[Scott Blaney]

Hi Folks

I do a lot of contract cleaning work - end of tenancys for estate agents, communal areas of blocks of flats etc and I currently sub any high level or hard to access jobs to a local window cleaner with WFP system.

Now, he's becoming a bit non reliable and also his prices can be absolutely wild at times.

As a result, looking to get a kit of my own but recon a trolley might be best suited than a full blown kit?

The amount of jobs needing cleaned WFP can vary.. I could have a a dozen one week then zero the next as we mainly trad clean them from inside the houses/ flats - The joys of easy tilt pvc windows!

Any recommendations on a kit?  I would need to go to 3rd floor tennament / victorian buildings in height. 

[nathankaye]

Sorting the kit out can be the easy part, its depending what you are doing about the water. Are you going to buy in pure for the odd times you may need it or produce it yourself. If yourself, the first step will be to see what tds your water is. So you will need a tds stick.  If below 200 people recommend just using 2 DI vessels filled with DI resin which can produce 000tds which you can fill into 25ltr containers ready for when you need it. Or if well over 200 you will need a reverse osmosis unit.

Trolley options are vast; purefreedom do a nano trolley which seems popular at the moment. Or a common method is using a battery operated backpack on a trolley system.  Or you could source the materials and build your own (https://youtu.be/PyrF1VyfQ3k     and see the rest of vids till completion......as a for instance).

Poles and brushes can be sourced from
http://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/
Along with a backpack ( same one as shown in vid above)

Or purefreedom.co.uk for trolley systems and reverse osmosis.

There are other companies available as well for trolley systems.
If this helps

[Scott Blaney]

Thanks for the above 

Silly question...  I've no idea how much actual water i would be needing, is there a sort of average per window etc?

I guess the above kind of decides whether i buy it in or just filter it.  I'm in a soft water area so DI looks to be the route to go down.

I have noticed a lack of reliable cleaners in my town, so possible may go for setting up a run for a day or two,

[Shrek]

If it’s one off cleans , you’ll need a hell of a lot! You’ll soon find out why this window cleaner your sacking off charges so much 

[Scott Blaney]

If it’s one off cleans , you’ll need a hell of a lot! You’ll soon find out why this window cleaner your sacking off charges so much 

40 quid to clean one window 

[Shrek]

And not a thought given to the time filtering the water , buying the RO system, the £400 poles he’s got to buy or the £35 brushes he uses to stick on the end of his pole,  driving to the job for one window when probably full up with work and you want it done ASAP . There’s costs involved, it’s not as if it doesn’t cost us anything to drive to a job and ‘clean 1 window’.
First cleans take a lot longer than normal and use twice as much filtered water if not 3 times. Understandable you want it done cheap as you run a business, but from a window cleaners perspective , it’s a hassle.
Hopefully you’ll find out how much work it is if you do them yourself .

[nathankaye]

Shrek has more than valid points to be considered.
So basically reverse the situation. How much would you charge to leave the bread n butter of your work to go clean one inside window?

[Scott Blaney]

And not a thought given to the time filtering the water , buying the RO system, the £400 poles he’s got to buy or the £35 brushes he uses to stick on the end of his pole,  driving to the job for one window when probably full up with work and you want it done ASAP . There’s costs involved, it’s not as if it doesn’t cost us anything to drive to a job and ‘clean 1 window’.
First cleans take a lot longer than normal and use twice as much filtered water if not 3 times. Understandable you want it done cheap as you run a business, but from a window cleaners perspective , it’s a hassle.
Hopefully you’ll find out how much work it is if you do them yourself .

I appreciate what you are saying.  However, any jobs that i've passed to this boy are always given with loads of notice and he actually picks them up to do at the end of the day or before he starts his own round in the same area as my cleans.  This is why I have had the issue with the cost sometimes.   Also 9 times out of 10  i've been adding his charges on at cost price to all my jobs, so I've been making 0 off nearly all of them.

The £40 window in question turned out to be in the street he lived in... about 6 doors down.. and took a week for him to do.   
Surely that can't be justified?


Anyway, bought a trolley system there, so we shall see how it goes!

[Cookie]

And not a thought given to the time filtering the water , buying the RO system, the £400 poles he’s got to buy or the £35 brushes he uses to stick on the end of his pole,  driving to the job for one window when probably full up with work and you want it done ASAP . There’s costs involved, it’s not as if it doesn’t cost us anything to drive to a job and ‘clean 1 window’.
First cleans take a lot longer than normal and use twice as much filtered water if not 3 times. Understandable you want it done cheap as you run a business, but from a window cleaners perspective , it’s a hassle.
Hopefully you’ll find out how much work it is if you do them yourself .

I appreciate what you are saying.  However, any jobs that i've passed to this boy are always given with loads of notice and he actually picks them up to do at the end of the day or before he starts his own round in the same area as my cleans.  This is why I have had the issue with the cost sometimes.   Also 9 times out of 10  i've been adding his charges on at cost price to all my jobs, so I've been making 0 off nearly all of them.

The £40 window in question turned out to be in the street he lived in... about 6 doors down.. and took a week for him to do.   
Surely that can't be justified?


Anyway, bought a trolley system there, so we shall see how it goes!

He obviously doesn't want or need the work. That's why he's quoting silly prices.