Don’t let your garden hose or

                 Sprinkler spray onto your windows

Tap water contains calcium, sodium, chlorine, and a host of many other minerals that can permanently stain the outside faces of your windows.  At the same time, glass is very porous (e.g.: oxygen molecules can actually penetrate glass) and it will absorb these chemicals over time if garden hose water sits on the outer face of your window glass without being removed.  The result is often having permanent stains on your windows that detract from an otherwise clear view.  I have seen patio glass sliders completely opaque with calcium deposits (you can’t see through the glass anymore) from sprinklers continuously soaking them.  Joe can remove the calcium deposits from glass in most cases with a special solution and process.

                              Beware of “screen stain” that

                     Rains onto your window glass

The most common design of the thermal pane double hung window is when the screen hangs on the outside of the window.  When precipitation comes through metal screening and hits the outside of your window, a metallic residue combines with the dirt from the screen and leaves a particularly difficult stain on the outside of the window, osbstructing a clear view.  After 2 years or more, the glass behind the screen will not be able to be completely cleaned with either a soap-based or ammonia-based solution, no matter how hard you scrub.  A cleaning technique using an additive of 100% lye (that generally only a professional is familiar with) is needed to remove it.

                 Do not use mulch within 15 feet of your house

Have you ever seen thousands of black dots on painted trim or vinyl on a house that otherwise has been meticulously cared for?  They’re extremely unsightly and make  wood trim or vinyl look like it has a bad case of the measles.  I see it all the time.  It’s called “artillery fungus” (“cannonball fungus” is also a nickname) and it comes from fungi growing in moist, decaying mulch.  Scientifically called “Sphaerobolus,” the fungi discharge their spores with an explosive force up to 18 feet away— up and horizontally.  These unsightly dark spots adhere firmly to whatever is covering the outside of your house, and cannot be removed even with a power washer gun an inch away.  To prevent this, use stone, vegetation, dry red mulch, or chemically treated mulch as ground cover. Luckily, Joe can safely scrape the artillery fungi dots from your window.

                           Protect your investment

              Get your windows cleaned every 2 years

Even if clean windows are not a priority for you, the prudent homeowner will protect their investment by getting at least the outside of their windows cleaned at least once every 2 years.  Otherwise, your windows can become permanently stained with opaque calcium deposits, screen stain, or simply dirty rain drops that have been sun-baked onto the glass.  The money you spend will eventually pay for itself by maintaining your expensive windows and the value of your house.