[Alistair@AWC]

Hi Guys,

As some of you may know, I set up my Window Cleaning business with WFP from the start and have never used traditional tools.

Now ive got a quote to do on Tuesday for a commercial property which wants internal 8 weekly (including internal glass partitions) and external 4 weekly, luckily ive just employed a guy who has trad experience.

Now can anybody let me know what I'll need to buy if the quote is successful?

On a slight diversion they called me via the Yellow Pages because there previous WCer has given up due to a bad back and from what I can tell hasnt even bothered to sell his round so when I go in im going to ask for his contact details so I can buy his customer list off him, Now I want to be fair to him but also take into account that he was prepared to let it all go for nothing, what do you think would be fair to pay him for this list?

Cheers Chaps

Al

[Ian Lancaster]

what do you think would be fair to pay him for this list?

Cheers Chaps

Al

How long is a piece of string?

[Dean Aspects]

For trad cleaning you will need
1 14" and 1 18" squeegee
1 14" t bar and 1 18" and sleeves to fit
a bucket on a belt is handy a pouch and belt
a selection of cloths for detailing either scrim or microfibre
a bucket
washing up liquid or similar
you will possibly need an extending pole and a small set of steps
and then you will need spare rubbers for your squeegee's
and possibly a scrapper with spare blades

Dean

[Ian Lancaster]

Now can anybody let me know what I'll need to buy if the quote is successful?


Cheers Chaps

Al

Ask your trad bloke - he's the one who's got to use them

[Alistair@AWC]

Cheers Dean at least that has given me an idea of the amount of equipment I might need

GG3 or GG4 which would best suit what I need, and things like backflips are they any good?



Your being very helpful Ian 

[jdemarco]

Hi Guys,

As some of you may know, I set up my Window Cleaning business with WFP from the start and have never used traditional tools.

Now ive got a quote to do on Tuesday for a commercial property which wants internal 8 weekly (including internal glass partitions) and external 4 weekly, luckily ive just employed a guy who has trad experience.

Now can anybody let me know what I'll need to buy if the quote is successful?

On a slight diversion they called me via the Yellow Pages because there previous WCer has given up due to a bad back and from what I can tell hasnt even bothered to sell his round so when I go in im going to ask for his contact details so I can buy his customer list off him, Now I want to be fair to him but also take into account that he was prepared to let it all go for nothing, what do you think would be fair to pay him for this list?

Cheers Chaps

Al

I would pay one months clean. I he hasnt bothered to sell it then it cant be that good a round and if hes been off due to illness then it could months since his customers have seen him. So its high risk. You should know what its worth when you chat to him and see the work for yourself.

[windowwashers]

Cheers Dean at least that has given me an idea of the amount of equipment I might need

GG3 or GG4 which would best suit what I need, and things like backflips are they any good?



Your being very helpful Ian 

gg3 is for soft water gg4 for hard water, I personally did not like the backflip as was was more hassle. I will add to this post a little bit more later, I did trad for years so will let you know what I think you should get, someone will not help as they dont know about trad.

[Ian Lancaster]

Alistair,

Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude.  As to how much you should pay for the list, only you can know that as we don't know what it is you're paying for, and neither do you until you investigate, but I wouldn't pay much because if it hasn't been done for a while a lot will have found someone else, in reality you'll have to re-canvass them all but with the added bit of help that you can say "I've bought the previous man's round, and I've come to see if you would still be interested in having your windows cleaned."

Regarding traditional tools, if you're employing an experienced trad cleaner, surely the best thing would be to ask him what tools and equipment he needs?  After all, the reason you've employed him is because he knows, and you don't.

[Alistair@AWC]

Cheers Jde & WW.

Hi Ian, right we'll start again  , the guy ive employed has WCing experience not an experienced WCer

and I employed him for WFP (which he has never done before) at the time a wasnt bothered about experience cos I didnt want anyone bringing bad habits, but as it stands it looks like it'll come in handy. Now the guy he worked for hasnt even used microfibre cloths so I dont think he's up with the latest innovations hip buckets etc. So I thought Id get better advice on here!

As for the work list, I appreciate what you guys are saying about the quality of the work as im sure he would have told all his customers he was stopping so I might just offer him a couple of hundred quid for the list and maybe once ive been round all his old customers if its worth more than that to me per month top it up. Hey you never know he might just give it to me

Al

[Dean Aspects]

I would phone him and just ask about the work and not mention anything about money untill he says something
I have never used a back flip so cannot comment on it maybe a squeegee with a swivel joint would be useful aswell when using a pole if you have to that is

Dean

[gsw]

For trad cleaning you will need
1 14" and 1 18" squeegee

if you are going to be using the tools (not your employee) forget starting with a 14 or 18 try a 9" to get you going, once you have got your technique sorted then move to a 12" if you try starting from scratch with 14" you are going to have mare and being inside I am sure someone will be around to watch you !!!

[windowwashers]

For trad cleaning you will need
1 14" and 1 18" squeegee

if you are going to be using the tools (not your employee) forget starting with a 14 or 18 try a 9" to get you going, once you have got your technique sorted then move to a 12" if you try starting from scratch with 14" you are going to have mare and being inside I am sure someone will be around to watch you !!!

Have to disagree there, I would start with a 14 not a nine. I started from scratch with a 14 and never every had a problem with it, just have to get used to a bigger blade so IMO why start with a 9 as you will be asking for trouble when going to 14 and 18. (18 slows you down on most windows (this again is IMO)

[jdemarco]

For trad cleaning you will need
1 14" and 1 18" squeegee

if you are going to be using the tools (not your employee) forget starting with a 14 or 18 try a 9" to get you going, once you have got your technique sorted then move to a 12" if you try starting from scratch with 14" you are going to have mare and being inside I am sure someone will be around to watch you !!!

Have to disagree there, I would start with a 14 not a nine. I started from scratch with a 14 and never every had a problem with it, just have to get used to a bigger blade so IMO why start with a 9 as you will be asking for trouble when going to 14 and 18. (18 slows you down on most windows (this again is IMO)

I agree with window washer no need to mess around with a 9 incher, straight to 14. I do all my bottoms trad now and the lad that works with me does tops wfp saves alot of time and keeps customers alot happier. I use 2 sizes a 20 inch and 14. the 20 inch use to slow me down but i persevered and now speeds me up. My suggestion is this LEARN TRAD! It wont take long and hugely beneficial, you will feel alot more adequate aswell. Trad will never die out. Bungalows are alot quicker trad than wfp if done with speed and there are always some customers that dont want wfp for bottoms, i would rather do what they want than not get there business.
what you need:

unger ergotec squeegee 14 inch poss 20 if need be.
applicator 18inch you cover alot more area with 18 than 14.
unger hip bucket with 2 squeegee slots
belt
scrim holder (unger)
safety scraper
squeegee blades i use pulex standard, change them daily or every other
scrims
pointer ladder (A ladder) if you intend to do bottom trad on outside
oblong bucket
fairy
think thats it get all my stuff from soap national.

[darren73]

trad windowcleaning is easy to learn allister,practise over and over on your bottom house windows for a few hours each night and youll have it well sussed in a week-get yourself a crate for standing on as its far handier than step ladders

[windowwashers]

For trad cleaning you will need
1 14" and 1 18" squeegee

if you are going to be using the tools (not your employee) forget starting with a 14 or 18 try a 9" to get you going, once you have got your technique sorted then move to a 12" if you try starting from scratch with 14" you are going to have mare and being inside I am sure someone will be around to watch you !!!

Have to disagree there, I would start with a 14 not a nine. I started from scratch with a 14 and never every had a problem with it, just have to get used to a bigger blade so IMO why start with a 9 as you will be asking for trouble when going to 14 and 18. (18 slows you down on most windows (this again is IMO)

I agree with window washer no need to mess around with a 9 incher, straight to 14. I do all my bottoms trad now and the lad that works with me does tops wfp saves alot of time and keeps customers alot happier. I use 2 sizes a 20 inch and 14. the 20 inch use to slow me down but i persevered and now speeds me up. My suggestion is this LEARN TRAD! It wont take long and hugely beneficial, you will feel alot more adequate aswell. Trad will never die out. Bungalows are alot quicker trad than wfp if done with speed and there are always some customers that dont want wfp for bottoms, i would rather do what they want than not get there business.
what you need:

unger ergotec squeegee 14 inch poss 20 if need be.
applicator 18inch you cover alot more area with 18 than 14.
unger hip bucket with 2 squeegee slots
belt
scrim holder (unger)
safety scraper
squeegee blades i use pulex standard, change them daily or every other
scrims
pointer ladder (A ladder) if you intend to do bottom trad on outside
oblong bucket
fairy
think thats it get all my stuff from soap national.

couple of things to add to that, get some microfiber clothes, easier to use than new scrim as you can use it straight out of the packet, and dont use fairy, use gg4 brings the windows up alot cleaner (JDE  )

[dai]

The backflip is an excellent tool, if you need to use an extension pole I would say it's the best for inexperienced users. Dai

[jdemarco]

For trad cleaning you will need
1 14" and 1 18" squeegee

if you are going to be using the tools (not your employee) forget starting with a 14 or 18 try a 9" to get you going, once you have got your technique sorted then move to a 12" if you try starting from scratch with 14" you are going to have mare and being inside I am sure someone will be around to watch you !!!

Have to disagree there, I would start with a 14 not a nine. I started from scratch with a 14 and never every had a problem with it, just have to get used to a bigger blade so IMO why start with a 9 as you will be asking for trouble when going to 14 and 18. (18 slows you down on most windows (this again is IMO)

I agree with window washer no need to mess around with a 9 incher, straight to 14. I do all my bottoms trad now and the lad that works with me does tops wfp saves alot of time and keeps customers alot happier. I use 2 sizes a 20 inch and 14. the 20 inch use to slow me down but i persevered and now speeds me up. My suggestion is this LEARN TRAD! It wont take long and hugely beneficial, you will feel alot more adequate aswell. Trad will never die out. Bungalows are alot quicker trad than wfp if done with speed and there are always some customers that dont want wfp for bottoms, i would rather do what they want than not get there business.
what you need:

unger ergotec squeegee 14 inch poss 20 if need be.
applicator 18inch you cover alot more area with 18 than 14.
unger hip bucket with 2 squeegee slots
belt
scrim holder (unger)
safety scraper
squeegee blades i use pulex standard, change them daily or every other
scrims
pointer ladder (A ladder) if you intend to do bottom trad on outside
oblong bucket
fairy
think thats it get all my stuff from soap national.

couple of things to add to that, get some microfiber clothes, easier to use than new scrim as you can use it straight out of the packet, and dont use fairy, use gg4 brings the windows up alot cleaner (JDE  )

Oh well what can i say were a bit behind the times in anglesey. Id not heard of wfp till last year. Think ill stick to fairy, i like fairy soft hands....for the wife!

[ray l]

I find a 14 applicator,   14 + 18 squeegy,scrapper, bucket on a belt , micro fibre cloths
 14"+bucket , a crate, a small  a stepladder
If you use your own water from van , use gg3,
you might need a extention pole but wait until you need anything else before you go splashing out too much

[Village Gleam]

I've had the same rubbers for a year. What'd mean you change them every day?
What about swapping them around? how often are you supposed to change them?

No one has mentioned the green bits on the applicator sleeves- even wfp these are good for stained and dirty windows and cons roofs.

[jdemarco]

I've had the same rubbers for a year. What'd mean you change them every day?
What about swapping them around? how often are you supposed to change them?

No one has mentioned the green bits on the applicator sleeves- even wfp these are good for stained and dirty windows and cons roofs.

What i mean by that is change the rubber take it out of the channel throw it away and put a fresh unused one in. yeh sometimes i can turn it over but then sometimes that side is nicked. Its not possible to keep the same rubber in for a year unless you clean 1 window a week!