Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: dazmond on January 13, 2016, 07:44:23 am
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is trad on ladders dying out finally?a few guys ive known for years are finally making the switch (one after 25 years on the ladders,the other 10 years).another few guys are now using WFP on domestics and not just commercial after years of saying "our customers wont like it". ;D
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still a few on ladders near me or they do a mix but wfp probably now the default setting for any newbie.
ex customer got made redundant late last year now set up as a window cleaner straight to wfp.
can see a time when all will be wfp as todays customers children who watch when we clean with wfp are tomorrows customers and wont even know what a mop and squeegee is - of course shop fronts and insides will always be mainly trad.
same thing possibly happened when we went from the 2 rag method to the mop and squeegee ... no one uses the 2 rag method now bar the odd 80 year old still working
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There's an oldish guy I see now and again, cleans half a cul de sac whilst I do the other half.
He's always done his half with ladders, last time I saw him though he turned up in his Peugeot 106, massive pole sticking through the front passenger window, backseats down with a trolley system and loads of barrels in the back.
He drives 40 miles and back each day to buy his pure from a supplier as he doesn't know how to make his own. I tried to explain it all to him but got the feeling he couldn't really be bothered to setup a decent system.
Also was shocked how quick he done his half of the cul de sac, 4 × 4 bed houses in about 20 mins!
He didn't touch the frames though, just a quick 1 pass of the glass and quick spray.
Not sure how he gets away with it.
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The few I see on ladders are semi retired or close to, chatted to a guy once who said he was happy with the small round he still had and only planned to do a couple more years and so could not be bothered with all the hassle of changing.
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Many trad guys do change over to wfp eventually for one reason or another which is mainly due to health reasons.
Then they all say it's the best move they have ever made and should have changed over years ago..
Still you will always get some trad that are really anti wfp and would never change over no matter what. I suppose this is to do mainly with how much it costs to set up and nothing to do with which method works best for different types of buildings.
In this day and age I don't think you can call yourself a proper window cleaner if you can't do both trad & wfp methods myself as there will always be jobs that are best suited to using one or the other.
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Have to agree it does attract a lot of newbies who to be honest don't normally last, my area is sort of different
as the majority of window cleaning is done by employers of least 10 or more who have no interest in changing over and to be
honest if I was in their shoes I wouldn't either unless forced.
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Maybe they just smelt the coffee
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I'm going back to trad. Hopefully start a trend.
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Is that when gardiners start to produce xtream trad gear then?
If so I think you will be waiting a wee while Damo ;D
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ive been doing a customer for about a year wfp, shes always at work.
this week she came out and asked me to dry them, i tried to educate her but she wouldnt have it. i bladed the bottoms dry, get a new customer near her shes gone. or ill let her look out for a trad guy. the windows all dry off spot free. ive checked them
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ive been doing a customer for about a year wfp, shes always at work.
this week she came out and asked me to dry them, i tried to educate her but she wouldnt have it. i bladed the bottoms dry, get a new customer near her shes gone. or ill let her look out for a trad guy. the windows all dry off spot free. ive checked them
We cleaned a working couple's windows for 6 years before she happened to be in the last time we cleaned. Not happy when we told her we always left them wet and they have always dried perfectly.
"You have always been happy with the quality of the clean, haven't you?"
"Yes, but I thought you dried them off".
"We have done them this way since we first started."
"Well I'm not happy with the way you do them."
We got dumped a few weeks later for a trad cleaner. The reason? poor workmanship and being late. Customer was on a 6 week rota and the trad cleaner had done them twice since we were there last time. (The trad cleaner also walks on their roof tiles to clean the bathroom and toilet window.)
What amazed me was that she had never been in when we called, even although her day off is a week day. I even watered her pot plants that were wilting during one hot, dry summer when they were away.
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Saw a unicorn this morning oh I mean a trad WC,he looked frozen,when he saw the steam coming from my brush he nearly fell off his ladder 😡😡
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Saw a unicorn this morning oh I mean a trad WC,he looked frozen,when he saw the steam coming from my brush he nearly fell off his ladder
Indeed... you can't beat wfp warm water for sure as it looks like steam in cold weather. Not only that it keeps me hands nice and warm too. Long gone are the days of plunging me hands into freezing cold buckets of water... Sod that ;D
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the more wfp guys the less work they will be due to the speed the newbies will see how quick it is the more work they will look for hence price wars or under cutting has wok gets harder to find in the long run imo
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The odd one I know in the areas I work just will not change one of em said I will give you my diary of work before I go down that way of working,5 years on he's still getting cold 4-5 months of the year. You can pysically see it in his hands too they look like they've been dipped in coal lo,I drive off laughing most times it wouldn't matter what you said they won't ditch the ladders I don't even bother talking WFP to em anymore it's pointless.
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less that change the better imo to many wanna be at wfp not doing the job properly and giving it a bad name I have had a few recommendations but when they saw I am wfp they gave me the knock back because the last windy changed to wfp and made a balls of it so they wanted it done the old way
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I'm going back to trad. Hopefully start a trend.
I'm gonna move to Biggleswade - apparently there's loads of WFP work available there ;D
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less that change the better imo to many wanna be at wfp not doing the job properly and giving it a bad name I have had a few recommendations but when they saw I am wfp they gave me the knock back because the last windy changed to wfp and made a balls of it so they wanted it done the old way
Just tell em" ladders are banned now so do you want them doing properly or not? ;D
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the more wfp guys the less work they will be due to the speed the newbies will see how quick it is the more work they will look for hence price wars or under cutting has wok gets harder to find in the long run imo
Add to that all these franchisors building multiple business for their franchisees! ;)
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less that change the better imo to many wanna be at wfp not doing the job properly and giving it a bad name I have had a few recommendations but when they saw I am wfp they gave me the knock back because the last windy changed to wfp and made a balls of it so they wanted it done the old way
yeah it happens from time to time but i simply say "dont pay me if your not happy after windows have dried".never had a problem after that. :)
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There's an oldish guy I see now and again, cleans half a cul de sac whilst I do the other half.
He's always done his half with ladders, last time I saw him though he turned up in his Peugeot 106, massive pole sticking through the front passenger window, backseats down with a trolley system and loads of barrels in the back.
He drives 40 miles and back each day to buy his pure from a supplier as he doesn't know how to make his own. I tried to explain it all to him but got the feeling he couldn't really be bothered to setup a decent system.
Also was shocked how quick he done his half of the cul de sac, 4 × 4 bed houses in about 20 mins!
He didn't touch the frames though, just a quick 1 pass of the glass and quick spray.
Not sure how he gets away with it.
Only a matter of time before he gets complaints one simple mistake like catching tops of filthy frames and getting dirty runs , Slap & Dash springs to mind but they think they're doing a great job and don't have a clue must have been crap as trad as well .
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i picked up a job 2 years ago ish the trad guy broke a tile so they cancled him for me as i wfp this road never had a issue since also i brought a couple roads of a trad guy as it was to high for him now he like 60+ dident lose 1 single job when i swiched them to wfp tops trad bottoms in fact ive had some comments saying how mch cleaner the glass is even tho im 7 weekly he was 5 weekly ;D one guy said my misses wont like that water left on the glass i said it will dry spot 3 well she was one of them who said how mch beta the clean was lmfao
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there is a few guys in my area now that were trad only and now starting to swich over to wfp i saw a guy b 4 xmass who has now got a trollie system ;D
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I'm going back to trad. Hopefully start a trend.
I'm gonna move to Biggleswade - apparently there's loads of WFP work available there ;D
haha. Although had some cancel recently. They didn't realise I left the Windows wet lol. I won't be covering Biggleswade anymore as buying a house where all my work is so will be too far :)
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is trad on ladders dying out finally?a few guys ive known for years are finally making the switch (one after 25 years on the ladders,the other 10 years).another few guys are now using WFP on domestics and not just commercial after years of saying "our customers wont like it". ;D
christmas presents,give it a couple of week and the poles will be at the back of the shed or on the tip
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I'm still trad and going strong!! I have considered switching over for a while, at the moment I'm young and fit and don't mind ladders, if I ever can't be bothered I do bottoms and the lad who works for me goes up there :D :D :D I can see benefits of wfp, I have 2 large estates that are 50% of my work that have no rear access apart from over the garage or through the garage. Most aren't in during the day or their garages full of junk, so wfp I'd need a ladder at every call to up and over anyway, plus I'm pretty quick at trad, between us we do £40-£50 an hour easily some work even more, £7 an hour for him means I'm on a good wage and enjoying my work, il switch over one day I'm sure , May even do half and half before next winter comes ;)
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That's what most trad guy's say but I know first hand you can't beat gravity and the sudden stop at the end sure hurts like hell ;D
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That's what most trad guy's say but I know first hand you can't beat gravity and the sudden stop at the end sure hurts like hell ;D
I never rush and get out of my comfort zone, safety first :P plus I'm 6 and a half foot at the top of an average house window my feet are 3 foot off the floor I should just jump haha