Should you offer Exterior Window Cleaning as an add on?

Last year I decided to add a water fed pole set up to our business. I hate window cleaning, and going into peoples homes, but saw a possibility of increasing my Gross per job. Offering exterior window cleaning as an add on was a huge success for us, and a lot of our customers decide to pay the extra $ and get the outside of their glass cleaned.

Our set up is simple… a Gardiner 26 ft WFP , and a 4 gallon hudson never pump electric back pack.
We don’t filter our own water, we buy it at the local water supply at $0.25 a gallon… ( Normal house cost less then $6 in water).

Minimum price is $120, and the customer has to have the screens removed prior to us showing up. We only offer it as an add on with a house wash. All the negatives of a water fed pole are pretty much gone when your cleaning the glass after a house wash. The house wash mix helps clean the frames, and loosen up stubborn stains on the glass. After the house wash is done, you don’t have to hit the frames with the WFP, which causes most of the problems guys have when using them on a first clean). Most 2 story homes avg about 30-45 minutes for exterior windows when used in conjunction with a house wash.

We only do exterior windows, and only offer exterior windows with a house wash. To me this has been a good formula for increasing revenue, but mitigating headaches that can come with window cleaning and water fed poles. Last season, selling exterior windows as an add on brought in $13,000 in 7 months.

What is the best an add on to increase revenue you have had success with?

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Anything more than spray on spray off is to difficult or low profit for me.

Is this going to eat up a lot of your time?

I thought the same thing at first… But your already at the house, and to go through with a wfp to ensure streak free is easy and fast. I do set my minimum high though for a reason… With power washing I’m around $150 per man hour ( two man operation) with WFP I average out higher per man hour than pressure washing…closer to $175 per man hour. I believe its the easiest to sell, and most profitable add on.

No matter how good you are at rinsing, everyone leaves a little scum, or water spots on the windows. So its an easy up sell just by being honest with the customer.

My focus in 2018 is not increasing the volume of customers, but increasing the AVG per job gross.

initial investment of $600…and makes you $175 per man hour… doesn’t seem low profit to me

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With two guys… we both start power washing… one does the front, one does the back. then the guy in the back shuts down and grabs the water fed pole… and starts working on the windows in the back. the front guy will finish washing both the sides and then reel up all the hoses, clean up and talk with the customer. by then the WFP guy finishes about the same time.

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We have completely different styles of homes that we clean. I can however look into this and see if it will be a good addition. I pretty much would only want to do patio windows, but even then it seems like it could eat up a ton of time.

I will be looking into adding a window cleaning company as a DBA to my current business. Mostly just to be able to hire an employee to increase my overall bottom line. I really need some reoccurring work. Something to keep money flowing in year round.

Do you do driveways or roofs?

Good info. Been thinking of adding also. Would love to see a few pics of your setup. Why did you decide to go the purchased water route rather than small DI unit? What was the approx capital cost to get setup if you don’t mind sharing?

Hey Racer. A water fed pole goes from 200 dollars to several thousand if you want the best… A DI tank is 250 to 500 depending on size if you have really bad water you would get a DI\RO tank to save costs in resign… Then your looking at 1400 and up depending in size…
Of course then it depends if you want a back pack sprayer or a pump. Or use the houses own water pressure to apply… That all depends on how large the building is and how much work you want to do… Call me I will walk ya through it. Pretty simple stuff. You could build your own system and save money. But usually with a sale you can buy a unit complete for under 2 grand that will clean all the exterior windows you want on a three story or less building

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His idea of just buying water as needed is a good one, in my opinion. You could easily add a filtration system later if you wanted, but to just “get your feet wet” you can EASILY setup a diy pole and backpack sprayer like he mentioned…Then, if you don’t like the add-on, you’re not out much; and, if you like it, you can easily upgrade.

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Our TDS is so low down here (24) that not sure really worth it. Heck most of ours look pretty good when we finish our house wash. Plus 75% of my customers don’t want to even bother taking off screens for the house wash.

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Our TDS is around 85. I really like to add on WFP to wash jobs. I already had the gear since I started window cleaning. A good WFP, DI tank, hoses, brush, etc and you are looking at $1000 to get started. A 3/4 cube Di tank will last a couple months with low TDS, then you are out about $100 for the recharge. I think it is a great add on for anyone. But like Racer said you have to convince them to remove the screens.
Joe

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I wasn’t sure if there was a market for it. A market for just exterior and the customer removes the screens. After a year my answer is yes there is. Now I like the hassle free part of it. My TDS isnt low like yours though. We are in the 200’s here.

Under $600 and your ready to go

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Most windows look good when your done, but when your inside looking through them when the sun is hitting them is a different story.

If you have a true TDS reading of 24 that is amazing…24 is low enough to use with a WFP and leave no streaks.

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At first I thought that convincing the customer to remove the screens would be difficult… but it has not turned out to be that way. I always sell the exterior window cleaning when giving the quote whether in person or through email. Only time i up sell it the day of service is if their screens are on the inside… With windows I tell them a price and that I clean the exterior glass only. If they say yes lets do it, then I say " Only thing we ask is that you have the screens removed prior to us showing up" I have never had a customer change their mind, or cancel with the window cleaning.

To me it’s the same concept when cleaning a deck or patio… You have the customer remove tables chairs, grills and other things.

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Exactly… that’s why I went that route in the first place. Now I like the convenience of it. A lot of “window guys” in other forums get mad when I mention that Distilled water has a zero TDS and is the same endstate as filtering water through an RO/DI system.

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Here is what you need to connect from the Hudson Electric backpack to WFP hose.

Here is the backpack.

https://www.amazon.com/Hudson-13854-Bak-Pak-Battery-Operated/dp/B000NOT7RA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516332158&sr=8-1&keywords=hudson+never+pump+backpack+sprayer

Here is the Pole

With Gardner your getting 22 ft actual pole length ( A lot of companies advertise working height) . I have done 3 stories up with no problem with this pole

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Roofs…the best add on there is

Concrete I try and stay away from.

THAT’S incredible. You probably don’t need any DI or flitration at all. When you spray water on your windows, do the drops even leave spots?

@Sharpe

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Good looking out! Thanks a million

Great thread! Surprised I missed it.

I love pw/wfp combo jobs. I think my all time best day was a few weeks ago. Huge house with a ton of windows: $850 for housewash, and $360 for exterior windows. Power washing took about 3.5 hours, and windows took right around 2 hours. Then the icing on the cake: they were so thrilled with the job, they gave a $222 tip.

This kind of job would’ve been difficult with a backpack sprayer and cheap pole, though. I think I used about 30 gallons of pure water. And some high windows would’ve been laborious with a floppy pole.


I occasionally get some pushback from customers who are unable or uncomfortable with removing their screens. But it’s pretty rare. I also don’t get many people asking for inside windows, the way I sell this add-on. Most people who call for power washing, never even thought about getting their windows done, too. So they’re thrilled that they can get the “hard part” of window cleaning done for a reasonable cost.

I also include washing the screens if the customers bring them outside to a central location. I’ll lean the whole stack against a garage door or something and spritz them one or two at a time with the housewash. I go through them real quick, and they come out better than any screenwasher could get them.

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