Window Cleaning in the Lower Mainland

What's included

• Exterior glass, washed and squeegeed
• Interior glass, with floors and sills protected
• Frames wiped down
• Tracks and sills vacuumed out and wiped — where the grime actually lives
• Screens removed, washed separately and refitted
• Skylights where they can be reached safely
• Glass railings, balcony panels and French doors
• Sliders and patio doors, including the bottom track

The tracks are the whole job

Nearly every complaint about window cleaning traces back to the same thing. The glass looks flawless when the cleaner leaves. Then it rains, and dirty water streaks down the pane from the frame above, and the windows look worse than before.

That's not the glass — it's the frame and track. Sills and tracks collect a paste of dust, pollen, dead insects, roof grit and moss spores, and the first rain after a cleaning washes all of it straight down freshly cleaned glass. Cleaning the pane and skipping the track is doing half a job that undoes itself within a week.

So tracks get vacuumed dry first, then wiped out, before the glass is touched. It's the slowest part of the visit and it's the part that determines whether the work still looks good a month later.

How we do it

1. Screens out first

   Screens are removed and set aside to be washed separately. Cleaning glass through or around a screen never works properly, and screens hold a surprising amount of dust.

2. Tracks vacuumed, then wiped

   Dry debris comes out with a vacuum before any water goes near it — wetting a dirty track first just makes mud.

3. Glass washed

   A soap solution applied with a mop and worked over the full pane, including right into the corners where the frame meets the glass.

4. Squeegeed off

   A clean, sharp rubber blade in overlapping passes. This is where the streak-free finish is either achieved or lost.

5. Edges and corners detailed

   Perimeters finished by hand with a scrim or microfibre so there's no residue line framing the pane.

6. Screens back, final check

   Screens refitted and every window checked from the inside, which is the only angle that reveals what was missed.

Upper storeys

For higher windows we use a water-fed pole system running purified water. Deionised water has had its mineral content stripped out, which means it dries without leaving spots and needs no detergent at all — the glass is scrubbed with a soft brush on the pole and rinsed, and it dries clear on its own.

It's also considerably safer than putting a ladder against a third-storey wall on a sloped Lower Mainland lot, and it reaches over conservatories, garden beds and awkward landscaping without trampling anything.

Hard water spots and coastal film

Two problems specific to this region come up regularly, and neither responds to ordinary washing.

Sprinkler overspray leaves mineral deposits that bond chemically to glass. Left through a few summers, those deposits begin to etch the surface. Caught early they come off with a dedicated mineral treatment and some patience; once the glass is genuinely etched, the damage is in the pane and no cleaning will remove it. We'll tell you honestly which one you're looking at.

Salt film is the coastal version, and it's why homes in Tsawwassen, Steveston, White Rock and along the water often look hazy again quickly. Salt-laden air deposits a fine layer that ordinary rain doesn't rinse away. It cleans off readily enough — it just comes back faster, so waterfront homes tend to want a shorter interval between visits.

How often

Twice a year works for most households — typically spring, once the winter grit has stopped being thrown around, and again in early autumn before the rain sets in. Ground-floor and street-facing windows pick up dirt considerably faster than upper storeys, so some people have the whole house done annually and just the main-floor front windows done more often.

Homes under trees, close to a busy road, or on the water will want to be at the more frequent end. If you've just had construction or renovation work done, get the windows cleaned once the dust has settled — fine construction dust is abrasive, and leaving it sitting on glass isn't doing the panes any favours.

What affects the price

• Number of panes. Quoting is by pane rather than by window, since a single large unit can be several panes.
• Interior as well as exterior. Inside work roughly doubles the time, since furniture and floors need protecting.
• Storeys and access. Upper-floor work needs pole systems and more setup.
• Screens and tracks. Included as standard, but heavily fouled tracks add time.
• Condition. Hard water treatment, paint specks or construction residue are separate work from a standard clean.

Window cleaning is very often bundled with a house soft wash, which makes sense — washing the siding after the windows are done would only dirty them again.

What customers say

Frequently asked questions