[Pristine Clean]

Hi Guys,

We dont do Residential window cleaning on a regular basis, unless its worth it. We did a large house yesterday and it took all day from 9am - 5:30pm and no lunch. Yes we worked on. There were 2 of us.

Several Conservortories in and out, several out log cabins, and 2 large houses. Yes all one customer on about a 6 acre plot.

Now that was worth it to us.

We are considering working on smaller residential houses but I am not sure if I can handle £12 quid here and there.

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking anyone who does. I know if you have a round you can earn good money.

So I was wondering do you guys have regular rounds or do you have just custies that have big houses that you travel a bit to and from to make it pay.

thanks

Dave

[dave green]

Thats all i do BIG houses dotted all over, i do not do any commercail anymore its a pain in ass waiting 4 money stuck up MD's thinking there better then you.am happy got 1 house to do at 12 in and out and boy does it pay    i do have smaller houses nothing less then £10 tho i get some1 todo it and take a % all good

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

we have a mixture of bigger houses and clusters of smaller ones. If you get a run of say 8 - 10 well priced small ones you can actually earn more than one big one. Around here at least there is a 'ceiling' price which people don't seem willing to go above!

[Sean Dyer]

Quote: Pristine Clean

“We don’t do Residential window cleaning on a regular basis, unless it’s worth it”

Good tip, LOL


I have a varied residential round, for example 4 houses on the same road cleaned each month £20 each, takes me just over the  hour to clean them all – Another 3 houses 3 miles away again £20 each every month takes less than 1 hour. On the way to those 3 houses to I do 2 residential homes £50 & £35 1.5 hours for both including travel time. Then I have 6 bungalows next to each other, takes another hour to clean them £59

Not knocking those very big houses but are they worth it?
 

not bad for 6 hours work eh £284

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Guys,

Its a preference, I like things I can get my teeth into.

A house that takes say 20 minutes, for £15 quid is not worth it to us. But I see the point if you have a round ie houses close to each other then thats not bad at all.

We are looking into residential work to see if its would be worth our while, but with guys on the pay roll it might be better for us to stay with commercial as that gives us more money.

At present we only have around 14 large houses that are residential. No small custies. No residential round.

But please understand we are mainly office cleaners, hence commercial window cleaning and the carpet cleaning, the carpet cleaning is both commercial and residential.

I will say I see alot of firms large and small doing residential windows, its something for us to consider.

Thanks.

Dave

[Sean Dyer]

ive done work in contract and window cleaning , theres more money in windows, the prices charged and got are higher, you are probably charging £13- 16 a man hour in commercial contract cleaning, less if more hours, windows you will make upto double per man hour

contract cleaning makes money by volume but theres no reason why you cant get volume in windows, hence the reason mitie ocs etc all have there own window cleaners rather than sub..... although there prices definitely rely on volume !

[Paul Coleman]

Hi Guys,

Its a preference, I like things I can get my teeth into.

A house that takes say 20 minutes, for £15 quid is not worth it to us. But I see the point if you have a round ie houses close to each other then thats not bad at all.

We are looking into residential work to see if its would be worth our while, but with guys on the pay roll it might be better for us to stay with commercial as that gives us more money.

At present we only have around 14 large houses that are residential. No small custies. No residential round.

But please understand we are mainly office cleaners, hence commercial window cleaning and the carpet cleaning, the carpet cleaning is both commercial and residential.

I will say I see alot of firms large and small doing residential windows, its something for us to consider.

Thanks.

Dave

If you price alright, a business of smaller residential properties will make you money even if you are a wage payer.
The bit you may not like though is that it can be much higher maintenance as many customers want some very individual needs to be met.  This can be an administrative nightmare until you eventually free yourself from that type of work.
Best jobs are with good access (hence no pre-arranging), reasonable parking with customers who pay in a reasonable time.  Also, more cash will change hands than with commercial so you need staff you can trust with this side of things.
The larger houses that you want to get your teeth into tend to have an arrangement in place already as they are the types of jobs that most other window cleaners want too.  However, I have been pleasantly surprised occasionally if I knock at a larger property.

[aallshine]

big houses are good for who own them,not for window cleaner,I LOVE TO DO JOBS FOR £10-£30 AND BE THERE 30 MINUTES,THAN DO BIG HOUSES FOR BE THERE  ALL DAY, AND SILLY MONEY IN THE END.....

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Guys,

Its a preference, I like things I can get my teeth into.

A house that takes say 20 minutes, for £15 quid is not worth it to us. But I see the point if you have a round ie houses close to each other then thats not bad at all.

We are looking into residential work to see if its would be worth our while, but with guys on the pay roll it might be better for us to stay with commercial as that gives us more money.

At present we only have around 14 large houses that are residential. No small custies. No residential round.

But please understand we are mainly office cleaners, hence commercial window cleaning and the carpet cleaning, the carpet cleaning is both commercial and residential.

I will say I see alot of firms large and small doing residential windows, its something for us to consider.

Thanks.

Dave

If you price alright, a business of smaller residential properties will make you money even if you are a wage payer.
The bit you may not like though is that it can be much higher maintenance as many customers want some very individual needs to be met.  This can be an administrative nightmare until you eventually free yourself from that type of work.
Best jobs are with good access (hence no pre-arranging), reasonable parking with customers who pay in a reasonable time.  Also, more cash will change hands than with commercial so you need staff you can trust with this side of things.
The larger houses that you want to get your teeth into tend to have an arrangement in place already as they are the types of jobs that most other window cleaners want too.  However, I have been pleasantly surprised occasionally if I knock at a larger property.

Hi Paul,

Yes the administration side. I dont like that idea. Telephoning to arrange access. Gates shut or locked. No parking. Absolute nightmare.

And as you say, their individual needs.... not sure if we can handle that. Plus, the money side of things. Yes I have trustworthy staff. But collecting payments, late payments, - "Not to day thanks..." it would mess all the hard work up that we have made everything stream lined.

Then there is keeping track of the round, then running late etc. I admire you guys that can handle all this.

Not to mention custies complaints... not that I know about them but I can imagine a complaint along the lines of a size 9 in my flowerbeds....

It bares alot to think about.

Then not only that before we begin... the dreaded canvasing, door knocking.

Nope I am still thinking on this.
Dave