Big job for me. Took 13 hrs. Good or bad?

So I’m a newbe window cleaner. Got a few bigger contracts under my belt in the last month. This one is by far the biggest. I have the yearly contract by the sounds of things. For next year, I’m getting another pole and a helper. My arms and body are tired. Now I need to figure out the type of pole, and pump for my Wash-it. I have a mini but for a helper it’s gonna be a cheaper pole haha.

So the pics of the ends of the building took me 1 1/2 hrs each and the front about 9-10 hrs. Ouch.

Problems I had that slowed me down were those metal frames leaking. I had to go over many of the windows twice. I learned alot on this job.

Any tips or comments, I take criticism well.

Here’s what I would do to prevent dripping, it works almost every time and I use it with all my WFP work.

Do everything that’s the same height first.

Work from left to right, or right to left.

Clean all the frames first (L to R/R to L)

Next do all the glass of the frames you just cleaned.

This will bring you back to wherever you started originally, then repeat the same process as you drop down each height.

I hope that made any sense, I’m bad at trying to explain this stuff at times.

Get your helper the Unger n lite aluminum pole. Goes up to 30’ and does the job at a great price. I use it right now and it hasn’t let me down yet.

Mike Radzik
Pro Window Cleaning
Central Massachusetts

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Thanks Mike. I did work on each section of windows from R to Left. Problem is when I got back to where I started, rusty leaks appeared. I finished the job this morning and experimented a bit. I found if I concentrate on the top 6-8 inches then rinse the top, I can do the rest of the glass but when I go back to rinse, I rinse from 6" down and leave the top edge alone. Make sense?

As you clean row #1 (top row), you can also clean the bottom frame, along with the top couple of inches of the next row of glass. When you get down to row #2 you can avoid the top couple of inches of that glass unless you have a problem to touch-up. Avoid getting the top trim wet again. I bet the next time you do this job, you will cut 20-40% from your total time.

Well put ^^

Mike Radzik
Pro Window Cleaning
Central Massachusetts

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Thanks Tony. Makes sense to me. Yeah, I hated spending my time doing those touch ups.

Hey… anyone care to tell me what type of $ you would price this job at? I’ll let you know my price after I see where some of you would be at.

John Keiser made a video on how to clean these. Top of frames first including the top couple inches of glass. Then go back and do the glass except the top couple inches. Then do the top frames on the next row, then the glass. Keep repeating for every row and when you get to the bottom no streaks. That always works for me.

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Considering the issues you had to address, I’d say 13 hours isn’t horrible. If you try the suggestions and they work you can probably cut your time down to 6-7 hours, unless there is a fourth side like the front that you showed us.

Not sure how many panes total, but it looks like 300 on the long side. I might bid at $100 for each small side and $1,200 for the long one. $1,400 total.

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Yeah, I bid the job thinking it would be 8 hrs. I bid it at 725. While doing it I already knew the bid was low but I have to keep to my word. Being a newbe, I didn’t want to price myself out of a job, so this just means I have to work smarter and faster to get my hourly rate I want.

I find pricing jobs to be a bit of a challenge. At times I go by the pane…and other times by the amount of time I will spend. It’s a learning game.

it took as long as it took … other wise the word experience becomes redundant … it had to happen other wsie you would not have gained experience … you will take valuable information from this and every job… personally i learned mostly myself and have this inbuilt thirst to do a every job as quick and efficient as possible…i would say the most important thing in any window cleaners arsenal is ENERGY and ENTHUSIASM … if you have those with you always and learn from your experiences you are on to a winner,

on A practical note … if your on jobs and the windows are very dirty i highly recommend using soap with WFp… this enables you to not only clean more thoroughly but also your brush glides more over the glass plus you can see where your washing and rinsing due to the soap suds…for example use a soap like Ecover washing up liquid in small quantities to wash with… they also rinse off much much quicker than soaps like GG4 or normal washing up liquid… so soap and WFP really do go together IMO !!! on dirty jobs !!! cannot emphasise that enough … combine that with hot water WFP and soap and WOW your really rocking and rolling then …

What do you use for your delivery system for the soap using WFP?

here you have to be inventive… either a reach around with a well soaked ( pure soap ) 6 inch Tbar, one could easily set up your own soap delivery system… its not that complicated just need a separate small battery pump and maybe let it flow through small narrow tubing… could also possibly work off your normal WFP pump with a switching device…and for the soap you could use a separate small container all this would not take up too much room or be too much xtra weight.

i dont think the soap delivery is that complicated , might just need an extra spray jet solely for the soap on top of the WFP brush… i really dont know why its not being used more often… a lack of cleaning understanding and insight maybe

What process do you use?

i dont do a lot of WFP to be honest… but if i did use it regular and the jobs were once yearly for example ( dirty jobs ) i would set up my own soap delivery thorugh an extra tube and pump… you know we are talking small box here with a flojet and 6 - 8 Ah battery for example here … and maybe a remote or wireless on / off … the tubing or hose would be slim , just a bit worried that if i had both soap and rinse water in the same hose it could be time wastage . personally rather separate them… ecover does rinse off extremely well in comparison to other soaps i have tried and is quickest by far… Jim Thompson from Scotland ( the ecover finder / pioneer ) has a new cleaning Solution … check it out

i generally use a reach a round with a TBAr ( ultra small ) soaked in soap… just a quick turn of the wrists dab on and water on water off ( aquadaptor ) and then scrub water on and then rinse

Robinson-Solutions Professional Window Cleaning

Just to let you know john my new solution contains no soap so no soap suds to clean up! has good slip and can be used for wfp as well, an no detailing needed,

No detailing, no soap suds to clean up! very good slip! can be used trad/wfp!

Has self-cleaning properties so windows stay clean much longer!

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Commercial around the country is between $4-$6 per pane. Yeah…you probably underbid., but I did the same ting more than once myself. The first commentator had it right on how to progress. A lot of the time you spend as a newbie is because you don’t know how to move efficiently. Even learning how to hold the pole properly will save time; as you decrease fatigue, you decrease the amounts of rests and stretches. Learn what causes your work stoppages and find the solutions to them and you will be amazed at how you shave the hours off. That building would’ve taken me and my lead supervisor five hours total. Think about how what you spent the most amount of time doing that was NOT cleaning the windows. That will help you figure out how to shave time and make more $$$ Good luck buddy and I hope you continue to grow and succeed!

sounds like you may be smashingthe top of the frames with your wand/scrubber. that causes excess water to be trapped within the rubber seals or frames. try wetting the window at a bit of an angle. sounds like the trapped water keeps breaking loose and causing runners which usually needs the window to be entirely rewet. it looks like this is a bit of an older post but hope this helps…

On very dirty widows I use bucket and the same solution we do trad with, a car wash brush on pole does the application fast . Then wfp

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