Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: dave f on July 28, 2017, 07:13:23 am
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I m o window cleaning gear is expensive because the large profit to be made in window cleaning.so that means we have more money to spend thus suplyers charge for over priced goods I m o, same has in the catering equipment industry and many others, they know you need it so inflate prices the thrifty ones on here can get the job done for a lot less that's if you don't mined buying brushes from asda and making your own gear e t c. the industry as come a long way since just using scrims but even so. I feel ripped off every time I get new equipment must be the Yorkshire man in me. lol
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I m o window cleaning gear is expensive because the large profit to be made in window cleaning.so that means we have more money to spend thus suplyers charge for over priced goods I m o, same has in the catering equipment industry and many others, they know you need it so inflate prices the thrifty ones on here can get the job done for a lot less that's if you don't mined buying brushes from asda and making your own gear e t c. the industry as come a long way since just using scrims but even so. I feel ripped off every time I get new equipment must be the Yorkshire man in me. lol
your just a tight git.everyone needs to make money.
its a bit like when i window cleaning customer thinks you ve got no overheads and are shocked when you say you spend £5k-£7k on expenses alone every year(and thats before tax!).
all these suppliers have overheads just like us(but on a much bigger scale)
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i do agree companies like ionics are expensive but i dont buy anything from them anyway. ;D
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I would definitely consider £50 for a brush head to be expensive.
Especially when you can buy standard broom brush heads for £2 at b&q. Surely there isn't a huge difference in the manufacturing process.
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its the 20% VAT we all pay on everything thats the killer mate.(when you get to the shopping cart!).
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I would definitely consider £50 for a brush head to be expensive.
Especially when you can buy standard broom brush heads for £2 at b&q. Surely there isn't a huge difference in the manufacturing process.
Volume.
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go vat registered then if you don't wanna pay the vat
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Obviously its business savvy supply n demand.
My bug bare is summer holidays. When my older children were younger we spent out holidays just a couple of weeks b4 it was peak season and paid between £300 -£400 less per week for exactly the same holiday.
Now more people are doing uk summer holidays//camping holidays compared to going abroad the prices have doubled and some even trippled. Its all about supply n demand.
Thats what makes me chuckle when pricing structures are discussed on forums and somethingbim only starting to get wise too. For instance in some of my areas there are many coyboy cleaners who come and go, many new starters with grand ideas who dont last a year and so forth. Whereas ive been there for what seems forever and do a good job. So people have actively sort me out. Supply n demand......they are after a regular, reliable service with quality thrown in as well. They know they will get that with me and part of the reason why?? Charging appropriately for the demand thats on you
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Its not that expensive if you don't want it to be, pre filters are a prime example one guy could spend £30 a year on them and
another could go into the hundreds simply because he's trying to protect a 4040 membrane that averages anything from £40
to £60 a year.
The secrete is to stay away from gimmicks especially gimmicks that need to be maintained by the guys who sell them.
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I believe in spending money where it's needed.
For example I wouldnt buy an iconics or grippa system etc they runs into the thousands when I can do the same thing fir hundreds with a d.I. y version.
But I would spend good money on an extreme pole as that's going to make a difference to my working day.
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Interesting question this.
Personally I believe in buying quality kit, brand new vans, hot water ect.
I always think of it as money making equipment that generates far more than it costs. For example our brand new vans fully kitted out with ionics, gardiner poles, hot (gas) all in ready to work cost about £23K but they turn over about £70K a year each. I plan to keep them for about 5-6 years then sell and start again. so over the lifetime with us they generate a possible £420K I think that's a bargain!
Because I employ I made the choice to always buy a crash tested system and not do a DIY set up.
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Interesting question this.
Personally I believe in buying quality kit, brand new vans, hot water ect.
I always think of it as money making equipment that generates far more than it costs. For example our brand new vans fully kitted out with ionics, gardiner poles, hot (gas) all in ready to work cost about £23K but they turn over about £70K a year each. I plan to keep them for about 5-6 years then sell and start again. so over the lifetime with us they generate a possible £420K I think that's a bargain!
Because I employ I made the choice to always buy a crash tested system and not do a DIY set up.
whats laughable though lee is that your using cheap gas heaters.i agree leasing or buying new vans are the way to go though rather than old vans but i had a gas leak in my new van and a loud bang.really shook me up.took heater out straight away.i wouldnt use one now.
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We have not had a single issue in any van in the 5 years of using gas heaters. Diesels have their share of issues and cost way more.
Not really laughable is it. Bit of an exaggeration there.
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If you open the van doors and have a neb, i agree its nicer to see a van set up by grippa or ionics or pure freedom for instance. But
To be fair, who cares as no one really sees in the van. So for me its easier to simply transfer water into a tank in the van with a crash tested cage or not. (Tho totally understand if employing ones would be wise to use a tested cage).
The money maker for me is in how you get the water from the van tank to the window. This is where it counts and personally where i feel ones can stand out. If you have a diy brush on a painter n decorators pole for instance compared to a carbon pole for the job and appropriate brush and connections for the job at hand.
Thats where for me the money should be spent but its also worth shopping around for and experimenting. Ie, i know i can work with a tds of 010 for instance and not have any problems. My RO will reduce my water down to 007. My DI is raising above 000 so do i go spend money every so many months because im paranoid about using 000tds water............NO for me thats wasting money. Once it goes higher than my RO i might consider refilling at that point. But thats where my knowledge of my work, my climate and my water enables me to decide.
My current brush is just less than £40 delivered and will need replacing perhaps by time its a yr old. Will i wait to replace, NO because a good brush makes my money faster and you soon make that back.
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We have not had a single issue in any van in the 5 years of using gas heaters. Diesels have their share of issues and cost way more.
Not really laughable is it. Bit of an exaggeration there.
i didnt have any problems either mate for years but you will one day.i know 4 window cleaners now who also have had gas leaks.its not worth it.also 2 heating engineers told me to take it out.
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back on topic.as my tap tds is so low (029)i only need to use a DI vessel to purify my water.if i had to use a RO i would of probably gone for a more expensive pro system install as got nowhere to make water at home and store it so RO would have to be in the van.
so i DIY delivery system is absolutely fine.although i have got a crash tested cage for my 500L tank these days.its worth spending money on good equipment and vans just got to use your common sense.
i have been guilty of overspending on WFP over the years but lots of us have as its developed.i think now we have some good products on the market(streamline pumpboxes,carbon poles,coxreels,uni valves etc)
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We have not had a single issue in any van in the 5 years of using gas heaters. Diesels have their share of issues and cost way more.
Not really laughable is it. Bit of an exaggeration there.
i didnt have any problems either mate for years but you will one day.i know 4 window cleaners now who also have had gas leaks.its not worth it.also 2 heating engineers told me to take it out.
There are window cleaning dealers who sell gas heating systems which have everything built into the unit, if Lee is using these then he should be safe enough, agree a mate is a gas engineer and he just rolls the eyes when I tell him what some shiners are
up to.
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If you open the van doors and have a neb, i agree its nicer to see a van set up by grippa or ionics or pure freedom for instance. But
To be fair, who cares as no one really sees in the van. So for me its easier to simply transfer water into a tank in the van with a crash tested cage or not. (Tho totally understand if employing ones would be wise to use a tested cage).
The money maker for me is in how you get the water from the van tank to the window. This is where it counts and personally where i feel ones can stand out. If you have a diy brush on a painter n decorators
pole for instance compared to a carbon pole for the job and appropriate brush and connections for the job at hand.
Thats where for me the money should be spent but its also worth shopping around for and experimenting. Ie, i know i can work with a tds of 010 for instance and not have any problems. My RO will reduce my water down to 007. My DI is raising above 000 so do i go spend money every so many months because im paranoid about using 000tds water............NO for me thats wasting money. Once it goes higher than my RO i might consider refilling at that point. But thats where my knowledge of my work, my climate and my water enables me to decide.
My current brush is just less than £40 delivered and will need replacing perhaps by time its a yr old. Will i wait to replace, NO because a good brush makes my money faster and you soon make that back.
I found that several of our commercial clients were very intrested in what was in the van Evan insisting that there maintenance manager take a look to make sure that I had the equipment in it that I stated I had , as several previous window cleaners claimed the had ro systems but turned out they were just using tap water and two of these company's are well known national names , they were also very impressed with the van fit out and thought if the van looked that good that we would do a good job rather than the untidy diy vans that some people had been to quote with , needless to say we have a number of contracts with these firms although others have tried undercutting us we still have the jobs . Many people want to know how it works when you show them inside the van and explained it all they rarely question the price 😂😂😂😂. Win win
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I seem to remember loads of threads about four or five years ago about how utterly mavellous it would be to buy poles directly from China. I don't see them any more. And I haven't noticed anyone on here singing their praises. perhaps what we're buying isn't so grossly overpriced after all.
Vin
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We have a client that is very interested in what is in the van even to the point where we had to give them the whole system spec that they sent off to a water treatment company to see if it was safe to use on site
They were worried about their staff inhaling the spray on a windy day
Now they are talking about us giving them a water sample every 12 weeks so they can send it off for testing as we use hot water
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We have a client that is very interested in what is in the van even to the point where we had to give them the whole system spec that they sent off to a water treatment company to see if it was safe to use on site
They were worried about their staff inhaling the spray on a windy day
Now they are talking about us giving them a water sample every 12 weeks so they can send it off for testing as we use hot water
Which company is that because that just sounds crazy and arrogant and full of sceptics. Or is this a slight exaggeration every 12 wks because surely once they know its just h2o you dont need to keep proving it. Or do you clean top secret facilities
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Top secret something like that
They want the water tested for legionella bacteria that could form in the heater on the system then go airborn when the windows are being cleaned
Just a manager who has swollowed the whole health and safety manual
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We have a client that is very interested in what is in the van even to the point where we had to give them the whole system spec that they sent off to a water treatment company to see if it was safe to use on site
They were worried about their staff inhaling the spray on a windy day
Now they are talking about us giving them a water sample every 12 weeks so they can send it off for testing as we use hot water
If you do work for ss on solar panels you have to give water samples and tds readings before you start work more large commercial company's are asking for this before awarding contracts , we had our vans inspected by a very large company before giving us the contract to work on there properties and they do spot checks to make sure water quality is up to scratch it's written in the contract terms and conditions , sounds ridiculous but true
Which company is that because that just sounds crazy and arrogant and full of sceptics. Or is this a slight exaggeration every 12 wks because surely once they know its just h2o you dont need to keep proving it. Or do you clean top secret facilities
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Top secret something like that
They want the water tested for legionella bacteria that could form in the heater on the system then go airborn when the windows are being cleaned
Just a manager who has swollowed the whole health and safety manual
we have exactly the same situation with one of our clients , it's called covering there backs should anything go wrong , don't want to name the company on an open forum but let's say they have thousands of large retirement apartments throughout the uk
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I come from a carpet cleaning background but now mix and match with wfp....I quickly found out that diy systems are fine till you get busy then things start to fail and you have no backup.
Then I spent quite a bit of money on equipment including a top of the range portable....the portable is still going strong 8 years later with only new vac motors and regular servicing and the tools, hoses etc are still working no problem.....the term "buy cheap buy twice" is still true now....most of my buys now are luxury "extras" as all my "old" equipment still works fine with little maintenance every now and then.....you can maintain good, well made but pricier equipment forever...cheap crap just breaks down.
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Top secret something like that
They want the water tested for legionella bacteria that could form in the heater on the system then go airborn when the windows are being cleaned
Just a manager who has swollowed the whole health and safety manual
That must be really frustrating as well though. Because i could be completely wrong with this but legionella is based on water being stagnate and warm/hot.
If your warming water via a gas heater or a diesel heater then that doesnt apply. If like me water is being heated over night in a static van then again its not static for long enough for it to grow and certainly not whilst in transit all day.
Sometimes H&S really frustrates me. But i suppose better to be save than sorry
On the other hand, someones post on tds quality for solar panels is understandable. But both of these scenarios dont require them to look into your van nor require a van fittes system compared to someone who filters into a storage tank and transfers said water into a tank in the van.
Both tanks can be caged and all other equipment can be tidied in the same mannar.
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Lee Pryor.
If I employed I would never use LPG in a van. Far to dangerous and a proper grey area concerning insurance and legality. If the unthinkable did happen you could seriously injure one of your employees or even kill one of them. In either scenario the Health & Safety Executive would fine you a massive amount and your business would probably close. You could even end up with a jail term. The fine from the HSE would probably be more than your last round of investment in your company.
Take a look at this Transit Custom. This happened a few miles from me. The guy is lucky to be alive. All it took for this to happen was a small leak from a barbecue gas cylinder which was left in the van overnight. The guy started the van up in the morning and BANG!
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/shocking-aftermath-explosion-redland-put-40054 (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/shocking-aftermath-explosion-redland-put-40054)
Even if your gas bottles are fitted in a sealed metal box within the van and this box has the van floor vented you could still have a leak from the pipe wok to the shower heater. The HSE would take a dim view if your procedure to mitigate a leak was asking your employees to turn off the gas at the bottle each night.
This could happen to any of your 10 vans at any time. This is just my honest opinion. Why put yourself in this position when your doing a great job building up a great window cleaning company?
Do the right thing and take out the gas heaters.
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Lee Pryor.
If I employed I would never use LPG in a van. Far to dangerous and a proper grey area concerning insurance and legality. If the unthinkable did happen you could seriously injure one of your employees or even kill one of them. In either scenario the Health & Safety Executive would fine you a massive amount and your business would probably close. You could even end up with a jail term. The fine from the HSE would probably be more than your last round of investment in your company.
Take a look at this Transit Custom. This happened a few miles from me. The guy is lucky to be alive. All it took for this to happen was a small leak from a barbecue gas cylinder which was left in the van overnight. The guy started the van up in the morning and BANG!
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/shocking-aftermath-explosion-redland-put-40054 (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/shocking-aftermath-explosion-redland-put-40054)
Even if your gas bottles are fitted in a sealed metal box within the van and this box has the van floor vented you could still have a leak from the pipe wok to the shower heater. The HSE would take a dim view if your procedure to mitigate a leak was asking your employees to turn off the gas at the bottle each night.
This could happen to any of your 10 vans at any time. This is just my honest opinion. Why put yourself in this position when your doing a great job building up a great window cleaning company?
Do the right thing and take out the gas heaters.
wow!that is scary! :o :o
mine was a loud bang at the back of my van(doors were open).enough to make me take the heater out straight away.
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Back on track of this threa, i know i was saying its supply n demand and all. But since i broke my flowmaster digi controller re fitting my tank, i now have to order a new one.
How much!!! ::)roll ::)roll
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£82.40 plus vat
http://purefreedom.co.uk/product/flowmaster-digital-pump-controller/
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£82.40 plus vat
http://purefreedom.co.uk/product/flowmaster-digital-pump-controller/
Thats a lot of carvery dinners ;D
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£82.40 plus vat
http://purefreedom.co.uk/product/flowmaster-digital-pump-controller/
Thats a lot of carvery dinners ;D
;D ;D thats exactly the point lol 😂😂
But then i could go analogue for £6
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000W-12V-24V-48V-MAX-10-50V-40A-DC-Motor-Speed-Control-PWM-HHO-RC-Controller-/371218917231?
nav=WATCHING_ACTIVE
But i do like the digi controller, i wonder what profit is being made tho.
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Speaking of expensive, it's more expensive to get divorced, than it is to get married, but a divorce better value! ;D