[Mike Halliday]

Anyone come across Thompson Sanderson  who offer a nationwide conservatory valet?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PXtX1lM889Y

I'm guessing the are very expensive looking at what they do, I'm thinking of getting into conservatory roof cleaning but would need to charge a lot more than my local window cleaner who use WFP,  he cleans roofs for £40.

If this company can get high prices then I'm sure I could there are a lot of quality homes around me with roofs that need cleaning

[wpclean]

That is very professional video, the trouble with this type of cleaning is because of the prices you have to charge, the market is very limited !     We charge minimum £50 for a roof clean, and if you have the right gear, and chems, you can do them pretty quick.
Even with these low prices a lot of people who call think this is expensive 
If you want to expand your services Mike I would look at gutter cleaning, really is good money maker 

[robbo333]

Mike i've seen your posts and you're a top guy.
For me that video was bugger all to do with connie cleaning and more about marketing bo**ocks!
As you'd expect from a big company.
The reality is most custies want it to look as clean as it can, for the least amount of money. I did a fairly big roof today for £40 quid. If I pushed it I could have got £50. (my fault). But it's a good window cleaning custy of mine, the weather was good, their place is lovely with really good access all round. Peaceful (no dogs barking or kids) and to be honest I enjoyed the peace and tranquility.  Took me an hour. Fairly easy job. Custy was more than happy. I did all the windows too (of the bungalow) an extra £30. It is big.
I've done loads of insides and outs on connies and it's hot sweaty work. I am actually thinking of adding pressure washing rather than connies. 

You could however, employ two guys (maybe good workers from a foreign country) at say £8 per hour. They would take a day, hard graft, so 14 man hours = £112. With the right customer you could get £200-£400.

[Mike Halliday]

I constantly hear that people won't pay  high prices, but I live in a good area full of quality people who pay me good money for my other services

 I heard it all the time in carpet cleaning,  people telling me that customer won't pay over £75 to clean suite but I charge £180 that you have to do 3 rooms for £90 to make any money as no one will pay top rates.

I think there are lots of people out there who will pay £180 for me to clean there conservatory roof, if they think it's too expensive then fine I will move onto the next quote until I get my price,  this is just an add on to my other work I won't need to rely on  it.

The time It will take to clean one I could clean a suite, so I would be daft to clean them for less money than I can make elsewhere.

[robbo333]

Mike if you can get the money (for the effort you put it) then go for it.
I'm not trying to put you off, but where I live, that is the reality.
Best wishes and good luck.

[wpclean]

Mike as a moderator you should refrain from using swear words, please watch your language !

[Smurf]

Deep cleaning conservatories in and/or out is defiantly  hard work and normally takes a lot longer than people think so is easy to stitch yourself up pricewise.

Carpet cleaning on the other hand is a doddle to do compare to doing a conservatory valet properly.

[Smudger]

Ive had 2 encounters with this company, ( not directly ) one  was a customer who was quoted 1k for in/out - totally over the top price - needless to say i easily got that, and the other was a very upset lady she had paid £800 and they missed most of the bits shown on the video ( yes everyone can have a bad day ) we soon polished this off to give a satisfactory result.

Ref the video, most of what's shown is to me bad practise, with wfp, and backpacks to deliver chemicals there is very little need to climb over a conservatory like in the video, it's also very slow! And rarely a better end result, the exception to this is if your renewing the mastic/silicone or removing compromised polycarbonate panels.

There are always various levels of service to these things, and there is a market place for this type/cost of clean but it's small and it's going to tie up lots of your time, our standard clean will 95% of the time  equal what's done in the  video, but takes anything from 45 mins to 1.5 hours.

Most of that video is good promotion rather than good practise

Darran

[Mike Halliday]

I've tried WFP and to be truthful I did'nt think they did a good job from ground level, I found it hard to scrub accurately into the crevices. This is why I was thinking of trying a portable scaffold to get waist high with the guttering so I can use a shorter pole and put more pressure into the scrubbing. ( You can see why i want to charge a premium price)

Although I don't have a lot of experiance with WFP so perhaps it's my I inexperience rather than the system.

I have a lot of equipment I could try even a steam machine with a 12ft long lance . I Think the only problem I will have is scrubbing the apex to a satisfactory standard without getting close up .

[Smudger]

Depends on the chemicals you use, a lot of the time you don't need a lot of pressure to scrub.

Getting your waist level with the gutter line will help tremendously - but you still don't need to crawl all over the  roof.

What's your idea of premium price and time for say 3 x 6 meter conservatory with pitched roof and finials ?

Darran

[Mike Halliday]

Not done any commercially yet so don't have any idea of Price or timings but after practicing and getting my method of cleaning sorted out I will charge  £90 an hour  for a 2 man team. so what ever that comes out at

[Smudger]

Sounds about right,

The above mentioned size  takes us around 45 minutes - just as a guide for you

Darran

[wpclean]

I hate conservatory cleaning, donkey work, and if I get any more jobs I am going to pass them on to you 

[Smudger]

Who me ?

Bring it on the lads love em 

Darran

[Rob@Blast off]

I do quite a few but there hard work, especially the awkward ones were they slope towards the house or are tight to fences etc, currently use just a wfp to clean them but going down the softwash route....

[wpclean]

The worst are where the guttering run on the conservatory is adjacent to the house, and the gap is half inch wide, and it is always full to the gills 

[Rob@Blast off]

Oh yes spent nearly two hours one day up a ladder with a gutter vac emptying one like that 

[Mike Halliday]

Just got my new leaflets which has a big picture  of conservatory roof cleaning, so expecting some calls for it in the next few weeks.

Decided to buy a aluminium scaffold rig to do it, 2ft x 8ft x 10ft high. Do you think splitting the work up would be a good idea? Eg just the roof( which many cannot reach) and the side sections ( which the window cleaners or customers can clean)

[samson]

If you are just cleaning the roof you will get spills u derneath so upsell the full conservatory clean.  When you get good at it, and have the right tools/chems you can knock em off in no time.   Just dont book too many in one day as it can over face ya 

[Smudger]

Part of selling the service Mike,

Always up sell your service by letting the the customer know it's a full clean , not just the roof.

If people know you are doing the finials, spars, panels, guttering, frames, glass and sills they are happier to pay the price than "just" for a roof.

Your average conny can be done by a pair in under an hour (3 x 6 meter)

Darran