Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: richywilts on August 28, 2008, 08:33:04 pm
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hi guys just took on a 50metre fascia clean job for £175 and a conservatory clean with a glass roof for approx £140 i have 6 metre walkways with ladders and cripples (as i used to fit upvc fascias) so i can get right up there too clean the fascias shud i soak them with pure water then use cream cleaner????
any ideas would be great
as for conny roof ive included the hire of a conny ladder in the price should i make up sum TFR solution then brush on using a old brush then hose down with tap water then clean using my pure water
any ideas or advice cheers guys
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Soak with tfr
Clean by hand
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Spray on Truck Wash, leave to soak for a few minutes, brush off with WFP pole and RO water.
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He didn't say he'd got wfp.
If he has, best tool in the box, step ladders.
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Most uPVC fascias/soffits/cladding clean up well with just ordinary tap water. Any green mould just needs a good wetting followed by a good scrub (you may need to repeat this 2 or 3 times)
Unless it's a bungalow, any small blemishes won't be visible from ground floor level.
Mike
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Spray on Truck Wash, leave to soak for a few minutes, brush off with WFP pole and RO water.
dito :)
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There's absolutely no need to get up close and personal and there's certainly no need to go using cleaning creams. The same technique works for gutters, soffits, fascia boards, cladding and conservatory roofs.
I expect that everybody has a different way of working.
Now I'm probably one of the least experienced people on the forum, but I've done a few of these jobs. After each one I've asked myself what I could have done to make the job quicker and easier. This is the system I've come up with.
You can use it as a starting point and improve on it if you can. The technique works for all non-window jobs I've come across.
1 - Soak with a weak solution of tfr/truck wash/ecover in pure water and agitate with a brush to loosen all the dirt. The easiest way is simply to dip a brush into a bucket of tfr and brush it on. Make sure that you scrub every single square millimeter! This is probably the most important and physically demanding part of the job. The more effectively you do this bit, the easier is the rest of the job.
If it's a BIG job, do it a section at a time to make sure that the tfr doesn't dry.
2 - Rinse off with a hose using the customer's outside tap. As long as you did step 1 well, the dirt will simply get rinsed right away. No more scrubbing should be needed.
3 - For a glass conservatory roof, finish with pure.
Here's a video of Alex of WCR using pretty much the same technique on gutters:
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NuOkIOfP-B0 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NuOkIOfP-B0)
See the technique? Brush it on. Rinse it off.
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I've just noticed that you've included the hire of a conservatory ladder. Is it that big?
Cleaning the ridge cappings (fretwork bits that run along the ridge) and finials (pointy bits at the end of the ridge) can be tricky. You don't want to put a lot of force on these things as they can be flimsy.
The technique I've developed is to lean the pole on the edge of the roof and push the brush until it just touches the cappings. Then very gently and carefully manipulate the brush sideways, up and down and even twist it clockwise and anticlockwise to agitate the tfr into every nook and cranny and to thoroughly loosen the grime and algae. The point of this is that it's the bristles scrubbing the surface that actually do the cleaning. You don't need to exert very much pressure. Then move along a foot or so and do it again.
(http://www.wally-the-window-washer.co.uk/ridge-capping.jpg)
It's quite painstaking work, working along the ridge cappings a foot or so at a time, but worth it as the gunge just comes off when you turn the hose on it.
Other people will have different advice, so listen to them as well.
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Why can gutter cleaning not be done from the ground?
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Who mentioned upvc restore?
What do you mean by upvc restore anyway, TFR? Truck Wash? Something else?
All of those products can be applied to guttering from ground level resulting in a highly commendable standard of work.
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I do all mine from the ground and they do come out like new.
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Exactly.
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What do you mean when you say upvc restorers cant be used fom the ground?
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I have only ever used ecover truck wash for conservarories and guttering and never had a problem getting them up like new again.
The chances of a customer wanting guttering restored are slim, The price I would charge it would be cheaper for them to replace the guttering.
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No, you tell me what you mean when you say it cant be done, or rather, why it cant be done, as Ive found using it from the ground is very simple, does a perfectly commendable job.
Do a search on here, ask others, you'll learn something.
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I have only ever used ecover truck wash for conservarories and guttering and never had a problem getting them up like new again.
The chances of a customer wanting guttering restored are slim, The price I would charge it would be cheaper for them to replace the guttering.
Maybe, but will you be so expensive they have to replace the window frame!
::)
I never use restorer, I have a much cheaper and quicker way of restoring them and I also remove scratched sills and I can remove most paint.
I've posted about it in the past, many other guy's have tried my methods and come back to say how good it is.
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Can we get this important discussion back on topic?
I suggested:
1 - a method of working which gets perfectly acceptable results (which is what was asked for).
2 - a safe technique for cleaning ridge cappings and finials from the ground which wasn't explicitly asked for, but is an alternative to using a conservatory ladder and doing the job by hand.
If others have any constructive comments on my methods or alternative methods, please post them.
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Ewan, you wern't Davo in a previous life by any chance were you? Only he had the same attitude as you (never ever wrong about anything) with loads of advice about how to charge a fortune cleaning a conservatory. Turned out he wasn't even a window cleaner ;D ;D ;D
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Ewan, you wern't Davo in a previous life by any chance were you? Only he had the same attitude as you (never ever wrong about anything) with loads of advice about how to charge a fortune cleaning a conservatory. Turned out he wasn't even a window cleaner ;D ;D ;D
Another pointless comment, do you actually have anything of worth to add. No you don’t do you because you don’t know anything.
You’re also wrong about the conservatories there are companies that only clean these to a high standard and charge a lot for it. There may be people on here who might consider this as something to add to there business
You’re a Muppet, just think what this forum would be like if everyone thought like you. People on here have, I’m guessing helped you a lot you probably wont even be a window cleaner if it wasn’t for the advice and information on this site, and your only contribution is cr*p.
Oops struck a nerve? Were you Davo?
I'm well aware of companies that charge a fortune for conservatory cleans and if you got £200 for three hours work then well done.
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cheers guys wer can i get this upvc restorer from
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Truck Wash.
www.gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/acatalog/New_Contact_Details.html
TFR from Halfords.