In the right hands the classic bucket of soapy water and a squeegee is still the fastest, highest quality method. We use that method all the time in a rope access environment; and we’re pretty good at it!

For residential homes, low rises, and hard-to-reach areas waterfed poles have been employed for a long time. Faster, safer than ladders, but spotty and lacking a pristine finish as they would if done by hand. We remember when they were made of metal instead of carbon fibre! Yikes. The sales pitch, with waterfed poles, was always “it’ll be cheaper but it won’t look as good”.  You’d usually get offered a good discount and that would be the price to pay for not complaining about the finish.

That’s simply not true anymore. Branching out into Squamish and Whistler from Vancouver we had to learn a lot about water quality quickly.

Water should be tested to determine its mineral content or TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). That’s rust, iron, calcium, and everything else in water systems. When the window is scrubbed with a waterfed pole the water left behind, containing those solids, will remain and show up as spots as the water droplets dry out. The higher the TDS content the larger and more numerous the spotting.

Whistler runs, on average, around 30 from the tap. Vancouver around 5. Squamish everywhere in-between.

Companies in Vancouver often just hook a waterfed pole up to a city water source and get to work. With a rating of 5 the quality of the job will be decent to good unless there is a particularly discerning eye staring through them. On commercial or tinted glass probably poor.  We feel at least single stage filtration systems should be used. They are inexpensive and elevate the job being done to the same standards as the classic bucket and squeegee.

No one wants to deal with spotty windows. The resident doesn’t want to look at them. The property manager doesn’t want to read emails about them, and we certainly don’t want to go back to fix them because we want it done perfectly the first time!