Pressure washing work dried up? winter advice for new start ups. where the work is in winter.

Cold, wet and miserable. Winter work can suck, but it's gotta be done. That's if you can find it.

Lets face it. Winter can be a really crappy time of year for all sorts of reasons. I'm pretty sure money plays on peoples minds alongside the other festive woes and if your new to pressure washing it can send you into a panic about where its going to come from. Summers long gone, and so have the driveway and patio cleans.

People probably think exterior cleaners go into hibernation once Winter hits.

Less patio cleaning, fewer driveway jobs, dark by 3.30pm, and then add on the god awful weather. Must be no work around right?

Not exactly.

Pressure washing definitely slows down, but the exterior cleaning world doesn't just stop.

It changes. It shifts. It adapts.

So if this is your first Winter in the pressure washing game you may find the following helpful.

Pressure Washing tails off (and that's normal)

Cold miserable weather + short days + pre or post Christmas wallets = fewer bookings

No one is rushing to book in a patio clean when they wont sit on it for months. The driveway looks a state but hey, everyone's too busy rushing to get in the warmth to notice. It can wait.

So yes. The machine might need to be put away for a bit but the work doesn't suddenly vanish. It transforms.

So what takes pressure washings place?

1. Gutter clearing goes through the roof (pun intended)

Autumn dumps leaves in them.

Winter floods them.

Blocked gutters cause leaks, damp patches, stained brickwork and rotten wood (fascia etc).

The temperature drops and the gutters rise.

2. Fascia, Soffit, Gutters & uPVC cleaning ramps up.

The Winter grime on these is more noticeable but relatively quick to sort out.

It's green, dull, streaky, grotty and can be cheaper to clean than a driveway. An affordable quick fix in the customers eyes.

So these usually become a Winter staple:

• Fascia, soffit & gutter cleans

• uPVC cleaning

• Conservatory cleans

No sunny weather required, but appreciated.

3. Roof Cleaning usually increases.

Surprised? You should't be. Winter is moss season.

Moss loves cooler, damp conditions and spreads fast. Scraping & biocide treating become solid jobs at this time of year.(we at DMS are not against pressure washing roofs, we just prefer the soft wash method).

• No blasting required

• Biocide dwell time lends itself to cooler temps (we use ddac for lower temps)

• Growth is active and easy to treat

Roofs are a good earner but boy are they hard graft and messy.

4. Some companies diversify.

Adapt and Overcome. If you have the tools you have the means.

• Putting up Christmas lights

• Small maintenance jobs

• Clearing leaves

anything to keep the money coming in.

A lot of these jobs are annual, so do them well and they may turn into repeat customers, meaning next winters diary might not be as empty. Big win.

Prepare for the next pressure washing season.

This down time can also be a blessing if you use it correctly.

• If you have a website, improve/update it. Don't have one? get onto it. Add schema, service pages etc.

• Same with your Google Business Profile. SEO never sleeps.

• Re edit pictures off previous jobs and post them to Facebook. Keep the content and your name out there.

Keep pushing and preparing so your ready to go all out guns blazing when that phone starts ringing again.

DMS provide professional Driveway Cleaning, Pressure Washing & Exterior Cleaning alongside our pitched roof repair service. Serving Walsall and surrounding towns in the west Midlands.

dms1565.co.uk