I made a video showing how to use cerium oxide to remove hard water damage that has etched itself into the surface of the windows.
NOTE: I was not using two hands to put pressure on the drill, only to stabilize it. DO NOT PUT A LOT OF PRESSURE ON THE WINDOW! This will generate excess heat and cause you problems.
Thanks to Paul with ShowMe Windows for helping me out with the process.
Interesting… I was just complaining about HW removal in another thread… Questions:
How much do you charge for this service? You said in the vid that it took 3 1/2 mins to complate that one section, so how long does the average window take? (assuming the HW stains are to the same degree as they were in the vid.)
Have you ever cracked a window w/ the heat?
Do you use this method on every window with HW stains?( Aside from mild stains steel wool will take care of.)
Thanks in advance
Great Video. A lot of great info. You kind of reminded me of the guy off dodge ball with them glasses on.
You didn’t like my sexy eye protection?
I’m actually going to get a new drill in a few weeks and hopefully a bigger buffer. I would estimate that a full window (the top pane of the window I was working on) would take about 30-45 minutes assuming I worked nonstop on it.
I haven’t completed this work on a house yet just because this amount of damage is somewhat rare. I think I can get away with charging 50-60 a window just because the only other alternative for the home owner is to replace the windows which would cost $200-300 per window.
Another note, this is a perfect opportunity to upsell glass guardian to prevent this kind of damage in the future. It’s my plan to educate the homeowner about the product and follow the window buffing with a glass treatment for another $10 per window.
I will typically step up the degree of action taken based on the water damage. Bronze wool takes care of a lot of small deposits found on windows here. I had another home that had a window next to a bush that when watered would splash water on the window. Those deposits were unable to be gotten with bronze wool and safe restore was needed. The deposits on the window in the video have actually all been taken off with safe restore. What you are seeing in the video is the actual etching of the glass, not the deposits themselves.
Finally, as of yet I have not cracked any windows due to heat. If you watch the cerium paste on the window you can tell when the window is starting to heat up. The moisture in the paste will evaporate quicker giving you an indication that the window is warming up. After doing this a few times you can get a feel for when the window is getting warm and when you need to spray some water.
