After a build or a remodel, the glass is covered in things that don’t wash off. Stucco splatter, paint overspray, drywall dust turned to paste, adhesive from the manufacturer’s stickers, and a general film that regular cleaning slides right over.
This is a different job from a normal window cleaning and it gets priced differently.
Straight answer on this one
We don’t do a lot of post-construction work. It’s not the bulk of what we do and we’re not going to pretend otherwise.
We are able to do it, we’ve done it, and if you’ve got a house that just came out of construction we’ll take a look and give you a real quote. If it’s a scale we’re not right for, we’ll tell you that too instead of taking the job and struggling with it.
Why it’s harder than it looks
Debris on new glass scratches. Construction leaves grit, concrete splatter, and mineral deposits sitting on the surface. Drag a squeegee across that and you drag the grit with it, straight down the pane. New glass is soft and it will hold that scratch forever. This is the single most common way brand new windows get ruined during cleanup.
Some of it needs to be lifted, not wiped. Paint specks, stucco, and adhesive have to come off individually and carefully.
Manufacturer stickers. Every new window has them and they leave adhesive behind that regular cleaner won’t lift.
The frames and tracks are full of it. New construction fills tracks with drywall dust and sawdust. If nobody clears that out, the first rain turns it into a mess that runs down your new window.
When to have it done
After the trades are finished and before you move furniture in, if you can manage it. Windows cleaned before the last of the work is done just get dirty again.
If your builder already had a crew do a “final clean,” it’s worth looking closely at the glass in direct light before you sign off. Rushed construction cleanup is where most of the scratched-glass problems come from.
Remodels
Most of what we see is remodel work rather than whole new builds. New windows in an older house, an addition, a kitchen redone. Those are a good fit for us, and we can do the rest of the house’s windows in the same visit so everything matches.
Questions we get
Do you do post-construction cleaning?
Yes, though it isn’t the majority of our work. We’ll look at your job and give you an honest quote.
Why does this cost more than a regular cleaning?
It takes considerably longer and requires more care. Construction residue has to be lifted off rather than wiped, and rushing it scratches the glass.
Can you get paint overspray off?
Usually, depending on how much and how long it’s been there. We’ll tell you what we think after we look at it.
Can you remove the manufacturer stickers?
Yes, including the adhesive residue underneath.
Will you clean the tracks and frames?
Yes. On post-construction that matters more than usual, because tracks are packed with drywall dust and sawdust.
Do you work with builders and contractors?
We’re a two person operation, so we’re better suited to a house than to a whole development. Tell us what you have and we’ll be straight about whether we’re the right fit.