Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: peekeclean on August 01, 2007, 08:10:16 am
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hi guys in 2 weeks got my first old house with wooden frames painted and iv been told they aint been done for a year,what is the best way of tackling them wfp??
I was going to try to clean just the glass as the frames look groty what do you think?
any help or idears would be good.
cheers joe
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I would do them all, you will benefit on future cleans then just rinse thoroughly
Chris
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thanks chris
anyone else have any advice?
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Same as chris. Give them a good all round rinse, frames as well.
When i do a new job wfp i always go back and check the 1st time.
If there's no problem with 1st clean there won't be with future cleans.
just to add, that its the frames more than the glass that people will note and comment on when viewed from the outside.
The advantages of doing frames are many. Chiefly, you will fly through the job on subsequent cleans.
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Trad them, then you will have no probs. ;)
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do all frames first then go back and do just the glass .
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if your starting out trad or wfp you still need help from others, neither will produce 100% finish from a cleaner new to either method
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Some wooden windows will suprise you,some can be in an awful state with bad frames flaky paint etc and yet they can come up near perfect,yet some wooden windows that look in good condition can be a disaster when cleaned WFP.The biggest pain with the flaky ones is rising off the bits of paint,turn the flow up a bit and it speeds the job up.
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The oxide bleed from the frames will be bad enough without complicating it by doing the frames as well, I would do a test window, I wouldnt do the paintwork/frames if its deteriorated. test by running your finger on the woodwork and looking for white chalk on your finger.
However I do loads of georgians glass only, in rows and get good results.
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Same here Jeff,i can never understand how people think that by scrubbing thr frames makes any difference when there in a bad way.If frames are that bad i will only attempt the glass only.
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Luke, I met the white lion guy, he said he and son in law are wanting to move from doing houses to commercial, doing a big job in Portmadog. Maybe he will give you some domestic work. The coastal strip is just asking for someone with a wfp- 3/4/5 floor guest houses etc. £££
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I have about 20 houses each month where the paint is flaky and the frames are rotten in places. I haven't had 1 problem with the finish. Not 1.
I was expecting to have to pass them on when i started wfp, but the only problem i have found is that they need alot of rinsing.
If not rinsed well there are little bits of paint debris that fall down the window a bit then stick.
I can do a much quicker better job by scrubbing the frames on these houses than by just trying to clean the glass.
High flow rate, broad sweeps of the brush, a good rinse, job done.
Wooden windows on barn conversions are the ones that i have had probs with. But these are treated with stain or something.
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Beware of poor upvc too. I had a cleanish first clean the other day and it looked really easy - untill the water started running like milk. Plastic oxidizes too.
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I'd agree with Jeff.
For gawd's sake don't touch the frames!
You will do a poor job if you do.
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isnt funny how some stay away from these windows, i for one am doing alot of them and they are being some of the best earners. promote the cleaning in a differant way tell the cutomer that the paint needs deoxidising before you can clean them. down here w/c stay clear of these jobs so the customer already knows that their windows are a nightmare to do. i started when a customer came out and asked about window cleaning and i said ill give it a go as it was at the end of the day. when i started and the paint was running like mad they could see what i was on about but after the frames looked so good they were more than happy. well thats saved me painting them this year because they look realy great now. told her the price for the first clean £40 8 windows and said if she was happy when they dried ill come out on the sat to do them. got home and then she calls " what a fantastic job you have done best i have every had in a w/c and please could you knock on my neibours doors as they are very impresses too" went out on the sat and ended up with 8 of these jobs and all were over the moon with the results and now pay £10 each every 5 weeks all of them. they all said as well that i have save them painting their windows.
they are now some of the best windows i clean with spotless reslts every time. all 8 took 6 hours to do first time and now 1 1/2 hours and some of the happiest customers around.
promote it, charge for it, or dont do it, is what i say but they will come clean in the end. say all this should putty be falling out then just advise them that there might be some imperfections but over all ok. a demo on a downstair window to me works every time for me then for the first clean work out how long its going to take per window then x the amount of windows. yes it may seem very very high but im not just cleaning glass its another service.