High quotes

I get to where I hate to quote on houses like this anymore.

Yes, those lower left windows? They are ALL wood frame cut ups, and all of the other windows are cut ups and have storm panels over them as well.

At this point I don’t even know if they all open, and I left that info on the drop off quote I left.

In out over $1,000. Very well to do neighborhood, but hit or miss if the home owner grasps just how much work it will take to get the windows and storms cleaned.

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I agree, I quote difficult jobs like that pretty regular. I price them high because I’m busy enough with my regulars. Nobody ever bites and I don’t mind. I’d hate to be stuck on an old storm window frenchie job that I grossly underbid. It’s gotta be worth it for me to handle stuff like that.

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Yes, make it worth it.

Easy to be in need of work and price it to get it but will find not worth it in the long run.

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I usually price them high, I cut a few dollars in a couple of areas because it just looks like not the one who would bite. It would be a lot of work, but I could use the work now that Summer is here. ARRRGGHHH. But I ain’t giving it away for sure.
The storms will be a major pain if they agree to my price.
It’s alright, I have a mostly normal week next week, so there is my focus. :slight_smile:

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Did you stipulate that if they don’t open you will get them to ?
I don’t like Trying To get them to open if there not sliding up An down. I let them know that it’s there responsibility to make sure there moving.

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Yes, with windows like this (old wood double hungs) I always have a face to face discussion with the customer about that and even ask them sometimes to show me how the windows work. Home owner wasn’t available for a meet-n-greet just yet. Been caught with my drawers down before…LOL

Oh yea havnt we all. Made the Pella mistake a few times.
Jus this year I did a phone bid she said smalll house 25 windows regular windows she said. Get there they are all 6/6 triple tracks. She dropped when I told her the price. Oh I’m not paying that.
Ok sorry for the miscommunication :man_facepalming:

I ask her she said they were regular widows. It happens. Sometimes if it’s a smalll house I’m pricing over he phone. 8 out of 10 it works out. Some times Yao should An could be a little higher , but it was worth it not wasting time driving out to do an estimate.

Power washing is easier bididng by googling
Big houses in always going to look. Small no worries if your offf a little it not going to kill ya

Yea, and those 12 x 5’s are dirty! The room there is full of kids toys which will need to be pre-moved. Doesn’t come with the window washing price.

Oh God and if on top of it all they bleed too…

Did this one today, 757 pieces. Its been a cut up week from hell. 3rd one this week :unamused:
Forgot to snap a pic of the back. Much more back there

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That looks like a typical house in my area. We’re cleaning storm windows multiple times a week. Fun ain’t they?!

A house like that 20 years ago with storms would be a few hundred dollars maybe. Nowadays, yeah, $1000.

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And then inside and outside!

That’s pretty much all the work I do right there…

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unless theres just 1 or 2 ,i wont do those sort of windows now. i just say we dont do them now [along with 3 storey ,one offs ,and glass roofs,or even lots of windows] . its not a case of the money,its the energy expended,theyre always going to be neglected so you bust a gut , it can lay my crew and i weary for days afterwards and That will cost me dearly .
i had one lady write me a bad review cos told her she had too many windows,in hindsight i should have made an excuse citing insurance - but its a fact she had so many it would sap our strength

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I would never tell someone that they have too many windows. Maybe word it like “this job is too big for us”, or “these sets of windows are very labor intensive so they cost more to clean than ordinary”, and if they say yes then schedule the time to do it right. I don’t mind a job taking two days to do, there is a charge for that.

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Personally I don’t see the difference between many houses and a huge house, whether you stay on 1 property and earn or you go to multiple properties and earn at the end of the day your still cleaning the windows.

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Ditto. A few weeks ago, I did a house that I scheduled the whole week for. Priced it out so I made as much as I would for an entire week of regular jobs. And it turned out to be a fairly nice week: a few 6 hour days, a 5 hour day, and 9 hours on Friday, 'cause I was lazy early in the week, lol.

The key for me is, not letting the size of it get in your head and mess with you. Chunk it down, and don’t look at the whole job at once.

When I go back to do the job in the fall, I’ll try and get it done in 4 days. All the screens get stored for the winter, so there’s half a day’s work eliminated right there, lol.

It can be awkward if the homeowner is around the entire time, but thankfully this is a vacation home, with the occasional house cleaner or electrician stopping by.

But even with the owners around, it only gets as awkward as you make it. You set the tone. I’ve had 3 and 4 day jobs where the owners were around most of the time, and I just play it cool. They have a ton of windows, it’s up to them whether they choose to hire the one guy who comes highly recommended but takes awhile, or the crew of 3 or 4 that don’t have as stirling a reputation, but may be able to bang it all out in a day.

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last week I declined a job. French windows with original woodstorms. Her words “They’ve never been cleaned.”

I do a few of those for homeowners that keep everything in mint condition. They’re a lot of work, but they pay well.

The one last week…I just decided I didn’t want to be the one who has to find out what works and what doesn’t, etc. I explained it clearly to her, she understood, and I felt AMAZING to be at a point where I have the luxury of turning jobs like that down.

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Very, very few I will turn down. Even fewer I have learned to not price what they are worth. Often this type of job will either hire someone they are sorry they did (had a few customers tell me that after calling me the next time) or just not get cleaned.

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Tell them the get what they pay for. Your providing a quality service, paying your crew a more than living wage, and don’t forget GL/WC. And if they say someone came in hundreds less tell em good luck, hope they don’t get hurt on your property. We have way to many hacks in this profession who, at the end of the day, give us all a bad name.

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