Got a call to bid window cleaning for a restaurant. This will be my first one so i am not sure on what to charge per pain in/out. What are you guys/gals charging?
The search function on this forum would work great for this question.
I bid restaurants, on average, higher than I do store fronts and other commercial accounts. My price depends on the frequency, day and hours.
My wood fire grill I clean every 6 weeks costs more per pane than the Jason’s Deli’s done weekly. The Longer the time between cleanings, the harder they are to make sparkle. I have a local japanese steak house/sushi bar where they prepare at tableside and the glass partitions and inside windows get film so thick, I wouldn’t do it if they would not let me come in weekly. I use Dange’s secret weapon on this one! I keep restaurant mops separate from my other mops because of the soil cooking creates.
The restaurants in [I]MY[/I] [I]area[/I] want service Fri-Sat-Mon…so those days are committed every week. Also, the hours can be an issue. I have to be in and out either before they open or between 2-4. When you are bidding them, think about the committment you are making for days and times.
Restaurants can be demanding accounts, price them accordingly
I was in need of some quick help because i had about one hour before i needed to be at the restaurant for the bid. So, i posted this thread and used the search function. I did find lots of good info using the search function, as usual.
It was 30 windows in/out. I bid once a month for $65 and i got it.
Depending on how easy it is to access the windows and the size of them, I would have charged no less than $75. Restaurants can be a little tight in paying for window cleaning but as long as the work is done well they’ll continue to pay and ignore low ballers coming by and leaving bids
So I went to clean this place this morning and when I got to cleaning the inside I found that they were caked with grease. Dawn dish soap cut thought the grease but then there was also little spots all over the windows to that would not come off. I pulled out the scraper and scraped until my arm felt like it was going to fall off just to get the spots off one part of the window. I told the manager that i would be back monday morning to finish the inside. So is there an easier way to get this stuff off. It almost looks like splashes of BBQ sauce which would make sense because it is a BBQ place. Is this something that tsp might be good for?
Dange’s secret weapon!
add ammonia to the bucket you can get it at wal mart in the cleaning section for like 1 dollar and you only need to add a cup or two to the entire bucket
is Dange’s secret weapon TSP?
ammonia works ok, but its nasty stuff.
a citrus degreaser should work too, but don’t let it dry on the window or it will leave a stain.
there also some specialty chemicals that will work, but they are a bit pricy sometimes.
My guess is you just need to scrape the whole place the first time, after that the spots shouldn’t be as bad.
What kind of strip washer are you using? Perhaps a more abrasive scrubber would be helpful, the MicroTiger by Pulex is very good and works well for me, but there are even more abrasive options you could try
Thanks for all the advice. I will try TSP, ammonia, and citrus degreaser to see which one works best.
Hopefully the follow up visits will be easier now that the hard work is done. You may have lost a little money on the first job but it should pay off over time. Nice that you got the gig.
When we do these types of jobs we use degreaser applied to the applicator. We have our trucks run with a spray bottle of a heavy degreaser, we use power washing. We spray on the applicator and it cuts any grease quickly and those nasty finger prints. Then squeegee and keep moving. Phil, is probably right. Now that you have the initial clean up done it should be easier. If it isn’t recommend an additional service so the frequency is tighter. They see the value in having you so it will be less of a difficulty to up sell now that you see what they actually need…doesn’t always work though so slightly higher price can be your insurance to help cover really dirty places. $65 is not bad though. Good job!
If this is a BBQ joint you may need to up the frequency. It may not become any easier for you if you are not doing it at least bi-weekly.
Don’t forget to try a little isopropyl alcohol as a degreaser before you use anything expensive. We mix a bit with my soap in a spray bottle to spray on any windows that need a degreaser.
do you use white scratchy pad with a doodle bug? they work great to loosen gunk like that off the window
I would have tried an angle like this next time u gain another window cleaning account…I alwayz try to charge more for the first clean with a monthly account and tell the customer after the first clean it will be 65 but 80 for the first treatment…the second time you go should take way less time then the first…your maintaining the windows after the first treatment… Try to gain as many businesses accounts close to the business you already service…If you do decide to expand let the other businesses know that u service other businesses close by…unless they are a competitor
nice advice
So i got them all cleaned up but dang it took way to long. I know now to charge more for the initial clean. I used krud kutter degreaser with dawn. i wet the window with my strip washer and let it soak while i went on to the next window. After soaking for a few minutes i cleaned it again with the strip washer then scraped it, then one final cleaning. They came out really nice and the manager was really happy with the results. I will be cleaning the place once a month. He told me they had not been cleaned in at least 2 years! Thanks for all the advice.
[COLOR=#333333]Dange’s secret weapon![/COLOR]
TSP is my secret weapon for the inside glass of restaurants. Used to use it for a grocery store deli section where they fried chicken everyday. The TSP dissolved the grease like no other. My grease busting recipe (per 2 gallons of water): 1 tablespoon TSP, small squirt of ecover. Applied it thick with strip washer and then agitated it with white pad on doodle bug. Eliminated the need to razor the window which would have taken forever.
try a higher concentration of dawn and warm water in a spray bottle. spray the bbq sauce and try to keep them wet with the solution. kinda like when you make some tomato sauce and you want to clean the pot . the longer you let it soak the easier it will clean.
remember this acronym. [B]W.A.T.C.H.[/B]
w.a.t.c.h. is the essentials of cleaning.
[B]Water[/B] - to wash the dirt away
[B]agitation [/B]- scrubbing will help loosen the soil
[B]time [/B]- if you allow the solution to dwell, the soil will loosen easier and rinse away
[B]chemical [/B]- stronger solution will break down the soil easier
[B]heat[/B] - the more those water molecules move around the faster it will break up the soil. after water reaches 118deg every 18 degrees after that the energy level of water doubles. so 136 degree water is twice as powerful as 118 degree. unfortunately you really cant use too much heat on glass though
now imagine w.a.t.c.h in a pie chart. all have equal slices. that equal pie chart would be your balanced cleaning system.
like i just mentioned, you cant use too much heat on glass. so imagine that your heat section of your pie chart just got smaller. what happens to the other slices? one or all of them have gotten bigger. so by removing heat from your balanced cleaning system you have to increase something whether it be by a stronger chemical, more agitation, more dwell time, more water.
you dont really have to remove anything from your balanced cleaning system, but you may have to add more of something to get the job done.
its tougher for us to get more dwell time with our cleaning products because of gravity, and heat can be an issue too. so we get to put most of our focus on chemical, water and agitation
I am new to window cleaning. To me it seems like $65 is nothing for 30 windows. Were they small or something?
