Window cleaning is a Mother’s Day gift that lasts

How much time will you spend thinking about what to buy Mom on Mother’s Day? Your schedule is busy but you would still like to give her something special, right? How about something different? How about something she wouldn’t expect? How about window cleaning for Mother’s Day?

Think about all that Mom has done for you over the years: the cuts she bandaged, always followed by ‘a kiss to make it better’; the way she supported your dreams, chased away your nightmares and brought a smile to your face when you were sad, the favorite cookies she baked for you, the way she stayed awake watching out the window until you came home late at night.

Mom has always been there for you. The biggest problem with Mother’s Day is that it only comes one day each year. In a real sense, every day should be Mother’s Day.

Considering all Mom has done for you over the years, don’t you want to go beyond the candy and flowers? Candy and flowers are great. Mom loves them. But, do they go far enough to tell her how special she is to you?

The candy will last a few days. The flowers may last a little longer. During that time, they’ll remind Mom of how you thought of her and they’ll bring a smile to her face. This is why window cleaning is such an excellent gift for mom for Mother’s Day.

Those dirty windows are a nuisance. Mom doesn’t think about them constantly. But, every time she looks out the window, she can’t help but notice a winter’s worth of dirt, streaks, and spots on the glass.

With window cleaning as a Mother’s Day gift, there’s that initial stark difference between the dirty windows and the clean that she’ll love. But, she’ll have clean windows to love and appreciate long after she initially received the gift. And, just as the flowers and candy will remind her of your love for her, every time she looks out her clean windows, she’ll be reminded of your love again.

It’s not to say you shouldn’t give mom candy and flowers on Mother’s Day. If you live nearby, you’ll probably want to take her out for dinner on that special day, too. But, window cleaning is a Mother’s Day gift that will extend the holiday and the expression of your love for days to come.

Are cleaning the gutters and cleaning the windows on your Spring Cleaning To-Do List?

Spring is upon us and we all know what that means – Spring Cleaning! That’s why you’re rousting your husband and the kids from bed early one Saturday morning. That’s why you’ve got a comprehensive To-Do List, with specific duties for each member of the family. But, who will you assign to clean the windows?

Spring cleaning is a way of sweeping the dirt, and stale air out of the house after a winter’s worth of cabin fever. It can leave you feeling fresh and clean. It’s invigorating. It provides a rebirth of energy and optimism. And, cleaning the windows is a critical part of the process.

If the windows aren’t cleaned right – if they have streaks, spots or someone didn’t get all the way into the corners – those half-dirty windows will nag at you every time you look out the window while spoiling your sense that you’ve done a thorough Spring Cleaning. Instead of looking out into the yard at the flowers budding up from the ground, and robins building their nests, you’ll look through the dirt, streaks, and spots that were left behind when your windows were not cleaned properly.

So, you realize the importance of cleaning the windows and cleaning them properly. But, when you bring the subject up, your husband has a problem with the idea.

“Before we clean the windows, we need to clean the gutters.”

When he points out that you have to clean the gutters, you look at your list knowing in advance that cleaning the gutters isn’t there. You show your husband the list and point out that cleaning the gutters isn’t on the list. But, he stubbornly persists: “We have to clean the gutters before we clean the windows.”

Don’t look so surprised; he’s right. The process of cleaning the gutters will result in old leaves, shingle gravel, dirt and what not falling onto the windows. If you clean the windows before you clean the gutters, you’ll just have to clean the outside of the windows all over again.

You ask the logical question: “Why don’t we skip cleaning the gutters for now” and your husband has an answer to that question, too.

“If we don’t clean the gutters, rainwater will back up and come over the edges of the gutters rather than going into the downspouts. Then, the windows will get dirty anyhow.”

Now you're stuck with two dilemmas: 1. Who can clean the gutters without falling off a ladder and, 2. Who can clean the windows properly, so they don’t spoil all your and family’s efforts with Spring Cleaning? Maybe it’s better to call in professionals for the windows and gutters so the jobs are done safely and they’re cleaned right. You and the family have enough Spring Cleaning to do anyway.

How do you safely take the holiday lights down or should you call in professionals?

Those holiday lights sparkled wonderfully
during the holidays but when are you going
to take them down and how will you do it
safely?

They’ve twinkled with the spirit of the holiday, but the holiday is past. Now, the neighbors are beginning to wonder when you plan to take them down. Unfortunately, those Christmas lights just won’t take themselves down, neatly pack themselves in a box and store themselves in the basement or attic where they’ll patiently wait for the holiday to return.

If the holiday lights are coming down, you’ll have to do something about it; you’ll have to get out there on a ladder and take them down. Or, you could ask your husband, “Can you take the holiday lights down already?” Another option is to hire a professional to take the lights down, then safely and neatly store them so they're ready to go back up for Christmas 2018.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume you choose to take them down yourself (or send your husband out to do it).

The first thing to do is to make sure the ladder is set up safely – on solid and level ground, extending three-feet past the roof and with the feet back by a ratio of 4:1 (i.e., 5 feet back if the ladder is resting against a point 20 feet in the air).

The problem this time of year is that the ground is often buried under snow; finding a solid and level place to set up the ladder requires clearing away some snow. Then, since snow is made of crystalized water, there is a distinct possibility that the ground will be soft. You don’t want one leg of the ladder to start sinking into the ground while you (or your husband) are 20-feet up.

You also want to dress appropriately. This is a challenge since, as cold as it gets this time of year, you’ll probably want to bundle up with layers. Bulky clothes may keep you warm but they’re problematic when negotiating your way up and down on a ladder. They can get in the way. They can snag on the ladder.

In any case, if you want to do it yourself, or send your husband up on the ladder, that’s an option. Still, another option is to have someone else handle it for you unless you want to wait until June to take the lights down.

At NIW this is a time of year for thanks, and we have many blessings

Thank you!

Another Thanksgiving is upon us and, with it, another opportunity to reflect on our reasons for gratitude. Here at Northern Illinois Windows, we have a lot to be thankful for. First and foremost, we’re grateful for our customers – those who have invited us out and trusted us to clean their windows, clean their gutters, install window film on their windows or install their holiday lights.

Our customers are the reason Northern Illinois Windows exist. They’re the purpose of our business. They’re the lifeblood of our business. And, each time you invite us to provide our services, you offer us an opportunity to shine. We thank you for that opportunity and strive to make the most of it.

We are thankful for all the testimonials we receive. These are more valuable than all the marketing and advertising in the world. We like to remind ourselves that our work gives our customers a clear perspective on their world. When they look through clean windows and are pleased with the difference, we have lived up to our goals and their expectations.

We’re also grateful for the window-cleaning technicians who make up our crews that go out, usually, six days a week, to clean those windows and gutters, and install that 3M window film or install those holiday lights. Our crews go out in the rain. They go out in the burning sun. They go out in the cold (yes, we clean windows in temperatures below zero).

We believe we have the best crews at Northern Illinois Windows. We demand the best and our goal is to reward excellence. We try to create an atmosphere where our crew members are inspired to do their best to ensure the full satisfaction of our customers. But, we have wonderful crews at Northern Illinois Windows because we’ve had the good fortune to hire some of the best workers in the industry.

We’re grateful for family and friends. And, we’re grateful to live in the best country in the world where the entrepreneurial spirit is rewarded with the opportunity for those who are willing to work for success. We’re in our 26th year of cleaning windows and gutters, installing window film and holiday lights. Surely, that proves just how blessed we are.

And so, at this special time of year, we would like to say Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving. We hope the joy of this holiday carries on to a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, as well.

Could Cpt. Kirk have used shields to keep the leaves out of his gutters?

Aboard the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, you might hear Cpt. Kirk giving the order, “Full power to the shields, Mister Scott.” With any luck, the hypothetical spaceship’s shields would repel the proton torpedoes that a Romulan Starship had fired. Well, if they can create a force field to protect a spaceship, how hard would it be to create a force field to keep leaves out of your gutters and downspouts?

Imagine you’re looking out the window in mid-October and you notice that the leaves are starting to fall. You turn to your husband and say, “I think it’s time to deploy the gutter shields.”

“What power do you want?” he asks.

And you tell him, “Full power to the shields. We’ll keep those leafy invaders out of our gutters.”

Of course, force fields are currently a product of imagination. The leaves falling from trees around your home, however, are very real. And, while less explosive than a Romulan proton torpedo, they can cause damage to your mothership – your home.

It’s not the leaves themselves that do the damage, it’s the water. Any time of the year, if your gutters are clogged, water can back up and sneak under your home’s shingles. Diabolically, some might say, the leaves come down to clog gutters just before winter sets in. It’s as though a Klingon High Council plotted to arrange a perfect storm that would leave your roof and roof structure in tatters.

How does this fiendish plot play out? With cruel simplicity. In the Spring, buds appear on trees. Over the summer, those buds turn to bushy bunches of leaves. Then, in the Autumn, the leaves fall from the trees. They fall in such abundance that, though many land on the ground, where you have to rake them, there is enough left over to fill your gutters and clog your downspouts.

Then, with your gutters clogged, Winter brings snow and ice. The snow builds up on your roof, which radiates heat that melts the lower layers of snow and ice. Unable to wash down the gutters and downspouts, because of the leaves, the water backs up the roof. That’s not the direction water is expected to go on a roof.

Roofing is designed to shed water as it flows down. But, when the water rolls up, it can roll right up under the shingles where it invades your home while rotting the plywood under the shingles. It can cause substantial damage.

The solution, since force fields haven’t actually been invented yet, is to clean your gutters. You could send your husband up on a ladder where, hopefully, he won’t fall and break his neck. Or, you could send out a desperate message to the Federation Starship Enterprise to swing by and use its lasers to destroy the leaves. Of course, that’s only an imaginary option (sorry, Trekkies). The other option is to hire some professionals who know how to safely climb ladders and have proper insurance in case the unexpected happens.

Is there a difference between cleaning windows with wood or vinyl frames?

Is there a difference between cleaning windows with
wooden window frames and windows with vinyl
window frames?

Glass is glass. So, when it comes to cleaning a window with a wood frame, or a window with a vinyl frame, the glass really won’t care. Is that to say there isn’t any difference? Not exactly.

In both cases, you’ll want to wipe the frames clean and dry. Who wants a clean window in a dirty frame? But, it’s also a matter of removing moisture from the frame. In the case, of the vinyl framed window, the biggest concern is spotting. If you don’t wipe that moisture away it will dry and leave spots.

Water can have a more damaging effect on a wood window frame. Moisture softens wood. It invades wood. It inspires mold and rot in wood. This is why it’s essential to paint and/or seal the wood frames of your windows. After all, they won’t just experience moisture when you wash your windows; they’ll also experience moisture from rain, snow, dew and that dew can also appear on the inside of your windows.

On the inside of your windows, that dew is called condensation. Of course, the moisture doesn’t care what it’s called. It will insidiously rob your wood window frames of their integrity if you’re not careful. Careful means sealing and/or painting your wood window frames with sufficient regularity. It also means wiping off moisture that collects on your windows, whether that moisture appears from the skies, from the atmosphere or from a squeegee wiping soapy water from the windows during the cleaning process.

Sometimes, wood frames are more of a hassle to clean. This is the case when the glass is divided by what are called ‘true divides.’ True divides are what you find in windows that are made up of smaller pieces of glass with frames built into the overall frame of a window. While you might find this with vinyl windows it’s rather rare. Instead, with vinyl windows, the appearance of ‘true divides’ is achieved by putting dividers in between the sheets of glass in a thermal-pane window. You have two full sheets of glass sandwiched over directive dividers.

With wood true divides, each piece of glass has to be cleaned individually. Then you have more frames to wipe and dry, and that can be a real pain.

How could something so beautiful be such a pane – those leaves will clog your gutters

Some folks will pile in the car and drive up to Door County, and other heavily wooded areas, to see the splendor of the varied shades of autumn leaves this time of year. Reds, yellows, oranges, purples, browns, greens, magentas: these are some of the colors that replace the almost universal green of summer leaves. They’re beautiful but the changing colors signify the changing of seasons and the falling of those leaves.

As the leaves come down they must land somewhere. They may land on the ground. This causes a rash of rakes to fly into the hands of homeowners who are coerced to join an army of yard-raking laborers. As inconvenient as that is, it’s not as bad as the leaves that get caught by gutters before the leaves can hit the ground.

You might tell yourself, ‘Well, if they don’t hit the ground, I don’t have to rake them.’ If that was the entire story, it would be a wonderful tale of increased leisure. But that’s not what it is. It’s not a good thing that your gutters catch a bunch of leaves before they hit the ground.

Autumn leaves that fill up gutters can cause substantial damage to your home. The gutters play a vital role in protecting your home. They channel the water that comes off your roof through downspouts and away from your foundation. Without gutters and downspouts, water comes straight off the roof and can find its way into your basement.

When your gutters are full of leaves, however, they conspire with elements of the next season – winter. In the wintertime, the water comes down as snow. As the snow piles up on your roof, the heat coming through your roof from your home can melt some of the snow or ice. Not a problem – your gutters will carry the water away. But your gutters are full of leaves.

With leaves clogging your gutters, the water builds up on your roof. ‘Building up’ is a contrary condition for the way your shingles were designed. Your roof shingles are designed to shed water as it comes down from clouds in the sky. But, water building up from a clogged gutter can work its way under the shingles. Instead of protecting the house from the water, water building up from clogged gutters gets in.

As the water comes in, it can rot the plywood sheets under the shingles. Then, it can move down into the insulation. When the insulation gets wet it loses most of its effectiveness. Now, more heat is coming up through the roof, more snow, or ice, is melting, and more water is coming in. Your gutters have started a vicious cycle. And all because those beautiful leaves clogged your gutters.

The solution is simple – clean the leaves out of your gutter. But, better than climbing a ladder yourself, or sending someone you love up that ladder, you might want to call in professionals to clean your gutters.