladders and do so for 30% of work. I have got a bad knee though which I think is down to the square rungs on ladders rather than the older style rungs.
Sometimes I look back and think how simple those days were and it would be nice to just use a normal car with a few rags in the back and a ladder on the roof. The good old days.
I'm being serious when I say I mis em.
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Honest answer is No. I only got into window cleaning because of WFP some 9 years ago. It started out as an add on to our pressure cleaning business, now is the main part of our business.
Whilst I can clean trad way, insides and some shops, I would not feel safe climbing ladders.
Good question Ian...It does make it easier for people to start up window cleaning, if you don't like heights etc, however, you still have to be business minded, still have to work out in all weathers, still have to do a good job cleaning the windows, still have to find customers. I have seen many new window cleaners start up WFP and after a year or so they are gone.
Steve G
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No. I did originally plan on starting trad. I bought a ladder and equipment, but in the end decided that it just wasn't for me at 47. I use a ladder for the odd job, but no I would not do this on ladders. Different job.
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I'd just be charging much, much more.
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not a chance....not interested one little bit in working
that hard again :)
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Honest answer is No. I only got into window cleaning because of WFP some 9 years ago. It started out as an add on to our pressure cleaning business, now is the main part of our business.
Whilst I can clean trad way, insides and some shops, I would not feel safe climbing ladders.
Good question Ian...It does make it easier for people to start up window cleaning, if you don't like heights etc, however, you still have to be business minded, still have to work out in all weathers, still have to do a good job cleaning the windows, still have to find customers. I have seen many new window cleaners start up WFP and after a year or so they are gone.
Steve G
their loss .... ebays gain ... amount of stuff on there at the moment ... think im bidding on 2 trolleys .. a van set up and a few other bits and pieces.
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all shops in londons west end are done trad.so yes
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Most of you are answering with hindsight, though. If wfp hadn't been invented you wouldn't know any different to trad.
I wonder how many were on the verge of jacking trad in or looking for another job before grasping the pole.
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im only interested in the ladder side myself. i like a bit of a challenge and old style ways of working.
eeeee when I was a lad it was all fields around here ;) ;D
thats it exactly, also like watching sugar cane being cut with a machete etc. old ploughing/harrowing vids tractor pulling channel etc and on youtube is a U.S. firestation where out the back they make wooden ladders from scratch , all good dyed -in -the- wool slog
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Yes only been wfp 15 months 12 years trad before going wfp.
If there was no wfp there wouldn't be as many window cleaners because so many have not a clue how to trad & are scared to go up a ladder.
WFP makes the job a lot easier.
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Voted no.
No way I'd be cleaning if ladders were involved.
i am looking for managing a business rather than working in one myself and the H&S implications would put me off ::)
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I worked with ladder for 2 years before i went wfp.
I wasn't the quickest but my hourly rate went up in that time from around £4 per hour to averaging £18ph before i got wfp.
I use my ladders 2 or 3 times per month, mostly for access and i don't feel anywhere near as comfortable on them as i used to.
I would go back to ladders very begrudgingly but as the alternative is factory, carer or cleaner for min wage, i would.
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3 years ago i was seriously thinking of jacking it in due to all the ladder climbing!id fell off twice in 15 years and was very lucky not to injure myself too seriously.
then i found this forum and went wfp and ive never looked back.it gave me a new lease of life and attitude to my business.
dont get me wrong i still use ladders occasionally.usually for opening a locked gate or the odd flat roof but i could never go back to them full time.
i wouldnt be able to clean half the jobs i have now as they would be too dangerous to clean using ladders on my own.
also i work far more in bad weather where i would be heading off home in my ladder days!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
regards
dazmond
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14 years trad till last August, still have my ladder though for access, every now and then when coming back to the van with the pole I spot the worn line on the edge of the ladder fading away - and I don't miss her one bit just like the ex
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Answer is def, no i had two falls on ladders 18 years ago , the last fall i was lucky that i did not break my back so you can stick those ladders where the sun dont shine.
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Most of you are answering with hindsight, though. If wfp hadn't been invented you wouldn't know any different to trad.
I wonder how many were on the verge of jacking trad in or looking for another job before grasping the pole.
fair point going to rephrase question :)