How to prepare for a window clean: five minutes of work
{"slug":"how-to-prepare-for-window-cleaning","title":"How to prepare for a window clean: five minutes of work","seoTitle":"How to Prepare for Window Cleaning | Schmick Journal","metaDescription":"Five minutes: clear sills and shutter tracks, unlock security screens, pets inside, flag cracked panes. We bring water, power and poles. From $150.","readMinutes":5,"imageAlt":"A Schmick technician working the glass on a Sydney home, the sills and tracks below already cleared for the clean.","answer":"Five minutes. Clear the sills and the plantation-shutter tracks, move fragile things off the inside ledge, unlock any security screens and put the pets inside. Tell us about cracked panes or fogged double glazing before we start. That is the whole list — we bring our own filtered water, poles and power. Window cleaning starts at $150; most single-storey homes land between $150 and $550.","sections":[{"h2":"Clear ledges are the entire ask","paras":["Start with the sills. Photo frames, candles, the orchid, the bowl of keys, the kids' school art — anything sitting on an inside ledge goes somewhere else for the morning. We work those ledges with wet cloths and a squeegee, and nobody wants a technician deciding where your grandmother's vase should live while the water is running. Two minutes of moving things is faster than the careful shuffling we would otherwise do around them, and it removes the only real risk in the job.","Plantation shutters are the other one. Open the louvres and fold the panels back so the glass and the shutter track are both reachable. Same for heavy curtains — hook them aside. Outside, pull the pot plants and the outdoor chairs back from under the windows and coil the hose out of the walkway. None of this is compulsory. It just turns a clean where we are constantly stepping over things into one that runs straight through, which is the version you want."]},{"h2":"A locked security screen stops the whole visit","paras":["Security screens are the single most common reason a window gets skipped. If the screen is locked and nobody has the key, the glass behind it stays dirty and we both find out on the day. Unlock them the morning of the visit, or leave the keys somewhere we can find them. Same with the side gate — a padlocked gate on the harbour side of the house means half the exterior never gets touched, and that is a poor use of everyone's morning.","Pets inside, please. Dogs treat an open sliding door and a stranger with a long pole as an event, and cats find the one gap in the flyscreen we have just taken off. Put them in a closed room and let us know which one so we do not open it. If we are doing interiors, an adult should be home or an access arrangement sorted beforehand. Exteriors we can do without you there, provided the gates open and the screens are not bolted shut."]},{"h2":"We bring our own water, power and poles","paras":["You do not need to leave a tap running or an extension lead out the window. We arrive with water-fed poles and our own filtered water, carried on the vehicle. Filtered water is the point of the system: with the minerals stripped out, the glass dries without the spotting that ordinary tap water leaves behind, so nothing needs to be chased with a chamois. The poles reach upper-storey glass from the ground, which keeps ladders off your garden beds and out of your gutters.","We do not assume your utilities. If a job genuinely needs a tap — a large property, a long day — we ask first rather than helping ourselves. Strata and apartment addresses are the same courtesy: we sort access and any building requirements with you before the day, not in the driveway at 8am. The short version is that our setup is self-contained, and the only thing we need from the house is a way in and a way around."]},{"h2":"We photograph the damage before we touch it","paras":["Tell us about the cracked pane in the laundry, the chipped corner on the bedroom window, the flyscreen frame that has already rusted through. Then we walk the property and photograph what we find before a single squeegee comes out. This is not suspicion, it is bookkeeping. Glass that is already stressed can fail under nothing more than a change in temperature, and a photo taken at 8:03am settles the question of what was there when we arrived without either of us having to rely on memory.","It also lets us be honest about what a clean cannot fix. Fogged double glazing is a failed seal with moisture trapped between the panes — no cleaner reaches that space, and the only real repair is a new unit. Deep scratches and salt-etched glass are damage to the surface itself, not dirt sitting on it, so they will look better and still be there. We would rather say that on the doorstep than let you find out when the water dries."]},{"h2":"The price is settled before anyone arrives","paras":["Window cleaning starts at $150. Most single-storey homes land between $150 and $550 depending on how many windows there are, and a second storey adds roughly 40 per cent for the extra reach and time. Tracks, sills and screens are decided in the quote, not sprung on you at the end of the job — you know what is in the number before we knock, and the invoice matches it. Bundling another service onto the same visit saves 5 to 15 per cent, if the gutters are due anyway.","If you want your exact figure, the instant quote returns a firm, bookable price in about 60 seconds, and it holds unless the place turns out to be materially different from what you described. Count your windows, answer a few questions, pick a slot. Then do the five minutes: ledges cleared, shutters folded back, screens unlocked, dog in the study. We will handle the rest, and you can go back to whatever you were doing."]}],"sources":[{"name":"Schmick instant-quote engine — live price book (get your exact number)","url":"https://getschmick.com/#quote"}],"related":[{"label":"Window cleaning — what's included","to":"/services/windows"},{"label":"What window cleaning costs in Sydney","to":"/journal/window-cleaning-cost-sydney"},{"label":"How often windows actually need doing","to":"/journal/how-often-window-cleaning"}]}
Clear ledges are the entire ask
Start with the sills. Photo frames, candles, the orchid, the bowl of keys, the kids' school art — anything sitting on an inside ledge goes somewhere else for the morning. We work those ledges with wet cloths and a squeegee, and nobody wants a technician deciding where your grandmother's vase should live while the water is running. Two minutes of moving things is faster than the careful shuffling we would otherwise do around them, and it removes the only real risk in the job.
Plantation shutters are the other one. Open the louvres and fold the panels back so the glass and the shutter track are both reachable. Same for heavy curtains — hook them aside. Outside, pull the pot plants and the outdoor chairs back from under the windows and coil the hose out of the walkway. None of this is compulsory. It just turns a clean where we are constantly stepping over things into one that runs straight through, which is the version you want.
A locked security screen stops the whole visit
Security screens are the single most common reason a window gets skipped. If the screen is locked and nobody has the key, the glass behind it stays dirty and we both find out on the day. Unlock them the morning of the visit, or leave the keys somewhere we can find them. Same with the side gate — a padlocked gate on the harbour side of the house means half the exterior never gets touched, and that is a poor use of everyone's morning.
Pets inside, please. Dogs treat an open sliding door and a stranger with a long pole as an event, and cats find the one gap in the flyscreen we have just taken off. Put them in a closed room and let us know which one so we do not open it. If we are doing interiors, an adult should be home or an access arrangement sorted beforehand. Exteriors we can do without you there, provided the gates open and the screens are not bolted shut.
We bring our own water, power and poles
You do not need to leave a tap running or an extension lead out the window. We arrive with water-fed poles and our own filtered water, carried on the vehicle. Filtered water is the point of the system: with the minerals stripped out, the glass dries without the spotting that ordinary tap water leaves behind, so nothing needs to be chased with a chamois. The poles reach upper-storey glass from the ground, which keeps ladders off your garden beds and out of your gutters.
We do not assume your utilities. If a job genuinely needs a tap — a large property, a long day — we ask first rather than helping ourselves. Strata and apartment addresses are the same courtesy: we sort access and any building requirements with you before the day, not in the driveway at 8am. The short version is that our setup is self-contained, and the only thing we need from the house is a way in and a way around.
We photograph the damage before we touch it
Tell us about the cracked pane in the laundry, the chipped corner on the bedroom window, the flyscreen frame that has already rusted through. Then we walk the property and photograph what we find before a single squeegee comes out. This is not suspicion, it is bookkeeping. Glass that is already stressed can fail under nothing more than a change in temperature, and a photo taken at 8:03am settles the question of what was there when we arrived without either of us having to rely on memory.
It also lets us be honest about what a clean cannot fix. Fogged double glazing is a failed seal with moisture trapped between the panes — no cleaner reaches that space, and the only real repair is a new unit. Deep scratches and salt-etched glass are damage to the surface itself, not dirt sitting on it, so they will look better and still be there. We would rather say that on the doorstep than let you find out when the water dries.
The price is settled before anyone arrives
Window cleaning starts at $150. Most single-storey homes land between $150 and $550 depending on how many windows there are, and a second storey adds roughly 40 per cent for the extra reach and time. Tracks, sills and screens are decided in the quote, not sprung on you at the end of the job — you know what is in the number before we knock, and the invoice matches it. Bundling another service onto the same visit saves 5 to 15 per cent, if the gutters are due anyway.
If you want your exact figure, the instant quote returns a firm, bookable price in about 60 seconds, and it holds unless the place turns out to be materially different from what you described. Count your windows, answer a few questions, pick a slot. Then do the five minutes: ledges cleared, shutters folded back, screens unlocked, dog in the study. We will handle the rest, and you can go back to whatever you were doing.