Is there any start to finish videos on cleaning storm windows. My biggest problem is how to [B][I]properly[/I][/B] take them out and put back in.
I’ve got a couple coming up and would be happy to do a video of taking them apart and putting them back together. Keep in mind though that there are several different styles of storms (some are diabolical, Mengela must have designed them) requiring their own learning curve. The most tricky for me was the vinyl clad pane that has to be pushed to one side and removed. Hard to do if they are very big.
Storm windows are like the bully in school to me. Scary as hell but after I tackle them the first time it will be cake 
80% of all our business is old storm windows. Once you get a good method of cleaning they are no problem.
Storms are a PITA to deal with. Easy enough to take apart (hopefully). THey are time consuming. Charge for your time. I charge $20 min. a window for storms.
Same here. Although we have a different method than Tollins Window Cleaning, they really aren’t a problem once you get used to doing them. If you’re going to be dealing with them a lot, I would buy or make some sort of easel to make cleaning them easier.
I love storm windows!
I’m going to guess that it’s because of what you can charge to clean them. 
I get a lot of storms myself. I’m finding that many other window cleaners in my area just clean the outs only, then I come along with my huge bid and it freaks the customer out. After I explain that I actually take them apart and clean everything including those old cob webs and what not I manage to close most bids.
I just hate it though when they’ve been painted shut and the customer begs me to do what I can to get them open up. 3 broken panes to date. :o But they all continue to be repeat customers. 
If we are talking about regular triple track storms, one way to make it easier to get the hang of working with them is to remove the screen and the inner storm. leaving the outer storm in place. The order of cleaning would be to start on the outside. Clean bottom house window. Lower the top storm. Clean top house window. Clean the storm. Interior would go, Clean storm still in track. Clean both sides of storm removed from track. If you don’t have an easel setup you can clean the storm on the sill, with some type of towel or pad to protect the paint. Replace storm and screen. Clean the interior house window. This way you get used to cleaning a storm in the tracks, it takes some time getting used to dealing with them both in. which is handy when you come to windows where for whatever reason you cannot remove any storms or the screen. Then after you get the hang of it you can leave both storms in and only remove the screen.
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Much faster to leave the storms in, once you know how to do it. Much better light than trying to clean them inside the house away from the window, as well. Taking out the bottom storm only is less complicated than leaving both storms in place. It is a good method to get started with. If leaving them in their tracks isn’t faster for you it’s because you don’t know how to do it efficiently. Some day a video will be made.[/FONT][/COLOR]
Only if you don’t have an easel. With an easel you have the panes at a convenient height and the tray catches all the dirty water. You can also wipe the frame of each pane while it’s out.
I think it would be cool to get a series of video’s, one for each common type of storm. we get all kinds of storms down here. I have one with the old school humpry’s that has the solid pane slider pop off. the old kind with the metal bead. I am planning on doing a vid for those on the next time I make it there. those are just not to common anymore. We also have lots of old aluminum knuckle busters. let me know if there is a type that you don’t have there and I would love to help chip in on the fun.
I have cleaned storms using an easel. It is not faster using an easel IMO. You spend the time setting the easel up in each room. If you keep the easel in one place then it takes time to bring all the storms to the easel. It takes longer to take the storms out and replace them. There also is a much greater chance of breaking a storm if it is out of the track than in. I understand using a easel may work better for you since its just you and the wife, but I don’t think it’s faster.
We usually find a central spot on each level for the easel. It adds maybe 10 minutes bringing panes to the easel and putting them back. It also means I can do the exteriors in my own order. I don’t have to have a partner inside shuffling panes so I can clean them and then move to the next one. That seems like a time consuming task. Plus I like being able to wipe the frames around the storm panes. I have run into situations where the panes would not come out and we had to shuffle them. It took forever. Of course we don’t do it that way all the time.
Thank’s for all the info. That’s why I love w.c.r
You move the storms on your own from the outside. It takes practice but it is faster.
What about the ones that latch? How do you get to latches on the inside by yourself?
Are you talking about the kind that have the clips on the side like Pella interior storms or the kind that have the little slide lock things at the bottom?
If you are talking about the ones with Pella style clips they cant be done that way. I think it may be time to make a video on storms.
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Hey Tony,[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana][COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]I work alone. It takes about 20 minutes to get a house ready. I run through the house and pull all the screens and vacuum the ledges if needed. The storms are left in the up position. On the outside it’s a breeze to get the four outside surfaces done alone. I almost always clean the outside of every job I do first, that’s my personal preference. The details on the most efficient order to clean each pane have been written before. Hunterst did a great job awhile back. I use your method now, thank you Hunterst.[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Every system of cleaning has it’s advantages. I have to agree with you Tony the easel method is probably more thorough , but does the customer really see a big difference? We wipe the edges as well. We are talking about speed here and the leave the storms in their tracks method is FASTER unless you don’t know how to do it efficiently. Faster is not always better, but usually earns more money per hour.:D[/FONT][/COLOR]
So you put the panel down when your done on the outs! I get it.
I have one house that has storm windows plus security bars on many windows, so any extra time savers would be great, where would the lower storm fit into the wash order once you get the hang of leaving them in? Thanks!
Found the original post, advanced search is a NICE thing!
Originally posted by HunterST
““It will take a little practice getting used to moving the storms around but you’ve worked with them alot so it shouldn’t be to bad. For windows where the top sash doesn’t move the order goes:Clean bottom sash, clean bottom storm, lower top storm to bottom, clean upper sash(your drips should hit the inside of bottom storm), clean upper storm. When cleaning the insides the order doesn’t matter as much. One thing to be aware of is that sometimes the upper storm will not go into its highest position with the inside storm in the track. As your aware I’m sure, each style of triple track has it own little quirks to deal with.””
Thanks again
