I am looking at adding window cleaning to my list of services offered. Currently I do include a window scrub and rinse with my complete house washes. I do explain that they are not squeegee clean but an improvement. I get a ton of calls to go out and just clean windows only on residential homes. I am considering buying either a Unger Hydropower DI system or a Tucker DI/RO system. Is anyone using these. My fear is that it is a fairly substantial investment and I have never seen the end results of a job after this system has been used. With a 40ft Carbon Waterfed Pole it seems to be a good system. Any advice or feedback would be appreciated.
I do my own windows at home with a squeegee and even then I can still get some spotting where I wipe around the frames. I am hoping with a DI/RO Waterfed system it will be a scrub, rinse and go.
Depends on the windows and your technique. WFP is 100x easier after a house wash, though. If you’ve got enough work house washing, I’d avoid adding windows as a standalone service. Just my preference. Guess I’m getting kind of sick of windows, lol
I no longer take on new clients for interior window cleaning.
Liability shoots way up working inside, half the time we feel
like we are movers inside. As ALex_Lacey said, an exterior
window cleaning with a WFP after a house wash would be
the way to go! Just my opinion, YMMV.
I’m actually in the reverse situation, adding House Washing to my window cleaning. I’m going for the ideal workflow of feeding my PW & RO/DI filter cart (built myself) from a 275g water tote, so I’m literally just rolling out/in hoses per stop for a House Wash + Window Cleaning (spot free).
If you’re doing it as a business, please get an RO+DI setup (e.g. Wash-it Pro) as it’s a better investment. Using DI only as a serious add-on service will get expensive quick and lead to high overhead for something that could be done for much less. The RO filter will kick the TDS down to 8 - 2ppm (mine does) and then you can feed that into your DI filter and produce 000ppm water with little cost; this is because the DI resin has a finite lifespan. The RO filter however NEEDS a carbon/sediment filter before it (I have 2), which any commercially made unit will have, to remove chlorine.
Sure the resin change on the Unger DI system is quick & easy, but I dont even need to change my resin once a year… If you’d like to build your own, you’ll spend: $220 RO Housing, $200 RO Membrane (100psi max), $220 3/4 cu.ft. DI Tank (Refurb from WCR), $60 for 2 Whole-House Carbon-Sediment filters, plus time for mounting & plumbing costs.
Also: I highly recommend a Reach-iT pole with Constructor brush, because rinsing hydrophobic windows 2 stories up with pencil jets is like surface cleaning a 100’ driveway with a 10" surface cleaner… YMMV
To be fair, this really depends on the water quality in your area. I get 35-45 ppm from the tap at my house, so I just run a 1/2 cube DI tank and change it once or twice a year. It would take me forever (ok, a couple years, but the added maintenance and complexity of an RO membrane doesn’t seem worth it to me) to see any ROI on upgrading to a full RO/DI system.
Thanks for the feedback. I currently am thinking of having it as an add on only with my main business washing houses and light commercial locations. The windows currently do come fairly clean with a house wash provided you do not let the house wash mix dry on them. I do not mind investing in a decent system for windows as if someone calls right now to only wash windows I usually decline the job as I do not have the correct equipment to do it efficiently. Thanks All
I just got through doing a Bank in town… Did it for about nothing for the PR ads on Face Book…
Lady calls me do YOU DO WINDOWS?? she wants ALL THE WINDOWS CLEANED.
i will put a pic on when I get home from work…
WINDOWS I hate to do windows is there a easy way to do windows??
I might need learning…
As someone trying to transition from 90% window cleaning to do more power washing, I recommend staying away from window cleaning as a standalone service if you don’t already offer it.
Doing exterior windows only, after a house wash, using a waterfed pole system, can be a really lucrative addon. I just finished one a few minutes ago
But doing the full shebang, in & out, screens & sills etc., with no power washing involved, is a lot of work. It has a steeper learning curve, and pays (quite a bit) less than power washing.
@Infinity and @bills4065 have me somewhat questioning my decision to offer interior/exterior window cleaning along with my other services… I knew that the profit wouldn’t be as high as PWing, but I figured it would nonetheless be fairly profitable considering decreased equipment/chemical costs. I haven’t had any window jobs yet so it’s not too late for me to focus on exterior only as an add-on. I’ve only got the traditional WCing tools for now but maybe a wfp down the road.
@Mr_G , traditional window cleaning tools mean you will be going up and down
a ladder for residential exterior window cleans. Interior window cleans include a
track wipe down minimum, screen wash, dry and re-install.Many interior window
cleans you will feel more like a mover than a window cleaner.Never would I tell a
person how to run their business.I am saying knowing now what I know, offering
window cleaning as an add on, I would keep it exterior cleans only, and I would
only offer that if I owned a water fed pole. This is my opinion only. Good Luck!
I appreciate the insight and your opinions! I may rethink interiors and offer exterior only as an add-on for now. I’ll really have to think on it. I live in a fairly rural area and my thought was WCing might help me work a more full-time schedule…but we shall see. Anyway, exterior will be more work with traditional tools, but a wfp won’t be out of my budget for very long with the work that’s beginning to come in.
We sub out quite a bit of our window cleaning for a decent chunk of change. Zero work for some free money. We can’t sub it out to Window Genie or Squeegee Squad, but the local smaller companies clean windows better anyway. They’re fast, efficient, and do interior. Some will even wear your shirts. Just hand them shoe covers… they won’t do that on their own. Some don’t even wear real shoes. Ha!
I guess I should mention that we sub out 100% of the residential cleaning because I don’t really care for or want employees on ladders, but I also don’t want to shell out $2k for a water fed pole or learn how to use it. We’ll still do about half of our commercial window cleaning because everything can be done from the ground with strip malls and fast food restaurants. We turn down anything over 2nd story commercial. Just too much of a headache and I don’t really know how to bid it. Don’t care either.
I’d rather be known as the best pressure washing company with great window cleaning partners.
I knew that the profit wouldn’t be as high as PWing, but I figured it would nonetheless be fairly profitable considering decreased equipment/chemical costs. I haven’t had any window jobs yet so it’s not too late for me to focus on exterior only as an add-on. I’ve only got the traditional WCing tools for now but maybe a wfp down the road.
