[frames to panes]

Gutter and facia cleaning. I've not picked up any windows for days now but picked up five of these without trying this week. Pro's: can be good earners, uses no fuel as your in the same spot for a long time. Cons: knackering!
Anyone else find there is a good market in sprucing up upvc?

[L.J.Thorpe]

yup  and it keeps your confidence up on ladders,i always find a greater amount of fascia/gutter work between feb and late may,conservatory season kicks in about late april round here

[Neil Williams]

Anyone else find there is a good market in sprucing up upvc?

Oh yes. I swear that a lot of people who get new gutters don't need to. All they needed was clearing out and cleaning off.

[Davo]

Gutter and facia cleaning. I've not picked up any windows for days now but picked up five of these without trying this week. Pro's: can be good earners, uses no fuel as your in the same spot for a long time. Cons: knackering!
Anyone else find there is a good market in sprucing up upvc?

Think thats a bit of an understatement DJW, it was sold as a maintenance free product by all those double glazing salesmen. But it needs cleaning and maintaining to keep it looking its best. The market out there is huge, and people dont know how to value the cleaning of it.

You keep going with the PVCu that,IMO,is where the good money is at.


Mark
PS Dont sell yourself short.

[jeff1]

I picked up a big guttering Job yesterday on a detached house, I told the guy the price, I told him it included clearing out the guttering, washing the external section, facias and soffits, he then told me not to bother cleaning out the guttering as they never get bunged up,  He had just had a new section replaced and it made the rest look bad.

I told him he wouldn't get a reduction for not cleaning them out as it was part of my package, No problem just do the outsides as the new section was making the rest of it look really bad.

What I find is, I like to do the real bad ones that look filthy, when the Jobs half complete, you get next door and those opposite come out and ask how much do you charge

I now have about 20 guttering Jobs to complete, and plenty of conservatories, there all  good earners so I never turn them down, and looking at next weeks weather forecast, I'll still be able to get out and earn some pennies.

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Dirty upvc looks worse than grubby windows in my opinion and i reckon a lot of windowcleaners will shy away from it - for a good reason - it's such a physical job, even with carbon poles and the lightest of brushes there is no way of avoiding hard work. The results though are pretty outstanding and gets the curtain twitchers going! I'm going to try and target some more next week, just wish i had that SL-X to help me survive the day.

[L.J.Thorpe]

how can you do it with apole and get a good result not being awkward just tried it and was not happy with result ,like to use ladders when i can do it safely,will use brushes on the really high or awkward bits but imo you cant beat a hand finish

[jeff1]

Dirty upvc looks worse than grubby windows in my opinion and i reckon a lot of windowcleaners will shy away from it - for a good reason - it's such a physical job, even with carbon poles and the lightest of brushes there is no way of avoiding hard work. The results though are pretty outstanding and gets the curtain twitchers going! I'm going to try and target some more next week, just wish i had that SL-X to help me survive the day.

Do you treat your's beforehand with anything? or do you just pole it with water?

[frames to panes]

I pole a section to start then if i'm struggling i'll dip the brush in tfr even though i'm not completely sold on the stuff. Some clean up really easily but others get that grey stain and can be quite hard work.

[L.J.Thorpe]

jeff an dj what brushes do you use,and is there a trick to rinsing it down
any tips

[frames to panes]

I use flocked Bentley brushes and use a very small one (cut down) for the gutters, it's not ideal because of it's limited scrubbing power but it has to be light to hold it up there for an hour or more. I'm hoping Alex's new brush might help. I reckon a thicker flocked bristle might be better maybe longer than the normal ones we use. Sometimes i'll fit a Vileada pad to the end to scrub some upvc cleaner on badly stained bits then rinse off afterwards. If anyone else has any tips i'll be interested to know.

[L.J.Thorpe]

cheers mate  my soffits are minging so i think i will be using em as a test bed
i had an idea for targeting houses that have been up for sale for a while that i see on my round but dont clean...."spring spruce up" or some sort of rubbish......make your property more saleable etc

[jeff1]

When I first started w/c I used to use a carwash pole and brush attached to custy's tap it did a good Job but not one I could say I was 100% proud of, then I changed to wfp and give it a bash with pure water, although I thought it did a better Job, I was still not 100% happy.

I never used TFR or any other detergents, not until I took on a new commercial last year, I was in the office getting payment when I noticed a 5ltr container of ecover truck wash, I asked the custy about it and how much it cost, I was told it was new to them so they couldn't tell me anything about it, asking what I wanted it for (being a w/c) I told them about conservatories and guttering, so the nice people told me to take it on for free and give them some feed back on it

The next day I had a real green conservatory to do, so this was my chance to try it out, mixed it into a 10ltr pressure bottle, applied it to the roof and finials, I gave it 10 minutes to work and then attacked it with wfp, I was gob smacked on how easy the green was washing off every part of the roof.
I phoned the manager up and gave them my feedback as promised, I still don't know the price as I have never paid for the 20ltrs I've had from them so far.
I'm trying to get this company to create a web-site but no joy so far, but if your able to get hold of ecover truck wash I highly recomend it.

I don't even know if they will sell just the odd 5ltrs to the public, but I will make enquiries.
If not you can phone and ask your self.
Ask for Malcom (Sales Manager) or Pauline (Owner) @ K&M Cox Ltd  01963 440430  Just mention my name Jeff the w/c

P.S I make up some in a bucket and dip my gazza swivel brush into it for guttering and finish of with the lance.

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I've got some fleetclean tfr that i mix 20:1 i'm thinking of trying 50:50 because i'm not too impressed with it. Do you think a stronger solution would have any adverse effects?

[jeff1]

I've got some fleetclean tfr that i mix 20:1 i'm thinking of trying 50:50 because i'm not too impressed with it. Do you think a stronger solution would have any adverse effects?

If its made for cleaning Trucks then No I don't, Just mix it up and try it on a small area first, i mix mine at 20:1 and I'm happy with my results, I always point out the eco friendly bit as well   

[L.J.Thorpe]

do ecover also do a fairy liquid as well
i am sure marcus is using it for his trad work,he says it is less harsh on his hands
i will have to have a try on my own before i am happy to do "brush only " on customers tho

[macmac]

do ecover also do a fairy liquid as well
i am sure marcus is using it for his trad work,he says it is less harsh on his hands
i will have to have a try on my own before i am happy to do "brush only " on customers tho

Yep they do, funnily enough it wrecks my wifes hands.

Tony

[L.J.Thorpe]

awlright tony
these things dont suit everyone
e45 is supposed to be good for your skin
brings me out in welts :
(is this a REAL wife or one you made yourself )

[matt]

ecover washing up liquid doesnt have lanolin in it, thus doesnt leave a film of the glass

[G & M]

We use chlorine which can be bought from general merchants or coop's. We use it sparingly and mix it with washing up liquid and plenty water. It is very good at breaking down the green muck.  We use the backpack and telescopic poles.  
 
We prespray a section with water or the mix and then start scrubbing and respray as necessary. Even prespraying with water helps to break down the dirt. When we have a section clean we simply rinse with the customers garden hose or pure water if no hose. An average semi d takes about two to three hours. I find the backpack is the answer as it lets you spray on the mix as you go. We have the backpack on a trolley with a reel of microbore attached so you don't have to carry it.
Michael