The brief
Double-height glass looks spectacular from the sofa and impossible from the floor.
A villa in Lagos with a double-height living room, big panes running right up to the ceiling. The brief was every window and door inside and out, the high glass included.
Inside and out in one visit is nearly always the right call on a villa. Clean one face of a pane and the other one announces itself immediately, and a window is only really finished when you cannot tell which side was done.
How we worked it
A long pole for the double-height panes, and traditional applicator and squeegee by hand on everything in reach. Exterior first, then inside with the floors protected. Frames, sills and tracks done as part of the job, not as an extra.
Exterior first, top down
Outside faces before inside ones, high before low, one elevation at a time. Water off a high pane runs onto whatever is below it, so anything finished underneath would only need doing twice.
Floors protected before we came inside
The mess from an interior glass clean is water on the floor. Protection goes down under the working area first, and furniture gets moved by us and put back exactly where it was.
Frames, sills and tracks alongside
Sliding door tracks cleared as part of the job. Grit sitting in a track is back on the glass the next windy day.
Both faces checked before packing up
The glass gets checked in raking light from inside and outside, because a mark on one face reads as a mark on the pane. Anything missed is redone before the van moves.
What was included
- Every window and door, both faces
- Sliding and patio doors, inside and out
- Solar panels on the roof
- Frames and sills
- Sliding door tracks cleared
- Floors protected and furniture put back
- Glass checked in raking light before leaving
The result
Being straight with you about hard water
Most mineral spotting comes off. Some of it has been drying on the same pane for long enough that it has etched into the surface, and at that point the marking is in the glass rather than on it. Cleaning improves it and will not remove it, and we will tell you which panes are which at the survey rather than after.
We would also rather quote a villa for the time it actually takes, inside and out, than turn up with half the time it needs and rush the last elevation.
Common questions
How long does a villa window clean take, inside and out?
It depends on the number of panes and how much of the glass is above reach. This villa took 3 hours with two of us. We give you the honest time, and a fixed price, at the free survey.
Is it worth doing inside and out at the same time?
Usually yes. Cleaning one face makes the other one obvious, and a pane is only really clean when both sides are. It is also cheaper as one visit than as two, because most of the setup time is spent once instead of twice.
Can you clean solar panels in the same visit as the windows?
Yes, and most villas we clean have them. Doing the panels with the windows saves a second set-up, and clean panels get more light.
Do you have to move furniture to clean the inside?
Some of it, and we do it rather than asking you to. Anything shifted goes back exactly where it was, and floors get protected under the working area.
Do you cover Lagos?
Yes. Lagos is part of our western round, which runs from Luz and Lagos through Alvor, Portimão and Ferragudo to Lagoa, Carvoeiro and Porches.
