We’ve all heard it before, window cleaning isn’t rocket science! While
that is true it’s not as simple as it once was. We can run into issues like
hard water stains, fabrication debris, tin etch haze, low-e coating reactions,
and other things that require us to be educated on a variety of techniques and
tools. To further complicate matters what if “we” happen to be an employee and
“we” have to explain these potential issues to a client? Let’s discuss a few
issues from the employee’s perspective.
Forewarned is
forearmed
An old adage comes to mind – to be forewarned is to be forearmed. In
other words if we are prepared for the potential problems we can be prepared to
deal with them. This means that we need our employer to have procedures in
place that we can start with so each issue is dealt with consistently.
But for simplicity here are some basics that will allow an employee to
give a simple explanation about how to deal with them, depends upon your
companies policies–
Fabrication
Debris – annealed glass must go through a heating and cooling process to
become “tempered”. It is cut to size before this process and if not cleaned
properly it can become contaminated with glass fines (as well as other
particulates from the factory) which can become fused to the surface during the
heating process. When doing a standard cleaning using a razor, the defects can
be moved across the glass surface causing scratches. The options here are – 1)
a signed waiver explaining that identifying the defect isn’t possible and clean
as usual, 2) not using a razor and trying to use white pads, 3) cleaning only
the loose debris off the glass, or 4) using heavy chemicals to remove stubborn
debris (this option can void the insulated glass unit warranty).
Tin Etch Haze –
architectural glass today is called float glass which means the liquid glass
comes out of the oven, floating on a layer of molten tin. For the life of the
glass it will have a thin layer of tin embedded in one side. When removing hard
water stains from that side, if a hydrofluoric acid solution is used it will
react with the tin and cause an odd colored haze. There are ways to test for
the tin side but if the stain is on that side there are two options –
replacement or mechanical removal of the stain with a scratch removal system.
Hard Water
Stains – beyond regular debris on the glass, you can run into stains from
different minerals on the glass. Each stain is different and takes different
chemicals or techniques to remove and is no longer cleaning, but restoring the
glass. Depending on the stain you can use 1) bronze (steel) wool, white pad
and/or chemicals, 2) a polisher and chemicals, or 3) a scratch removal system
for more severe stains.
Low-E coating
reactions – in order to increase the energy efficiency of a window a metallic
sputter coating (called low-e) is applied on one interior surface of an
insulated glass unit. Sometimes the coating reacts in spots to different
contaminants. It will show up as a rainbow colored haze that you can’t touch
with your finger (because it’s in between the glass panes). The only option here is replacement of the
affected unit.
Blown IG
seals – when you see fogging or white river like stains between the glass you
have a blown seal in the insulated glass unit. If it’s just fogging you can, in
some instances, have the moisture removed in a defogging process (usually you
need to specialize in this service or know of a company in your area that
does). If the fogging has turned into staining on the interior then replacement
is the only option.
Preexisting
Scratches – when doing a new job you can find yourself being blamed for
scratching a window when it was done by someone else and usually at a different
time. Here a waiver that covers preexisting scratches and/or a thorough
walkthrough identifying and taking note of preexisting conditions are your only
real protection.
Before
discussing any of these situations with a client, make sure you are authorized
to do so by your employer or direct the client to the person who is.
For more educational topics go to A New View Exterior Cleaning
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