I’ve never had an issues pressure/soft washing but I’d like to have my back covered as much as possible.
For window cleaning common things that could go wrong are when peoples window seals are broken and our wfp leaks water between the panes. Clearly thats a pre-existing condition and not our fault (I state that on every estimate as a condition to agreeing to the work being done).
What are common things that could happen in pressure washing? What kind of waivers or terms do you set out?
I have heard that some people can lose their tip and break a window. My first job I lost 2. Haven’t since then but it DID happen. Not into a window thankfully.
I always try and walk the property with the person before I do work and point stuff out. Also take pictures of everything and keep them on your phone for a while. Have never had to use them but they are there to cover your butt.
Make sure you are setting proper expectations about what can be done and how well, or what their expectation vs reality is. So far in my experience, laying out everything before you do your work of what you’re doing and what could happen works waaaaay better than them being mad at you after your work is done and seeing something they weren’t told about/expecting.
So far that’s all Ive been doing. I’m insured and licensed but don’t even do quotes all the time, only if they ask for one. I’ll continue to do that until it bites me in the butt! I have a gut feeling about who the crappy customers are going to be and just don’t work with them as it’s not worth the hassle.
You’d probably have better luck getting covered breaking a window pressure washing (esp. with a tip flying off), than you would as a window cleaner damaging a window, IDK. First trigger pull is always away from home/people (esp. after changing tips).
Get a service that keeps your pics, and keep them filed indefinitely. CompanyCam is awesome, and there’s a free option that would work similar to what you’re doing now I think. The pricing is reasonable anyway.
Watch for hoses dragging along outdoor solar/low voltage lighting.
Always “test fire” your gun away from a building after switching tips (pointed out previously but I couldn’t help but reiterate this).
Take plenty of photos of any concerning areas you find of the home BEFORE you wash. Ripped screens, failing paint, odd staining, busted windows, any oxidation disturbance present, etc. Some guys even send these photos over before they fire up the washer.
Check the water spigot you are connecting to and ensure it is secured to the house correctly. I’ve even had a few with hoses that were on them so tight I didn’t dare to disconnect the customer’s hose. I simply grabbed another 50-ft garden hose from the truck and found another spigot.
Probably couldn’t be said enough…
Ugh. People’s hoses are a freaking nightmare. Today my customer had a y valve in the back yard to two hoses. They left while I was cleaning. The handle on it sounds but no water. I had to go in the house, to their garage to turn on the water from the piping there and she’s talking to me like I’m the A hole because I expected to use the dang handle. I also had to clean dog poop from a door because I couldn’t open it far enough to open without smearing it everywhere so…they got me good. I ALWAYS bring my own hose and dont mess around with customers crap.
Oh, I always use my own hose, but sometimes the 100-ft I keep on the reel needs a little more extension to be able to reach a spigot on the back of the home. But sometimes the spigot that is closest to my truck already has a hose on it and if I can’t easily disconnect it, I look for another spigot.
I learned to run their bose forma bit too first before hooking up just in case they have nasties hidden up there about to flush out.
Windows closed, washing inside, no tips and tricks from the property owner. The rest is our responsibility.
We fried an exterior outlet (it was supposed to be ‘weather proofed’ so the homeowner realizes its not really our fault) so at this point my greatest takeaway is to be like the pros and tape everything up. Whether it works or not doesn’t matter - what matters is the customer will feel at ease that you did all you could
Same with surface cleaners.
