Do you Wash Windows?


How many Power Wash companies out there do windows?

I have one Commercial account to clean windows. Once I get the Powerwashing end of this account I will drop the window account like a hot potato. To much traveling to make enough money to keep it.

John Tornabene
Clean County Powerwashing

For those that do clean windows, does anyone clean hard to reach windows with their pressure washer and DI water (or another method)? If yes, what do you charge? I know everyone needs to charge what they have to charge from their expenses, but I'm just curious to see how much differant people get for those hard to reach windows.

Michael Schutt
hadishon@yahoo.com
Crossville, TN

Up until recently we have been a window washing company,doing some pwing.We are now moving into more pressure washing,but will keep the commercial window accounts we have(20 every week)because of their loyalty and they have all used us for pwing.All are within 2 miles of home so no long drive to get them done.
We will be offering window washing as an add-on to our new customer,when doing residential,but are not seeking anymore regular commercial accounts.
The windows that can not be reach with an extention pole or ladder(we have poles that will reach to 24ft) we pass on.Using a pressure washer up high is not practical to us,you still have to find a way to scrub the grime,either with a scrubber head or brush.
On price ,we do most commercial for $5 per window(inside and out)unless the winodws are very large then we add more per pane,residential is around $3.50 per side,more if there are a lot of small panes in each window.We also try to get the customer to add-on screen cleaning @ $2 per,and blind cleaning @$6 per.Also,if a house has storm windows you need to charge and extra $3.50 per side on those in addition to the $3.50 per side on the regular windows.
We did a home last Fri. storm windows,screens,blinds and windows. the bill came to $210,should have been more but I forgot to add the storm windows,so i learned that I need to double check all my figures,but we still made in the area of $60 an hr,so we walked away happy.
We have never used DI to rinse,we stick with the brush and squeegee method.If you want to brush then rinse and not squeegee on outside windows, you can add a small amount of rinse aide(the kind used in dishwashers) to a bucket of clean water and get some nice,nearly spot free results.
The trick to doing windows is speed ,the faster you can work the more $$ you can make.

Hey Sqiurt Gun,

Thanks for your detailed post! Welcome to the PWN

Dan Flynn

You're right the trick is speed . I am always looking for a faster way to do windows. Most posts I have read recomend using a squeegee. I have had problems with streaking using this method, but I believe it is due to my technique. Could someone explain the proper technique to avoid the streaks ?

bulletproof,
On large windows we squeege down from top to bottom,over lapping about a 1/2" on each pass.It is important that you wipe the squeege with each pass,if you don't the excess water from the last pass will contribute to streaks.
On windows that we can reach easily(top just above head level),we work side to side,this way the water is always moving down the squeege blade toward the bottom of the window,wiping at each pass with the 1/2" over lap.
Also one source of the streaks could be your washing mixture,we prefer cleaners with no ammonia.Ammonia make the mixture dry faster.the faster it dries the more likely you'll have streaks.
If you are using Dawn or some other dish soap,remember that you only need about 1 to 2 teaspoons per gallon of water.( 1 tsp works well)
One other thing that cause streaks is a worn rubber blade on your squeege,you'll be able to tell if it is worn the edge and ends will look rounded,they should look square.

Dan,
Thanks for the welcome,sorry about the long posts.Just trying to be thorough.

We will gladly offer any help we can.Wish we had found the board back last year when we started.

Thank Goodness we found it and have had time to do research for our PWing business.Lots of great advice shared on the board that has steered us in the right direction.

All of my window washing experience has been residential. It started as an add on after we did a ladies deck . I charged her $5 per window outside only. I cleaned the window and the white frame. I used a 24' extension pole with a cotton batted window wash tool dipped in windex. Then a squigee. The streak killer idea I had worked great. I stapled newspaper around another cotton batted wash tool and buffed the pane to remove streaks. Since that first time I found it better to just quote a total price and not a price per window. In my area there was a great demand for this service but I try and stick to deck care.

I tried to add window washing to my business but did not have a lot of luck. Taking out the screens when you are a top of a ladder seemed to be the down fall. I did not know what do do with the screens. Going up and down took a lot of time and I did not make good money doing it.