Be sure you hire a professional...

After cleaning windows for 6 years now, we have seen many homeowners disappointed with their past window cleaning experience. We feel it is our responsibility to help educate our customers on the possible dangers that can occur from hiring a window cleaner without sufficient training.

Everyday we receive at least one phone call from a homeowner looking for an estimate on window cleaning and after we give them the price over the phone they reply, "Is that the best you can do?" or "Wow, your $20 more expensive then the last guy I called."

We wish we could connect these callers to the homeowners who have hired such individuals in the past to save a few dollars so they could share their experiences with them.

Here are just a few of the damages we have seen with pictures taken while working in the field...

bent window screen...
among the most common of all damage that we see is by far a bent window screen. This is due to pressure being placed in the middle of the screen where it has little support during the removal process. We see bent window screens on 40% of all homes we service. Not only does the bent screen no longer protect your home from insects but it is an eye sore to a beautiful home.

how to fix...
bent window screen frames cannot be repaired the entire screen must be replaced. They cost around $100 or more per screen plus a trip charge for measurements.

unbound screen spline...
window screen spline is pretty strong and will hold up for years to come under normal wear and tear, but when the screen mesh is cleaned incorrectly and too much pressure is applied, the spline can easily come out.

how to fix...
some hardware stores sale the tools necessary to fix an unbound screen spline and the new screen mesh required. With a couple of hours and a little under $50 you can usually fix this yourself.

scratched glass...
scratched glass is usually a result from the use of a scraping blade on a piece of "defective tempered glass." A trained window cleaning professional should be able to test the glass first for defectiveness prior to using a blade to remove debris, thus eliminating the possibility of scratching.

how to fix...
glass restoration or glass replacement, usually between $350-$3000 depending on the size of glass.

What can you do to identify an untrained window cleaner?

Ask them how long they have been cleaning windows for... A window cleaner should have at least six months of window cleaning experience to have seen enough cases to know what to do in every situation.

Ask them where they received their training... If they respond, "my brother in law", or even worse, "I picked it up on my own", they most likely haven't been trained properly and will very likely cause damage to your home or business.

Ask them if they are insured and bonded... If they say, "yes", ask them to bring a copy of their insurance certificate, if they never show up you will know why. All professional window cleaning companies carry liability insurance and workmen's compensation insurance as well as a bond to protect their customers.

Does he/she operate under a DBA/business license or do they take checks to their personal name... Established window cleaning companies have gone through the proper steps to legally operate a business in the state of Arizona. If your window cleaner takes checks to his/her personal name or insists on cash only, this is probably because they are not reporting the income to avoid paying taxes on their increase, which may be the cause for their significantly lower pricing.

Other things to watch our for:

A window cleaner that has to come to you... If someone shows up knocking on your door with a squeegee or you see their advertisement signs on the side of the freeway, they most likely have little or no training. A general rule of thumb is if they aren't that busy, they aren't that good!

An extremely low ball price... professional window cleaners know exactly what their time is worth and how much it cost to run their businesses therefore they know exactly what to charge for each and every service, take a moment and shop around, all quality window cleaning companies in the valley are within a few dollars of each other in their pricing. If you find a price significantly below the norm, please be cautious.

Please be careful when choosing a window cleaner and feel free to use this advice to help you select the best window cleaning company for you budget.

Thank you