Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: prestige cleaners on April 07, 2010, 02:13:39 am
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ive heard of it being done, i would need a lance extension (karcher) but can it damage gutters, vents?
would it be quicker than brushes? only probs would be electric, they would have to be in?
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I have gone down this route now.I have a petrol washer and 7m extendable lance...oh how i wish i had this equipement a long while ago.It is so much quicker from cleaning the gutters out (once you get the hang of handling the lance) to cleaning the fascias and soffits.
I allways had problems cleaning those damn gutter brackets with the wfp,and on the odd occassion climbed a ladder to get the real crud off,but the pressure washer combined with a quick spray with some TFR(ecover from gardiners) brings the plastics up like new.Any stubborne dirt can be quickly brushed with a pole just to loosen off,but this is hardly necessary.Dont try connie roofs with it though,the seals just wont hold up to that much pressure,but overall the system is a timesaver and from the ground the safety aspects outweigh the initial setup costs.
Make sure your customers have outside taps though,unless you get a system that can syphon water from a holding tank.
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what sort of pressure washer would we be looking at.?????
surely petrol washer is better than elctric so if custys not in then they can still be used.
what cost would we be looking at
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i was going down this route, as i found a pressure washer on ebay for about 180 but it is only 2200 psi 5.5hp, i got told this isnt bigger enough, but i think it is for what i want it for
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I have gone down this route now.I have a petrol washer and 7m extendable lance...oh how i wish i had this equipement a long while ago.It is so much quicker from cleaning the gutters out (once you get the hang of handling the lance) to cleaning the fascias and soffits.
I allways had problems cleaning those damn gutter brackets with the wfp,and on the odd occassion climbed a ladder to get the real crud off,but the pressure washer combined with a quick spray with some TFR(ecover from gardiners) brings the plastics up like new.Any stubborne dirt can be quickly brushed with a pole just to loosen off,but this is hardly necessary.Dont try connie roofs with it though,the seals just wont hold up to that much pressure,but overall the system is a timesaver and from the ground the safety aspects outweigh the initial setup costs.
Make sure your customers have outside taps though,unless you get a system that can syphon water from a holding tank.
I like this idea as i find gutter cleaning to be a real pain, where did you get the lance from?
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Northern tool sell lances.
Personally I find most gutters can be cleaned with an x-jet spraying the right chems,.. spray, leave to soak for 10 mins & rinse. If they're really dirty a rub of the wfp brush may be required in places, but I find it easier than hefting the 24' lance around as mine is very heavy & VERY whippy at full extension.
I use a 13hp petrol washer on gutters and even with the lance have never done damage. Avoid using a turbo nozzle on the long lance tho!
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Nathaneal whats an x jet and where would you get one, also what chems would you recommend, cheers Dave.
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ive been using a cheap £80 karcher from tescos to do drives and patios, seems to do the job, maybe a bit slower than a more powerful one, but i think would be fine on gutters.
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wen cleaning out the gutters how much mess does it make with a press washer
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depends how dirt it is, lots of dirty water would go every where i think
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lol £80 pressure washer from tesco and your bragging thay you have been charging £100 for a hours work ;D
yeah right,what you cleaning 2 slabs a hour? ;D ;D
ive been using a cheap £80 karcher from tescos to do drives and patios, seems to do the job, maybe a bit slower than a more powerful one, but i think would be fine on gutters.
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lol £80 pressure washer from tesco and your bragging thay you have been charging £100 for a hours work ;D
yeah right,what you cleaning 2 slabs a hour? ;D ;D
ive been using a cheap £80 karcher from tescos to do drives and patios, seems to do the job, maybe a bit slower than a more powerful one, but i think would be fine on gutters.
why would i need to lie about that? have you ever used one? does me fine thanks! maybe youve wasted all your money on one, and are jealous your not getting a good return on it? ive used mine countless times, and got my money back on the first clean!
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never used mine to clean inside of guttering. reckon it will create some mess
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thats y im unsure about using a press to clean out the guts its got to makr a rite mess
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fair play then
i have a cobra 150 and a 14" mosmatic cost me £1100
done a few jobs thanx ;D
lol £80 pressure washer from tesco and your bragging thay you have been charging £100 for a hours work ;D
yeah right,what you cleaning 2 slabs a hour? ;D ;D
ive been using a cheap £80 karcher from tescos to do drives and patios, seems to do the job, maybe a bit slower than a more powerful one, but i think would be fine on gutters.
why would i need to lie about that? have you ever used one? does me fine thanks! maybe youve wasted all your money on one, and are jealous your not getting a good return on it? ive used mine countless times, and got my money back on the first clean!
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fair play then
i have a cobra 150 and a 14" mosmatic cost me £1100
done a few jobs thanx ;D
lol £80 pressure washer from tesco and your bragging thay you have been charging £100 for a hours work ;D
yeah right,what you cleaning 2 slabs a hour? ;D ;D
ive been using a cheap £80 karcher from tescos to do drives and patios, seems to do the job, maybe a bit slower than a more powerful one, but i think would be fine on gutters.
why would i need to lie about that? have you ever used one? does me fine thanks! maybe youve wasted all your money on one, and are jealous your not getting a good return on it? ive used mine countless times, and got my money back on the first clean!
looks a bit over the top for patios? is it worth it having one that powerful for domestic work? maybe industrial? for getting chewing gum up? (these are serious q's im not being sarky btw)
just checked mine its 110 bars, yours is 150, not a lot more is it? ive noticed a karcher model which you use off the mains, has 150 bar and is £300 surely that would be better than shelling out over a grand?
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Ok....does it make a mess cleaning out the gutters...YES IT DOES,until you get the hang of it.
My pw has an adjustable flow to it so you can slow the output.They also come with several differing sizes of nozzles which allow you to go from an extremly powerful jet to a much wider output for applying chemicals (and this is ideal for cleaning out of gutters).
On the quality of pw...ok yes you can do it all with a small domestic pw,but the results will definatley be differant.I bought a washer from northern tools on the advice of Jeff1 (thanks jeff) and this has proved a great piece of equipement....but even this has its limits and with a 5.5hp engine and flow rate of 10lpm at 2200psi i would consider this a great piece of kit for the general gutter/upvc clean,and although i have done several driveway/patios/deckings with it i wouldn't want to push it to hard.I have looked at various others and feel the advice given about honda engines is something to take into account.
IMO you need to be able to provide your own power to run this side of the business efficiently and professionally...ie have a petrol driven machine,it will certainly pay for itself in no time. :)
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where do you stand when cleaning out the inside of a gutter with a pressure washer ? does it really work good on a "full un "
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where do you stand when cleaning out the inside of a gutter with a pressure washer ? does it really work good on a "full un "
Take a look at my video and it will give you some idea on how it works http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsmF7EN2FpU
I would never go back to ladders for gutter cleaning, the lance is so much faster and does an excellent Job.
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yes m8 its definately worth it,it will last for years,it looks good,does a very good job,i prefer to get the best tools so you are prepared and ready to do the best job possible to get more work and recommendations.
im picking up lots of work so will pay for itself very quickly.
with the mosmatic looks the bis!
might the extending pole to do the gutters myself.
i have a 80 litre gutter vac and attachments but its always good to have alternatives!
i think i might try the pressure washer pole and if works well might do a way with the gutter vac because that is a very big beast!
ive got to gutter clean jobs on saturday morning one for £80 and one for £75.both bungalows too ;D
fair play then
i have a cobra 150 and a 14" mosmatic cost me £1100
done a few jobs thanx ;D
lol £80 pressure washer from tesco and your bragging thay you have been charging £100 for a hours work ;D
yeah right,what you cleaning 2 slabs a hour? ;D ;D
ive been using a cheap £80 karcher from tescos to do drives and patios, seems to do the job, maybe a bit slower than a more powerful one, but i think would be fine on gutters.
why would i need to lie about that? have you ever used one? does me fine thanks! maybe youve wasted all your money on one, and are jealous your not getting a good return on it? ive used mine countless times, and got my money back on the first clean!
looks a bit over the top for patios? is it worth it having one that powerful for domestic work? maybe industrial? for getting chewing gum up? (these are serious q's im not being sarky btw)
just checked mine its 110 bars, yours is 150, not a lot more is it? ive noticed a karcher model which you use off the mains, has 150 bar and is £300 surely that would be better than shelling out over a grand?
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TBH i wouldn't like someone cleaning my gutters and flushing it all down the pipes. Prefr it to be taken out
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TBH i wouldn't like someone cleaning my gutters and flushing it all down the pipes. Prefr it to be taken out
Well if you do the Job properly and have a net on the bottom of the down pipe you won't have that problem ::)
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can't always access bottom of pipes as some go straght into ground
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Then if you use a scoop you scoop the crap out
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yeah might invest in some gutter vac or attachments for blowing the stuff out,
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Nathaneal whats an x jet and where would you get one, also what chems would you recommend, cheers Dave.
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Pressure-Washer-Turbo-Injector-simlr-2-xjet-x-jet-x-jet_W0QQitemZ370284912319QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5636b35ebf
Its basically a really fast way of applying chems and it can also double your water weight when rinsing. It uses the pressure washer pump to work, but uses a low pressure nozzle so there is no risk of damage.
Using an x-jet you can "softwash" which is basically cleaning without any high pressure. Here is a before & after pic of a job I did softwashing,.. took about 30 minutes:
(http://www.acsforums.com/forum/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/Photo0130.jpg)
After:
(http://www.acsforums.com/forum/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/Photo0135.jpg)
And a job I'm booked in to do soon ;D ;D :
(http://www.acsforums.com/forum/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/Image009.jpg)
(http://www.acsforums.com/forum/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/Image011_003.jpg)
The dish is the smallest one there and its about 65' to the top! High pressure and abrasive methods could damage, so softwashing it is! ;D
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Thanks Nathaneal , looks good. 8)
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I forgot to say that I mostly use Sodium Hypochlorite which is just common household bleach, but I but it in 25 litre drums at a 10% mix. A drum is about €20 from my local farmers co-op, but any pool cleaning place will also supply a similar product. I mix approx 2 parts water to 1 part SH which still gives quite a strong mix,.. simply spray it on and wait a few minutes as the green disappears before your eyes!
Obviously its bleach, so the correct PPE is essential, goggles especially,.. and it'll destroy your nice uniform polo shirt, so waterproofs are required too.
It will damage plants and grass (browns the leaves) if you leave it dry on them, so I always go round the house and wet the surrounding lawns with plain water,.. and after spraying the walls/gutters etc go around again and rinse the lawns/trees/bushes down with water again just in case of splashes.