[P @ F]

Its OK Tosh , you can blame your missus !

 No mate , i hear what your saying , i wish i could be a bit more like it at times , i like you have lost very few till now , and the business is really taking off now and i dont want to fall into the same trap as the other w/c's that i have won the work off .

 Value for money and Quality are what im about , it will bite me in the arse in the expansion area but i do ok at the moment and i will worry about it later .

 Rich   P @ F   

[simbo]

p@f
i am exactly the same as you, a window to me is the whole thing frame and pane and that is why i am constantly picking up work now, without advertising anymore. Seems like we just take more pride in our work, enjoying the fact that customer gets home and knows that i have been for all the right reasons. I actively encourage all new customers to have a full pvc clean first, i then just maintain, no pint in having a nice house with clean windows and green or black s**t all over the frames as i know i would not be happy if they were my windows.
just to point out all new customer are £10 or over as i do not need them really and all 5 weekly and i am passing cheaper work to someone else all the time
good luck simb0

[windows_chepstow]

I can't see how someone with WFP could get away with glass only like rich said.
This can only lead to problems

Paul

Paul,

Last September I started using a WFP with a backpack.  The ground floor is usually done traditional by my partner. 

And when I first started I scrubbed and washed the frames and glass like a lunatic.

I've calmed down a bit since then; and now generally do the glass only.

Maybe I do leave spots on the first floor windows, but my customers don't seem to mind; maybe I don't leave spots either! 

I honestly don't know about 'spots' and stuff apart from the jobs I do inside and out; and in that case the standard of work I see is more than acceptable, so I guess this is our standard.

When I first started using a WFP, I used a numptyised version of David@St Ives's letter from the document to upload section; so my customers are generally health and safety aware.

The ground floor has no spots mind.  We trad them; usually.

Maybe we just manage our customer's expectations well?

I'm happy as long my customer's perception is that we do a good job and they cough up the cash and are regular clients!

I don't think this as a case of 'ripping off my customers', since I've never told any of them I clean their frames; apart from the rare one whose asked me too.

If this wasn't the case, I'd change our working practises.

[AuRavelling79]

That semi? I've got existing stuff that I charge £8 done like Tosh does 'em.

Becsause my round is full then new customers will get charged £10/11.

(Add another couple of quid if the house has got bay windows.)

[JohnL]

we went down this thread some months ago and all with the same reasons for not doing the frames but I still believe in giving a fair price for a fair job and still do the frames

JohnL

[windows_chepstow]

we went down this thread some months ago and all with the same reasons for not doing the frames but I still believe in giving a fair price for a fair job and still do the frames

JohnL

John,

Do you think that PVC frames need cleaning every month?

[P @ F]

So most of us want want to do a good job , which i for one like to hear , most of our prices seem to be in line , all replies so far anyway .

 Tosh , do you still do all your stuff with BP only ?

 Rich  P @ F

[windows_chepstow]

Tosh , do you still do all your stuff with BP only ?

 Rich  P @ F

I suspect I'm lining myself up for a joke here!

What's 'BP'?

[P @ F]

Come on Tosh , Back Pack , i cant believe you thought i was going to be sarcastic !

 Rich   P @ F

[Londoner]

This is not a question that would arise with WFP because you can't help claning both. I am often amazed how much better the whole lot looks when the frames have had a good scrub.

[JohnL]

John,

Do you think that PVC frames need cleaning every month?


Yes I do. Lets face it after the first clean most only need a good wipe down with a wet rag - it only takes a minute or two and lifts the look and that includes the wooden ones.

Where I live on the coast spiders webs, dust and all sorts of c**p seem to stick to PVC on the sea salt which is in the air and when you walk away from a cleaned window - including the  frame it looks b****y good! Some are on main roads and get covered in road dust and grit. You cant walk away from a window and leave a dirty frame because a lot of customers look at their cleaned windows from the outside not just the inside.

I smile when walking along a road and thinking shall I canvas that because from here those windows look pretty shoddy only to find when you get up close the glass is clean but the overall impression is they look dirty cus of the lack of attention to the frame.

I am picking up work from customers who quite obviously dont get the frames done.

I think another point is the perception of the job. Most of my jobs are on 'pretty' houses, some large, a few small but most have painted walls, well maintained, some with a gardener once a week and the owners like to think they have to drink their Earl Grey out of china cups with their pinkies curled just as the rule book of etiquette tells them to. The same book tells them to hang on to every penny and although wealthy in my terms are still as tight as you know what.

At the end of the day I can walk away knowing '' the window'' looks as though its been cleaned and the customer has had the job they paid for which is what this is about and I can feel a job well done.

However I have picked up a couple recently which are terraced in a pretty poor area and a pretty poor condition. Some cannot be wiped because I might take the wood with it.

So 98% of my work is cleaned but its horses for courses according to your area I suppose but as I said I feel good knowing I have done a good job and of course when the WFP is up and running it should get better and  quicker in time 

Johnl 

[dai]

When I first cleaned windows back in the 1950's, we didn't even have sqeegies.
We would never do the frames with our camoise mops, and our nice clean scrims.
No plastic windows in them days though. Now I do the frames on first cleans, and as much of the frames as I have to, to avoid spotting with WFP on subsequent cleans. I would do the lot if they were prepared to pay for it. Dai