Sometimes I get a request to clean these types of windows but can’t figure out what they’re called.
Atrium windows? Also can you stand on the window frames to clean them?
Atrium, greenhouse, sunroom, conservatory, 3 season room etc.
Honestly, they’re built to be stood on, but I don’t trust them. You never know what happens structurally over time, and I’ve seen them crack from the pressure of a WFP. All it takes is one small chip from a branch falling etc and you’re in a bad way.
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This job was brutal. The windows had so much baked on dirt & grime, boars hair brush barely phased it.
I’ll have to remember to get the white pad attachment to the wfp for extra scrubbing power or something if I run into another one of these.
Yeah anything horizontal like that and I tell the customer that we’re gonna get them as good as we can
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I call em atrium enclosures. I cleaned 2 big residential ones twice a year for 11 yrs. Here’s what I gleaned:
The glass gets super dirty especially if they have flattish/ low pitch tops. The frames flex. Then the frames leak. Homeowners will claim they are safe to walk on (“oh sure, the installers were climbing all over that thing”)…dont buy it. You’ll be the one they call when it starts dripping in on their card table. WFP is usually not enough unless cleaned very frequently. If there is a roof (asphalt shingles) above it you have to walk on, you’ll be fighting falling shingle gravel all day long. The frames themselves oxidize really quickly…messy. The frames act as little dams that hold water at the bottom. This makes a great breeding ground for hardwater stains that will never go away. Tempered glass too, so watch out for that Fab. Debris. If it’s hot n humid your hard workin, salty white, window cleaner sweat is gonna drip all over that last pane you just cleaned when the wind blows…well that sucks. Compared to conventional vertical windows they get dirty again so fast it’s kinda feels pointless for the effort & time to work through them. Weird thing is the interior clean part is generally pretty cut n dry…barring some awkward neck bending & shoulder contortions. I charge handsomely to clean these when I come across them or even turn them down depending on diff. variables. If I take it on, it’s…Only trad. Only whats accessible. The inaccessible glass gets the WFP (good as it gets treatment). No walking frames. Scratch waiver signed. Charge handsomely for it. In a few days they get covered with falling cosmic debris anyway. Why do people even buy these things?
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you covered it well
reframing it to customer as the horizontal glass will never look at good as the vertical and its more of just the maintenance of removing the build up rather than a clarity thing will set expectations low for customer as well so they aren’t expecting miracles. can even add to drive home the point “if you had monthly maintenance from the start you’d have better results” they don’t want monthly and they already waited too long so it connects in their mind that the horizontal just isnt going to come out that great lol
