I am interested in learning more about using the water-fed pole through screens. In cleaning retirement homes often you have to remove all the screens first, then replace them. I find this takes lots of time and the maintenance staff doesnt like to bother everyone. What has your experience been as far as the quality of the glass cleaning by utilizing the water-fed system through screens?
Lee
I honestly havenât tried it to speak of. Dirty screens can be way dirtier than one realizes and if you are forcing dirt off the screens onto the glass which is probably itself already quite dirty, you would really need to scrub the glass to clean it properly.
Maybe someone who has given it a serious try will tweak my response.
I just canât see it working.
I have done it but only in those rare occasions where you canât remove the screen w/out destroying it. I have a couple of customers where the have one or two screens that fall into that category and they understand the window will most likely have spotting issues but it will be slightly better than if I did nothing at all. The key is a long slow rinse after a thorough scrub of the screen.
Hey Tony, I wonder if on those rare screens that wonât come out without breaking them, it might be profitable to see if they would like to have the screen replaced (by you). This way you can get that window right and make a few extra $.
My only concern would be why the screen is stuck to begin with. If itâs just a bad screen it should be easy, but if that part of the house has settled off kilter or the window frame is built oddly, Iâm guessing putting a new screen in that doesnât stick might be a pain.
I havenât made any screens yet, I only re-screen existing ones so I donât know if itâs worth the trouble. Have you considered this before?
Iâve done it. The results are bad. The reason why is because unless all corners of that screen are close enough to the glass to agitate the glass, you are not going to get it clean.
I did it because the client insisted on not being there even though the screens had to be removed from the inside, and they were supposed to take em off before I got there but didnât.
They said do it anyway. All but the bottom of the window and the top corners came out good. The screens were FILTHY though, and of course I gave it 3 times the rinse that would be needed, and still you could see the screens impression in a light dirt on the glass when I came back (yeah, I went back) and checked it out.
Go for it, but I wouldnât recommend it though unless it was a last resort.
They are the result of settling issues. I have in the past rebuilt a few frames but Iâd rather not spend my time rebuilding screens.
Yeah I understand. Iâve considered rebuilding screens, but I always wonder if itâs worth the headache of trying to build a screen to fit an awkward window frame.
could you imaging the huge benefit if it did work? wow that would be something else!
same results as Tory when I tried, the dirt is in the screen pattern now and the ones I tried look worse than if I did nothing
I have found that it will work if itâs a regular customer that gets cleaned at least 1 time a year and the first clean was with the screens off.
A few years back, we did a 3 story apartment building with 2500+ windows, and the screens came off from the outside.
I didnât want to ladder every one to take screens off, (they wouldnât let us go in through the apartments), so I cleaned 2 windows next to the managers office, one traditional, taking screen off scraping, stripping, squeegeeing, etc., and the next I used my water fed pole and scrubbed twice as long and rinsed three times as long.
I quoted 18,500.00 for traditional, and $13,500.00 for Water fed Pole, then I had her stand 10 feet away and asked which one looked better, she couldnât tell the difference. When we got right up on it, there was a slight difference, but not a whole lot, she went with the savings!! We did that job in 3.5 days.
So, the answer to the question, can you do it and have it look good. Basically, yes. But, if the screens are really dirty, itâs not a good idea. If it is a maintenance account, go for it, just take your time, and make sure quality is above par. Itâs not for every job, but if it can get you from laddering 2500+ windows, itâs well worth it!!
Charlie
Hey I wanted to revisit this topic because I had to try this today because there was absolutely no way of getting this stinking screen out. I used my unger radius brush to clean it. Washed the screen a bunch then wiped it with a towel and rinsed it a few more times. Then shot through the screen to clean the glass. Didnât get to see the results since I had to leave though. Has anyone found a trick or a method that works well for doing this?
No. I did it again yesterday because the customer locked a screen door on the back porch. Went back today and it looked horrible, had to re-do it.
I hate this topic, but smiled when I saw itâŚ
(because Iâve seen it so many times here.)
Even âcleanâ screens arenât clean.
Ainât ever gonna turn out right.
Yes. Itâs âdoableâ âŚbut only when expectations are lowered.
Did it for the CU campus dorms working for a company starting out. I canât imagine how it could clean anything; youâre just spraying screen mud on the window. Screens are also fragile⌠Something to keep in mind.
And dragging your name through the mud. I think anyone doing this on a regular basis will be looking for a new line of work soon!
We were told to do it. I was like âreally?â. I currently do traditional only work and saving for a new truck and wfp system.
Homeowner said he could care less if I do it or not I really wanted to try it because I have never tried to clean it through the screen before and I was hoping it would at least improve the window . He was very happy with everything else and he was very easy-going but I still felt weird leaving the job knowing one window wasnât done right. So is it better to just leave it than smear it up with the water?
well most of the time it doesnât work it just looks bad. but then sometimes if the situation is just right and you kind of stick your tongue out and down to the side while closing one eye and grimmacing heavily while you scrub the screenâŚit looks way worse than before.
i have thought about but not tried a spray and rinse approach like the windex outdoor cleaner, or a home mix of peroxide and jet dry
This made me smile!!
(I see what youâre saying, thoughâŚ
I HATE looking undistinguished when Iâm working.)
