Why Should Windows Be Cleaned Regularly?
Why Should I Regularly Wash My Windows?
Research
To begin this short informative about "Why Should I Regularly Wash My Windows?" I started to look around on the internet searching manufacturer's websites, PDF's with product instructions and competitors blogs. I found that the best information comes from the manufacturer. That is not very surprising is it.
To illustrate this please note Pella Corporation comments below:
"Pella recommends you inspect your windows and patio doors at least annually as part of a home checkup. Recommended maintenance can prolong the life of your Pella windows and doors and will help ensure maximum warranty coverage. As needed, clean, repaint or restain your windows and patio doors, and recaulk around them to help maintain optimal performance. Also, be sure to regularly check for leaks and improper drainage above or around vents and sprinkler systems that may subject your windows and patio doors to prolonged water exposure. With recommended care, Pella windows and patio doors can reward you with decades of beauty and performance."
Pella Corporation
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http://www.pella.com/Support-Center-Articles/recommended-maintenance-windows-doors.aspx
How to prolong life of Pella windows and doors through annual home checkup.
Maintain the Beauty of your Home and your Views
The "Why" fundamentally includes three reasons. First: To maintain the beauty of your home and your views. Secondly: To ensure the longevity of your very expensive windows and thirdly: To Avoid irreparable damage to the glass.
Let's focus on the first of these reasons.
It has always puzzled me and especially since we have been working in San Diego county that homeowners do not maintain their windows more often than they do. The property here is so incredibly high. What is being paid for homes is staggering to me. I would think that good maintenance would be desirable to maintain the value of their property. Added to this are the gorgeous views of the mountainous topography and oceanside that are obstructed by dirty windows.
The cost of maintaining glass, even here, is very reasonable. What is gained is hard to quantify. The feeling that comes with clean windows and the proper maintenance acquired for in many cases, $200-$300 a year, on a property that in San Diego costs quite often $500,000 - $1,000,000 cannot be quantified easily. Surprising that homeowners are unable to yearly cover this low cost - great gain maintenance.
Your Cleaning Habits
How Often Do You Clean Your Windows?
To Ensure Longevity of your Very Expensive Windows
Consider the following possibility. You buy your home. A new home. One year after your purchase you decide to hire a window cleaner to maintain your precious windows per the instructions from the manufacturer such as the Pella Corp. Now please keep in mind that as a busy homeowner it is easy to become unaware of changes to your home. imperceptibly things happen. For instance: The sprinkler head has begun blasting your windows with high sediment water creating a stain on the glass. Or, maybe it is that one of your windows or screens has a defect from the factory and should be taken care of before the warranty ends. Possibly, there are things that a homeowner is doing that is potentially damaging to the windows.
A professional window cleaner will advise you to care for these and other circumstances that will save you money. Having your windows cleaned yearly allows for you to have someone trained to do an annual inspection of sorts as they work along and provide your windows with good maintenance restoring that beautiful view.
Avoid Irreparable Damage to the Glass and Window Equipment
Damage to glass can be attributed to poor maintenance in the above mentioned examples. If stains go untreated for a long enough time the result can be that those marks become etched into the glass.
Sometimes post construction window cleaning will miss concrete spatter and mortar slurry on the glass which if left unattended will permanently damage glass.
Slider doors and window tracks along with other window equipment can be helped to continue working properly if maintained regularly.
Professional Track Cleaning Video
Conclusion
The above video demonstrates well what needs to be done to thoroughly clean and maintain. There are many details in all jobs that are overlooked by us all. So trusting this to someone who does this day in and day out brings many benefits.
So why clean your windows regularly? For your own benefit and peace of mind :)
To Screen or Not To
Window Screens: Good or Bad?
A very simple tip to improve your view, extend the longevity of your clean windows as well as protect your beloved glass in the windows that give you the view you cherish.
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of Window Screens
Window screens. It's almost as if they have this manufacturer given right to belong. If you have a window... it must have a screen. And heaven forbid that anyone might pull the screen and store it somewhere. Over the many years of cleaning windows our experience has revealed ways to get the most out of your view. What we do with window screens are one part of the remedy to the best view.
So, what is the good? Window screens have really only one redeeming purpose. To keep the bugs out. Although it must be added... This is of course only if you open your windows or leave them open. We know many homeowners who have in some cases many windows they never open. Some of them with great views. That's about it for the good.
The Bad. There is much to tell here. To begin aluminum screens bring oxidation issues to your windows. Aluminum screens will get a white powdery substance on it. This is oxidized aluminum. If you leave your screens on all year, this oxidation will transfer, through rain and wind onto your windows. The result often requires specialized cleaning to remove it. Sometimes even an acid washing to clear the window again.
Secondly, screens catch dust and dirt from the wind. The rain comes and washes this dirt onto your precious glass which gives you the view that you paid for when you bought the house or windows.
The Ugly. Screens also naturally obstruct the view. Take the screen out of your window and take a look at the view. Screens simply don't look good. They are not designed for a good view. They are purely a functional part of your window.
So What Is The Cleaning Tip?
The simplest tip is to remove the screens and store the screens that you do not use. We have recommended this to many homeowners and they have been very appreciative after doing that and seeing the results of something so simple. A better view and your windows stay cleaner longer.
Regarding the windows that you open, you probably need to keep the screens in place. Regular maintenance of the windows and screens will prevent costly glass restoration. Your windows will stay cleaner if you wash the screens with a proper cleanser for the job.
Clean AND Clear Windows At Last
We always find it a shame to clean windows and then have to return the screen to it's place. When the above tips are followed the results are most certainly more satisfying. Either there is no screen to cloud that clean windows view or at least with it properly maintained it is as good as it can be.
Happy Window Maintenance!
Will Rain Dirty My Clean Windows?
Misconceptions
Have you ever thought that window cleaning in the rain was a waste of time? Maybe even ridiculed a local window cleaner for cleaning windows before a rain storm? Shaking your head as you walk by thinking, "What is he thinking!" I can't remember how many times clients, friends and strangers have reacted badly to me at the idea of cleaning a window with rain on the horizon. Please rest assured that those thoughts are completely out of line with reality with a very limited number of exceptions. Personal experience, logic and science are on the window cleaners side.
Rain Water Is a Powerful Cleanser!
As explained on wikipedia, "A TDS Meter indicates the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of a solution, i.e. the concentration of dissolved solids in it." If you measure the number of contaminates in rainwater using a TDS meter, the reading ranges from very low to zero. Tap water normally has between 30 – 200 times more solids dissolved into it. Many window cleaners buy very expensive equipment to deionize water to remove contaminates to get pure H2O and clean windows with that quality water. Rain is similarly a high quality water which is a powerful cleanser. Rain is not the glass dirtying culprit many claim it to be. It is quite the opposite.
Experience
Our 30 years of experience cleaning windows in many different locations has proven that rain is a window cleaners friend. Well, our misunderstood friend. Just a short time ago Window Cleaning Services of San Diego (http://www.sdcleanwindows.com) in Poway CA cleaned windows at a residence in La Jolla, CA. That very same day a heavy downpour of rain came. The home owner called in a panic, believing that the money spent on cleaning was all a loss. I encouraged them to wait until the rain passes to check the windows. A short time later I received a text saying all was ok. The next day another unexpected downpour came followed by another panic stricken homeowner... the same homeowner... about the rain and her windows. I once again asked the to wait and see. They once again texted me to say all was ok. So goes the reaction of many with no evidence that rain dirties a clean window.
