[Shrek]

Does Anyone else clean commercial properties with these kind of windows?



The vents on them always leave drips! I’m having to go back every time and go up with ladders and wipe the drips off with a cloth - not at the request of the customer but just me double checking my work. And there is a lot of buildings so it’s taking me another hour to do this each month the following day or when they dry later the same day.
Anyone else have issues with these types of windows/ vents or is it just me?
The vents are on the windows that open , so halfway down the whole piece of glass

[Marc Stock]

Yes i do.

I found the best way to do these is do the cleaning in two stages.

1st clean the frames and vents, only. Do the top windows 1st and then go back to the start and do the bottoms, get the worst off use high flow. If you can do this as your 1st clean on a separate day the better.

Second go down to a low flow, and glass only, dont brush up and down as you will pull dirt again from the top frame, go side to side on a zig zag. Do all the top windows first. Then go back and do the bottoms.

[Splash & dash]

Yes we do some car showrooms the way we get round it is to do the top level then sweep the water off the ledges before doing the next window down otherwise it will leave run marks they are a pain to be honest

[Spruce]

Does Anyone else clean commercial properties with these kind of windows?



The vents on them always leave drips! I’m having to go back every time and go up with ladders and wipe the drips off with a cloth - not at the request of the customer but just me double checking my work. And there is a lot of buildings so it’s taking me another hour to do this each month the following day or when they dry later the same day.
Anyone else have issues with these types of windows/ vents or is it just me?
The vents are on the windows that open , so halfway down the whole piece of glass

We found that we have to do the full top row of windows, say from left to right. Then we go back to the next row down and clean those from left to right. By the time we've got to those the top row of windows has finished dripping down.
We repeat that for the whole section.



In fact, we have to do the same with all the rest of the windows as well. We have to clean one row of glass at a time. If we don't we are left with awful streaks.

If you look at the building reflected in the Atrium windows we have to do the same with those. So that section takes 9 passes to complete. When we quoted we didn't take into consideration how much longer it would take to do 9 passes instead of 3.

[Shrek]

Cheers guys , do you regularly check high commercial work with ladders of is it a case of they aren’t as bothered as home owners?
Going up to check all them windows, I get to see inside and the windows are filthy from the inside. I sometimes wonder whether theyd even notice! But just in case , il try your methods and do the ladder work too until I’m satisfied, it’s a 500 ltr jobby so there’s a lot to do 👍

[Shrek]

Does Anyone else clean commercial properties with these kind of windows?



The vents on them always leave drips! I’m having to go back every time and go up with ladders and wipe the drips off with a cloth - not at the request of the customer but just me double checking my work. And there is a lot of buildings so it’s taking me another hour to do this each month the following day or when they dry later the same day.
Anyone else have issues with these types of windows/ vents or is it just me?
The vents are on the windows that open , so halfway down the whole piece of glass

We found that we have to do the full top row of windows, say from left to right. Then we go back to the next row down and clean those from left to right. By the time we've got to those the top row of windows has finished dripping down.
We repeat that for the whole section.



In fact, we have to do the same with all the rest of the windows as well. We have to clean one row of glass at a time. If we don't we are left with awful streaks.

If you look at the building reflected in the Atrium windows we have to do the same with those. So that section takes 9 passes to complete. When we quoted we didn't take into consideration how much longer it would take to do 9 passes instead of 3.

Thanks spruce , I wouldn’t even know how to quote a job like that never mind clean it lol
I’m so used to residential work , it’s a whole different way of quoting & cleaning when it comes to stuff like that.
A first clean took me about 8/9 hours with this job and got it down to 4 hrs, but these vents are making me wonder whether to do another 1st clean on it all and flush the vents out some more 

[Spruce]

Cheers guys , do you regularly check high commercial work with ladders of is it a case of they aren’t as bothered as home owners?
Going up to check all them windows, I get to see inside and the windows are filthy from the inside. I sometimes wonder whether theyd even notice! But just in case , il try your methods and do the ladder work too until I’m satisfied, it’s a 500 ltr jobby so there’s a lot to do 👍

Often these jobs are done very irregularly. Our school is done once a year. We do our best to give a quality clean rather than a commericial clean (splash and dash.)

There are windows we pay more attention to though.  The entrance atrium and the reception offices are important, as are the staff room windows and managerial offices.
We also spend more time cleaning grandson's classroom windows as he is the first to moan if they aren't clean when he gets back to school after the summer holidays.

.

[Spruce]

I wouldn’t even know how to quote a job like that never mind clean it lol
I’m so used to residential work , it’s a whole different way of quoting & cleaning when it comes to stuff like that.
A first clean took me about 8/9 hours with this job and got it down to 4 hrs, but these vents are making me wonder whether to do another 1st clean on it all and flush the vents out some more

You have to do what you can. We had 2 blocks of apartments we cleaned until the management company/owners went bankrupt.
The first job we had to do was clean the top frame and the vent with every window before starting to clean the rest after the water had stopped dripping.

When you clean something like this you have to break the job down into sections and try to visualise how long each section is going to take. I then add as much as 50% as the job always takes longer, especially if you need to attack a dollop of hardened bird lime with a scraper. (The one council building I lost recently to National Cleaners had 33 windows and 6 doors. That job should have taken 45 minutes at the most. But in practice the job took an hour and 3/4 due to locking and unlocking security gates and hose management. I bet some younger cleaner is going to get 1/2 an hour to do the job and warnings for taking longer. He/she will eventually leave or get fired. The job won't be done monthly or over a weekend either when the children aren't there. )

To be honest, the school gives us a reasonable wage for the week we spend doing it, but its more of a charity clean tbh. The school has given us so much and its nice that we can put something back, but after taking into consideration running costs and effort we do better with residential. But management are always happy with the quality of the clean we do so thats the most important thing.  Have you exceded your customers expectations?

Cleaning the outside seems to take longer each year (I have a Excel spreadsheet with time taken for each section) but that could also be because I'm getting older and can't achieve the same work rate as I did 9 years ago when we first did the job.
We also clean the inside of the atrium attached as well as the entrance atrium and I well over quoted for that so we are able to 'rob Peter to pay Paul' as the saying goes.

The council have taken my other work away as its gone to a National cleaning company as previously mentioned so I don't even know if we will get the chop from this one as well.

It would be sad to see it go on one hand but one day I won't be able to do it at all so maybe it won't be a bad thing in the bigger picture of life.

.

[harv deek]

my opinion, youre either a resi cleaner OR youre a commercial cleaner ,dont try and be both .  its a different mindset for both.   

  its a bit like being a carpenter  and a plasterer combined. that too never works out in the long run youll end up with cement spatter on your oak strip

  by commercial im meaning  big buildings exactly like in the OP  photo, not shops

[Shrek]

my opinion, youre either a resi cleaner OR youre a commercial cleaner ,dont try and be both .  its a different mindset for both.   

  its a bit like being a carpenter  and a plasterer combined. that too never works out in the long run youll end up with cement spatter on your oak strip

  by commercial im meaning  big buildings exactly like in the OP  photo, not shops

I think a mixture of both is best for me personally  , I never rely on one thing too much in all aspects of life

[Slacky]

Clean the bars first, then the glass above. Then brush the excess water off the bars. Then rinse the glass again.

Fixing a squeegee to a pole and blading the bars off at a 45° angle would be my preference - although not necessarily the simplest.

[Marc Stock]

I used to do alot of commercial window cleaning.

I will be entering it again once i have completed my mission to 80k on domestic work.

I have a few commercial jobs to do Monday.

The commercial work will eventually be done directly under the Bramar brand name.

[dazmond]

I couldn't be bothered with big jobs like that being a sole trader.i do have commercial jobs but their smaller offices,nurseries,care homes etc.No management company jobs!you invariably lose them in the end to someone cheaper and can end up not getting paid...no thanks....

[Shrek]

I couldn't be bothered with big jobs like that being a sole trader.i do have commercial jobs but their smaller offices,nurseries,care homes etc.No management company jobs!you invariably lose them in the end to someone cheaper and can end up not getting paid...no thanks....

The estate manager is a residential customer who’s been with me a good few years now, when he asked me I wasn’t to sure but when I looked at the job , I thought it could be a very nice little earner every month. It was too good to turn down

[dazmond]

I couldn't be bothered with big jobs like that being a sole trader.i do have commercial jobs but their smaller offices,nurseries,care homes etc.No management company jobs!you invariably lose them in the end to someone cheaper and can end up not getting paid...no thanks....

The estate manager is a residential customer who’s been with me a good few years now, when he asked me I wasn’t to sure but when I looked at the job , I thought it could be a very nice little earner every month. It was too good to turn down

Fair enough but I prefer my eggs in lots of smaller baskets myself.....

[Splash & dash]

my opinion, youre either a resi cleaner OR youre a commercial cleaner ,dont try and be both .  its a different mindset for both.   

  its a bit like being a carpenter  and a plasterer combined. that too never works out in the long run youll end up with cement spatter on your oak strip

  by commercial im meaning  big buildings exactly like in the OP  photo, not shops

How do you work that one out then a commercial building is just windows but on a bigger scale , a carpenter and plasterer are totaly different jobs we do work from one bedroom ground floor flats to large commercial 8 storey , yes you do have to work differently and need a variety of kit to do it but it’s not rocket science

[harv deek]

my opinion, youre either a resi cleaner OR youre a commercial cleaner ,dont try and be both .  its a different mindset for both.   

  its a bit like being a carpenter  and a plasterer combined. that too never works out in the long run youll end up with cement spatter on your oak strip

  by commercial im meaning  big buildings exactly like in the OP  photo, not shops

How do you work that one out then a commercial building is just windows but on a bigger scale , a carpenter and plasterer are totaly different jobs we do work from one bedroom ground floor flats to large commercial 8 storey , yes you do have to work differently and need a variety of kit to do it but it’s not rocket science

 Once the big commercial boys get wind that you are in the biz proper theyll dangle  proper commercial [such as a 10 schools contract done once a year  ]
 can you still do  your residential run of the mill work  at the same time .      you might  cope but what if the 10 schools becomes 20?
  at that point is where they [big boys] have got you on the hook .   just saying

[Spruce]

Over the years our focus has been on residential. We haven't gone out of our way to look for commercial. Each job we have got/had has been due to us being invited to quote by management we have already been working for residentially or we have been recommended by an existing customer.

We have never canvassed commercial customers as I have always believed residential is the way forward in our business plan. Its what works for us. There have been some who have decided to drop residential and only focus on commercial.  Thats their call.

[Spruce]

my opinion, youre either a resi cleaner OR youre a commercial cleaner ,dont try and be both .  its a different mindset for both.   

  its a bit like being a carpenter  and a plasterer combined. that too never works out in the long run youll end up with cement spatter on your oak strip

  by commercial im meaning  big buildings exactly like in the OP  photo, not shops

How do you work that one out then a commercial building is just windows but on a bigger scale , a carpenter and plasterer are totaly different jobs we do work from one bedroom ground floor flats to large commercial 8 storey , yes you do have to work differently and need a variety of kit to do it but it’s not rocket science

 Once the big commercial boys get wind that you are in the biz proper theyll dangle  proper commercial [such as a 10 schools contract done once a year  ]
 can you still do  your residential run of the mill work  at the same time .      you might  cope but what if the 10 schools becomes 20?
  at that point is where they [big boys] have got you on the hook .   just saying

We realised how quickly commercial can mess with our core focus cleaning schedule at certain times of the year. Hence the reason why we never chased it and kept our residential focus.
If I was doing schools, I would be very careful about how many we would take on for the very reason you mentioned.

[deeege]

The fella has just asked how to clean a certain style of window, either offer him advise on his question or don’t.

Why bother giving opinions on why you don’t take on that type of work?

Comparing cleaning windows to trying to be a carpenter and a plasterer ffs, this place is somehow getting even worse.