[michael papworth]

OK. So now I've got the idea of how to clean a lean-to conservatory roof.

1 - wfp for the polycarbonate roof and
2 - either wfp or wash-n-wipe the gutters with microfibres whichever seems easier/more practical and then
3 - wfp sides.

Is that right?

Next problem: How do I price it?

I've heard all sorts of prices from £20 to £70 for a small one.

It's a small to medium sized conservatory and quite badly soiled. I'm guesing that there's about an hour's work there, so I was thinking of somewhere in the region of £40.

[LWC]

yeh £30 - £40

hook up the pole to their mains water,balst the water out and scrub away, some say to use tfr (traffic fil remover) non caustic

i never have, jsut had their water blasting and a good scrubb 

[tacky]

£40 about average for roof .but dont forget u have included gutters n sides etc ,on ur own prob take bit longer than hour .myself id ask a bit more.£60 .but wait for more feedback .most of us ol timers ar falling a sleep .

[m.b.s.]

ive just don a con roof today roof only £50.00 took 2 1/2 hurs but did customers house with this too so earned 60 not bad for 2 1/2 hour  work

[michael papworth]

Aha! so you use ordinary tap water at high flow rate to clean the roof and gutters initially, do you? Yes, that makes a lot of sense.

And then do you finish with 000?

[mci services]

its trial and error i have under charged on a few and kick myself it takes a lot longer than you think and still dont know what to charge but i keep doing them until i can come up with an answer

that doesnt really help sorry

[LWC]

Aha! so you use ordinary tap water at high flow rate to clean the roof and gutters initially, do you? Yes, that makes a lot of sense.

And then do you finish with 000?

if its not a glass roof, you dont need to rinse off with pure no

[michael papworth]

its trial and error i have under charged on a few and kick myself it takes a lot longer than you think and still dont know what to charge but i keep doing them until i can come up with an answer

that doesnt really help sorry

Sure it helps. It lets me know that I'm not the only one who has this sort of problem.

Being a newbie, everything takes longer than I think it should. But I can't charge for the actual time or I'd be charging £50 for a small bungalow!

I guess I'll do exactly the same as you ... get there in the end.

BTW, the technique is properly called "trial and improvement." rather than trial and error. Trial and error implies that you don't really learn from the trial.

The idea is that you make a trial and probably get it wrong to some degree. Ask yourself how you got it wrong and what you need to do to improve it next time.

The improvements to make in this sort of case may be:

1 - work faster whilst maintaining quality

2 - charge more to reflect the time taken

3 - work faster AND charge more.

[Wayne Thomas]

Keep a note of how long the jobs take for future pricing.

[michael papworth]

Keep a note of how long the jobs take for future pricing.

yes ... and look for ways of doing the job even better and/or even faster.

[Alex Wingrove]

i price mine up from £70, and more if its really green, remember they paid £000's for it, use a bit of upvc doctor from jml on the gutters, and they will see why they paid you so much

[crystal.clear]

i normally charge £5 per panel and then £10-£15 per gutter

[Central Window Cleaners]

My prices start from £75 for a full conservatory clean

[michael papworth]

In the end I decided on £5 per roof panel and £3 per meter for fascia (2 sides) and guttering (on one side).

The price came to just £40 for quite a small conservatory which she accepted without quibble.

I think much of it was that I was explaining exactly what the job would entail - no line of sight to the roof so blind working over my head - up on step ladders with a hand brush/cloths to clean the gutters etc. She was pleased that I was sharing the quotation process with her and telling her what a superb job I was going to do and how pleased she would be with the result!

She wants her 3-bedroom house cleaning at the same time - that's another £15 so I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

I'm a newbie, so of it takes me longer than anticipated, I'm still doing OK.

PS She got my details by word of mouth from her coffee morning. Several people there were saying how thorough and careful I was doing their houses.

[tompoole]

they won't quibble if its under £100. I found out yesterday that thier 10 year guarrentee will be void if they dont have the roof cleaned regular. Annd the installers charge between £200 and £500 . but do use con ladders and get close up and personal

[michael papworth]

they won't quibble if its under £100.

When I got home this evening after a short evening's canvassing, there's a phone call from said lady.

Her son came round in the afternoon and questioned the price. She rang up to ask me if I'd got it rght.

The first question I asked her was what her son did for a living. He's a chippy. I then asked how much he earned in a day. About £100. Asked here why she thought that I should earn less than her son.

She apologised and said she'd see me on Friday, as arranged.

Couldn't help feeling a bit miffed, as I think I priced it fair.

I know that sons look after their mums, so maybe I shouldn't feel too miffed.

[Dale Smith]

Don't be mate.
You got the price spot on I think as well. That's about the average I price them at. The more you do the quicker you get the more they become a real earner.
Make sure you put your price up for the bigger ones as well...