Hi everyone my wife and I started a home cleaning a month ago, and it has taken right off. We wanted to expand to window cleaning as well so we have been trying to learn. We use Thumbtack for home cleaning, and a request popped up for a 2 story, 45 window inside & out, screens, tracks. We bid $450, and got the job, Great! But now I am kind of freaking out on how to pull this off. I have all the equipment, and am ready to go. My problem just lies in structure. What do I do first? Screens, Tracks, Window in, Window Out? Start on the outside all at once? How would someone here with more experience attack this job? Any guidance would be great.
someone clean inside and tracks. someone outside take off and clean screens, then clean exterior part of windows so that allows to give time for screens to dry.
First time, more than usual. Two inexperienced window cleaners cleaning in, out, tracks, and screens, of 45 two story windows - no less than 4-5 hours? Unless you guys get into a rhythm and smooth through.
Ladder sets arenât blocked? - solid technique? - screens will make two times up the ladder for each 2nd floor window.
How many of those are second story?
Have you seen what you are getting ready to clean?
Mark the screens when you take them outâŚscreens slow me down more than anything.
Because this is your first time itâs probably going to be more than that. I would plan for all day. If each window is two panes of glass and you are cleaning glass, tracks, sills, screens, etcâŚ:
45 windows = 2 panes per X 2 sides X 45 = 180 sides
6hrs X 60 minutes = 360 minutes
360 min divided by 180 pieces = 2 minutes to clean each side of glassâŚSounds like a lot of time, right.
You still have to do the sills, tracks, and screens, go back for touch ups, move furniture and decor, move it backâŚand take breaks.
Since itâs your first house and you have to use a ladder for the 2nd floor you should tell the customer it could take a day and a half to do the job right. Get them use to the idea that it might take that longer. This way when you hit the nine hour mark and you just canât clean another window, you have the option to pack it in and come back the next day and the client should be okay with it. Because, you told them before you started ââŚin order to do the job right, sometimes jobs of this size can take a day and a half to complete.â
Oh man, thatâs no small feat youâre asking for. It depends a lot on experience of the people performing the job, what kind of windows the house has, screens coming out from the outside or inside, etcâŚ
Generally speaking, if the customer wants âthe worksâ, there are two stories, and I have a helper. I start taking the screens out of the lower windows and marking them. Then while the helper is cleaning those screens I am going around with the ladder and getting the screens from the second floor. After that it can depend on a lot of factors, but generally speaking(typing), we start cleaning the second floor windows first. Then I move down the ladder and clean with the lower windows of the side of the house the ladder is on. The person on the second floor stays there cleaning the rest of the windows on the inside. I move my ladder to the next side of house to be cleaned and clean the second floor first. If the screens are dry I have a clamp on a rope, tied to my ladder and I put the screen back when I finish cleaning the window.
There are a lot of little steps in-between, because there are many factors that influence their sequence. As soon as you think you have the perfect sequence, tools, etc⌠a âone-offâ house comes along and makes for a bad day.
Sorry for any typos, itâs late and I have to go to bed.
Good Luck and have fun.
This will be a time saver if the screens are not interchangeable, which you wonât really know until you mix them up. :-/
With a Sharpie mark on the edge (from left to right):
UP FRNT 1; UP FRNT 2; DN FRNT 1; DN FRNT 2; UP L 1; UP L 2, etc.
Do that as you take them down so once you are done washing them it is super quick to organize where they go.
If you never did a window job before you should allocate a full 8-10 hour day to be safe. Once you are experienced an average two person crew could do it in 3-4 hours. A very fast 2 person crew in 2-3 hours.
And youâll want to tackle what you think will be the most difficult windows first. Any high stuff or ones that will be difficult to access. You want to be doing those while you are full of energy. Not at the end of the day.
Timewise i say take what you think itâll take and double it.
Hereâs my workflow, but Iâm a one person crew:
Remove all screens from the inside. Start at the top and go clockwise from the stairwell. Mark each screen at the top edge. A system i use is first number is the floor, second is the room, third is the window starting from left to right in the room. So â2-4-3â is the second floor, fourth room, third window in the room. When all the screens for a room are out, I clean the tracks.
Clean the screens so they can dry while i do everything else. I donât even tap them to dry usually, unless the job is very small.
If wfp, I clean the outside first so the windows dry while i clean the inside. If traditional tools, I usually clean the insides first. That way, if I see something left on the window when doing the outsides, itâs an easy fix from the inside as opposed to having to set a ladder again to fix something i missed on the outside.
Replace screens. I keep a huck towel and foaming glass cleaner on me in case i discover a touch-up while putting the screens in.
Be prepared for the first time to be hard, not to be a Debbie Downer. There are a lot of little things that just donât go smoothly when you have no experience. Good luck!
Thanks Dee for the advice. Makes sense to clean the house side by side. Instead of marking screens with marker, would painters tape work? I was thinking color coded by side, and just marking the tape âupâ, âdownâ. Seems like marker may get me into trouble. Being quick with steps in between the actual cleaning would probably help us make up a lot of time.
Thank you WVW. Yeah it should be brutal. BUT if it was easy everyone would do it, and I am thankful just to have the opportunity. So from the info I have gathered here.
Screens Pulled/Marked/Organized and Cleaned starting on 1st or 2nd floor depending on the house.
Wash Screens let dry
Clean tracks.
Clean upper outside window first
Same side clean lower windows.
Return screens touch up windows
Rotate around house
Helper inside doing the windows opposite of me as I am doing outside?
On your first job, the goal is not to go fast. It is to get it done right. Moving fast should be the last thing on your mind as there will be lots of other things to think about. The worst thing you can do is forget something, leave a dirty window or break something.
Painterâs tape wonât stick well.
You mark where it wonât be seen when the screens are installedâŚthis is the edge that faces into the screen track, of the window casement(frame).
I like to mark them on the right edge, down toward the corner.
F1= front of home, going from left to right. L1= left side of home, going from front of home to the rear.
R1= right side of home, going from front to back
N1= rear of home, left to right.
XF1, XL1, XR1, XN1 = same as above, except X= 2nd floor.
Anything that doesnât fit the above(enclosed pool, sun porch, etc⌠I use EP1, SP1, or I use a Triangle1 and I mark the frame of the first window so I know where to start.)
No matter how you do it, the main thing that saves time is to have a system, and stick to it.
Sounds like a good plan. I donât think itâs crucial the second person be doing the exact same windows at the exact same time. If i had a helper, Iâd proly do something like me remove and mark screens while they follow with vac for the tracks. While i wash screens they are already cleaning the insides. Like @Dee said, the important thing is to have some kinda system. Youâre gonna evolve it to suit your style and flow as you gain experience anyway, so i wouldnât stress about it too much. Just something reasonable to get started. Iâd suggest make as a goal keeping everything as simple as possible. Simple is fast, repeatable, and trainable.
Most important, though, @JohnCâs reminder to focus on quality right now. Speed will come.
Also, regarding marking screens, marker is the way to go for sure. You want it to be permanent so that on the next clean itâs already done, saving you time.
Yes, it isnât important to have the inside person to clean the window at the same time. I think maybe I wasnât clear enough. I have inside person start off in the same room as the outside person. And then, they move at their own pace.
Thank you for all the advice everyone. Very helpful. I think we have a plan in place. The job is Tuesday the 13th, so I will report back after it is done. Wish us luck!
