[Graham Linnard]

what would you quote on a 8 story and five story blocks there are 860 windows all together newly built so there is a lot of dirt on them. I have never quoted for any big job before can any of you help and give advise please.

[Spruce]

what would you quote on a 8 story and five story blocks there are 860 windows all together newly built so there is a lot of dirt on them. I have never quoted for any big job before can any of you help and give advise please.

How are you going to clean windows 8 stories high?

[Smudger]

TBH

if you are very new to window cleaning then this job is probably to big for you

info like - wfp - frequency - access - so many things to take into consideration

Darran

[Dave Anderson]

I do not wish to appear rude... but if you are new to window cleaning .... You may wish to consider alot of factors... firstly how are you going to reach 8 stories high?  what safety measures will you need to employ for them.... How are you going to clean them and with what.... what else is on the glass and frames? cement, paint? how would you deal with that.... what exactly does the customer want?

Again I am not trying to internet bash you but 8 stories.... thats high ! I would never attempt anything that high in fact I could not reach it whatsoever.... but perhaps you have more experience than I know.

Good Luck ...

[p1w1]

best newbie question i've seen tho  .

[Spruce]

.... and there will be RAMS.

[Don Kee]

.... and there will be RAMS.

C'mon Derby!


OP, don't listen to all the haters; just get up there, hang out the window and trad the top floors like a real man...

 
(Sounds like at least a £20 job by the way, dont undercut anyone to get it!)

[p1w1]

Also putting some pictures up will help..include the name of the place, where it is and who wants the quote  .
Seriously though mate that sounds like a big task to take on if you have no experience at all. Perhaps find someone local who can handle something like this and work with them on the job, you'll get some good experience that way for the future.

[P @ F]

I have been doing this nonsense for 12 years and have not been that high , me and SAJ will give you a hand , i will do 1-4 and SAJ will do 5-8 , hes a lanky streak 'o' p155.
How did you even get this offer if you dont mind me asking ?

[robbo333]

So let me get this right...
You are a newbie and if I have read it correctly you have an 8 floor and a 5 floor block, newly built, 860 windows, 'builders clean' to do.  And you're asking for a price.
Good luck with that.

[Marc Stock]

what would you quote on a 8 story and five story blocks there are 860 windows all together newly built so there is a lot of dirt on them. I have never quoted for any big job before can any of you help and give advise please.

No disrespects but even if you do get this job, they will find someone cheaper in 18 months and you'l loose it to the next "new" window cleaner thinking he is going to become wealthy.  There are a lot of new startup this year so far, and it will end in tears for the majority of them.

My advice to you is forget these jobs. If you want a good stable business you need to spend time getting  a volume of customers, that are stable, reasonably priced and profitable first. This can take anything up to 5 years to achieve, and in that time you are dealing with the dregs of the customer inquiries to start with, bad payers when your cash flow is critical, and you have to stay motivated to keep going, even when you are slogging away with no money in your account for a couple of years, because trust me everyone on here will agree that is how they had to start.

Then and only then once you have a stable business, and round can you even consider exposing yourself to such a high liablilty of bigger value jobs. Even then to stay liquid you shouldn't really (imo) agree to take on more work from one customer that exceeds 20% of your current business turnover, and remember i mean stable turnover with a track record, not turnover you have canvassed your backside off for 12 months and you look at it and feel good that its X amount. In 2 years that will have gone down by as much as a third from the original bookings due to messers, bad payers and possibly your own motivation.

[Martin Lane]

Graham
Best thing to do is find a local company who cleans this sort of building at that hieght and try and sub it out,
We clean loads of buildings up to six floors, we also clean two sites one 25 floors and the other 16 floor both are subbed out as this is very specialist sort of work
If you are not used to this sort of work try subbing it out or leave it well alone

Martin

[paul alan]

Me thinks the OP has been scared off and shall never return.

Hes prolly started work in the factory by now, releived from his narrow escape.

[Splash & dash]

That's not really a job for someone new to window cleaning , we have one job that's 8 Floor s we do a lot at 50-60 foot but that extra 20 makes a big difference, try and get someone who is use to doing this kind of work to help you out the first few times to show you the ropes and the potential problems  , wind at that sort of height can be a big problem, if it's a regular clean make sure you arnt shooting yourself in the foot with price . If it's a builders clean my advice from experience would be walk away not worth the hassle , make sure you have a contract for a minimum number of cleans , we generally insist of a minimum of 8 cleans on a 6 weekly basis but preferably a 2 year contract then it's worth it for you otherwise you will spend time getting it up to speed and someone will undercut you and benefit from your hard work , hope it works out ok for you

[Spruce]

Me thinks the OP has been scared off and shall never return.

Hes prolly started work in the factory by now, releived from his narrow escape.

Mmmm. He registered on the site just over 5 years ago. So it could be that he is cleaning windows.  But this enquiry is out of his depth and as has been mentioned could kill his business and bankrupt him.

In business terms a business can fail due to cash flow issues.  This looks like one of these in the making.

Sometimes the risks are just too much.

I reminds me of the job a plyliner got in Sheffield to plyline 150 new Berlingo vans. They sent in a newbie to do the job. Somehow he didn't know that the screws to screw the floor down had to be short for fear of puncturing the fuel tank.  The end result was 150 new tanks had to be purchased and fitted as each one was punctured several times.

What seemed to be a brilliant ordered turned out to be the total opposite and the repair bill was around £30000.00. The company went insolvent.

I once heard someone say that you will never soar with eagles if you're hanging with the turkeys.  So I do admire the op's optimistic outlook, but I would recommend he stick with us turkeys in this instance.

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[Cookie]

As a sole trader I wouldn't even consider this type of work.

[jo5hm4n]

I'd charge a tenner, and if they say they are looking for multiple quotes, say you will lower your price to £5 if needs be.  Your onto a winner mate, that dosh will be rolling in before you know it 

[Og]

Cherrypicker and crack on. No dramas.
Obviously have correct training and insurance.

[Bungle]

Some drongo on the other forum asking the same sort of questions

[NBwcs]

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