[Clean Cloth]

I have been cleaning windows traditionally about 18 months now.

Last year when I started I was charging £65 to clean the FSG on a detached bungalow then I put my prices up to £80 as I found it hard work (I'm in my 50's) and it does take me about 3 1/2 hours.
I suspect some of you could clean it in much less time.
I spray the FSG with a solution of water and anti mould/mildew liquid, then use a hand brush to scrub the FSG, then use tap water and a WFP to rinse off and dry with a towel.

For new customers I have raised my prices to £120.

I am curious what method others use and the time you take etc.

Conservatory roofs I charge £65, but I find it makes a mess of the frames and windows so I clean the whole conservatory, I would say the roof takes 80% of the time, frames and windows 20%. That is polycarbonate roof sheets, I have not cleaned a glass roof conservatory yet, that would need to be squeegeed off as I use tap water.
I guess an average one takes me about 1 1/2 hours.

Also, I have been asked a couple of times recently to quote for cleaning solar panels but I have told them it would be better to find a window cleaner that uses purified water and not tap water, is that correct?

[dazmond]

i cleaned a 3 bed semi this morning,windows,fascias and soffits.took me just under an hour and charged her £60.........she is a regular window cleaning customer so i would of charged more for a one off but i was happy with £60......

[dazmond]

i always aim for £60-£80 an hour cleaning add on jobs......

today i just used very hot pure water,sometimes i do use virosol but no need today......

[Smudger]

I have been cleaning windows traditionally about 18 months now.

Last year when I started I was charging £65 to clean the FSG on a detached bungalow then I put my prices up to £80 as I found it hard work (I'm in my 50's)welcome to the old gits age bracket I'm 52! and it does take me about 3 1/2 hours.
I suspect some of you could clean it in much less time.yes- that is a long time for that charge
I spray the FSG with a solution of water and anti mould/mildew liquid, then use a hand brush to scrub the FSG, then use tap water and a WFP to rinse off and dry with a towel.you want to go for TFR (ubik - g101 - etc) spay this on and go straight to the water fed pole brush - don't fanny around with a towel ! - if the vents drip stick a microfibre over the wfp brush and wipe!

For new customers I have raised my prices to £120. good

I am curious what method others use and the time you take etc.

Conservatory roofs I charge £65, but I find it makes a mess of the frames and windows so I clean the whole conservatory, I would say the roof takes 80% of the time, frames and windows 20%. That is polycarbonate roof sheets, I have not cleaned a glass roof conservatory yet, that would need to be squeegeed off as I use tap water.
I guess an average one takes me about 1 1/2 hours. polycarbonate as S/F/G - yes squeegee off for glass or get some pure water - roof clean is always a full Conny clean and priced accordingly - be aware some glass roofs maybe 'self cleaning' these should not have chemicals put on them

Also, I have been asked a couple of times recently to quote for cleaning solar panels but I have told them it would be better to find a window cleaner that uses purified water and not tap water, is that correct? meh! - pure would be better

Darran

[SB Cleaning]

3.5 hrs is slow for that...would take me 1.5 hrs tops.

I use virosol mixed with tap water in a back pack, spray on with da aplicator and scrub rinse off with aplicator.

[dazmond]

conny roof jobs usually take me around 60 mins including conny windows,outside gutters (from pulling up to the job and moving on to my next job),some i can clean to a good standard in 30 mins if their not absolutely filthy.......

[Clean Cloth]

Thank-you for the replies, it helps to know how long you take and what you charge.

This week I cleaned The Facias, soffits (400mm deep T&G) gutters and downpipes and 2 conservatories on a bungalow. It took me 6 hours 15 minutes from arrival to leaving. I was working fast and ate 1 sandwich on the go, had 1 cup of coffee which went cold.
Maybe I could cut down on time by not using a hand brush and just spraying (Ubik, Virosol or TFR) the UPVC first then using the WFP to brush and rinse off but I find it difficult to clean around the gutter brackets without using a hand brush first.
I did charge £250 which I am very happy with. I almost feel guilty for earning £40 an hour. Never thought it was possible when I started last year.
I do find it hard going though. I earn between £17 and £30 (best jobs) per hour window cleaning.

Lots of competition in this area, other window cleaners tell me my prices higher than theirs.

[Smudger]

I wouldn't take too much notice of what other local window cleaners claim/say/imply

a rule of thumb is when quoting, if you get nearly every job your too cheap - get nothing your too high if you get 60 to 70% your about right - however different people value your service in different ways I quoted similar jobs to be told wow that's expensive or (the worst one) great thats a lot cheaper than I thought - people also work at different speeds - one on my guys can clear gutters, wash soffits, fascias, guttering to a a 3 sided semi in around 1.5 hours - others can take 2 to 2.5 hours  - stick to your guns on what you want to earn p/h and price it so you know you can comfortably do it in that time.

practice with water fed pole brush - have you got an adjustable goose neck ? what brush are you using  as its really easy to clean the brackets as you go along

Darran

[Oliver James]

Firstly, Don't think about what you are 'earning' per hour. Think about your work in terms of how much profit you are making per hour AFTER you've paid yourself and covered your expenses.

One way to do this is to work out what you need to live on, say 25k per year and then add on your business expenses, lets say they are 8k per year.

Your total expenses are 33k per year. If you are on the tools 4 days a week (one day for admin / collecting maintenance etc) there are about 180 working days in the year. This means that your daily costs are £184 per day.

Work out your productivity ratio. This is how many hours a day you are productively working on the tools. You calculate this by dividing how many minutes you are productively working BY how long you are out in the van. When I was on the tools, Mine was 75%.

Most days, you need about 20 mins to fill the van, and then one or two hours in the evening doing the books / notifying customers  / chasing debt / scheduling etc. So lets say your working day 'on the tools' is 6 hours. If you multiply this by your productivity ratio (75%) your productive working hours in the day are 6 hours x 0.75 = 4.5 hours

Your daily costs are £184. Your hourly costs are £184 divided by 4.5 = £41 per hour.

In other words, before you are making any profit, you need to be billing at least £41 per hour.

Profit is important. Profit is what pays your pension. Profit secures your families future. Profit allows you to re-invest in marketing and growing your business.  In the words of Brewdog Founder James Watt: "Profit is the crack cocaine of business".

To clean connie rooves and fsg fast, be 'scientific' in how long you are agitating. Split the areas you are cleaning into sections and ONLY agitate these areas twice (one agitation is two brush strokes). Two strokes for each section, then move onto the next section. After you've cleaned a section, rinse and then spot clean any areas that need your attention.

Here is something I wrote about how to clean a connie roof fast.

Record number of panels and Start timing

Get the widest Gardiner Brush they sell (45cm)

Soak the roof with pure and then Use a bit of TFR / Virosol, sprayed with a garden sprayer.

Attach wide brush to the homeowners water tap.

Agitate each area twice (four 'strokes) of the brush

Be 'scientific' about how much you are agitating each section of the roof.  Two agitations for each section, no more.

Spot clean any sections that need it.

Look at the roof from the inside if you can.

Rinse with tap water if the roof is frosted. Rinse with Pure if the roof panels are unfrosted

Get a long blade on a pole (ideally the blade handle is unger so it is compatible with an unger pole and can be 'locked' onto the pole).

Pull the blade down the glass to get rid of any remaining dirt.

Final rinse.

Get homeowner to check they are happy with the work.

Note how long it has taken you, and figure out ways to be faster next time .

Good luck!

[KS Cleaning]

Firstly, Don't think about what you are 'earning' per hour. Think about your work in terms of how much profit you are making per hour AFTER you've paid yourself and covered your expenses.

One way to do this is to work out what you need to live on, say 25k per year and then add on your business expenses, lets say they are 8k per year.

Your total expenses are 33k per year. If you are on the tools 4 days a week (one day for admin / collecting maintenance etc) there are about 180 working days in the year. This means that your daily costs are £184 per day.

Work out your productivity ratio. This is how many hours a day you are productively working on the tools. You calculate this by dividing how many minutes you are productively working BY how long you are out in the van. When I was on the tools, Mine was 75%.

Most days, you need about 20 mins to fill the van, and then one or two hours in the evening doing the books / notifying customers  / chasing debt / scheduling etc. So lets say your working day 'on the tools' is 6 hours. If you multiply this by your productivity ratio (75%) your productive working hours in the day are 6 hours x 0.75 = 4.5 hours

Your daily costs are £184. Your hourly costs are £184 divided by 4.5 = £41 per hour.

In other words, before you are making any profit, you need to be billing at least £41 per hour.

Profit is important. Profit is what pays your pension. Profit secures your families future. Profit allows you to re-invest in marketing and growing your business.  In the words of Brewdog Founder James Watt: "Profit is the crack cocaine of business".

To clean connie rooves and fsg fast, be 'scientific' in how long you are agitating. Split the areas you are cleaning into sections and ONLY agitate these areas twice (one agitation is two brush strokes). Two strokes for each section, then move onto the next section. After you've cleaned a section, rinse and then spot clean any areas that need your attention.

Here is something I wrote about how to clean a connie roof fast.

Record number of panels and Start timing

Get the widest Gardiner Brush they sell (45cm)

Soak the roof with pure and then Use a bit of TFR / Virosol, sprayed with a garden sprayer.

Attach wide brush to the homeowners water tap.

Agitate each area twice (four 'strokes) of the brush

Be 'scientific' about how much you are agitating each section of the roof.  Two agitations for each section, no more.

Spot clean any sections that need it.

Look at the roof from the inside if you can.

Rinse with tap water if the roof is frosted. Rinse with Pure if the roof panels are unfrosted

Get a long blade on a pole (ideally the blade handle is unger so it is compatible with an unger pole and can be 'locked' onto the pole).

Pull the blade down the glass to get rid of any remaining dirt.

Final rinse.

Get homeowner to check they are happy with the work.

Note how long it has taken you, and figure out ways to be faster next time .

Good luck!

More waffle than Nathan😂😂

[Smudger]

Everyone does it different 

Darran

[Clean Cloth]

I wouldn't take too much notice of what other local window cleaners claim/say/imply

a rule of thumb is when quoting, if you get nearly every job your too cheap - get nothing your too high if you get 60 to 70% your about right - however different people value your service in different ways I quoted similar jobs to be told wow that's expensive or (the worst one) great thats a lot cheaper than I thought - people also work at different speeds - one on my guys can clear gutters, wash soffits, fascias, guttering to a a 3 sided semi in around 1.5 hours - others can take 2 to 2.5 hours  - stick to your guns on what you want to earn p/h and price it so you know you can comfortably do it in that time.

practice with water fed pole brush - have you got an adjustable goose neck ? what brush are you using  as its really easy to clean the brackets as you go along

Darran

Yes I do have a goose neck for my water fed pole.
After todays experience I am not sure I want to do too many more Conservatory roofs.

I had a call from a leaflet drop I did last year. Her previous window cleaner had not been for 18 months (I know he retired as I have picked a few of his old customers up).
She wanted her detached bungalow windows cleaned and the Conservatory roof which she said her son cleaned last year.
I went out to quote for the windows and got the job, told her I don't have time to clean the Conservatory roof that day, gave her the price, she was out Wednesday so we agreed on Friday at 8:30. I showed her the tools and anti mould cleaner I use. The roof did not look like it had been cleaned last year, quite a lot of Lichen on a few panels, pictures attached.

I arrived on time, knocked and she looked surprised to see me, seemed in a rush. I started taking things to the Conservatory and attached the hose to her outside tap which was off, so knocked and asked her to turn it on please. The Lichen took a lot of scrubbing, finials were ingrained with dirt they would not clean up very well.
Had to ask her to please close 2 windows on the Conservatory as I was cleaning the frames too.  She was mumbling under her breath like I was an inconvenience to her.

It was on old Conservatory, roof to floor windows. 3 panels on each side and 4 at the front.
Someone had put clear silicone everywhere, to hold the roofing sheet end caps on, the gutter joints and around the sills, all that had discoloured, some had gone green. Moss had got inside the roof panels and was pushing the end caps off.
As I was cleaning the roof I could see the gutter leaked in many places.
I had only finished a third of the job and she said "have you finished spraying water yet? I want to hang out my washing". I said no I have lots more to do, she got the hump and walked off, I see she hung it up next door and heard her have a bitch to her neighbour about me. It was only a small back garden and the rotary line would have got right in the way anyway.
Snidey comment from her about how it rained the day I cleaned her windows, she said soon after but I know it was over 6 hours later.
Then she went out, she did pay me and asked me to move the car.

I decided to  take the 2 corner gutter joints off, 1 stop end and 1 joint bracket, wash them, dry them and put fresh silicone on and clip back together.

He son came back and saw what I was doing, I showed him around and he said I was doing a good job.

It rained 5 hours later so i am sure she will let me know about that next time.

It took me 2 hours 55 minutes in total, non stop, not even a drink. I prefer window cleaning, less can go wrong.

She is a PITA, I plan on going back in 4 weeks to clean the windows, any hassle or negative comments about how it rained the day I cleaned them and I will drop her.

[Shrek]

How much did u charge?

[Smudger]

don't you use the special chemical to remove the lichen ?

I also have made up tools that remove lichen in a few minutes - you need more than just TFR and water fed pole brush
Darran

[robert mitchell]

don't you use the special chemical to remove the lichen ?

I also have made up tools that remove lichen in a few minutes - you need more than just TFR and water fed pole brush
Darran

Whats the special chemical?

[Clever Forum Name]

don't you use the special chemical to remove the lichen ?

I also have made up tools that remove lichen in a few minutes - you need more than just TFR and water fed pole brush
Darran

Whats the special chemical?

Yehhhharrrr juice I’m betting.

[Smudger]

you know me too well 

I might be tempted to post a picture of the tool I made up - but it involves cable ties 

Darran

[Clever Forum Name]

I use bronze wool pads for them, rips through them.

[Smudger]

I can never find them when I look   

Darran

[JandS]

Don't know how Daz does a full conny including roof in an hour.....takes me that long just for the roof usually......getting all the crap out from under finials and cleaning just them takes time.