New Construction Window Cleaning in Metro Detroit

Every trade on a build leaves something on the windows. The window maker leaves labels and stickers, and the glue stays behind when they're peeled. Drywall sanding leaves a fine white dust that coats the glass and packs into the tracks and sills. Painters leave specks and overspray. The caulk and silicone around the frames ends up smeared on the panes, and stucco, mortar and concrete splatter lands on the outside glass.

A new construction window cleaning takes all of that off the glass, inside and out, and cleans the frames, tracks and sills while it's at it. Patio doors, entry door glass, sidelights and transoms are part of the job.

A routine window cleaning removes dirt that washes off. Construction debris is different. Paint, silicone, label glue and stucco are stuck to the glass, and the tool that removes them is a blade. A blade is also the tool that scratches new windows.

There are two ways it happens. Grit from the job site gets trapped under a blade on dry glass and drags across the pane. And tempered glass, the safety glass used in doors, beside doors and in large low panes, can carry fabricating debris: tiny particles fused to the surface in the factory furnace. You can't see them. A blade that catches one drags it along and leaves a scratch.

Scratched glass doesn't polish out the way a scuffed floor does, and on a brand new building it's the kind of damage nobody wants to argue about. That's why this job is done slowly.

Wet first. The glass is soaked and kept lubricated the whole time, so loose grit floats off the surface. Stucco and mortar get softened with water before anything scrapes at them, and drywall dust comes out of the tracks with a vacuum, because a wet rag turns it into paste.

Test a small spot. Before working a whole pane, a careful cleaner tries a corner where a mark would be hard to see. If the glass behaves, the rest of the pane gets the same treatment.

Move the blade one way. Where a blade is needed, it travels forward only, on wet glass, and lifts off between passes. Dragging it back and forth is how a trapped particle gets pulled across the pane.

Stop when anything catches. If the blade snags or the glass feels gritty, the blade comes off right there, and that spot gets more water and a closer look.

It also helps to check the window maker's care sheet. Some makers publish cleaning instructions for their glass, and a few say not to use a blade at all. If you have the paperwork from the build, keep it handy for the visit.

After the last trade leaves. Paint, final drywall sanding, flooring and the last of the caulking all put dust and drips back on the glass, and so does exterior work like grading, landscaping and concrete. A cleaning booked before those finish gets done twice.

Before move-in or opening. Empty rooms are faster and safer to work in, and the glass is easier to reach before furniture, blinds and window treatments go in. For a store or an office, it's the last job before the doors open.

Michigan sets the outside calendar. Outside glass gets cleaned from March through November, because once it drops below freezing, water left on a pane turns to ice, and so does the runoff on the walks. Inside glass can be done in any month, so a winter closing can get the inside done now and the outside in March.

Homeowners finishing a new build or a big addition, who want the windows clear before the moving truck arrives. Builders and general contractors handing a finished house to a buyer. Property managers getting a new building ready for tenants. And businesses opening a new storefront or office, where the front glass is the first thing a customer sees. For glass that needs cleaning on a schedule after opening, that's our commercial window cleaning route, and for a home it's residential window cleaning.

From the windows and from what's on them. The window count matters, and so does the mess: glass with labels and dust is quick, and glass with paint, silicone or stucco on it takes longer, because each spot gets softened and tested first. Height and access matter too, and so does whether you want both sides of the glass or one.

Send the address, a rough window count and when the trades will be done. A few photos of the worst glass help us price it.