Alright, I type cut ups into the search box and got no results. Maybe people have different names for them. But you know what I’m talking about.
These have always been a pain for me. I’m talking the small cut up windows, whether it’s a door, or regular window pane broken up into a thousand small windows. I think AppleBees or Chilis has these kinds of windows, tons of them. I suck at cleaning them. I’ve tried a small squeegee, tried toweling several ways, with water, with solution, with different cleaners, without water. They always seem to still have too many spots that I miss even if I’m digging my fingertips into the towel and being careful. I must have a bad method when it comes to these windows.
How do you do it right?? Is there a video or something??
I have used water mixed with less than normal soap and a goodly amount of rubbing alcohol. This way you can wet the windows generously to help break up the mess on the glass, squeegee, and get good evaporation from the alcohol. Better yet is di water and alcohol mix.
If you have tough junk on the glass, get the panes a little wet and steel wool it, then remop and squeegee or wipe with a huck or scrim.
just charge alot of money for them … On the lines of .75 to 1.00 per pane… It will make the job more satisfying …
I have a job to do comming up with 1,497 panes… They cant be wfp either b/c there too dirty they need scrapped and **** … I also have another job in the making with 240 storm windows with cut ups… Just get good at doing them and charge according b/c alot of guys turn down work like this
I really don’t mind cut-ups and have some homes that take me 8 days(take a guess how many bath rooms in these monsters) but these were the toughest pita doors I have ever done. 5 hours removing all the varnish then cleaning 120 panes of glass. None the less they are impressive doors, especially cleaned.
20 years ago my boss created a kit of brass Ettore squeegees that he cut at 1/8" intervals. I have continued to use this method after I bought the business from him. I live in MA and every other house we do is a huge Victorian with cutups. We write the squeegee size on the channel in permanent ink.
For a relatively small initial investment, you will have a size for every pane you come across. You can also cut them to 1/4" intervals and cut rubber to size if you dont have the right size. When we work, all we have to do is measure the glass with a small tape we carry with us in our kit, and find the squeegee that is about a 1/4 inch smaller (rubber is 1/8" on each side) The squeegee fits perfectly and it takes little time to do a window. With an employee we can do a $500-$600 house easy in a 5-6 hour day (usually about 25-30 windows), and can do a $700-$800 house in a longer day. I also find it essential to have the window easel. I’ve had our easel for over 15 years now and it is still in working shape. I just have to make new trays every couple years.
I know some of you will think we are crazy to carry so many squeegees, but If you knew how much time was saved in this method, you would realize you are crazy not to. If you work on old houses a couple times a week buying $150 worth of channels is definately worth it. Again, ours have lasted over 15 years. Think about the ergonomics and efficiency of squeegee-ing a piece of glass one time. The glass doesn’t streak, there is less wiping, less wrist motion. Even a person new to windows has a much easier time squeegeeing than doing it in two passes. Even if you shave seconds off each pane, you are shaving many minutes off your hours and that really adds up over time. If anyone wants more detailed info on how we make our kit I’d be happy to share it. Also, many times because of screen burn it is not possible to use a wfp on these types of windows. Hope this is helpful.
just a note in agreement to this one. I do cut ups at Applebees, famous Dave and dennys weekly. Use spray bottle with dawn and rubbing alcohol. I seem to be able to get most greasy finger prints with this solution, if they’re really bad, I use one of those fuzzy microfiber towels you can get at costco or target to wash the window with. another good idea if you are doing a regular job is to pre-cut the squeegee to size so you can do the windows in one swipe, that makes it much faster. my employee swears by using a mister clean magic eraser when doing these jobs, so you can try that too.
We also carry several channels sizes that range from 4" to the correct size I need for those cutups. You can’t forget the 6" strip washers makes the job a lot easier:).
