You can’t deny the positive view of clean, clear window glass, because it brightens the interior of your home. Whether you hire a window washing service or do it yourself, the reward is a fresh, new perspective. Clean windows in one room have a restorative power, and the squeaky-clean smell may inspire you to go on a binge and do the windows throughout your house.
If you hire a window washing service, the charge to wash 12 double-hung windows from the inside and exterior of a house will be $181, which includes labor and material. Thrifty homeowners can do the job for $25, the cost of the materials, and save a whopping 86 percent for their time and effort. Those materials include cleaning solutions, a window squeegee, and scrubber. You also need two ladders (for inside and outside the house), a bucket, and lint-free clean rags for washing and drying. Washing windows is a good two-person job that goes quickly when one worker cleans the exterior while the other cleans the inside of the window.
If yours is a one-story house, washing windows is a no-brainer because you can safely reach the windows to work on them. However, the job gets dicey if you have a two-story house and don’t like working on an extension ladder, which you’ll need. One option is to wash the first-floor windows yourself and hire a service to wash the ones upstairs.
Tip: The pros tell us you’ll get the best results from washing windows on a cloudy day because sunlight dries the glass quickly, which causes streaking.
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Pro Cost—DIY Cost—Pro time—DIY Time—DIY Savings—Percent Saved
$181—$25—2.2—3.3—$156—86 percent