[dazmond]

seriously tosh you must be having a mid life crisis!

why would you want to go pylon painting?(apart from the views!)and risk losing window cleaning work thats took years to build up.

id say if you were younger maybe but not at your age.itll be 10 times harder work than window cleaning and itll hammer your knees.

ive watched the video and you still risk getting shocks off the pylons as well as covered in paint(some had more on their face!)


you must be seriously bored of window cleaning to even consider this sort of work IMO

[Walter Mitty]

Putting aside the money aspect and possible extra time off for a moment - if I were painting pylons, it wouldn't be a fall from height that would kill me, it would be boredom.  I find window cleaning mind-numbingly boring at times and I suspect that pylon painting would be even worse.

[Smurf]

seriously tosh you must be having a mid life crisis!

why would you want to go pylon painting?(apart from the views!)and risk losing window cleaning work thats took years to build up.

id say if you were younger maybe but not at your age.itll be 10 times harder work than window cleaning and itll hammer your knees.

ive watched the video and you still risk getting shocks off the pylons as well as covered in paint(some had more on their face!)


you must be seriously bored of window cleaning to even consider this sort of work IMO

+ 1 and/or so desperate to try earning a few bucks more. I can't see your missus lasting a day on that job either no matter how fit she is.

[gary999]

Let your missus get on with........stick to window cleaning and enjoy the peace and
quiet for as long as it lasts

[Rich Wilts]

Let her go. You know it's the right thing. She'll only be unhappy if you try to make her stay.

[Tom White]

I can't see your missus lasting a day on that job either no matter how fit she is.

You don't know my missis, mate.  She's tough; tougher than me, though I could still beat her in a fist fight (I reckon anyway).  She's running a 100 miles in June, in 24 hours.  This year she's came 2nd and 3rd lady in 30 and 42 mile ultra race.  I think these are good tests of character; not to mention the daily grind of the training that goes into it.

It's dealing with the height that worries her, but she says she'll give it a go.  If it comes to naught; that's no big deal either.

Remember the failing isn't in the failing; the failure is in the not trying.

Don't let your fears control you.

[Tom White]

you must be seriously bored of window cleaning to even consider this sort of work IMO

Yes, I guess we're both bored of it.  Same places, same faces, same things.

[Tom White]

id say if you were younger maybe but not at your age.itll be 10 times harder work than window cleaning and itll hammer your knees.

I asked about the age ranges of the guys who do this kind of work; the boss showed me a survey they'd done on this very subject.  They've got a few guys in their 60s still doing this (not many).  But loads in the 30 to 40 and 41 to 50 age range.

My knees are fine; I ran a marathon a couple of years back and earlier this year I was hitting 40 - 45 miles a week running (till I got injured (shins) and then got lazy).

I reckon the people who don't exercise are the ones who end up with physical problems and I'm not just talking about pylon painters.

[8weekly]

you must be seriously bored of window cleaning to even consider this sort of work IMO

Yes, I guess we're both bored of it.  Same places, same faces, same things.

Just a thought, but if the main issues are more money, less hours and different faces, why not put on a price hike (a seriously big one) and at the same time start a leaflet campaign with your new prices on to replace the ones you will lose?

[Jonny 87]

you must be seriously bored of window cleaning to even consider this sort of work IMO

Yes, I guess we're both bored of it.  Same places, same faces, same things.

That also could very much turn out to be the same faces, same pylon, same paint, but harder work and for the same pay?

I agree with one of the posts above (think it was dazmond) that if a newbie came on here saying he wanted to quit his job and start window cleaning, we all would be telling him to do this on weekends and see how he goes. Test the water. It's not for everybody.

I think the wisest course is to let your wife test the water while you stay with the windows. If after 6 months it turns out like you hope, then it's a no brainer.

I do think the pull of being your own boss is a huge one though.

[andyM]

When I watched the YouTube video someone had linked to earlier in this post about the Pylon Painters it seemed the guys they were filming had gone into it because they had limited options. One was ex-army another had a failed conservatory business etc.
None of them seemed sure from one year to the next if they would be continuing or bailing out.
I think that sums it up really.
I reckon I'd rather go outside and bury my head in the garden than take up Pylon Painting.   

[SeanK]

Go for it Tosh at the end of the day its not the hardest thing in the world to build another window cleaning round,
I'm in the same boat as yourself at the minute with the choice of two different types of work, the thing is when I'm doing one
I prefer the other and vice versa plus both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Need to decide soon as I'm not giving my best to either.

[kempy]

Buy a high quality pressure washer and do 1x a week this kind of work .
Gives you variety .
Or get a driving job 1x day a week .

Work longer for 4 days a week and have a day off and do a hobby .

We all work too much

[Walter Mitty]

My two main issues would be boredom, as already stated.  My other one would be about working under someone else's control.  I've worked part-time in the past for someone else while window cleaning self-employed.  My god, there are some real dumbasses out there who haven't a clue how to manage or how to treat people.  Although I've left on good terms, there was one instance where my leaving was punctuted by verbal violence on both sides.

[Smurf]

Hit the nail on the head there walter mitty as pylon painters are all subbies on peace work so have to work their nuts off to earn any good money (weather permitting).  If you have ever worked in a crew before on peace work the stress can be unbearable as if you happen to be slower than the rest they are losing money too so will give you loads of grief and want to sack you off.

Those guys are in it to do the job as quickly as possible not fanny about and if they fail their targets will gets loads of grief from the bosses too.

Oh the joys of working for someone else 

[Tom White]

When I watched the YouTube video someone had linked to earlier in this post about the Pylon Painters it seemed the guys they were filming had gone into it because they had limited options. One was ex-army another had a failed conservatory business etc.
None of them seemed sure from one year to the next if they would be continuing or bailing out.
I think that sums it up really.

Yes, I regularly meet window cleaners with jumbo jet pilots licenses who just decided to take up window cleaning.

I reckon I'd rather go outside and bury my head in the garden than take up Pylon Painting. 

I know a lot of folk would say the same about window cleaning.

[Tom White]

My two main issues would be boredom, as already stated.

Yes, you're right; window cleaning is so exciting.

[Walter Mitty]

My two main issues would be boredom, as already stated.

Yes, you're right; window cleaning is so exciting.

No, window cleaning is boring too.  I just imagine it as less boring than pylon painting.  There is a bit more variety to window cleaning I feel, especially as going to different areas and having more choices about how much work I wish to do.
For me, the real nugget is the larger number of people I get to meet.  Many of them, or adaptations of them, give me ideas for writing characters.  With pylon painting, I reckon it would be a much smaller number of people , so less stimulation.

[Tom White]

For me, the real nugget is the larger number of people I get to meet. 

If you go and be a 'ding ding girl' at Tescos, you'll get to meet loads of folk.

That would probably blow your mind though.

[Rich Wilts]

With pylon painting, I reckon it would be a much smaller number of people , so less stimulation.

Oh I don't know, Im sure you'd get the odd person passing through.