Be sure you hire a professional...

After cleaning windows for 3 years now, I have seen many homeowners dissapointed with their past window cleaning experience. I feel it is my responsibility to help educate my customers on the possible damages that can occur from hiring a window cleaner without sufficient training.

Everyday I receive at least one phone call from a homeowner looking for an estimate on window cleaning and after I 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."

I wish I 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 misfortunes I have seen...

bent window screen...
among the most common of all damage that I 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. I see bent window screens on 40% of all homes I 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.

*this is an ongoing list and as I add more pictures as I run into them*

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... 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 cleaners carry liability insurance 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 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.

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.

Also, just because a window cleaning company appears to be very large doesn't necessarily mean they are going to do quality work. The owner of the company is most likely qualified and trained but the technician that shows up to do the work may or may not be. I say this because I have worked side by side with several employees from the largest window cleaning companies here in the valley and have seen their work to be unsatisfactory.

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,

Ryan Standage
President/owner

To schedule a service call

480.232.6999