ok so i bit the bullet and bought a system i decided that i should go big or go home so i got the best system and really good poles. of which i still haven’t received one yet due to back order … well no harm no foul …
so anyways after playing around with the system on 5-10 jobs i have came to a conclusion … i really think water fed pole systems suck … i dont care how dirty or clean the windows are the bottom line is wheter your cleaning 1 or 100 windows with them its guarnteed that some windows will still be spotted… not dirty but spotted … really i cleaned my windows at my home (which were cleaned every 2 months before i even began using the system on them) i cleaned them a total of 5 times so far and not once have i been abel to get a perfectly clean window… its really not the operator either if the windows are not dirty to begin with well then how can they end up dirty when they are cleaned… well ive came to a conclusion its simple… there are too many issue to deal with when using water fed poles
how can one walk away from a job and feel confident its done correctly esp if it just exterior only . well you really cant some windows dry spot less , some dry spotted .
2.if everything else around the window is dirty (siding , brick , frames , etc ) well then how do you carefully go about with a system where you cant stop the water flow comming from the brush not getting the surrounding area wet which in turn causes dripping from that area which can lead to spotting on the window… i dont care how much you rinse. if you get some siding wet and it drips chances are your window will dry dirty …
yeh i guess these things save time no doubt however the quality is horrible … well at least for me. i consider myself very skilled in the wc industry it use to take me 55 min to clean all my exterior windows by hand and squeegee and they were “spotless and perfect” well it now takes me 30 mins to clean my exterior windows and yeh they look good when done but yet there seems to be an area on every single window that drys spotted… so how do you sell that to a customer
mrs and mr so and so … i can save you some money b/c it save us sometime… but however i cant gurantee that your windows are going to be 100% perfect like your use to . i mean come on not only do i not sound confident about my services but i also speant 7,000 on a system which i feel is best for washing my truck … it really works well for that . your thought are greatly appreciated
Don’t be too sure. Scrub, scrub, scrub. Rinse, rinse, rinse. Avoid rinsing the top inch or two after the initial rinse. Read about techniques, tricks, and tips. Watch videos. Practice, then practice some more. Windows differ – so should your technique.
Why would you discount the value of cleaning? Don’t you have an added expense that in some way offsets the decreased time? Price should be equivalent to traditional methods.
Don’t give up yet. 5-10 jobs is still in the learning curve. I have had a 5 stage system for a little over a year and it is just during this past month that I am convinced of the ‘power of the pure water’ as i put it. It doesn’t take a year to get good, but it definitely takes some experience. I remember the first day I bought my RHG cart and wfp from Shawn, just under $5 grand. I called him the same day thinking maybe I had made a mistake. I felt really uneasy for a little while about it. But I stayed encouraged by the testimonies of other window cleaners that have been using wfp’s much longer than me. With experience you will learn the limitations and know just when you need to get up at eye level on the glass. Once you get around to using the wfp on repeat business, it really shines! And even on new construction jobs, the results can be awesome.
Just today I used it on a residential job that I do once a year. I flew through the outside cleaning, way faster than had i been using ladders (screens on the inside). When i got inside I saw on several exterior panes there were stubborn bug marks that needed some steel wool buffing to remove them. So i popped up on the ladder and buffed out some areas. It was still faster. And I saw so much dirt coming off the frames that a squeegee and towel never would have removed.
Hence, I am confident that these windows will be staying cleaner longer and the next time clean will only be easier. And then on my next job, being a first time clean, i didn’t even pull out the pole. But next time will be a breeze.
Have I recouped my investment over the last year in more $$/ hour? Not yet. And it will still take a little while. And it will take you a while also. But if you plan to be in business for the long haul, I believe in time you will feel confident about your investment. Especially when cleaning a 3-4 story building without moving around a 40’ ladder or having to rent a lift.
By the way, what kind of system and poles did you buy?
Hey Steve - I experienced the same feeling when I first got my system. But I promise you once you get a little more practice with the technique this will go away. Your not all that far from me, If you like we can meet up and I can help you out a bit.
Check out this video from Shawn. It shows really great wfp technique.
What you are experiencing on your own house is soap residue coming out of the frames and drying on the glass. I’d guess that you probably are a dishsoap guy. If so, no harm there, but you are gonna have to realize that that soap is gonna leach out of the window for a long time. Might I suggest this. Go over the frames and glass as normal the first time through. Then come back to the window and only clean the glass. This process allows the frames to dry and drop dripping and then you can come back and clean just the glass.
If you are cleaning a window above another you will have to wait for that siding/brick to dry before you can clean the next window below. Go around and clean the top floors and then the lowers.
