[David stewart]

It's probably been asked a thousand times but I'm just wondering what the established guys on here do as regards working through weather or when to call it quits?
The weather for NI has been pretty terrible the last two weeks, there are another two weather warnings in place for later in the week as well.
I cleaned mine last week and they were minging inside a day or two, do you let the weeks forecast affect whether you clean or just tear on with it and have the outlook that as long as I get them cleaned today, I don't care if there's a hurricane tomorrow or the next day. I'm sure customers get pee'ed off with it as I know I probably would if I had payed the window cleaner today knowing there's a storm for landing the next day.
I'm maybe overthinking it and should just get on with it 

[SeanK]

I honestly would agree I know I wouldn't want to have forked out to have my windows cleaned to have them
as dirty again the next day.
But then what do you do you still need to be earning a living and bills still need to be paid so my answer would be
to crack on, its one of the things I find demoralising about this job.

[paul ette]

the problem i find if you dont go when its bad weather you fall behind, then when the sun shines everyone wonders why your not there and you get called unreliable(im guessing)
different customers think different things, trying to keep hundreds of different minds happy is hard

[C o z y]

Work when you can mate. It's been storm after storm here, and I won't work when the rain is hitting the glass as I'm cleaning. Rain, no problem, but rain and wind is bad for me. I have always stashed cash in a savings account for emergencies etc, so I've used a bit this last 4 weeks.

Some guys work anyway, and if it works for them, all's good. If push came to shove and I was broke, I'd be out there even if we were under nuclear attack!!  Make the best of what you can. But always save for emergencies, as I said.

[johnny bravo]

its getting worse this weekend,   i havent been out at all , had a viral infection  + bad chesty cough,  you would think i smoke 40 fAgs a day,  coughing  badly, tickly chesty cough.  but coughing nothing up.    cant wait to get cracking.

[Twc services]

I have had the same thing johnny bravo it's horrible. Weather and virus together is bad news 

[Soupy]

Customers sign up to get their windows cleaned regularly. You can't not do a house because it might rain.

If you had the power to control the weather I doubt you'd use it to sustain a window cleaning round.

[Carl2009]

This is one of the regular dilemmas we all face. The answer is it depends on your own financial situation (can you afford to bin a few days if it's bad weather), the type of customer you have, where you have to go to clean them (a long drive or just a mile down the road) and the location of the property (By the sea? On a main road that is going to get sprayed with road film?). There are so many variables there is no right answer.

Personally I build in several "wet days" each month - today is one, for example - and I price to make sure I can miss days. This is because many of my customers won't appreciate me doing them in bad weather, despite "training" them. To be honest I have to ask myself would I want to pay for the clean and if the answer is no then I don't bother. Then again I do lie in Pembrokeshire and we get a shed load more rain than most. I'm not the cheapest, but I get zero complaints.

I look at several forecasts including the Met Office and metcheck.com. The best I find is www.yr.no. It takes into account your elevation, which for me is important. I find it pretty damn reliable, and generally more so than the Met Office.

Tomorrow it's forecasting snow on the Met Office. As I live at nearly 900ft that can mean I might not get home. Sometimes it's best to just sack the day off. Last winter was an utter nightmare though. My home weather station recorded 607mm (2 feet!) of rain between 15/12/13 and 15/2/14... Heathrow got 260mm. We had 1705mm in the year mid July 13 to mid July 14 - that's 5' 7" of rain...

[dazmond]

i wrote the day off at lunchtime due to strong winds and heavy rain then changed my mind and  went out and did a half day this afternoon.it cleared up a treat.even got a few belated xmas tips!

maybe the weather hasnt been as bad here in the north west.im on schedule for this year up to now.

i have a £2,500 emergency fund to dip into if i have a prolonged spell off work due to bad weather but im not planning on having any time off due to weather if i can help it!apart from maybe the odd day or two which can easily be caught up on.

i work in all but the worst of weather.this morning was unworkable IMO(strong winds and prolonged heavy rain)but it very rarely rains all day with a strong wind blowing.

i never wonder what the customer thinks.i just get on with my workload the best i can.

the last time i had a few weeks off due to bad weather was a few years ago now when we had all that snow!i did use some of my emergency fund then.

[dazmond]

hi david how long have you been trading as a self employed window cleaner?

and are your customers used to you turning up and cleaning their windows in bad weather?


cheers

dazmond

[johnny bravo]

ive got to the stage of even going out on a sunday till around 1pm,     then get away before people settle down.  for lunch or family.
they dont mind

[Mike #1]

I cleaned my own Windows last Friday they were pretty bad the next day after stormy weather ,

If the forecast is bad I still go out and earn while the weather is good as they don't always get the weather forecast right , I ain't sitting at home unless it's stormforce winds and lashing down with rain .

[David stewart]

Thanks for all the replies guys  
It just seems to be one of those problems the great British weather throws at us, plenty to think on about a different approach to the problem, maybe in the future when a lot better off I can take january off  

Dazmond, I've being doing this a couple of years but in the beginning when I started out I went in the rain to a few houses and was basically chased and ever since I've stayed away if worse than light rain or drizzle, but this year is especially bad with wind and weather warning after warning and I have no option but to just tread on with it but it feels at times people are reluctantly paying me and the awkwardness feels terrible haha

[dazmond]

hi david most of my customers are used to it now or are out when i clean their windows.its amazing what you can get away with working in if your determined!

i could easily afford to take january  off if i wanted to but i have a very strong inner drive that keeps me working.i like to work and keep to my schedule if at all possible.

certain customers dont want their windows cleaning in the rain.not many.probably about 5 customers out of 300+.i just skip these if its raining when their due.no probs.

i do have my limitations though.if its really windy or really icy i dont work and catch up another day.

i dont ever worry about what customers think as their all different and second guessing is just a waste of time IMO.

i must be doing something right as my round has improved dramatically over the last few years since i went wfp.


regards


dazmond

[David stewart]

hi david most of my customers are used to it now or are out when i clean their windows.its amazing what you can get away with working in if your determined!

i could easily afford to take january  off if i wanted to but i have a very strong inner drive that keeps me working.i like to work and keep to my schedule if at all possible.

certain customers dont want their windows cleaning in the rain.not many.probably about 5 customers out of 300+.i just skip these if its raining when their due.no probs.

i do have my limitations though.if its really windy or really icy i dont work and catch up another day.

i dont ever worry about what customers think as their all different and second guessing is just and waste of time IMO.

i must be doing something right as my round has improved dramatically over the last few years since i went wfp.


regards


dazmond

Thanks for the advice daz plus everyone else who has commented. I have let the handful affect my round when quite possibly the majority have no issue with it, only one way to find out, try and get motivated that bit more, buy a decent set of waterproofs and get to it tomorrow 

[SeanK]

hi david most of my customers are used to it now or are out when i clean their windows.its amazing what you can get away with working in if your determined!

i could easily afford to take january  off if i wanted to but i have a very strong inner drive that keeps me working.i like to work and keep to my schedule if at all possible.

certain customers dont want their windows cleaning in the rain.not many.probably about 5 customers out of 300+.i just skip these if its raining when their due.no probs.

i do have my limitations though.if its really windy or really icy i dont work and catch up another day.

i dont ever worry about what customers think as their all different and second guessing is just and waste of time IMO.

i must be doing something right as my round has improved dramatically over the last few years since i went wfp.


regards


dazmond

Thanks for the advice daz plus everyone else who has commented. I have let the handful affect my round when quite possibly the majority have no issue with it, only one way to find out, try and get motivated that bit more, buy a decent set of waterproofs and get to it tomorrow 

David there's a bit of common sense involved as well plus don't let all the hard talk on here fool you, just look how busy it gets
on here when the weathers bad.
If you lose a few weeks work because of storms you can always make it up when the weathers better, one the biggest window
cleaning companies near me wont even work in this sort of weather but I guarantee his squad will be working the next couple of Saturdays and Sundays to pull it back.
I work yearly not weekly or daily.

[Ian101]

Its just the time of year - 6 weeks and it will be March and hopefully much better weather 

Sometimes when you have a few days of poor conditions you feel that its never ending and will end up skint then its all forgotten about when the decent or at least consistently good workable weather does finally arrive.

The trick .... which Dazmond has sussed ... is having a poor weather fund then a lot less worry if you have a months money to one side. btw I aint got one well I have its called credit card / overdraft / the missus

I messed up yesterday as took look at conditions in morning and sacked day off ... was workable from 12 till 4 but was busy doing other stuff by then so didn't bother ... should have just got to area I was due to work and waited it out but had CSA / tax return stuff to sort which has been mentally doing my head in but thankfully all sorted now  so prob worth loosing a day to get shut of the problems.

Last year I started to diversify with other services that are not weather dependant EG gutter cleaning which can still trickle money in when not doing windows ... hopefully will build on it this year with more gutters, plastics, pressure washing, connies ... not for everyone I know but personally like a change in working day.

Think trick is just to go out and do what you can .. the customers that don't want it in the rain just miss em out and go onto next job.

Give it a few months and someone will be posting its too hot to work  .... CIU is like the circle of life ... too wet then too hot .. too wet ... too hot 

[Mike #1]

Well said Ian , I honestly  don't belive that someone is going to sit at home for a few weeks because of a bad forecast and some dodgy weather .

I go out and do my best while it's decent if I only get half my workload done over a week I'm happy far happier than sitting at home and doing sweet F.A .

[dazmond]

Even if you get 3 or 4 half days in during a really bad weather week (which is very rare IME)then it helps keep you ticking over.

apart from the odd day here and there I've not had a prolonged spell off work due to weather for years.

[deeege]

Just get out there and get working. When I started out I used to worry about the weather and cleaning in the rain, don't anymore though. Having mainly commercial work helps I suppose because it gets cleaned in any weather but even my domestics get cleaned in the rain now, asking as its not sideways.

Glorious day here in Wigan, have just had 10 mins watching the most amazing sunrise. Not a cloud in the sky and just a hint of a chilly breeze in the air.