Window cleaning cost in Metro Detroit is set by your glass: how much of it there is, how it's built, how high it sits and which sides you want cleaned. Window cleaning prices for two equal-sized houses can be far apart, and the reasons are below. Every house gets a free quote.
What moves the price
What we look at | What it does to the job |
|---|---|
Window count | More windows, more glass to clean |
Divided lights and grids | One window can hold a dozen small panes to detail |
Storm windows | Each one comes off, gets cleaned on both sides and goes back on |
Second-story and hard-to-reach glass | A pole from the ground where it reaches, a ladder where it doesn't |
Inside and out, or outside only | Two sides of the glass or one |
Screens, sills and tracks | Included in every interior cleaning we do |
How often it's cleaned | Years of sprinkler minerals and road film take more work |
Window count and window type
Count comes first. Send an approximate number of windows with your address, and we can quote from that. Prefer that we count? We can come by and do it.
The kind of window matters as much as the count. A picture window is one big sheet of glass, and it cleans quickly. Livonia's brick ranches have plenty of them. The Livonia window cleaning page has more on those houses. Casements, sliders and double-hungs each have their own frames, corners and edges to detail.
Divided lights and grids
A divided-light window splits the glass into small panes with wood or metal bars between them. Each small pane has four edges to detail by hand on the inside, and the bars hold dust. A single window can hold twelve or sixteen little panes.
Older homes around Kellogg Park and in Plymouth's Old Village have wooden sash split into true divided lights, and a lot of them have separate storm windows too. The Plymouth window cleaning page covers them. A price built for single sheets of glass won't fit those houses. We note divided-light windows separately on the quote, because they take longer.
Tell us which windows have grids when you ask for a quote. After the count itself, it's the detail that moves a number furthest.
Storm windows
A storm window is a second sash on the outside of the main window. To clean the outside of the main window, the storm comes off. It gets cleaned on both sides and goes back on straight. That's three faces of glass on the outside of one window, and the storm's frame and tracks hold dirt of their own. We note storm windows separately on the quote too.
Storm doors and the lower glass on the street side collect road film all winter. MDOT crews in the Metro region used more than 111,000 tons of salt during the 2025–2026 winter, about 35 percent above average. Passing traffic throws that brine onto storm doors and the bottom of front windows, where it dries to a gray haze. Water lifts it off. A dry cloth smears it around.
Second-story and hard-to-reach glass
Upstairs glass is a question of reach. Our water-fed pole cleans the second-story and dormer windows on a typical house from the ground, with no ladder against the siding. Where a porch roof, a deck or a garden bed keeps the pole from the right angle, a ladder goes up, and we flag those windows when we quote.
Inside is a different job. The tall glass over a two-story foyer and the arched windows in a great room take ladder work on the inside. Canton's subdivisions are full of two-story entries with an arched window over the front door, and the Canton window cleaning page covers those.
Inside and out, or outside only
You can book the outside glass on its own, the inside on its own, or both. Outside, the glass is rinsed with deionized pure water from a water-fed pole and dries clear. Inside, it's cleaned by hand. One side of the glass is a smaller job than two, and the quote reflects that.
The season matters too. We clean outside glass from March to November. Inside glass is on the calendar year round, and January and February are the quietest months to book it. An inside cleaning in winter and an outside visit in spring is one way to split it.
Screens, sills and tracks
Screens, sills and tracks come with every interior window cleaning we do. Screens come out and get washed. Sills get wiped. Tracks get vacuumed out, since grit in a track turns to paste under a wet cloth.
Some companies price screens and tracks by the piece. When you compare quotes, check whether they're in the total. Our guide on how to choose a window cleaner has the other questions worth asking.
How often the glass is cleaned
Glass that gets cleaned each late spring, once the tree pollen is done, and again each early fall comes clean in one pass. Glass that has gone years without a cleaning carries more, and it takes more work.
Sprinklers are the big one. When water hits a lower window and dries, its minerals stay behind. The U.S. Geological Survey traces water hardness to calcium and magnesium, and a sprinkler head that wets the same panes every summer morning builds those minerals up season after season.
Fresh deposits can come off with restoration work, which we quote separately from a regular cleaning. Glass that has been etched by years of spray can't be cleaned back to clear. If your glass is etched, you'll hear that from us before any work begins.
Getting a quote
Start with your address and an approximate window count. Tell us which windows have storms or grids, which ones are upstairs, and whether you want the inside, the outside or both. We'll come back with a price in a free quote.
Our residential window cleaning page covers the full service, and the window cleaning service areas page lists the ten towns we work in.
Questions people ask
Why do window cleaning prices vary so much between houses?
Because the glass varies. A divided-light window can hold twelve or sixteen little panes, storm windows come off and go back on, and upstairs glass can need a ladder. Inside and out means two sides of every pane. Equal-sized houses can carry very different amounts of work, and the price follows the work.
Do storm windows cost more to clean?
Yes, because they take longer. Each storm comes off, gets cleaned on both sides and goes back on straight, and the main window behind it gets cleaned too. That's three faces of glass on the outside of one window. We note storm windows separately on the quote, so the extra time is planned from the start.
Is outside-only window cleaning cheaper?
Yes. Outside only is one side of the glass, so it's a smaller job than inside and out, and the quote reflects that. Outside glass gets cleaned with deionized water on a water-fed pole. If you want the inside done later, book it in winter, when inside work is easiest to schedule.
Do screens and tracks add to the price?
They're included with every interior window cleaning we do. Screens come out and get washed, sills get wiped, and tracks get vacuumed. Some companies charge for screens and tracks by the piece, so check whether they're in the total before you compare two quotes for the same house.
What should I send for a window cleaning quote?
Your address and an approximate window count. Add which windows have storms or grids, which ones are upstairs, and whether it's the inside, the outside or both. That's enough for us to quote it. If you'd rather not count, we can come out and count the windows ourselves.
Get a quote
Send your address and an approximate window count through Get a Free Quote, and we'll price your windows.
