I’ve now been self-employed and had my own cleaning & property maintenance business for 12 years now, during that period the business and our services have grown and developed. Initially I started with Mattress and carpet cleaning but since then we’ve added external cleaning services to offer our customers the complete cleaning package. However, one of the team pointed something out to me which struck home and made me somewhat embarrassed! Whilst standing outside the front of my house he said “Rich you own a cleaning business, we’re so busy cleaning everyone else’s house don’t you think you should do yours?” I looked at the front of my house and driveway and thought you’re right it does need some TLC, plus as an owner of a cleaning business what kind of message is it sending to my neighbours and customers?? So I have to confess I have fallen into the Contractors trap of working on everyone else house and neglected mine……..so what to do about it??
Driveway Cleaning
We started by cleaning not only my driveway but that of my neighbours as we have a shared drive. We have recently invested in a Pressure washer which was imported from America to add patio and driveway cleaning to the list of our Complete Cleaning Services. This was the ideal time not only to clean my drive but to gain some invaluable training for the team, the dirt and muck it removed was amazing with other neighbours commenting on how good it looked and the difference it made. Once the drive was cleaned we brushed in Kiln Sand to all the joints, this really set the drive off and even though I say it myself it looked amazing! My neighbour was even happier!!!
UPVC Cleaning
We cleaned all the UPVC to my house initially treating all the surfaces with Razor wash, agitating, rinsining off and polishing. The Front high level gable end hadn’t been done in years so I had to use ladders and a heavy duty brush to remove the grime prior to rinsing it off, my neighbour has a similar style of house and was very impressed with the results.
Painting & Decorating
After cleaning my UPVC I decided to paint my front door to give it contrast and stand out from the other surrounding houses in the area. With a UPVC door you need to prime and seal it first so the paint when applied has something to adhere to, for this I used Zinseer Bullseye 123 in white. Once this had dried I used a Dulux quick drying water based Opaque paint in Midnight Blue and applied 3 coats, I recommend this system especially for doors so you don’t have to leave the door ajar and allow it to dry for a prolonged period. We recently carried out an external decorating and a cleaning project for one of our long-term clients, you can see the results via our One Stop Shop Property Maintenance Service website.
The Final Result
Take a look at the below video to see how we did!!!