Snow or not – there’s still time to clean your gutters

As the snow melts, water can work its way up

under the shingles and cause significant

damage to your roof. Thankfully, you can still

have your gutters cleaned.

Are your gutters making you a little bit nervous after several accumulations of snow here in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin? It’s not that the snow would have melted away already. But, since you didn’t have the gutters cleaned before winter weather set in, you may actually see a little sag in the gutters.

Of course, there isn’t anything you can do about it now, right? You’ll just have to wait for spring to roll around. WRONG!!!

And that’s not a good idea. Clogged gutters can allow melting snow to climb up and under your roof’s shingles. That could turn into a very expensive problem.

You can also have gutter

guards installed.

The good news is that there are companies, such as Northern Illinois Windows, who clean gutters and won’t allow a little thing like snow to get in the way. They’ll even install gutter guards this time of year.

Yes, it’s easier to clean the gutters before the snow arrives but they can still be cleaned after the snow flies.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

At this festive time of year, here at Northern Illinois Windows, we like to reflect on how thankful we are to have such wonderful customers who have trusted us to clean their windows, clean their gutters, install holiday lighting and/or apply window tinting. We are proud to have earned your trust.

While we stand ready to continue earning your trust, we would like to take this time to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Our hope is that the holiday brings you all the blessings you could wish for and a 2026 that will stand out as a wonderful year to remember.

Clean windows in winter are good for your body and your mind

Winter often offers a spectacular view out your

windows. Don't spoil that view with dirty

windows. Clean windows provide the best

possible view and other healthy benefits, too.

As the temperature change has finally caught up with Autumn, we’ll start bundling up before we go outdoors. On the other hand, we’ll also spend more time indoors in the colder months. Even those who enjoy winter activities, tend to spend less time outdoors as winter approaches.

As we’re driven indoors by the cold and inclement weather, the interior confines begin to take a toll on our states of mind. They call it cabin fever. By the time Spring rolls around, most of us are almost desperate to escape into the outdoors. But, until that time arrives, we have to cope.

It helps to cope if we don’t feel too cramped and confined. Beyond going outdoors when we can and it’s reasonable to do so, creating a comfortable environment indoors will help us to survive the colder seasons with a degree of sanity intact.

Hot cocoa and Autumn soups will help. Keeping the house clean and uncluttered will help. Having a pleasant view of the outdoors will go a long way toward improving your state of mind.

You can hang a Currier & Ives painting on the wall but why bother when you have the potential for the real thing right outside your windows?

When a fresh coat of snow drapes itself across the landscape, the pristine winter scene that greets your eyes can bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart. But don’t spoil that view with dirty windows. 

Another challenge of Autumn and winter is that the days grow shorter. That means we enjoy less sunlight, and sunlight is important both physically and mentally.

According to Dr. Charles Garven, in a Cleveland Clinic article, “More than 90% of our vitamin D comes from sunlight exposure. The skin absorbs ultraviolet-B rays, which triggers the conversion of a cholesterol molecule in the skin into vitamin D3.”

This gives us:

• Strong bones
• A healthy immune system
• Better mood
• Cardiovascular health
• Better Muscle function

Keeping our windows clean, therefore, will help us take advantage of the sunlight we receive when sunlight is reduced by the seasons. In other words, clean windows are good for your mood and your body.

Riding snowmobiles or watching, don’t spoil winter’s wonderland with dirty windows

Northern Illinois can provide a winter wonderland that
snowmobilers just love. But, whether you're out on the trails
on your sled, or watching other riders go by, don't allow
dirty windows to spoil your view of winter's wonderland.

Like it or not, winter is just around the bend. Then again, maybe you’re one of those who love winter. You love the crisp cold air, ice fishing, skiing and snowmobiling. It’s even possible that winter is your favorite time of year. With the approach of winter, you’re busy waxing up your skis, getting your ice-fishing gear ready and tuning up the snowmobile.

Another reason to love winter – one that even those who aren’t as enthusiastic about the season can enjoy – is the opportunity for winter vistas to adore from the warmth of your home while looking out the windows on a freshly fallen snow.

 Snowmobilers see that blanket of white and their hearts begin to pound, their palms itch and all they can think about is getting out on the trails on their sled. But even they might pause to appreciate winter’s panorama.

There is one potential problem when it comes to relishing the visual splendor of winter – dirty windows.

A scenic winter landscape just isn’t the same when you witness it through dirt-smeared glass. When the glass is clean, you can almost get the feeling that you’re gazing upon a Norman Rockwell painting. With a hot cup of cocoa, a book and a comfy chair, you can recline and relax in utter tranquility.

But, even if you’re heading out on the ice to drill a hole in the ice and catch some fish, or you’re loading the skis on the ski rack and heading out to the slopes, or revving up the snowmobile to catch that white wave, it’s nice to know you’ll come home to clean windows when your outdoor adventures are done for the day.

Clean windows in winter are an asset for businesses, too. Why wouldn’t a business want to provide its clients with a vision of winter splendor? It’s waiting outside, why not make the most of it?

Whether you love winter or prefer to hibernate through the season, clean windows will enhance the view of winter’s pageantry.

Don’t let clogged gutters spoil your appreciation of Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin autumn splendor

These folks don't have to worry

about clogged gutters on their 

Northern Illinois home; they have

gutter guards. For those who don't

have gutter guards, there are

professionals who can clean your

gutters while keeping you safely

off of ladders.

Aren’t the autumn leaves in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin beautiful. We should all take some time to relax and appreciate nature’s splendor, shouldn’t we?

Of course, it’s a little difficult to have unfettered appreciation for those red, orange, yellow and brown leaves when they’re clogging your gutters.

When you think about climbing a ladder and scooping them out of the gutter, that appreciation is likely to dissipate quickly. That’s especially true when you think about having to repeatedly climb up and down the ladder while moving it in between. And it won’t help when you come to realize that those pretty leaves can stick to things when they’re wet, including the inside of the gutter and your gloves.

After a while, gutter-dwelling leaves almost seem to create a kind of gluttonous mess that is downright unpleasant.

It doesn’t help to remind yourself that cleaning the gutters is a task that comes with every autumn. If only you could alleviate yourself from the burden of cleaning the gutters, the worry of falling from a ladder, you could fully appreciate the grandeur of autumn.

The good news is that such an option is readily available. Rather than enduring the inconvenience and risk associated with cleaning your own gutters, you can bring in professionals who, with a quality company, clean your gutters professionally and completely. 

And when they’re done, you’ll have no mess to spoil the view around your home.

Even better yet, with the established gutter cleaning companies, you can schedule to have them come out every year at the appropriate time to leave your gutters clean and prepared for the winter ahead.

Covering your gutters offers an annual solution

Another way to avoid the annual distraction of cleaning the gutters, you can also have guards put on your gutters to keep the leaves out in the first place. You’ll be able to enjoy autumn’s beauty without the slightest worry about leaves clogging your gutters.

Remember, with clogged gutters, thawing ice can push water back up under your shingles and damage your roof. This makes gutter cleaning more than a trivial matter.

Is having your kitchen staff clean windows an efficient use of their time, or your money?

Is it an efficient use of your staff's time
to have them clean your restaurant's
windows?

What restaurant owner isn’t thrilled when a family of eight or more come in to celebrate the birthday of one in their group? A celebration, such as that, tends to prompt a lax fiscal mentality that includes more appetizers and, definitely, dessert. But you want the service to bolster the festive nature of the event. What if it doesn’t?

For instance, what if they are left waiting too long for service. What if the joyous conversation is interrupted by someone asking, “When are they going to come take our orders?” This is not a good time for diners to notice waitstaff standing about idly or even doing chores that could be done at other times.

Imagine if members of that group are beginning to glance at their watches because their meals have yet to arrive while they see a waitress washing windows. It’s not hard to visualize someone in the group commenting, “Couldn’t they be helping to get our orders out rather than washing windows right now?”

It’s not that clean windows aren’t important for an establishment that serves food and drinks; they are. Clean windows are vital when it comes to presenting an eatery or café in a light that suggests cleanliness that extends to food preparation areas. Diners like the idea that their food will be served in a clean and hygienically safe environment. But is having the staff clean the windows an effective use of their time?

When it comes to cleaning windows, restaurant managers may choose the less experienced members of the waitstaff for the job. But wouldn’t their time be better used learning the ropes of taking orders, promptly communicating the customers’ wishes to the kitchen staff and efficiently serving orders?

It takes time for a waiter or waitress to learn the menu and all the nuances involved in filling orders while addressing special needs of some diners. Mostly likely, they also need to learn your POS system, as well. And how many on your staff are really qualified to clean windows.

Cleaning windows isn’t just about getting the dirt off the glass; it’s also about avoiding streaks and not making a mess in the process. Hopefully, the employees who run your restaurant are professionals who know what they’re doing. It’s a bit much to expect their expertise to extend to window cleaning, too.

And how long will it take them to clean your windows? It’s not their primary job. You can’t expect them to complete the window cleaning as promptly as you expect them to take orders. But those who clean windows professionally know what they’re doing.

When a professional window cleaner is done cleaning your windows, the windows are clean, there are no streaks and no mess. And they don’t take all day getting the job done.

Are your windows and walls giving dirty looks to potential customers

Consciously or subconsciously, potential customers are
likely to notice if the windows and walls of your business
are clean or dirty. And what they see outside is likely to
influence their impression of what they'll see inside.

Have you ever seen a scowl or a dirty look on someone’s face as they entered a business? Could it be they’re only returning the dirty look your business gave them on the way in? Unfortunately, that’s the kind of dirty look that could have potential customers walking on by.

The first impression a potential customer has of a business is based on what they see of the exterior of the building. This is especially critical for a company that sells food where a dirty look can even change a potential diner’s appetite. But it really applies to all businesses.

People are particular about what they eat. With a restaurant, they want their food prepared in a clean kitchen and served on clean plates and bowls. Customers will send back a fork that isn’t clean. Any hint that the food is prepared in a dirty kitchen is sure to earn a dirty look from the customer. 

Restaurant owners go to pains to keep their kitchens clean only partially because the health department has codes requiring it. The health department doesn’t inspect a restaurant every day but diners do.

Keep in mind that the health department doesn’t inspect restaurants, diners, cafés and other eateries out of aesthetic concerns. The health department conducts inspections of these establishments because an unclean eatery is likely to be an unhealthy eatery. And this brings us back to the external appearance of a restaurant or café.

Clean windows and walls speak volumes about the quality you offer your customers

The prominent aspects of the outside of businesses are the windows and walls. If the windows aren’t clean, they might prompt dirty looks from potential customers. The same goes for the walls. There are those who won’t give it a conscious thought. But their subconscious may return the dirty look reflected on dirty windows.

Window cleaning and power washing have the miraculous ability to wipe away dirty looks, the kinds of dirty looks that turn diners and customers away from a restaurant or business.

If the presentation outside the business demonstrates a conscientious effort to present a good impression, most diners and customers will assume that such an attitude carries through to the products and services provided inside. Dirty looks are as unlikely inside as they are outside.

Window washing and power washing are both dirty look eliminators. 

Wedding Party, Graduation Party, Birthday Party or a simple BBQ:

Window cleaning and power washing help, whatever you’re celebrating

Summer time is party time. As your backyard

becomes the outdoor party room, make sure

the house is presentable. You may want to

consider power washing and window cleaning.

There’s so much to do you don’t know where to turn next. But all those preparations aren’t going to take care of themselves. Whether it’s a wedding party, a graduation party, a birthday party or simply a barbeque get-together, you want everything to go off without a hitch. And you want the house to look its best – and that includes clean windows, doesn’t it?

Do you have invitations to send out? Do you need to rent tables and chairs? Do you need to rent a tent, chafing dishes, bouncing houses and/or games? Where will you set everything up? 

Of course, before you put one stake in the ground for the tent or a bouncy house, place tables and chairs anywhere in the yard, you’ll need to cut the grass and clean up the yard. And you’ll want the house to be spotless, inside and out, won’t you?

If you’ve straightened up inside, vacuumed and dusted, shined the silver and polished the glassware, that’s a good start. But, if all that is done, and the windows are dirty, those windows will standout like sore thumbs all around the house.

Windows are generally transparent. Therefore, they’ll need to be cleaned indoors and outdoors. 

While looking at the windows from the outside, you may notice that the siding around the windows is none too clean either. Essentially, the house needs a bath before the party begins.

With all you have to do, why add cleaning windows and bathing the house to your to-do list? A much better idea is to call in the pros.

Professionals will do a streak-free job of cleaning your windows. And, with power washing, your home will look so nice you’ll enjoy the appearance long after the party is over. Same thing with those clean windows.

Whatever your celebrating, clean windows and siding will go a long way to presenting your home the way you want friends and family to see it.