[mark f]

im now about to start the switch over and didnt want to rock the boat to much with my set in thier ways customers so was going to do the tops only with wfp to start with at least.  Do any of you do this? i know of one person who did this and had no problems at all. Where as others have lost work.

[JM123]

When I changed over I changed over in one go - whole round, upstairs and downstairs - had a couple of complaints along the way but nothing major.  Lost a customer because of the change over but hardly a big deal.

I would change over in one go but try to inform your customers beforehand that tey may need an extra clean (which obviously you won't charge them for).

[Grafters Cleaning Services]

when i first went wfp it was top wfp bottoms trad, now nearly 2 years on i find myself doing more bottoms wfp and as the customers are used to it now i get no complaints,
just take your time and convert them slowly.

[paul mather]

So you spend all this money on the best thing since sliced bread & then you only do the tops, makes absolutely no sense to me & surely would confuse the customer.

All this stuff written about changing over your round gradually, it's everyones choice I suppose, but I changed everything all at once & can honestly say I had 2 moans & lost 1 very small bungalow which I only charged £4 for.

[Johnboyfree]

im now about to start the switch over and didnt want to rock the boat to much with my set in thier ways customers so was going to do the tops only with wfp to start with at least. Do any of you do this? i know of one person who did this and had no problems at all. Where as others have lost work.

It depends where about in the Country you are based,I know it seems a strange answer,but I live in Kent and The South East has a part 1 drought order on it,wfp is for the time bieng only to be used 1st floor and above....Not on the ground floor.....this agreement was only possible due to the Fed,if you are caught doing the ground floor you can be exempted from the agreement and prosecuted for using a hose pipe,at least this was the information given to me by Southern Water when they applied to get the Order,which was granted back in the Summer.......besides I thought wfp.was introduced so that you dont have to use ladders,not because its better than trad

[eddie d]

thats what i thought as well .

[jeff1]

This week all my new wfp gear comes, I spent the past few months telling my customers of the change over and the reasons why!
I have told them the whole lot will be done wfp, like paul said its a lot of money just to do upstairs.

Take the bull by the horns and go for it, once you have converted you will be looking for more customers anyway, so if you loose one or two, thats tuff on them, at least you will be safe.

[matt]

i still do downstairs TRAD and the up WFP

a few reasons really

1. i use less water ( i work from a estate car ) though it would be easy for me to pop home to refill

2. i sold the idea on the WaH rule, thus i only do upstairs

3. ALOT of my customers would not be happy with paying 10 quid for 10 mins work, so i take a little longer doing TRAD D/S

4. when i do downstairs TRAD i know its a 99% top notch job

5. The customers are happy with the Health and safety side of me not climbing ladder

thats about it, it works well enough

start at front of house, do upstairs WFP, move cart around rear, do upstairs with WFP

by the time you have done the rear, the front has stopped dripping, so you can do D/S TRAD front then back, leave your cart around the back so no1 nicks it

job done, nothing to worry about

i have started to do Conserv's with wfp AND windows above bushs (norm the front window)

[mark f]

Yep i did a day with it last week which i wasnt expecting and explained to them why i was doing it that way and they were happy. Did downstairs trad, which i think will ease them in. Then i think i will wfp more downstairs.

[JohnL]

up and down from day one. absolutely no problems!

JohnL

[mlscontractcleaner]

I thought one of the reasons for converting to wfp is that the job is quicker. What's the point of making the job last longer by using a mop and squeegie down stairs??

I spent a lot of money on a van mounted system and fully intend getting full use of it, so unless it's absolutely essential my ladders stay on the van, and my bucket stays in it!!

As far as complaints and lost customers go, I've actually picked up a whole load of work through either being able to clean previously impossible to reach windows up to 5 stories high, or just people seeing me use it on a normal house and being curious about the system. They ask about it, see the quality of the work and ask you to do theirs. Brilliant!!

Anyone still cleaning down stairs with their squeegie, use your pole and get home earlier, or canvass some new work to fill the time.

[matt]

I thought one of the reasons for converting to wfp is that the job is quicker. What's the point of making the job last longer by using a mop and squeegie down stairs??

my reason was safety and safety alone, i cannot fall off a pole

I spent a lot of money on a van mounted system and fully intend getting full use of it, so unless it's absolutely essential my ladders stay on the van, and my bucket stays in it!!

i guess as my system cost me about 600 quid to build, i can afford to do it

i dont even carry ladders now, EXCEPT for 4 houses ( 3 in the same street) thus i only carry them for 2 days in 6 weeks

[paul mather]

I suppose if you are WFPing out of an estate then it makes sense to save water by trading bottoms, I was lucky as I was already the owner of a van, so I could happily install a £400 litre tank in van.

However even if I hadn't have had a van I would have bought an old one to get me started as personally I think if you are going WFP you need to be doing it out of a van.

[craig jwc]

Think i lasted 2 days just doing tops when i changed over - couldn't be bothered getting pole etc out to use then putting it back to get small ladder off roof of van.

Craig

[P®oPole™]

So you spend all this money on the best thing since sliced bread & then you only do the tops, makes absolutely no sense to me & surely would confuse the customer.

All this stuff written about changing over your round gradually, it's everyones choice I suppose, but I changed everything all at once & can honestly say I had 2 moans & lost 1 very small bungalow which I only charged £4 for.

So you spend all this money on the best thing since sliced bread & then you only do the tops, makes absolutely no sense to me & surely would confuse the customer.

All this stuff written about changing over your round gradually, it's everyones choice I suppose, but I changed everything all at once & can honestly say I had 2 moans & lost 1 very small bungalow which I only charged £4 for.

Paul,

Sort it out!!!!! tut tut tut

[Paul Coleman]

im now about to start the switch over and didnt want to rock the boat to much with my set in thier ways customers so was going to do the tops only with wfp to start with at least. Do any of you do this? i know of one person who did this and had no problems at all. Where as others have lost work.

It depends where about in the Country you are based,I know it seems a strange answer,but I live in Kent and The South East has a part 1 drought order on it,wfp is for the time bieng only to be used 1st floor and above....Not on the ground floor.....this agreement was only possible due to the Fed,if you are caught doing the ground floor you can be exempted from the agreement and prosecuted for using a hose pipe,at least this was the information given to me by Southern Water when they applied to get the Order,which was granted back in the Summer.......besides I thought wfp.was introduced so that you dont have to use ladders,not because its better than trad

I started offdoing tops by WFP and ground floor traditional.  It didn't last long though.  At first I didn't have a proper water supply.  Once I got a static IBC and a place to put it I started doing it all by WFP.  However, I reverted back to ground floor trad when the southeastern water problem started getting tricky.  Now I'm back to WFPing everything except on about 5 jobs.  There are good reasons for these.
N.B.  There are no drought orders currently in force.  There are a number of hosepipe bans but no drought orders.

[pjulk]

I wfp upstairs and about 50% of my round downstairs.
As i like doing traditional and i find its more satisfying.

I go through phases sometimes i wfp everything sometimes just the tops unless its leaded or georgian then its wfp everything.

Paul

[Londoner]

I initially thought that I would do half and half like so many others, but when you see how quickly and easily you can do it with the brush you soon lose interest in doing the downstairs trad.
One thing though, I still do patio doors and back doors trad because of the hand prints. Espescially in the summer.

[neil100]

I moved every thing over in one go.

hated it at the time, but when you have been wfp for over 4 months you will be so glad you did.

If I watch a 100mtr sprint race, the athletes wear track shoes, what would you think if someone had a pair of climbing boots on for the race?

Thats what you are doing if you only do tops only with wfp.

Nel.