Why it is not just a window clean.
A residential clean deals with dust, rain marks and cobwebs. A builders clean deals with construction materials that have chemically bonded to the pane: plaster and stopping compound splatter, concrete and render splash, silicone smears, paint fleck, adhesive from protective film, and manufacturer stickers baked on through a Central Otago summer.
Each of those comes off a different way. Get the method wrong and you do not leave a mark — you leave a scratch, and a scratched pane on a brand new build is a replacement, not a clean.
The scratch problem, plainly.
The single biggest risk on a new build is someone scraping dry glass. A blade needs the pane properly lubricated, held at a consistent low angle, and worked in one direction only. Dragging it back and forth across a dry pane picks up a grit particle and runs it the length of the glass.
There is a second, less obvious risk. Some tempered and toughened glass carries fabrication debris — tiny specks of glass fused into the surface during manufacture. Blade over one of those and it scores a line across the pane regardless of technique. On a new build you check for it before you start, and you tell the builder if you find it, because that is a manufacturing fault and not something the cleaner caused.
This is why I am insured and why I document glass condition before I start. On a handover job the question of who scratched the pane comes up, and nobody wants it to be a matter of opinion.
What I cover on a builders clean.
The job runs to a set order, because working out of sequence means cleaning the same surface twice.
- Manufacturer and safety stickers removed, adhesive residue included
- Plaster, stopping compound, render and concrete splatter taken off the glass
- Silicone and sealant smears removed from panes and frames
- Paint fleck and overspray cleared
- Protective film and its adhesive lifted off joinery
- Frames, tracks and sills vacuumed out — new tracks are full of gib dust and screws
- Both faces of the glass finished, plus skylights, gables and stairwell panes
- Glass condition checked and any pre-existing fabrication damage flagged in writing
Timing it right.
Book the glass clean after the painters and the flooring are finished, and before the final inspection or client walk-through. Doing it earlier just means paying for it twice — every trade still on site puts something back on the pane.
That said, get stickers and silicone off sooner rather than later. Adhesive that has sat behind glass through a Wānaka summer is a much slower job than adhesive removed in the same month it went on, and slow work costs more.
Who this is usually for.
Most of my builders cleans around Wānaka, Northlake, Albert Town and Hāwea are for the builder or project manager rather than the homeowner, as the last line before handover. Some are for owner-builders who have done everything themselves and do not want the glass to be the thing that lets the house down on day one.
Either way it is quoted per job — a three-bedroom Northlake build and a big architectural place at Hāwea with double-height glazing are not the same afternoon.
Common questions
