[simonb]

I get the safety angle and doing over conservatory roofs but I DONT get either the time or the cost.
Take your average road. U have six semi detached houses within walking distance. Three of them have gates U have to climb over and this is increasing all the time with the security situation.

I turn up and whip off my ladders and get stuck in. Use my pointer to hop over the gate.
You guys roll up with a van load of gear and water in containers, get out poles - we know the rest.

I have done house 1 before you are ready to start.
How do you climb over the gates?- Don't tell me U use a LADDER !

I walk to house 2. Do you load up all your gear and drive or can you wheel it all from house to house?

When I do the upstairs I don't have gallons of water running down over the bottom windows. I could go on.

Why don't we have a challege? 2 identical houses side by side and see who is the quickest?

And no-one seems to know what the actual cost of pure water is. Is it 10p per litre or 5p? Does that includes the electricity and the depreciation of the gear plus the filters etc.
And how many litres would you take to clean a 3 bed semi? Does it cost you a £1? Can U charge more.

So lets have some proper comments!!!!

[gibbouk]

strange way to start a discussion. you set out a challenge and just state negative comments and expect us to defend our choice in wfp. i am happy with mine and still use a ladder, but for the houses i do with wfp i would never go back to ladder and squegee. maybe you should read a bit more of the board and maybe ask some questions politely

[replacement]

How do you climb over the gates?- Don't tell me U use a LADDER !

Well round this way they have handles you turn to open gates. So no climbing over.

I walk to house 2. Do you load up all your gear and drive or can you wheel it all from house to house?

No i got a trolley takes a few seconds to move about the same as an ladder ill say.

When I do the upstairs I don't have gallons of water running down over the bottom windows. I could go on.

You really need to read some of the post's and understand it abit better before saying that. Well with 1ltr a min and takes 1 min or less for a window theres not loads of water. I use alot of water on the 1st clean to get the crap off from the last window cleaner.

Why don't we have a challege? 2 identical houses side by side and see who is the quickest?

I would love too but i am rather new and have not got the experince yet.

And no-one seems to know what the actual cost of pure water is. Is it 10p per litre or 5p? Does that includes the electricity and the depreciation of the gear plus the filters etc.

Good point, but

(1) i dont need to keep buying rubbers.
(2) i dont need to buy gg3 or whatevery you use.

So end of the day might cost the same, i dont really now. All i do now is i have no water meter and i dont need to fill my 1000 litre tank eveyday. I did see some where on somes site it costs like pence per day.

And how many litres would you take to clean a 3 bed semi? Does it cost you a £1? Can U charge more.

3 bed semi i charge in my area depending on amount of windows £8.50 - £10, the amount of water depends 30 liters might be more might be less. Costs me nothing really just the water to produce it too pure water no rubbers no soaps.

Justin



Work Safe Look Pro Get A WFP.


ps I picked up 2 jobs today from people whom like the idea no one looking through there bedroom windows. Both have young familes and both are stopping there wc for me, also they like it there other windows are getting cleaned as there other wc could not reach them. So WFP is the way, i love it so do my customers. The two Jobs come to £35

[simonb]

Now thats what I call a good answer.
I am not for or against WFP but the pole guys never seemed to be specific about answering the questions.

At least 50 percent of gates in Bristol are padlocked so U have to climb over. I assume you cannot do the backs then?

[replacement]

No not at all. What i do is when i speak to the customer on the 1st time i ask about back gates etc etc. I give them a card with what day ill be coming, this will help.

But as an added bouns which is a great bit of customer service i take the ones which i belive to be a pain getting in the back there phone numbers and ring them the night before. Yes it does cost a few pence ringing but its good customer service, plus you can count on one hand the times i have to ring atm.

I find this great and they seam to love it. Its only going to be a matter of time before they say " hey, can you see my friends house at .... or can you clean my conservastory roof."

Justin

If you have any questions then just say i am no expert but ill answer the best i can with the expericenes i have encounted.

[Len Gribble]

Simonb

Read you post with interest you say “I get the safety angle and doing over conservatory roofs” then you talk about climbing over gates to clean windows!!

If your insurance company ask you for a method statement and on this you put that you had to climb over gates I don’t think they will insure you.

Len

[easycleanwindows]

Simon B i would love to give you a race on a residential house we clean.Its has over 240 leaded glass three stories high (47 feet).I took this job on which on ladders was taking two wc 8 hours to do we do a better job in 2 hours and for £200.00 so any time any day.

[The_Fed_Man]

The gate problem can be got round with regular customers by asking them for a padlock key, just code them, don't put their name on them in case they get lost.  Most can be got from the other side of the gate.

I would only WFP if the blade was slower.

[wrighty]

Justin,

How much water do you carry around with you and what amount of water do you have on your trolley.

Regards

Craig

[HCS]

Justin,
Can you tell us more about the system you use?
Do you clean ground floor windows with wfp?
How much has it cost you?
How much does it cost to run?
How do you clean above flat roof extensions?
Is the equipment bulky?
Do you need a special vehicle?
How many 3bed semis can you clean in an hour?
Is the clean as effective in wet weather?

What is this 20 questions?
Almost!

[jonesy5]

i have a round of houses which used to take 4 of us one and a half days, using ladders and scrims etc.
i worked 8 hours today with the wfp and had 1 person with me, we finished the round £500 back pocket thankyou very much.......... no competion.......

[Len Gribble]

Martin

Sorry some what confused “Most can be got from the other side of the gate” Aren’t most padlocks/bolts on the inside of the gate so Joe public can’t get to them.

I don’t know whether simonb is a member of the NFMWGC but you are not discouraging him or any one from climbing a gate, be they members nor not!

I see you have the same problems as the cc side of this forum, which is the best?

Len

[replacement]

Ya,
    The trolley carries 50 litres, i also have backup with another 150 litres with me with another 100 liters ready @ home. Plus i am local and can get another 1000 litres from my main tank @ Home. But i only started a few weeks back so anit got loads of customers yet but i am getting there.

[replacement]

Yes i am new at window cleaning and went for an WFP as i belive this the way forward and would give me the edge. I am no expert far from it i have leant all the infomation from these forums by reading them and others. Plus praccy on my own house and family.

Can you tell us more about the system you use?

Yes i use an omipole system ( trolley ) I use RO unit only and do not use an DI system to polish off as the TDS reading is always 000, so no need for DI unit.

Do you clean ground floor windows with wfp?

Yes i brought an 2ft pole for ground floor windows and i can wizz round in no time what so every.

How much has it cost you?

That is between me and omipole if you want an price then contact them.

How much does it cost to run?

Well i have not changed any cartridges as out yet nor membrane. I am not on water meters either. So just small amount of electric. I did read on another WFP user's website about the running costs and it was like pence. How much does it cost you in rubbers and soap? i am sure over time Pure water is alot cheaper.

How do you clean above flat roof extensions?

I extend the pole bloody easy really, but then i am not at the right angle and it kills the arms holding it like that, but i can reach them. I can reach 99% of windows no problem, how many can you reach with an ladder? 75% ?

Is the equipment bulky?

Not really

Do you need a special vehicle?

No

How many 3bed semis can you clean in an hour?

Well i am rather slow atm as i have never cleaned windows before.

Is the clean as effective in wet weather?

I dont work in rain Customers dont like it, so i dont do it i work in light drizzle with no problems as of yet. Plus i have two rules.

Rule 1
The customer is always right
Rule 2
Reread rule 1

Now i dont mind answering the questions but alot of these can be found on the forums here and else where, and takes a few mins looking the information up. Thats what i did.

Justin

[Philip Hanson]

I am no expert far from it i have leant all the infomation from these forums by reading them and others. Plus praccy on my own house and family.

Interesting idea - I think I'll water-fed pole my family when I see them next.  Save them getting in the shower.

Back gates are no problem, just POLE vault over them - hey presto.  

Try doing that with a squeegee.

Philip

[The_Fed_Man]

Sorry some what confused “Most can be got from the other side of the gate” Aren’t most padlocks/bolts on the inside of the gate so Joe public can’t get to them.

Len,

You can reach a lot through the gap, the ones you can't can be got leaning over or from a pointer/ ladder- better than trying to carry gear over, owners prefer it too as a lot don't like the jumping over, at least in the neighbourhoods I worked.

[choice.clean]

i am very pleased to see a debate on use of pole system on houses. i have used the system for 2 years and have carved out a reasonably succesfull round i would like to know more about the trolleys that some of you are using. i currently use a transit with 1000 litre tank on and take hoses to the work this is somewhat restrictive when access to the property is difficult. how easy is it to haul a trolley on and off the van i.e. weight to lift? i find the biggest problem is the strain on your body from the poles when working at awkward angles. I must say that at first using the kit was a nightmare as the technicality is quite difficult. getting water pressure right/ kinks in the hose. disconnections when the hozelock fitting comes apart. and the good general rule if it can it will (watch out for those car tyres best cleat i've ever seen) one thing i must say is that i think the industry is ripping us off for kit. i find a water fed pole in galss fibre can last a s little as 4 months due to constant telescoping. and like many of you i am probably hunting the web for alternatives. what i would like to know is wher to buy all those little parts that come off the fibreglass poles if any of you know where you can get clamps and all the stainless parts and reverse thread bolts etc i would be very interested. I CAN TELL YOU WHERE TO BUY CARBON FIBRE AND FIBREGLASS POLE SECTIONS IN EXCHANGE we could use the forum to exchange information about alternative sources for kit and get all those suppliers on the run then the prices may get more realistic. so come on all of you domestic pole system users lets help each other

[replacement]

"I CAN TELL YOU WHERE TO BUY CARBON FIBRE AND FIBREGLASS POLE SECTIONS IN EXCHANGE"

Well the forums are all about helping each other. Instead of keeping that information to yourself why dont you share it with us instead of only giving that information for exchange of other. I feel thats abit bad and not what the forums are about.

So come on share it dont keep it.

Justin

[simonb]

Well THAT subject got a debate going!

[riz]

If we all find better deals though each other it will bring prices down further!? mmm or put them up??

[allseasons]

what a load of  

[choice.clean]

i don't have a problem with exchanging information its called business if you ask kentucky fried chicken for their recipe will they say its only fair to give everyone the recipe. or would you print a list of all your customers addresses and what you charge on the forum. i am just offering to help but we are here to help each other aren,t we?

[replacement]

Yeah we are here to help each other so wheres the place you get these so called cheap poles? Or is that too much to ask?

[Philip Hanson]

I CAN TELL YOU WHERE TO BUY CARBON FIBRE AND FIBREGLASS POLE SECTIONS IN EXCHANGE

http://www.carbonfibretubes.co.uk

Wow, wasnt that a big secret.  I have a pricelist from these chaps.  They do the exact internal and external measurements for the tube sections used by pole suppliers.  This and any composite supplier will do glass fibre tubes.

I know exactly where to get the clamps, reverse thread bolts, guides and butt rings.  I even know the company that manufactures them.  

I also know where to get the 5mm thin wall tube, and polytube connectors.  In fact, everything you'd need to make a carbon fibre pole at a third the retail cost.  Shall I share this info with Mr Choice.Clean?  Or should I ask for non-disclosure agreement from him first?

or would you print a list of all your customers addresses and what you charge on the forum

Have a look at this thread, many of the forum members have done this:

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Equipment;action=display;num=1077804680

Philip

[replacement]

Heheh well said Phil..

NOW msg me them urls please.

thanks

justin

[Ian Gourlay]

I thought about using waterfed poles on domestics several years ago but only new of US Web site and got laughed at so carried on Carpet Cleaning.

With the EU ladder directive does that mean eveyonev window cleaner will need a Water Fed Pole System.


That should create a lot of opportunity.

Or are Water Fed Poles quicker therefore one man can do two peoples round?