Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: rednick on June 09, 2007, 10:27:43 am
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finally got my diy trolley up and running and i'm going out monday for the first time.been practicing on my house and results have not been perfect but not bad.any hints,tips,suggestions and advice from you experienced wfp'ers would be gratefully received,not only on 1st cleans but wfp in general.i am really quite nervous about monday but i hope it all goes well.thanks.
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Hi when you say the results are not perfect how do you mean? what sort of windows do you have in your own house?
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Don't worry if they're not perfect.
Most customers will be happy enough unless they're obviously poor.
In my limited experience you'd be hard pushed to get it "perfect" with WFP anyway.
If you inspect too closely you'll nearly always be disappointed with yourself.
It's not as clean in certain light as trad, but it doesn't matter.
The trick is not to inspect too closely and trust the customers to be happy with it.
Most of the time they are. ;)
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My advice would be this:-
Concentrate on doing the frames first (keep well away from vents)
or if you are going to do vents clean them out with a dry paintbrush and then damp scrim)
Then when all the frames are done go back and do the windows.
Most important to RINSE RINSE RINSE the windows.
After a couple of cleans they will be fine.
Let the customer its the best thing since sliced bread.
And they are getting their frames cleaned too.
Have confidence -you will not regret the move.
Russ
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Gotta agree with squeeks on this, as in all walks of life, different people different expectations, different window cleaners, different standards, you just gotta do enough to keep em happy ;)
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Good advice from Russ
Just let your custy's know it will take 2/3 cleans to be at a standard you and they would like.
Best of luck for Monday ;) Come back and let us know how you got on?
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Rednick
As jeff has said tell them about the first clean and having to take off all the soap you have been putting on over the years
When i first moved over to it i was nervous but after the first day or so you take it in your stride
You could also offer them if they are not happy you would go back and re-do any bad ones
It will just give them piece of mind and show you are willing to put right any mistakes
Good luck you will be fine
Andy
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i have got upvc windows with two top openers above one large pane,the spotting is worse on the large pane directly below the middle of the two top openers,thanks for the replies guys,is the best way to get good results to do frames on upvc and glass only on wooden frames ?
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i have got upvc windows with two top openers above one large pane,the spotting is worse on the large pane directly below the middle of the two top openers,thanks for the replies guys,did you tell your custies about the change to wfp or is this asking for trouble or just get on with it ?
1st clean with the two top openers above a large pane I give it a good going all over frame/glass especially in the gap between the two openers, give it time to drip while you do other windows then come back and clean just the glass, subsequent cleans keep the water well away from the gap itself and you'll be fine
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Rednick
Told everyone by letter of the change over before we started ,
so they all new what to expect
Andy
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If you want the best of both worlds then wfp tops and trad bottoms for the reason of safety.
Then in time when your confident with wfp change to doing lowers too.
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A variation of what Helen suggested is to WFP tops and botooms, then squeegee off the pure water on the downstairs.
Doesn't have to be every drop taken off, as long as it's dry and shiny in the main.
No need to detail, as it won't smear.
Takes seconds, and completes the job. ;)
I do this on sceptical customers.
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Hi Rednick,
That'll be me in a couple of months so I'll follow your progress with interest.
A word of encouragement. Was talking to another WFPer the other day and he said that after three months of WFPing the tops and tradding the downs his custies were asking him to do the downs as well because they were so pleased with it.
So go get 'em, and let us know how you get on.
Mark
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may start of doing tops only till i get in the swing- less water but more tackle to carry round.
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may start of doing tops only till i get in the swing- less water but more tackle to carry round.
I started off doing tops and bottoms, the reason for this was, I wanted to start as I meant to go on, you will learn more quiker by doing the bottoms aswell, because you can see what your doing, were your going wrong and were to take extra care, if its a water issue then just do the tops.
I told my custy's months in advance that I would be going wfp and while I was still up the ladder I paid special attention to all the frames including the tops, then when I did change to wfp, I did the same as Andy@w.c.s and that was to give all the custy's the letter that explained everything, never lost one custy because of the change over.
I hope all goes well for you, but you won't regret it :)
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my advise is this the more you spend on the first couple of cleans the better results you will have and the next visits onwards a breeze.
water fed pole is proberly the best way to clean any window but like most things preperation is the key element. taking your time here does pay as you may not be any quiker than trad but you need to look for the cleans after that because wfp is quicker by half but not from the start.
wooden frames scrub well then rinse frames well then do next window then back to rinse glass only thhen rinse again to be sure. sometime you will need to go back over one or two windows, check for milky drips if so go back over window untill drips are clear. This may seem to sound its taking ages but realy its not. on the 2nd and 3rd cleaning do the frames and glass but this time just rinse the glass by now you should be tell if its going to be ok and which windows need special attention. i have done this with many milky frames and altough i may have been slower than trad by the second time i would say i was abit quicker but still learning where to place hose ect.
these windows the little wooden milky crappy pains that never realy looked good i didnt want to do them so priced occordenly are now the houses i cant wait to get back to. a £20 house took hour by trad , now wfp takes 20mins and the custy is over the moon as they have never seen their frames looking so good and the glass is spotless. All of a sudden a maybe poorly priced house comes to an over priced house and some of the houses you thought were nice to do are now still good but not as good as the others.
wfp is an investment and i cant wait till iv completed a year as i know what 6 mths has done for me.and the future is looking very bright indeed. ;D
van or trolly. had both from the start and well my trolly has been in shed now for 3mths, i wish i never wasted any money on it , lifting and pulling 25L about with a pole in hand as well is bad enough let alone the weight of what ever trolly battery, pump ect and to top it off steps, rough pathes gravel ect them run out off water and having to fill up or change containers A BIG NO THANKS from me that seem like too much unnesserssy hard work to me. Once you get the knack of were to put hose how your going to get all away round house which dosnt take long 2-3 times max and look what your carrying, a hose and a pole
so VAN MOUNT IT IS for me anyway
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Good luck. That was me 15 months ago. Although it wasn't a doddle at first it was definitely the way to go forward and I wouldn't ever want to go back.
You will learn a lot very quickly.
Everything said by vwm in the previous post is good advice. I still use a trolly but you soon learn ways to get round lugging it about.
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I struggled at first with it all and it took me a few weeks until I felt more comfortable with it. Also, I was slower on the first couple of cleans than I was with trad cleaning. Due to lower cashflow and the slower initial speed, I introduced WFP in stages to my business. On the first time around I converted one third over. Second time around I did two thirds with WFP. Third time I did the lot. Not sure that staggering it like that was the best policy though as I was getting complaints for a few months before everyone seemed OK with WFP.
I think the best thing is if they start grumbling a lot, persevere and don't let your head go down.
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Thats true. You can worry about things too much and get in a right state. I told all my cutomers about how it might not be perfect first time etc etc. I think the only that did was to sensitise them to go and look for trouble. My advise, for what its worth , is start out WFP tops and still trad the bottoms for the time being. Even now I still trad kitchen windows and patio doors, picture windows etc.
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thanks for the encouragement and advice guys,just like to know what you do about open windows,do you do them very carefully or leave them,if you leave them do you still charge same or knock off accordingly ?
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thanks for the encouragement and advice guys,just like to know what you do about open windows,do you do them very carefully or leave them,if you leave them do you still charge same or knock off accordingly ?
I usually try to tap them shut with the brush head. Of coiurse that's not always possible and some types of poles might break if you try that. If I can't close a window, I turn the flow rate down and just clean the face of the glass and leave the frame.
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Rednick
YOU WILL BE FINE
just take your time and rinse well
All the best for tomorrow
let us know how you get on
:) :) :)
Andy