After construction, windows are often sprayed with paint, silicone, stucco, and plaster debris. Even the tidiest construction site leaves windows needing some special care.
Post-construction window cleaning requires more expertise, specialized tools and greater attention to detail than usual maintenance window cleaning. The risk of scratching the glass is very high and thought needs to be taken to select the right tools to clean the glass without causing damage.
Tempered glass is particularly sensitive to scratches. The composition of the glass and microscopic flaws from manufacturing means that scrapers will scratch this type of glass. Tempered glass is tedious to clean because it needs to be manually scrubbed to remove paint and debris.
Dried Concrete & Stucco
• To remove dried concrete from glass we use muriatic or hydrochloric acid to break down dried concrete. The silica in concrete chemically bonds to the silica in the glass surface making it challenging to remove. Acid is used to chemically break these bonds so that the concrete and sand particles can be rinsed away without dragging them across the glass surface. Care must be taken to ensure that this acid doesn't run onto the stucco siding or get dropped onto concrete sidewalks and cause discoloration.
• Mechanical removal of concrete with a scraper will cause the particles of sand to grind into the glass and cause permanent scratches. A scraper can only be used on the glass once all abrasive particles have been rinsed from the glass surface.
How We Remove Stickers From Windows
• We remove manufacturers' stickers by first soaking them with water and detergent to soften the paper and adhesive. Our detergent contains slickening agents to help scraper blades slide smoothly across the glass. Ideally, the scraper blade should glide on a thin layer of water and not touch the glass at all. Once the sticker has softened, we carefully use a stainless steel scraper blade designed for use on glass and lift the sticker off the glass.
How We Remove Silicone & Vinyl Film Residue From Glass
• Window manufacturers seal windows into their frames using silicone and can sometimes get smears of silicone on the glass. Silicone is one of the most difficult substances to remove from glass, but with some elbow grease it is possible. To remove silicone off the window we have to first get rid of any large globs using a fresh scraper blade and then scrub the entire surface of the glass in a circular polishing motion with '0000' steel wool.
How We Remove Dried Paint From Glass And Windows
• We remove manufacturers' stickers by first soaking them with water and detergent to soften the paper and adhesive. Our detergent contains slickening agents to help scraper blades slide smoothly across the glass. Ideally, the scraper blade should glide on a thin layer of water and not touch the glass at all. Once the sticker has softened, we carefully use a stainless steel scraper blade designed for use on glass and lift the sticker off the glass.
