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Replies

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  Dan Frazer Gardening March 29, 2011 at 5:48pm

  Is it just one man? Our cleaners are two men, it takes about ten minutes, and they charge £4, which makes sense to me considering their extremely low running costs.
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  www.westmidlandslandscapes.co.uk March 29, 2011 at 5:55pm

  My window cleaner fills his water containers up at garages..so they only running cost is diesel for the van really!...he charges me 10 quid front and back and that includes conservatory!...he does all four houses by me in less than an hour!...he told me he has 150 people on his books and for 4 (short)days a week he makes 500-600 before tax(make your own conclusions here!) which for the outlay seems ok...especially as he has just taken eary retirement!...dump your barrow and spades and get a squidgee!!!
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  www.westmidlandslandscapes.co.uk March 29, 2011 at 6:12pm

  I live in a posh area i guess!...i even pay to have to pay someone to get my hair cut!
  
  Paul @ PPCH Services said:
  

  I do my own, I have the squeege, bucket and spongdge thing anyway as I clean down any windows after Ive pressure washed. The tools only cost around £30.

   

  Definately not a skilled job, simply a conveinience thing but then the same could be said for a great many jobs. I cant say I grudge someone making a living from it but I certainly wouldnt pay them to do mine!

   

   
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  Andy Lawrence March 29, 2011 at 6:31pm

  There may be a little more to it than it appears but I'm afraid I don't accept its more difficult than doing even basic gardening, ie strimming, mowing, hedge cutting, dispensing pesticides etc.

   

  Also find it hard to believe the overheads are higher. There's no waste created, no waste carriers licence required no pro strimmer/mower/ hedgetrimmer, hand tools, PA1/PA6 etc etc to pay for.
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  Graeme @ BGS March 29, 2011 at 6:35pm

  I know quite a few window cleaners from the pure water pole systems to the good old fashion bucket mob.  I wouldn't quite say it was skilled more about having common sense and taking care. And please don't think I am being disrespectful as I am not.  Saying that what some of those guys do to clean windows I take my hat off to them. 

   

  Whilst I can see their overheads can be fairly high when compared to the "gardener" - these set up costs are no where near to a fully set-up gounds maint. company.

   

  And finally, when times are hard, thankfully around this neck of the woods, the window cleaner is the first to go then a toss up if the cleaner or gardener is next.
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  Ofer El-hashahar March 29, 2011 at 6:55pm

  I do not have problem with people making a lot of money, as in here it gets to 60.00 pounds an hour.

  But , when they come with cross nasty face of how there you say no to me- I think thats disgusting.

   

  Do not get me wrong not all window cleaners but the ones that charge that and look at you like how can you say,

  no? that drives me mad.

  I had days that I charged a lot but had a lot to offer- It just seems wrong that no one  else here offer a better price around.

   

  Can I offer this service? (mmm... boring ha)

   

   

   
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  Chris Auld March 29, 2011 at 7:42pm

  I dont know why people pay someone to come round every 2 weeks and clean there windows, I havn't cleaned mine in over a year and they are still fine.
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  Dan Frazer Gardening March 29, 2011 at 7:55pm

  Bit unfair to compare oddjob gardener with professional cleaning service... same if it were vice versa.

  
  
  A & J Owen Garden Services said:

  The basic end of gardening is illustrated by one of our competitors. He walks from job to job with his hover mower, a spade (to dig and edge) and a few basic tools in a bag. Nothing wrong with that and his clients are obviously happy with the service he provides. He uses the customers electric. Overheads pretty damn low - he probably had the mower already...and probably the rest of the tools as well..

  As a contrast, a window cleaning competitor of ours has a van mounted system. He has probably had to invest several thousand pounds up front - and that's just the start. That's before you get to filtration systems, the appropriate chemicals to keep the water 'pure', equipment to test the purity of the water, heating to avoid these systems freezing in winter (causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage) and the public liability insurance - extremely expensive if you use ladders.

  In terms of who clients get rid of then round here the opposite is true. We have struggled to keep our garden customers in the face of competition like the chappy above. No offence to him but at a time when more people are price driven and only want a 'basic' service then he's the man!

  Also, whereas you will spend 2/3 hours minimum (usually) in a garden, you could spend 10 minutes at a house but then spend another 10 minutes travelling so your hourly rate is not as high as people perceive.

  Everyone is entitled to their opinion but unless you have done both jobs day in, day out then you really can't comment with the full facts. I say from experience because 18 months ago I'd have said most of what you've said above.

  Anyway, this is a gardening forum so probably best for everyone to move onto other things garden related.....I shall head off to my window cleaning forum to discuss reverse osmosis systems et all...have a good evening all!
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  Anthony Toop March 29, 2011 at 8:14pm

  Reverse Osmosis water for cleaning windows, really, thats a new one on me, i have an RO system for purifying water before i add it to my aquarium but wouldnt dream of wasting it on the windows! i can appreciate how soft water would benefit the windows, less smearing and streaking etc but this could easily be achieved with an ion exchange resin. RO water seems a tad overkill to me!!!!
  
  A & J Owen Garden Services said:
  

  
  

  Anyway, this is a gardening forum so probably best for everyone to move onto other things garden related.....I shall head off to my window cleaning forum to discuss reverse osmosis systems et all...have a good evening all!
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  Andy Lawrence March 29, 2011 at 8:32pm

  I suppose if you had the contract to clean windows on the European Space Station on the one hand, and were cutting lawns with a scythe on the other then yes cleaning windows would be a more skilled job, Otherwise I suspect not.