Power washing moldy old windows?

So I had sort of an interesting quote yesterday. It’s a house with a bunch of storm windows, and a lot of mold growth between the storms and windows.

They really want to see the mold gone, and are willing to pay extra for that. My ideal approach would be to remove the storms, lay on a pretty strong housewash mix, and gently rinse the whole deal.

But the issue is going to be with pooling/draining the sills. I would like to drill drain holes in the sills, but I’m not sure what the proper approach is: how big? How many? Should I caulk them closed when the job is done?

Who has had experience with this?

They should have drain holes already…when they’re caulked shut you can get window rot and mold.

Could a small wet vac work?

Well, they don’t. Which is probably one of the reasons for all the mold.

My question really is, how many, and how large should the drain holes be? And will they be sufficient for power washing?

It seems like I may need to drill extra drain holes for the additional water, and fill most of them back in once I’m done with the job.

It’s the sort of thing that I would usually pass on, most times of year. But the summer slowdown has finally hit, and the homeowners are really nice, lol.

5- 3/8 in holes should be plenty. Not? Fill with simulated wood grain filler?

Or you could do like I did the other day, beg and plead with the homeowner to lose the frenchie/storms and put in replacements.

1 Like

Is all this really worth the money…

Take a couple bath towels with to dry the slop up. I
wouldn’t alter the window structure.

Seems quick and easy this way…just make sure the windows are closed on the inside :wink:

Run like the wind. A day from shitsville youll regret unless youre charging an insane amount

6 Likes

Most of the ones I see are about 1/8 or so and 2 to 3 holes.

1 would drill a 1/8" hole maybe 2. Have a pitcher of water with you to test.
An charge for the xtra work

1 Like

I’m with thsi tooo

1 Like

Maybe consider using a pump/ backpack sprayer to apply and rinse the sh. You could control the water volume much better that way. Probably less than a gal per window. You could also consider applying the sh with a cloth, sponge, etc…

I don’t see many storm windows in my area but you could probably Google some pics to get an idea of how many/ what size holes

1 Like

Put on a good pair of shoes and walk the hell out of there!

I have done a job or two just like that and the best way honestly is to remove the whole storm window and frame from the exterior and then you can clean the storm frames up with the pressure washer too. If that is not an option then using a brush and a pump sprayer along with a wet/dry vac would work too. I would be at about $50 per window for doing that along with cleaning the glass of course.

1 Like