The brief
Exterior only is a real choice, not a cut-price version of the job. It just needs to be the right choice for the property.
This was an apartment in Vilamoura where the owner was not in the country and the inside did not need touching. Salt carries a long way here and settles as a fine film on the outside face of the glass, so on an apartment near the coast the outside is where nearly all of the visible dirt is anyway.
That makes exterior-only genuinely worth doing on a property like this. It is the half of the pane the weather actually reaches. What it does not do is fix anything on the inside face, and if the inside has been left for a season, an exterior clean will make that more obvious rather than less, because you are now looking through one clean surface at one dirty one.
We said that before starting rather than afterwards. The owner was clear that only the outside was needed this visit, so that is what was quoted and that is what was done.
How we worked it
Traditional method throughout. Applicator and solution to wash the glass down, squeegee to take it off, microfibre to detail the edges, frames and sills. Reachable glass by hand, anything higher worked from the ground on a pole rather than off a balcony rail.
Check what can actually be reached, first
On an apartment the honest answer is sometimes not everything. Before quoting we work out which panes can be reached safely from ground and terrace level, and which cannot, so nobody is surprised on the day by a window that stayed dirty.
Wash the salt film off wet
Coastal glass carries a fine salt haze that has to be floated off rather than wiped. Taking a dry cloth to it drags it across the pane and leaves the smear people assume is bad technique.
Top down on each elevation
Higher panes before lower ones, so dirty water never runs back across glass that is already finished and dries there.
Pole work from the ground
Anything above comfortable reach was done from the ground on a pole. Nothing gets leaned on a balcony rail or a glass balustrade to save time.
Frames, sills and tracks alongside
Sliding door tracks get cleared and the frames and sills wiped down as part of the job. Grit sitting in a track blows straight back onto the pane the next windy day.
Checked in raking light before packing up
Glass is checked at an angle rather than straight on, because that is the only way to see what has been left. Anything missed is redone before the van moves.
What was included
- Every reachable pane, exterior face
- Sliding patio doors, outside
- Frames and sills
- Sliding door tracks cleared
- Glass checked in raking light before leaving
The result
What an exterior-only clean will not do
It will not touch the inside face. On an apartment where the inside has been left a while, cleaning only the outside can make the inside look worse by comparison, because the pane is no longer uniformly hazy. That is worth knowing before you choose it rather than after.
It also will not fix hard-water spotting that has already etched into the glass. Mineral deposits left long enough stop being on the surface and become part of it, and at that point no amount of cleaning brings the pane back. We tell you which one you are looking at at the survey.
Common questions
Can you clean the outside only?
Yes, and on a coastal apartment it is often the sensible choice. The outside face carries the salt film and nearly all of the visible dirt, so it is where the difference is. Just be aware it will not improve the inside face at all.
Do I need to be there?
For an exterior-only clean, no. We need access to the elevations and an outside tap. A lot of our apartment work is for owners who are not in the country, and we send photos afterwards.
Do you clean the frames and the sliding door tracks too?
Yes, as part of the job. Leaving grit in a track is a false economy, because the first windy day puts it straight back on the glass you have just paid to have cleaned.
How do you reach higher apartment windows?
From the ground on a pole where the height needs it. We do not lean ladders on balcony rails or glass balustrades, and if a pane genuinely cannot be reached safely we say so at the survey rather than leaving you to notice it afterwards.
How often should apartment glass be done in Vilamoura?
It depends on how close you are to the sea and how exposed the elevation is. Coastal apartments pick up salt film faster than inland properties, so we will suggest a round at the survey based on your particular elevation rather than quoting a standard interval.
