Window Cleaning Vs Surface Cleaning

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1

Heres a question for you guys…

My company has focused solely on soft washing houses and composite decks as well as roof cleaning, so we have no high pressure machines, just pumps for low pressure applications, so we dont do any surface cleaning at all. Late last year, we started taking on a few window cleaning jobs and doing them the manual way with ladders and squeegees. I see alot of potential in the window cleaning arena as well as the surface cleaning, so heres my dilemma…

I can only afford to make one big upgrade before this season kicks in and Im torn between investing in a pure water system and pushing window cleaning or getting a pressure washer and surface cleaner and going for the surface cleaning. Either way I go will be in addition to our current house wash and roof cleaning. So if you were in this spot and could only invest in one service, which way would you go and why?

Thanks for reading!

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2

I would go for the concrete cleaning stuff so you don’t lose money. You already can do windows, so hold out a bit and get pure water down the road.

3

I would sell all of your pumps and buy an 8 gpm pressure washer. This would enable you to wash and concrete and also be able to more efficiently soft wash houses, rinse them completely, and be able to wash brick foundations, steps and other areas that need pressure along with the house wash. I would decline all roof cleaning.

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4

Ive made quite a bit of money cleaning roofs. I would never even consider giving that up.

5

The cost to get the pressure washing gear is the same as getting a pure water rig…thats one of the reasons im stuck

6

Get the pressure washer and surface cleaner, use it for a month to make some good money. Then in a month buy the window cleaning stuff.

7

I was honestly expecting to hear the opposite of these replies, lol. Pure water window cleaning seems to bring a higher ticket than things like concrete cleaning, but I definitely see the points made here.

8

Reason being that you can still clean windows, just have to bring out the ladder. That and you asked on a power washing forum not a window cleaning forum. :slight_smile:

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9

I did consider that but I asked anyway since I have seen some window cleaners on here

10

Which service earns more for you? I personally only grossed around $50/hour for windows, whereas I gross an average of $150/hour for concrete work. Guess which service I dropped, and which one I offer (even though window cleaning had lower overhead)

11

Windows are my main thing (well, maybe it used to be). I would expand the power washing side of your business, then upgrade to a WFP. I usually upsell all my window cleaning customers with some sort of power washing. I say get both, but if you have to choose now it’s power washing

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12

How do you price your windows? We recently listed window cleaning as one of our services but not really sure how we should be pricing it for residential/commercial windows

13

I don’t. I dropped the service completely last year. I now refer all of my customers to window cleaners who refer power washing to me.

14

…how DID you lol

15

LOL wfp and traditional…priced by the pane, and by the “pain”…(hassle tax was very high, but still not worth it)

16

We have dropped all interior window cleaning jobs as of this year!
People getting way too nit picky, expecting service to be cheap.
Agree with Jesse, people expect much, but want to pay a very low
price for this service. Liability goes way up once you work inside.

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17

Buy the power washer & surface machine. A few jobs later when you have extra cash to burn then buy the WFP pure water system. Dilemma solved.

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18

As a window cleaner who owns a pure water system, John_T
is right on! Buy a pressure washer and surface cleaner first.

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19

I took the advice from the forum. Im now the proud owner of a 5.5gpm machine at 3000psi with a Honda motor. Also picked up a 20" Whisper Wash. Ill be trying out the surface cleaner for the first time in a few days. But the rinsing capacity on a house wash alone made this machine worthwhile. Thanks for all the advice!

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20

If you haven’t used it yet I would return the 20 inch and get a 16 inch eagle wash. Will clean much faster with 5.5 gpm and much easier to use. I have several i use with 8 gpm