→General terms for all types of appointments
-It’s not necessary to be home for any services that don’t require access to the inside, as long as there’s access to the back (gates are unlocked and function properly) and no animals to worry about. If we need access inside, and you can’t be home, please let us know how to get in (hidden key, garage door code, etc.)
-Please let us know if you have any contractors or remodeling happening, as we would like to schedule around them. This means all remodeling or construction must be complete before your Rain or Shine appointment. Your house must be prepared and ready for our services. If we show up and there is work being done we will reschedule you. And you will be charged our $150 minimum.
–Cancelation Fee: We require a minimum of 48 hours cancelation notice. We cannot always fill your vacant spot and it is unfair for us to absorb your last minute decision. We do make exceptions, but we reserve the right to charge you $150.00 for canceling on short notice. And if we need access to inside your home, but you can’t be there, please consider leaving a hidden key or providing a garage code for entry (thus avoiding the need to cancel).
→Dogs
-Barking Dogs: You may love the sound of your dog barking non-stop. Most people don’t. Including most people working at your house. If your pup is known to behave this way, we suggest putting them somewhere where they won’t be so anxious about our presence on site. It’s better for your pup, and for us. Many customers put them in the garage or a spare bedroom during our time on site. Of course, if they just love to bark for a few minutes, we are generally ok with that. As long as they calm down after greeting us.
–Pet Waste: When walking with ladders and other types of equipment, it is not always possible to keep an eye on exactly where we place each step. And if we step in dog poop, and don’t notice it, we may climb ladders and then we discover that it’s now transferred from the rungs, to our pants, or hands. And we have to stop everything, hook up a hose and clean up our ladders and footwear. But it’s not really possible to get it off our pants, and that really ruins our day. So we request that you clean up the yard before we arrive. If we step in pile, we may charge you extra for the hassle and time cleaning ourselves up. If you have extraordinary amounts in an area that we have to travel, we may choose to skip that area.
Click below to view our terms relating to the service you have hired us to perform.
→Window Cleaning
–Standard Cleaning: This is a maintenance clean (unless otherwise discussed and noted). Minor restoration is included and this means dirt and debris that can be removed with a light buffing; a light buffing is not guaranteed to remove all debris.
–Major restoration is not included (unless otherwise discussed and noted). Examples are post construction or remodel cleaning, or if paint needs to be removed because the painter didn’t protect the glass properly, or silicone or adhesives from installation of glass. It also does not include other difficult problems like hard water removal, or heavy amounts of tree sap on glass, or large amounts artillery fungus. We will not be responsible for scratches. We can expose existing scratches, or in the case of poorly manufactured tempered glass, we can inadvertently cause them. See the following link:
http://www.scratched-glass.net/
–Access: Please have things pulled away from the windows, especially if we are doing inside window cleaning. We don’t want your treasured or expensive things to get damaged. We are very careful, but accidents can, and do, happen. Outside the home, we ask that you keep your trees and bushes trimmed back to allow us to reach them. They may block us from setting up ladders safely. Or they may make it impossible to for us to reach them efficiently. We may elect to skip any windows where access is a problem.
–Screens: We are proficient at removing them to clean the windows. Many come from the factory too large to be removed easily. There’s always a risk of bending them in this case. If you don’t remove your screens, we will do it for you, but we won’t be held responsible for any damage that may occur. And sometimes they are damaged (like broken corners, bends, ripped screening material) from a previous company or homeowner.
–Pet Hair: In the case of animal hair please have working areas vacuumed and cleaned up from loose hair, as we prefer to not have it on our persons, we prefer not to take it home with us or to other clients homes, or on our equipment as it causes streaks while cleaning windows. If areas are not properly prepared for our technicians areas will be skipped and deducted from the bill.
–Skylights are not always accessible inside or outside. Our technicians will have to assess the situation on site to if they can be reached safely without marking up any of the inside walls, as well as confirming that they can be safely reached on the outside.
→Outside Only Specifically
–Outside Only Window Cleaning: If you are not home, there is the possibility that the screens only come off in toward the interior of the house. This is rare, and you will likely know about this already, unless you’re new to your home and haven’t found out. In these cases, prior to our arrival, you’ll need to remove the screens on the windows in question. If you are home and don’t feel comfortable doing it, we can come inside to remove them, but there will likely be an extra charge, as it takes more time, and most customers want us to come back in after the cleaning, to put the screens back on.
→Gutter Cleaning
Gutter cleaning, debris removal/gutter face cleaning
-Debris disposal: If we are cleaning out your gutters there will be leaves, muck, and pine needles. Most customers have a Yard Waste Bin that gets emptied every week or two. And that is the default place we will put the debris. Please have it in plain sight, or leave us a note on where you’d like the debris placed. If your property is left in a more natural state, we can also scatter the debris in the bushes.
–Access to water: please be sure that the exterior water spigots are turned on for clean up. (some are turned off for the winter to avoid freeze damage, usually garage water spigots)
–Freezing weather (we don’t clean frozen gutter debris). Even if the temperature rises during the day above freezing, we often find the gutters will not fully thaw out from the low temperatures of the previous night.
Snow and frost usually leads to rescheduling.
→Pressure washing
-Please have all surfaces free and clear of all personal items such as patio furniture, flower pots, mats, etc. by the date and time of appointment, leaving items for technician to move can lead to additional charges. If an item is too heavy or too large to move leave it in place and we will work around it.
-Occasionally while pressure washing, low spots where water collects can sometimes be hard to remove. In this case we do our best to remove the standing water and debris but it’s not always perfect, or possible. This can end up leaving sediment behind
-Pressure washing only removes organic growth and dirt, and does not remove oil, rust, and other hard to remove stains etc.
-Wood (decks) or Asphalt (driveways) requires a written waver
→Soft Wash
-Soft washing is the best way to effectively kill moss, mildew, mold, algae, lichen and brighten up the appearance of your home/roof without damaging the shingles or siding and voiding any warranty. The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association recommends low-pressure bleach or detergent assisted washing as the preferred method for cleaning asphalt roofs in order to prevent damage to the shingles. In addition soft washing is an excellent way to keep the siding on your home clean also!
-Soft washing will typically last 2-5 years, but this varies depending on the condition of your home and the amount of rainfall in your area.
-This method does not remove moss or lichen. But the treatment will kill it. As nature takes its course it will wither and crumble away over time. See later in this section for more information.
-While sodium hypochlorite is the main detergent used for cleaning siding/roofs, it’s also a bleach product, as well as the most widely used method of cleaning homes. However overspray is something that can’t be avoided, in most cases this is not a problem. We do suggest that if there’s any materials around your home such as decorations, furniture, fabrics, etc. that you would like to protect that you do so by removing them to a safe area.
-It is the customers responsibility to remove or tarp any items they would like to protect from the overspray of the cleaning. If items are left for technician to move an additional charge may occur.
-Please make sure all your windows are closed
-We assume that your home is properly sealed and watertight and do not take responsibility for unforeseen water intrusion and damage. Please make us aware of any areas you have any concerns about.
-Organic Paint: There have been some strange advancements in paint recently. In some rare cases, for reasons unknown, some paint suppliers have added organic pigments to exterior paint products. It tends to be a recent phenomenon and it affects mostly blues and some greens. While we typically test a small area first when we see these colors on your house, we can not predict the results. We strongly suggest you contact the paint supplier to verify that your paint does not contain organic pigments. The reaction of these pigments with sodium hypochlorite is unsightly. Sodium Hypochlorite is the industry standard for cleaning composition roofs and the vast majority of home siding products. We as a company have not run into this problem in the Northwest yet. But by hiring us to wash your house or roof, you release us of all liability of unsightly results due to the presence of organic pigments on your property.
-Soft washing should be done when the rain is not extremely heavy and there is no excessive wind. When scheduling we will do our best to pick the best day suitable for the cleaning. If heavy rain or excessive wind or both end up being present rescheduling may be necessary.
–Note: Soft washing kills and destroys organic growth, it does not remove rust and oil stains etc. It will kill moss. But in most cases, the moss will turn white. At this point, it is no longer a threat to your roof. The potential moss damage has been stopped in its tracks. It can take 6-24 months for the dead moss to wither way. If you are concerned about the dead moss that remains after treatment, we can attempt removal with a powerful leaf blower, charged separately, after we allow for time and weather loosen up the dead moss. But we recommend waiting for nature to run its course, for cost effectiveness.
Shake roof specifics
Shake roofs are a wood product. If they have lost some/all of their stain, or have grown discolored due to algae, mildew, etc… Then chemicals have the potential to clean them up a bit. We don’t offer Shake Roof cleaning. But if we clean siding or gutter faces, the runoff has a chance to clean up some shingles. There is a small chance, with or without mitigation factors, that it will look patchy to some degree. We take precautions to wet the Shake surfaces before, during, and after application. This is usually enough to prevent any noticeable issues. But there is always a chance that Shake roof shingles can become clean in some areas, and not in others. Some clients may notice this, and so we have to mention the possibility, as we won’t be cleaning the whole roof to blend it in… If this small risk is unacceptable to you, then please don’t have anyone use Sodium Hypochlorite to clean your siding or gutter faces. In most cases it is not an issue. But we have to mention this, for liability sake…