[Keith H]

Hello Everybody
I'm just starting my new life as a WC. Can you please tell me the best way to clean conservatories?
Could I use a swivel T-bar and squeegee?
Thanks

[stephen]

same way you clean windows

[simonb]

Do u mean roofs

[karlosdaze]

Justin

[Keith H]

Yes, I mean roofs. Some are awkward shapes and angles

[martin19842]

hi there,


when we do conservatory roofs, we actually pressure wash them, and then do all the gutters, and then the windows.

and then we look at charging anything from £50 to £100 plus VAT.  a good little number

regards

martin

[rosskesava]

We do the same as martin19842 although we don't charge quite as much. It depends on the customer really. Some are willing to pay more, some not.

A customer before Christmas wanted the conservatory roof done and we done it with a brush and a hand pumped pressure sprayer. She just wanted the muck gone. She was not worried that it be 'clean'. Took us 30 minutes and we charged £40.

Another earlier this month (January) wanted a 'just clean them' job done and we used a proper pressure washer and charged £95 for about 45 minutes work.

Last week a lady just wanted the decaying leaves and dirt brushed off and no cleaning, we charged her £15 for 10 minutes work. We also cleared her gutters for £45.

It depends on the customer - how well off they and the job they want done and are you prepared to do it for the price they want to pay.

It's a play it by ear thing plus experience of charging the right price for the job and that comes, sadly enough, with experience. In the past I've under priced myself and also over charged which left a bad feeling all round.


If you mean also that  how to get into the small angles with a squeegie - the answer is you cannot whether by pole or otherwise. You can only get to what you can get to. Most customers understand that. Do your best and charge by the time taken.

[Keith H]

Thanks for the input guys. I have been speaking to people here in Nth Herts, and one lady told me her regular window cleaner charges her, for a 4 bed detached house, windows and conservatory, £20

[AuRavelling79]

Hi Keith H,

If that detached isn't huge with bay windows or lead/georgian that's about right - BUT NOT INCLUDING THE CONSERVATORY ROOF!

And charge more for a first clean if its mucky.

[Ian_Giles]

£20 eh? Does that include the conservatory roof?

I must be a bit of a mug, in the past when I have cleaned out gutters I have done a complete 4 bed house for under a tenner Seemed fair to me, they were not clogged and it only took about 15 minutes to do
I would charge a minimum of a fiver just to get up and have a look, sometimes all you have to do is unblock the downpipe, I just can't charge someone £20 for something so quick and simple.
It gets more expensive when they are well clogged up, and so far I have never actually washed the outside of the gutters down, apart from mopping up any dribbles as I slop out the gunge in them
With traditional methods on a conservatory roof, use a pole and lots of water! Use one of the handles that allow you to swivel the squeegee channel, this allows you more control on getting into corners. Technique is to swivel the channel so you can slide the squeegee vertically up into the furthest corner of the glass panel, and then draw completely across the glass. Don't try and angle it around in the accepted method of using a squeegee, just finish against the opposite side from where you started.
Continue in similar fashion, working down the panel until you can reach it by hand and then squeegee off in normal fashion.
If you don't have a scrim clamp, wrap your scrim around your pole or a squeegee handle so you can detail any ropey bits.
If you use a pressure washer you can do a good job of the fancy framework as well as get all the muck off the glass.

I use WFP, so a conservatory roof is pretty straight forward.
God know how some of you guys can get away with charging so much though I've yet to do a roof that has taken more than 10 or 15 minutes I charge 10 or 15 quid and feel it is easy money

Ian