Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: H h20 on June 10, 2005, 07:00:47 pm
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Just a little topic to all who use wfp,would any of you ever stop using it for a good reason,theres no point me putting reasons its up to you to say because there may be quite a few.im just about to start to use wfp and just am a bit curious as to why anyone would stop. ;)
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Best move you will ever make, I have been cleaning 20yrs with a squeegee and went wfp 15 months ago no problems. Well one I do more now that two did with squeegee, and still could do a lot more. Turnover is about £48,000 this year.
Roy :)
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Can't belive no ones knocked the £48k a year yet. Thats £920 ish a week. or avg £180 a day. (5 day week) Good on you Roy for Taking that amount I am fast heading that way with a slightly higher figure and I am still building.
Justin
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The topic was about why you would stop! not how well you are doing,example the running costs became,anymore? or for a laugh your arms fell off ;D or there may be real reasons??
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name one and wfp usesers will discount it ,
1/ because our arms ache for a couple of weeks instead of our knees for life
2/ our wages go up.
3/ more leisure time
etc etc
gaza
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I`m new at WFP, and at the mo, my wages have dropped a little. But i can easily see, once i`ve overcome the new learning curve, wages WILL increase. Perserverence seems to be the key.
I love the idea of not using my ladders, feel safer, so all in all, nope, i ain`t going back to traditional.
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uba 1:Thats a bit strong coming from you of all people,especially after the stick u have taken of late.
If people see your wage claims using trad methods,and as you stated quite honestly your wages have gone down,but you can see them improving again after the learning curve thing,it must give faith to a lot of people who doubt the power of the pole.
With statements like the one you posted then some more of the doubters will change over,until everyone uses them .Only then the dole wallys,scrim and scarper and winter dodgers will be easily be spotted by the revellent people who deal with the
various fiddles going on in our industry.
Only then will we lose the cowboy image, that was bestowed upon us by the likes of Confessions of a window cleaner.
UB : power to the pole
GAZA
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uba 1:Thats a bit strong coming from you of all people,especially after the stick u have taken of late.
If people see your wage claims using trad methods,and as you stated quite honestly your wages have gone down,but you can see them improving again after the learning curve thing,it must give faith to a lot of people who doubt the power of the pole.
With statements like the one you posted then some more of the doubters will change over,until everyone uses them .Only then the dole wallys,scrim and scarper and winter dodgers will be easily be spotted by the revellent people who deal with the
various fiddles going on in our industry.
Only then will we lose the cowboy image, that was bestowed upon us by the likes of Confessions of a window cleaner.
UB : power to the pole
GAZA
But Steve will be holding a pole in each hand ;D
I do intend to switch to WFP eventually but I want to get good equipment to start with to avoid the upgrading a year or so after. This will be quite an outlay and I already owe too much. So I am probably two years away from making the move. I have noticed some leasing deals for wheels plus WFP equipment but I'm not ready yet. Not sceptical here, just permanently skint.
However, the good bit is that, largely thanks to Steve, I now have a bit more free time. This I am using to gradually increase the size of my round. It's a bit of a catch 22 for me at the moment. I probably need WFP to boost my earnings in a really big way so that I can tender for larger commercial work BUT I need the earnings boost BEFORE I feel more comfortable laying out (borrowing?) such money.
I'm sure things will become clearer over time.
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uba 1:Thats a bit strong coming from you of all people,especially after the stick u have taken of late.
If people see your wage claims using trad methods,and as you stated quite honestly your wages have gone down,but you can see them improving again after the learning curve thing,it must give faith to a lot of people who doubt the power of the pole.
With statements like the one you posted then some more of the doubters will change over,until everyone uses them .Only then the dole wallys,scrim and scarper and winter dodgers will be easily be spotted by the revellent people who deal with the
various fiddles going on in our industry.
Only then will we lose the cowboy image, that was bestowed upon us by the likes of Confessions of a window cleaner.
UB : power to the pole
GAZA
A bit stong?? Honesty is my key factor. I`ve always said, i`d prove my point.
My aim is to within a year to put at least a third to half on my trad hourly rate. I will work hard, and like trad cleaning, get myself organised, then and only then i hopefully will prevail.
Basically my target will be £60 per hour with WFP. Only time will tell. If i can do this, then i`d be more than happy to once again pass on my knowledge.
Steve
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to answer your question, i went over to wfp about 4 months ago and for me there is no going back to ladders, 1st the safety aspect and 2nd earning potential. the hardest part is converting your old customers over to wfp, once you have done this it is all downhill from here in, yes i do earn more money now not because i have a new danfangle toy to show the customers but it's because it's quicker i have more time to take on more work and i'm doing so on a daily basis, the good thing about new clients is you don't have to convince them that wfp is the future, at the end of the day they are just glad to get a good w/c on a regular basis, i'm also cleaning con roofs too for extra cash, something i did'nt do before so in a nutshell
WFP FOR ME NO MORE LADDERS
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uba 1:Thats a bit strong coming from you of all people,especially after the stick u have taken of late.
If people see your wage claims using trad methods,and as you stated quite honestly your wages have gone down,but you can see them improving again after the learning curve thing,it must give faith to a lot of people who doubt the power of the pole.
With statements like the one you posted then some more of the doubters will change over,until everyone uses them .Only then the dole wallys,scrim and scarper and winter dodgers will be easily be spotted by the revellent people who deal with the
various fiddles going on in our industry.
Only then will we lose the cowboy image, that was bestowed upon us by the likes of Confessions of a window cleaner.
UB : power to the pole
GAZA
But Steve will be holding a pole in each hand ;D
I do intend to switch to WFP eventually but I want to get good equipment to start with to avoid the upgrading a year or so after. This will be quite an outlay and I already owe too much. So I am probably two years away from making the move. I have noticed some leasing deals for wheels plus WFP equipment but I'm not ready yet. Not sceptical here, just permanently skint.
However, the good bit is that, largely thanks to Steve, I now have a bit more free time. This I am using to gradually increase the size of my round. It's a bit of a catch 22 for me at the moment. I probably need WFP to boost my earnings in a really big way so that I can tender for larger commercial work BUT I need the earnings boost BEFORE I feel more comfortable laying out (borrowing?) such money.
I'm sure things will become clearer over time.
2 years is a fair way off
why not outlay 550 quid and put it together yourself right NOW
http://www.d.co.uk/
no need for a new motor either for the time being as it will fit in a car
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iv been wfping for 6 months. 30% quicker (approx) safer. more niggles more to go wrong. be prepared for that and pacient when things go wrong, and youll never look back. i wouldnt.
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I've been WFP ing for over three years now,NEVER going back, if system goes dow I have day off to sort it out (can soon pull the work back in)
Only thing that took a while to get used to was the aching arms and back for the first couple of weeks,
I can take on work that in the past I would if and r about now I look at a job second floor NO problem, Dormer window NO problem O and by the way I can do that window above the conservatory now and did I mention that your frames get washed as well. Jobs mine
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uba 1:Thats a bit strong coming from you of all people,especially after the stick u have taken of late.
If people see your wage claims using trad methods,and as you stated quite honestly your wages have gone down,but you can see them improving again after the learning curve thing,it must give faith to a lot of people who doubt the power of the pole.
With statements like the one you posted then some more of the doubters will change over,until everyone uses them .Only then the dole wallys,scrim and scarper and winter dodgers will be easily be spotted by the revellent people who deal with the
various fiddles going on in our industry.
Only then will we lose the cowboy image, that was bestowed upon us by the likes of Confessions of a window cleaner.
UB : power to the pole
GAZA
But Steve will be holding a pole in each hand ;D
I do intend to switch to WFP eventually but I want to get good equipment to start with to avoid the upgrading a year or so after. This will be quite an outlay and I already owe too much. So I am probably two years away from making the move. I have noticed some leasing deals for wheels plus WFP equipment but I'm not ready yet. Not sceptical here, just permanently skint.
However, the good bit is that, largely thanks to Steve, I now have a bit more free time. This I am using to gradually increase the size of my round. It's a bit of a catch 22 for me at the moment. I probably need WFP to boost my earnings in a really big way so that I can tender for larger commercial work BUT I need the earnings boost BEFORE I feel more comfortable laying out (borrowing?) such money.
I'm sure things will become clearer over time.
2 years is a fair way off
why not outlay 550 quid and put it together yourself right NOW
http://www.d.co.uk/
no need for a new motor either for the time being as it will fit in a car
The way I understand things I would have a problem doing it your way Matt. For starters, I have no way of getting a holding tank together as I'm in a flat and it would be impractical. The lock-up that I rent has no water supply. Therefore, I would need to purify the water onboard which means a tank in the van. As I have no reasonable way of getting water to the van from my flat, I feel I would need to ensure that I have a larger tank than just for immediate needs as I would need to take on water as and when practiucal from other peoples taps. I feel that I would be pushing my luckj on this issue as I have an Escort. I have a couple of friends who would be OK with me topping up from their garden taps and I imagine I could take water on from some customers' taps ( after ensuring they're not on a meter). Living in a hard water area doesn't help too much either.
Another issue is that I would want the equipment to be able to tender for larger commercial work. I will review this situation next Summer and see where I'm at.
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The way I understand things I would have a problem doing it your way Matt. For starters, I have no way of getting a holding tank together as I'm in a flat and it would be impractical. The lock-up that I rent has no water supply. Therefore, I would need to purify the water onboard which means a tank in the van. As I have no reasonable way of getting water to the van from my flat, I feel I would need to ensure that I have a larger tank than just for immediate needs as I would need to take on water as and when practiucal from other peoples taps. I feel that I would be pushing my luckj on this issue as I have an Escort. I have a couple of friends who would be OK with me topping up from their garden taps and I imagine I could take water on from some customers' taps ( after ensuring they're not on a meter). Living in a hard water area doesn't help too much either.
Another issue is that I would want the equipment to be able to tender for larger commercial work. I will review this situation next Summer and see where I'm at.
there is another way you could do it, if you think you are lacking space in your van for a holding tank and ro why not put a di resin tank onboard and fill up from your friends using 25ltr barrels, this would take up less room and make your system more mobile
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Mmm, lots of replies that have nothing to do with the original question, and Ithought the question a good one too, if you bother to answer it then it is one that takes a bit of thought...
If I had to pack in WFP it would have to be for a physical reason, perhaps a neck problem caused from using a heavy pole doing lots of high work, ditto perhaps the small of the back.
I honestly can't think of any other reason for stopping WFP ???
I suppose that being on a meter could be a prohibative factor in some circumstances.
Or you may be forced to stop using one if Councils bring in a water ban under extreme drought conditions.
It's unlikely, but it is possible they could tell you that there is an alternative to using a half ton of water a day (that will waste as much as a ton and a half to produce it!) And that is with a bucket of water, a drop of detergent, some cloths and an applicator and squeegee. ;D
15 litres a day versus 2000 litres a day :o (that includes the waste water at a rate of 3:1 and yes, I know some R/O's can have a ratio of 1:1)
So if you stretch the point a fair way, then you could possibly be forced to go back to trad for a couple of months until the water ban would be lifted.
And I am not mentioning WAHD, the above synopsis is not about arguing the toss about safety, so no "Ahh, but, yeah, but, no but yeah but what about health and safety and working at height then?" replies please!!
Regards,
Ian
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Mmm, lots of replies that have nothing to do with the original question, and Ithought the question a good one too, if you bother to answer it then it is one that takes a bit of thought...
If I had to pack in WFP it would have to be for a physical reason, perhaps a neck problem caused from using a heavy pole doing lots of high work, ditto perhaps the small of the back.
I honestly can't think of any other reason for stopping WFP ???
I suppose that being on a meter could be a prohibative factor in some circumstances.
Or you may be forced to stop using one if Councils bring in a water ban under extreme drought conditions.
It's unlikely, but it is possible they could tell you that there is an alternative to using a half ton of water a day (that will waste as much as a ton and a half to produce it!) And that is with a bucket of water, a drop of detergent, some cloths and an applicator and squeegee. ;D
15 litres a day versus 2000 litres a day :o (that includes the waste water at a rate of 3:1 and yes, I know some R/O's can have a ratio of 1:1)
So if you stretch the point a fair way, then you could possibly be forced to go back to trad for a couple of months until the water ban would be lifted.
And I am not mentioning WAHD, the above synopsis is not about arguing the toss about safety, so no "Ahh, but, yeah, but, no but yeah but what about health and safety and working at height then?" replies please!!
Regards,
Ian
Well done Ian, someone understands the question and can easily see that most of the replies are not answering it properly,once i am up and running with my system then i can answer it myself,hope it will be all positve!! ;D
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I've ordered most the bits for wfp and am going down the diy route, Matts route. I am only building a small system as i will only start by doing the hard to reach windows and windows that take a lot of time with the ladders. When I am confident with that then I will push it a bit further until my customers are hppy with the system. I dont however intend to do all upstairs with the wfp just some of them.
You never know though, in 6 months I could change my mind.
Steveyboy