I like to see this…
This can be a tough job, and we truly learn by ‘doing.’
The notion that you can train a guy to go completely on his own in a matter of weeks, is just beyond me. 
Hey my man…
Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Focus on the panes and keep moving forward no matter what. After a while, you pop your head up and notice you have repeat customers you can bang out super duper fast because you know exactly what to expect and you were just here 90 days ago to do the outside only and they like you enough that you have a key to the home.
You feel guilty as you are locking up and realize you just made $120 per hour on this job that used to take you four hours, you can now do in 2.
You will also realize you have those jobs that pay $40 per hour because of all the ladder stands, landscaping and bushes. Then you realized you underbid the job because your an idiot or for whatever reason. But while your doing that job. Keep in your mind those days in your residential route you bang out $120 per hour. Then learn for next time, and get faster at that house because you were there before and it’s no big deal.
Let’s look at the real hard facts.
My hourly rate is calculated over a yearly average. Not per job. We window cleaners are quick to pat ourselves on the back and talk about $80 per hour averages. I get it. I have a small penis too.
If we are really honest about our hourly rate. We would take the hours paid vs the hours worked or intended business hours. Not for just “the Season” but the entire year.
So. 52 work weeks in a year. Minus 2 Weeks Cancun Time = 50 weeks x 40 hour works = 2,000 hrs per year.
As a one man band with a squeegee and a bucket. You have your busy and your slow but really I average $1800 per week for 42 weeks the rest of the time I sit on my couch and eat Fritos or travel. Let’s be honest here, sometimes I even travel and eat Fritos too.
As I was saying… 42 weeks at $1,800 = $75,600 - $20,000 for marketing and operating expenses (as long as I am REALLY careful) That leaves $55,000 per year to work for 9.5 months out of the year. By the way, the $1,800 per week window pane time is me not trying to kill myself. That’s somewhat full time on the glass with time to go do estimates and happy hours as needed.
Not really rushing from place to place under a tight schedule. Just relaxed. There to do the job right and comfortable with your $28.65 per hour income all year long when I only work 9.5 months out of the year. All the while finding, doing, and remembering those $120 per hour houses.
So look back at the end of your fiscal year and really crunch the numbers and get gut level honest with your hourly rate. What do the numbers tell you? What do I need to do to improve? Where can I trim the fat?
Next thing you know. You have a repeatable system in place that allows you to have 5 two man crews that do houses all day long. Then you can calculate your “for real, for real” hourly rate. You will look back and smile at that $28 per hour and miss the good ol’ times when things were simpler.
Your honesty is disturbing, yet refreshing at the same time…
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Where does dat dere “Facebook Plugin” come from?
Because Louis Palos made me smile…
I’d “like” your post if I could, man.
Hey my man…
Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Focus on the panes and keep moving forward no matter what. After a while, you pop your head up and notice you have repeat customers you can bang out super duper fast because you know exactly what to expect and you were just here 90 days ago to do the outside only and they like you enough that you have a key to the home.
You feel guilty as you are locking up and realize you just made $120 per hour on this job that used to take you four hours, you can now do in 2.
You will also realize you have those jobs that pay $40 per hour because of all the ladder stands, landscaping and bushes. Then you realized you underbid the job because your an idiot or for whatever reason. But while your doing that job. Keep in your mind those days in your residential route you bang out $120 per hour. Then learn for next time, and get faster at that house because you were there before and it’s no big deal.
Let’s look at the real hard facts.
My hourly rate is calculated over a yearly average. Not per job. We window cleaners are quick to pat ourselves on the back and talk about $80 per hour averages. I get it. I have a small penis too.
If we are really honest about our hourly rate. We would take the hours paid vs the hours worked or intended business hours. Not for just “the Season” but the entire year.
So. 52 work weeks in a year. Minus 2 Weeks Cancun Time = 50 weeks x 40 hour works = 2,000 hrs per year.
As a one man band with a squeegee and a bucket. You have your busy and your slow but really I average $1800 per week for 42 weeks the rest of the time I sit on my couch and eat Fritos or travel. Let’s be honest here, sometimes I even travel and eat Fritos too.
As I was saying… 42 weeks at $1,800 = $75,600 - $20,000 for marketing and operating expenses (as long as I am REALLY careful) That leaves $55,000 per year to work for 9.5 months out of the year. By the way, the $1,800 per week window pane time is me not trying to kill myself. That’s somewhat full time on the glass with time to go do estimates and happy hours as needed.
Not really rushing from place to place under a tight schedule. Just relaxed. There to do the job right and comfortable with your $28.65 per hour income all year long when I only work 9.5 months out of the year. All the while finding, doing, and remembering those $120 per hour houses.
So look back at the end of your fiscal year and really crunch the numbers and get gut level honest with your hourly rate. What do the numbers tell you? What do I need to do to improve? Where can I trim the fat?
Next thing you know. You have a repeatable system in place that allows you to have 5 two man crews that do houses all day long. Then you can calculate your “for real, for real” hourly rate. You will look back and smile at that $28 per hour and miss the good ol’ times when things were simpler.
Man I am trying to figure that one out too. Where did that FB plugin come from. That’s not my personal profile so I guess its no big deal. But I am not sure I would want people knowing I am on WCR. Just saying.
Gosh, how embarrassing… lol.
Now the stuff you wrote in your post, I’m not so sure I’d want my friends reading 
All good points. I think a lot of times I spend more time on things because I really want to offer a premium service.
I just need to start charging more for that premium.
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I get it. I’m not hung up on the dollar amount. Your right it is all relative and we are just earning living. That’s why the real question of my post is about speed because I want to be better.
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Ahh… You come in crystal clear on my end, now…
Welcome, man!!
Or “welcome back” whatever the case may be. 
The best part of this business is that even when it’s bad it’s never that bad. The real point of my post is to get better and grow in speed.
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We all spent the first year experimenting with different tools and techniques, second guessing every move we make, should I do this should I use that etc. use this time to find the tool you like to use best, then you will stop second guessing yourself and the minute you do that you will start to fly. It took me a couple of years to realise my tool of choice was the wagtail, then I spend another few months working out how best to use it, but when I did it all fell into place, as far as tricks go, a couple of useful things that help me out thru the day are…1 utilise your bucket for effectively with storage space and hooks, keep the handle in an up position for easy pickup. 2 use bottle not bucket for internal. 3 carry clamp to hold back curtains etc. there are many more but you’ll pick them up as you go. See photos
Good luck
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Thanks for the pointers. One of the few that actually got what the post was about.
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Window cleaning is more towards a trade than any other sort of cleaning. It is something that needs to be mastered, this starts either 2 ways you get taught or you teach yourself.
I started out getting taught by someone who taught them self, I was cleaning windows for around 2 years when I got a new job at a commercial window cleaning company. I soon became quite apparent that I was not a window cleaner after 2 year of thinking I was… I really wasn’t. the newest guy who had been there for 4 months before I started was better at every aspect speed, quality, pole and ladder handling.
When working with other window cleaners who have been trained properly they will often give u shit for you mistakes and you learn quite fast.
I worked for that same company for around 12 years in that time at least 10 “veteran window cleaners” came thru during summer months when we would have 35+ guys. They would generally last 1 day when it became quite apparent they were stuck in there self taught ways, and unable to adapt to how actual veteran window cleaner works.
I’m not saying you cant teach yourself however at the end of the day would you learn martial arts from you tube?
They are very similar in some degree your are training muscle memory if the technique is not correct your muscles will gain memory to something that is ineffective. If I were to train someone(from correspondence), I would ask them make videos of them selves so they could watch and share and ask if and where there was room for improvement.
Also 1 year is what I would regard as a seasoned rookie, provided you sent the past 7+ hours a day 5 days a week for the past 48 weeks cleaning windows.
My first few years of being a window cleaner I had very few tools… master your standard brass/steel squeegee, then you will have them all mastered.
If you are detailing any part of the body of the window i.e. not the edges, then you are doing it wrong.
I got a book a few years back…
Im now on $600 per hour!
I seriously think Matt Adwell is hitting 125$ average consistently. When he is running solo. (20 years experience will do that.)
We are generally between $70-130per/hr for a single experienced tech for residential window cleaning. Sometimes higher (not often ) when it’s a twice a year job.
2 man crew (lead and helper) range $125-$200ish an hour. Goal always minimum $1200 a day per 2 man truck.
We have days where we don’t hit our minimum hourlys window cleaning but then we have days where with power washing and roof cleaning we hit $600 pr/hr and higher.
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Hang in there when I first started I felt the same way. You will find ways to keep quality and move quicker. You will learn how to charge more and correctly estimate how long a job will take.
It doesn’t come overnight. I’m still learning every single day.
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$per man hour is always going to come down to your personal intersection of all the same ol variables:
your pace
your efficiency (and game of concentration memory on each job as you go back to it)
your pricing
the job frequency
Scope of work (in and out vs out only)
health/fitness (gym rat; converted millenial video gamer :eek:, etc)
$ per man year depends on:
weather
local culture frequency (UK 1x a mo, northeast US every 6 mos etc)
your drive, personal schedule
Marketing acumen
what else am i missing?
That’s why everyone’s all over the board, eh?
Very True.
I guess this is my fault for asking the question the way I did.
I’m taking that man hour and translating it to time, the currency that is all the same to us.
Basically at the formula $125hr-$5pp
That is a complete double hung in less then 5 minutes. In,out, track, screen. Can it be done? I don’t doubt it’s possible but a Regular average?? Hard to believe.
I guess the point is I’m not that fast and I want to be.
I don’t really care what everyone makes even if it’s more or less than me.
I just want to develop the mad skills to at least have the respect of the most accomplished window cleaner.
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