[Alex Wingrove]

how do you guys clean gutters, do you get all the leaves and crap out?

three ways

like i do get the ladders out and climb up,. but there are alot of people who dont even bother doing that anymore, afraid i guess

gutter vac, speaks for itself

or gutter lance, pressure washer plus lance blast the rubbish out


OK so you reckon spend a bit more money and get a lower ended honda?

So whats the hourly rate for pressure washing, i know i wont be upto speed, but i dont think i should be earning less that 40p/h?

[Richy L]

how do you guys clean gutters, do you get all the leaves and crap out?

i find the best way to clean the insides of gutters is to do it the old fasioned way. ladder and a bucket. Itd dirty work, but good little earner on the side.

guttervac can have problems with it, but definatly better for higher gutters.
pressure washing just moves the dirt around rather than cleaning it!

So you dont use ladders at all now when cleaning conservatory glass and facias/guttering. How much do you charge, is it per hour or by job? Thankyou for answering my question.

Hi myvanwi,
I use a ladder to get a better position when clean con roofs, but i just put it on the side of the con, or up against the gutter. that way you can get some pressure on the oof when cleaning it. for fascia, it depends how bad it is. i either use a pressure washer, wfp or a ladders. sometimes all three if it needs it!
And i always charge by the job.

Hope that helps

[steve doyle]

"So whats the hourly rate for pressure washing, i know i wont be upto speed, but i dont think i should be earning less that 40p/h?"

Depends on what area your in? £40 is a bit high to aim at if you havent got the best kit or experience imo, but i think you should aim to do £20 ish at first.Bare in mind your customers wont pay you by the hour they will look at the job and decide how much they are willing to pay for it to be cleaned. I guess it depends on what results you get with your kit and how long it takes you, people who earn 250+ per day do so because of speed and fitting in more jobs in a day.

Also keep in mind the setting up time and travel, people (myself included) say things like "I just made £150 off cleaning a blockpave drive and it only took me 1 hr to clean  and 20 mins to re-sand"

great £110 Per hour, ish.

We forget to add;
10 mins each way x8 (2 quote,2clean,2 sand 2 for money).
Time to set up and pack up (30 mins+).

so 1hr 20 is now well over 3hours, approaching 4hrs!

We also forget to deduct costs;
Fuel
sand
wear and tear on machines ,van etc
insurances advertising and other running costs

So true figure is probably somewhere in the £20-50ph range?

And then dont forget the quiet times when your not working!

so what looks like people might be making huge amounts per hour on the face of it usually is far less in reality.
 
So If you can start with a basic kit at a low cost and earn £20 ph in your pocket, your not working for nowt!

[drive surgeon]

steve is right be carefull, dont go spending a fortune until you have the work in guaranteed, most businesses fail as they get loanss and all sorts to by all the gear, forgetting they need to have work to pay it all back.

[drive surgeon]

what gutter vacs do you use?  omni pole?

[Alex Wingrove]

yeah i appreciate all the other things involved with earning money its not just 40p/h every hour you work and you end up with all that money it your pocket,

i would never price a job up at an hourly rate, but i dont want to be earning less than 30p/h simply because i have a window cleaning round where i earn that,

buying all the fancy equipment has never been for me, i spend what ive got not what i havnt

[Richy L]

i think every jet washer has done some jobs where they're are skipping back to the van after the job is done with a big cheque in hand, and some jobs you hate doing because they are a nightmare.

For example:- i did a job the other day £150  and it took two full days! not a good earner! would have earnt more window cleaning!! but as my dad says its all swings and roundabouts

[Alex Wingrove]

Yeah thats true, but i prefer not to have bad experiences,

thanks for the advice people ive got some ideas and think ive made a decision, just have to see how the next year goes.

[Richy L]

"but i prefer not to have bad experiences"? :

You have to be realistic mate.
If you can earn £40 p/h+ every job and get full time work, then you're the luckiest pressure washer around.

But if you get a small machine, you will never be worth £40 p/h

[Alex Wingrove]

Im not saying i want 40p/h all day but for extra jobs other than what i am there for then i like to have a set wage, i dont earn less than that for gutters cons etc etc,

i know full well i cant earn that consistently all day everyday

but if i price it from 60-80 then it should take me 1hr 30mins to 2hrs,

i will keep you posted see how it goes

you dont use chemicals do you just straight up power, what about lichen?

[steve doyle]

I dont want to question your thinking on this but without powerfull gear and a set up like i suggested and as richy quite rightly says, your not getting £40ph (because job will take longer).

now if you can get a steady £30 ph doing windows then stick with the windows.

If as i suspect, you have some spare time you could be doing drives in etc then fine but £20ph is realistic.
If its a choice of £20Ph or nothing, dont pick nothing, lol.

I guess it depends on your situation and if you can pick and choose the work. Yes, no chems unless to spot treat. See past threads for specifics, its all their.

steve


P.s richy,
your old man work in a fun fair? 

[Richy L]

P.s richy,
your old man work in a fun fair?