after quite a few months on ere mulling it all over and changing my mind like the weather ive decided to stay trad.
1.i live in 1st floor flat on a water meter.
2.cant afford a car AND a van!
3.over half my round v.compact 3 bedders,i dont think WFP will be faster on this work.
4.domestic custys dont like wfp!
5.easy to make a mess of windows with wfp
6.hassle with pumps,hoses etc
7.higher overheads,insurance,resin,poles,pumps etc
8.dont want to carry a ton of water about just to clean windows!!
9.hard to get a good finish when its even slightlywindy!
1. <i live in 1st floor flat on a water meter.>
I'm in a 1st floor flat too (non meterable property due to some shared pipework). I asked around and made an arrangement for sort of premises with someone.
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2. <cant afford a car AND a van!>
So just have a van then - or do you have family to transport? I live on my own so van only is fine for me. Alternatively, it is possible to have a dual purpose vehile though I wouldn't fancy that myself.
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3. <over half my round v.compact 3 bedders,i dont think WFP will be faster on this work.>
With that sort of work the time saving is less I grant you. But why restrict yourself? Also no chance of falling.
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4. <domestic custys dont like wfp!>
Some don't. This put me off at first too. It took a few months but they all came out of the woodwork eventually and I gradually replaced them. Lost about 4% - 5% of my work through it. Gained a load of work that I could not have done from a ladder though. I took the view that they will not be paying me if I break a leg or worse. If they don't give a damn about my safety, I don't particularly want to supply them with a service anyway. Basically, if they don't like it - tough. They aren't the ones who have to suffer the consequences.
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5. <easy to make a mess of windows with wfp>
At first, there is some truth in this - just like it was easier to mess up windows with a squeegee before getting more practice. You soon get the hang of it though. Having said that, yes I agree that there are some windows where WFP doesn't work so well. They are a very small minority. In such cases, if I feel that the quality issue is a legitimate complaint, I will sometimes offer to do WFP on the tops and trad on the bottoms - but only if I like them. If they're miserable gits, they can find someone else to do it.
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6. <hassle with pumps,hoses etc>
Too true. It can be aggro sometimes. It's important to have spares of the most important bits and a small tool kit to make repairs on the fly if needed. You soon learn what needs doing and when. Bear in mind that what you read on here is the sum total of all the forum users' problems. If you look at each individual's problems, it will give a more realistic picture. What actually has happened with me is that as I encounter problems, I adapt and work around them.
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7. <higher overheads,insurance,resin,poles,pumps etc>
Agreed - but also a far higher turnover with which to pay for them. My turnover has increased greatly as have my expenses. However, the turnover has increased a lot more than the expenses leading to higher profit. I won't go into details of income but suffice to say that my profitr margin is much higher and I have a bit more time off than I used to. Also, and this is very important to me, because of the way WFP works, I have more energy to enjoy the time off that I get instead of needing longer recuperation time after shinning up a ladder all week. This may be an age thing though and perhaps you're younger than me?
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8. <dont want to carry a ton of water about just to clean windows!!>
You don't have to. If you have an electronic flow controller in your system, half a ton will do most days - certainly 650kg
. It's not as if you have to carry it on your back, is it?
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9. <hard to get a good finish when its even slightlywindy!>
Wind can affect the finish though I reckon it needs a fairly strong one to affect the work too badly. Apart from that, I reckon this can apply to trad too anyway. It is true that sometimes there are windows that don't take to WFP too well. When that is the case, I say the customer has to accept that the job will be of a lower standard in order to avoid the risk of a dead or injured window cleaner in their garden. These people will not pick up the pieces for you if you can't work. They will just get another window cleaner. Likewise, all you need to do is get another customer.
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Of course the choice is yours. I didn't really get the safety stuff until I had been on WFP for a while. I had always felt fine on ladders - but there were odd, occasional moments on them. It's those moments that need to be focussed on. Jokingly called brown trouser moments, they are the moments where, if you get it wrong just once, you (or those you leave behind) could have serious problems. In 14 years of daily ladder work, I only had two very near misses. I got lucky. But there were other times when I could have got hurt - it's just that there are two that stand out as being worse than the others.
Sorry if this sounds like a lecture. There is no need for any window cleanerr to die or get hurt in the course of their work.