Hello All. I just completed a residential job on a split level ranch. Approx 26 windows were cleaned in & out along with screens and wiping down the sills.I needed a ladder for about 8 or 10 2nd floor windows. It wasn’t a bad job and all went smooth. It took me close to 4 and a half hours to finish. I am a one man show and I was just wondering how long this type of job takes you more experienced window cleaners?
Probably about 4 hrs for a first time clean, going at a steady pace not rushing too much
I must be really slow! I would guess judging by previous jobs about 6 hours. I am also a one man operation. Although I have been using my scraper or steel wool quite a bit also. Man, now I’m starting to wonder if I’m doing something wrong. LOL.
I use a WFP for the exteriors…
2 story home with 26 panes, in/out, 3 hours no problem.
$182 charge.
To be honest with you these window’s weren’t really that dirty. This is my 1st season and about my 7th job and I suprised myself at the amount of time it took.
I’m also basically in my 1st season. I did have a job earlier this week that went suprisingly faster than expected. Actually made good money on that one! Still trying to button down the bidding process.
For me, as a one man band, I figure most average size homes with no access issues, I factor them to take between 2-5 hours for full I/O service which includes scraping and vacuuming.
But don’t sweat the time it takes you. Just do the best job you can possibly do. If it takes you 8 hours to do a house then do it and do it right. Don’t worry that your taking too long. Taking too long is not an issue that will lose you business, doing a rush job and leaving the windows looking horrible will lose you business.
Speed will come with time.
Edit-- I should add that the water fed pole I’m getting should cut my time down a bit;)
If you feel that your being to slow… you need to maybe spend a few days with some other windies who have more experience … because you might be denying yourself the chance to save energy and earn more money by being quicker… and you can only be quick if you have the right system in place… maybe your system needs to be looked at… sorry hope that helps…
you need to distinguish which customers are fussy and which ones are not.you can probably tell which ones are fussy … they are the ones who have spotless floors and and a spotless house.there are exceptions though … probably 2 in ten customers ( thats just a rough estimate ) are going to be fussy and the rest are just happy and are not so picky … if you have the right tools and the right system. and the price is right and also you have to give out a friendly respectful aura as well… there a lot of window cleaners that do too much because thats the way they are from nature… but a good window cleaner is a clever window cleaner and that generally comes through experience … a clever window cleaner is someone who does enough to keep his customers happy. but does not do too much that it ends up killing him or making himself frazzled…its important to have all things in place because this a hard job day in day out year in year out… and you can only gain this experience by learning off other window cleaners…and also trying yourself to experiment and finding ways of being quicker through changing tools ,changing system, bringing new tools in and making your method as good as it possibly can.
To really get a better answer maybe you should explain how you clean in detail… others on here could possibly give your some more pragmatic answers on how to make your self quicker…
for example do you wash one window pain… put your washer back in its BOAB then take out your squeegee .put the squeegee back in take out your wiping cloth wipe then put it back then take out your detailing cloth and detail that one pain on the french pain … put your detailing cloth back. and then start the process all over again… i would say depending on the temperature… wash and squeegee with left and right hand one after the other then detail the whole window at the end. this is a pragmatic answer… do you use a spray bottle or water bottle… do you hog a bucket around . do you use only one wiping cloth… do you use WFP. and so on and so on and so on…
10 mins per window to include screen with face to glass/ladders. So you are right on track for the time. With my WFP 3 hours.
Get a helper and pay them $10 per hour. You would complete the job in 1/2 the time for an overhead of $20. Well worth the purchase.
Aren’t there a lot more costs associated with having employees besides just have much you pay them per hour?
I too am in my first season and find that it takes me between 3 and 4 hours to do a similar sized house. I have been hoping to speed up some so I can schedule 2 houses per day. I am afraid that if it takes too long for each house plus packing and unpacking equip and drive time, I won’t be able to do 2 houses in a day. I see lotsa guys on here talking about 2 or 3 a day. Do I have to look at getting help to do 2 or 3 a day? or can I expect to speed up enough to do that many? I am afraid to hire help right now as I don’t have enough work every week to be able to pay a helper. Most weeks I have 4 or 5 jobs and I schedule 1 a day right now. Any suggestions?
Hey Phinkle just stick at it… if you have free time use this time to deliver flyers… make sure your flyers are right… and make sure your system is right… just stick at it work hard eat well sleep well and make sure you deliver flyers on a regular basis… some people hold on to flyers and phone maybe one year later… others do it straight away… just make sure you start early and work a bit later when you are getting the phone calls… with time everything will develop and become better trust me… make sure your delivering those flyers in peoples letter boxes though because they are the number one for getting work.
Thanks John. Sorry not trying to take over the thread.
No sorry needed. We are all in this together.
Oh of course. But in my opinon well worth the cost. My employees work pays for everything I need to cover them. My out of pocket expense is minimal considering what I am getting. The most valueable thing you will always own in a business is your own time. If an employee can increase your time at a minimal cost, than the cost is really nothing. I’ll put it to you this way. Let’s say you work with a potential customer for 1 hour, going over their needs. They employee your companies services at $1000.00. Now most window cleaners shoot for a rate of pay of $50.00 per hour. But if you land a gig like this and have employees out working for you, then you are being paid for giving an estimate. If you do not have employees then you are not being paid at all during the estimate. Overhead is what it is, overhead. It’s worth paying as long as you are making money. Once your overhead gets to the point where you can’t make money, then you have done something wrong and might want to go look for a job or change up some things quick. 
As I said before I based my job completion on time per window. This allowed me to get a rough idea of how many I could complete in one day. I still use this time factor with my employees. It helps a great deal in stopping them from “Milking” their per hour rate. The new guy always says the same thing. “How did you know that house was going to take x hours?” I tell them, “I cleaned windows for 3 years pretty much alone. I have seen just about every nitemare you are going to run into and know how long each nitemare will set you back in time.” There are times when this can backfire. You can come across some windows that are so bad it’s going to take you forever. We have all been there. Underbidding a job or just missing something during the quote. But when I come on to a house that the windows are just complete and utter garbage. I tell the customer stright out. I can’t work mircles. I can’t make your windows look brand new. They will look better then what you have now, that’s for sure. But because you negleted to get maintain your windows, this is more of a restoration job then a window cleaning job. One thing to keep in mind of what I just said. Some guys try and make the windows look brand new. This is a great mentality to have but only to a certain extent. You have to know when to stop. If the sills are stained, don’t break out the chemical to remove the stain. If the windows have hard water stain. Don’t remove it. These things are restoration portions of the industry and should be charged accordingly. I have guys around here who will include hardwater stain removal in their standard window cleaning price. I laugh when I hear this cause I know they are killing themselves in time and passing up an opertunity to make more money. In the past 5 years I have been in business I have seen 4 companys start up around here. Their websites are no longer active and their phones are shut off. I figure it was because they operated their business in the style I just mentioned and could not make any real money so they shut down.
What’s more important than how long it takes you is “will this customer like the work I did and call me back again next time?” Speed will come with time and experience, but keeping customers is more important right now and always.
Jobs that originally took me 6 hours I can now do in 2-3 hours. Of coarse it has been 8.5 years since I started. I still have many of my original clients and that’s what really counts. Customer retention is key. It is easier and less expensive to keep a customer than to try and gain a brand new one.
Well said Randy. Repeat customers are what I am aiming for. That is very important to me. Excellent customer service and word of mouth goes a long way.
Experience is the only thing that will make you faster.Sounds like you still are putting up good times though. When I first started I had no idea how long windows would take to clean, and now I nail it overtime. Also HONESTY is the best policy. So if they are like "well the other windows cleaner did it in 2 hours. Just tell them… "well its a new house and theres almost always some unforeseen situations that slow you down. Customers LOVE honesty and someone who is willing to be accountable for they’re mishaps. One time I soft-washed the the exterior and ened up spraying through the trash-bag and duck-tape. I offered to by them a new monitor and take care of all the data reclamation.
Thanks Ray, Great information. That’s why I love this forum. I learn something new every day.
