Here come all the beer drinkers…
So , what was this thread about ???
I was in this same situation a couple years ago. Scratched almost every pane of glass doing CCU on a new 3-4 million dollar house. It was a mostly glass house. I scratched the glass with blades AND 0000 steel wool which I didn’t think was possible. Now I had always thought that the people who scratch all the glass on a house must be dumb or blind but I now understand it’s about experience. These scratches were invisible unless sun was directly behind glass. And I n most panes it never was. The property is basically in the woods and in 95 % shade all day. Noone else ever noticed. The homeowner visited the almost finished house every day and we’re very picky too. I did bring it to the attention of the builder though. They didn’t seem to care. I even offered to buff out scratches not knowing this wasn’t possible as they had scratches due to the efficiency film on them usually found between the panes). So I lost sleep thinking I was going to get a call that never came. However my situation was different for these reasons:
- My customer was the builder.
- I got approval in writing for blade usage (but not steel wool.)
- These windows were energy efficient with the film on outside making scratch removal impossible.
At the end of the day I could have been legally responsible for using the wool I suppose. I don’t think my insurance would have covered a million dollars worth of glass. I missed a bullet and I guess the builders house warranty has probably expired after the first year. I have learned not to use anything but white pads without a waiver. I hope someone benefits from my mistake.
Were they Andersen windows, by any chance?
When you say white pads do you mean Magic Eraser? I haven’t used them on glass yet but I used them to remove welding smudges from some doors and they worked great.
Cook with them.
I will chime in about quad zero steel wool.
At my personal home I changed the windows out a few years back. Myself and some trusted employee’s have cleaned them. When the work goes down I always make sure of a few things.
100% confirming I have scratched a window with brand new steel wool. I can bang my home out in less than an hour so it’s not “old” steel wool.
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Magic erasers are great. Order some white scrubby pads you will like them a lot. I use the white scrubby daily. Just be careful on tinted/coated windows ect.
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Nothing gets off dried silicone smears/spots like Magic Eraser,
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I left a mark on an interior wall with my ladder once. Magic eraser saved the day!
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It’s clear that you care and you’re quick to take responsibility because you care so much. That’s a good thing. It means you have integrity and your business will outperform most of your competitors. Confidence! Start there. Earlier someone mentioned scratch removal. Sounds like the best option. You might invest in a Glassrenu system. I saw a Glassrenu demonstration of very deep river rock scratches successfully removed. Razor scratches are only superficial. Practice on a few windows at home then have at it. Someone else asked if you were certain that you caused the scratches since a different company performed CCU. That’s an important question. Scratches, like glass, shine when clean. Not easy to see when dirty. One person said they no longer use a razor on tempered glass while another post asked how you could scratch all the glass. Good question. I doubt they were all tempered. You WILL get past this. Keep in mind that some day you’ll say, “Remember that time when…”
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Thank you TJGibson for your kind words, I appreciate that very much. I am learning new things and ways to get away from using razors.
Thank you very much! I will try to contact him.
How are things going so far?
Thanks for also sharing your story, I appreciate you understanding!
Thanks for reading this whole post and taking the time to reply, I very much appreciate the encouragement and I will think a lot about your suggestions on the Glass Renu… Thats definitely an option we might go to.
Hey everyone, just getting back on here and reading all the updates, I Can’t thank you enough for the people who have taken the time to help me out.
UPDATE:
I called my insurance (JDW) Thursday and submitted a claim. I heard back from the insurance adjuster (Liberty Mutual) on Friday. She asked several questions and said she would be back in touch with me and the customer. I’m not sure how things will progress from here, I hope she knows a good amount about window cleaners and I hope she is easy to work with. Ill keep you all updated as I might hear back from her tomorrow, but for now… I gotta get back out there like some of you have stated and keep going. Thanks again guys.
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Your insurance company, she works for you. Educate her a little if she needs it. Hell send her here to research.
Ethan1712 - I was going through this old thread and I am curious how everything got resolved. Did insurance come through for you? Did you go scratch removal route? How did it pan out?
I’ve been running my business for just about 16 years, and we’ve scratched our fair share of glass. Generally it has been 1-2 incidents per year, because we are careful, but no matter what I’ve done to mitigate scratches, limit razor use, it seems there is always a couple times where we leave marks behind and a client requests replacement, etc.
This past fall I had an absent minded employee scrape a set of 4 patio window panes. He scratched them very badly. When I went to my insurance company to submit the claim, it was denied to the “Your Work” exclusion. I was flabbergasted. I ended up with a $5000 bill on my hands.
Going into our season this year, we will be drastically reducing razor usage to the absolute worst jobs, and taking more precautions when it is used.
Anyhow, I think these situations teach us alot if you’re willing to learn from them. I’d love to hear where your situation ended up.
