Home-Owner Domestic Setup

DIY Home-Owner Domestic Setup

This information is to provide basic advice to allow you as a homeowner to work out the parts you will need to make up your DIY home system.

There are many additional informative articles, videos, and guides on our website which will be referenced to throughout this email, with links to view them.

Water Purification

As you are likely already aware, water fed pole systems are designed to be used with purified water, rather than just tap water. Traditional window cleaning involves leaving the windows completely dry. In contrast, water fed pole window cleaning leaves the windows completely wet. With pure water this is not a problem, as pure water will dry clear on the glass. However, if you use tap water, this will leave streaks and spots on your glass as it dries.

 

It can be very expensive and complicated to set up a system for purifying water, particularly if you live in a hard water area. However, since you will only be cleaning your own house, there is another option – many of our customers setting up a home system like to use rain water, which—while not completely pure—is generally much purer than tap water. If you think it would be feasible for you to collect and use rain water, then our Gardiner Backpack is a popular choice. This can be filled up with rain water and, with a pole attached, will be everything you need to clean your own windows. Most customers will simply use a water butt to store the rainwater.  (If storing rainwater is not a feasible solution, there are other options you can look at, these may vary dependent on whether you live in a hard or soft water area.) You can access these options at this link:

https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/blog/wfp-information-advice/what-wfp-system-choices-do-i-have-to-make/ under section 2. 

 

The pole information below will discuss the connector choice that you will need to make when ordering the backpack.

When it comes to a choice of poles, most of our home cleaning customers choose to go with a CLX, which are our budget range of poles. Our pole specification chart will help you to choose which pole will be best suited to you; for a standard two-storey house, a CLX 18 will likely be a good choice. This pole will come with several options included free of charge, which are discussed below:

 

Angle adapter/gooseneck: This is the part which connects the brush to the pole. For domestic cleaning, most customers will use the standard ‘QuicK-LoQ Angle Adapter’ that comes free with the pole, as it is plastic and adjustable making it robust and meaning the angle can be changed to the user’s preference.  You can upgrade to the ‘QuicK-LoQ Angle Adapter Long’ if you know that you will need more reach (for example with deeper reach sills).

 

Brush: We would say that every brush we have will clean the window. What brush will best suit you is often only found through use of different brushes to find your personal preference. However, our brush guide gives an approximate guide on what may suit your work needs.

 

Jet option for the brush: This is a matter of personal preference, though pencil jets tend to be more popular. This video shows a comparison of the jets.

 

Pole Hose: Assuming you are using cold water, most of our home cleaning customers will find either the All Season PVC hose or the reinforced flexible pole hose most suitable.

 

Hose Connector: This needs to be compatible with the connector that you choose to come on the end of your backpack outlet hose. If you will only ever use the pole with the backpack, then the most popular connector choices are the EZ Snap connectors, with the EZ Snap male plug as the pole hose connector and the EZ Snap female endstop as the backpack connector. However, if you feel that you may at some point wish to connect to your mains water supply (rather than just filling with rain water) to your backpack (for instance, if you are intending to clean fascias or other items that do not require the use of purified/rain water), then it would be beneficial to choose Hozelock-style connectors. This would involve selecting the Anti-snag Hozelock-type male plug as the pole hose connector, and the Claber Aquastop female endstop as the backpack connector. This would then enable you to plug your pole into a standard Hozelock-style female endstop that you likely have on your garden hose if and when this is required.

 

 

Hopefully this information will help to give you an idea as to where to get started.

 

You will find many other helpful guides and links here in the WFP Info section in the right hand column.