It has been awhile since the exterior windows have been washed, and it seems like the right time to do it. Winter is coming, but today is in the 70s and 80s and dry.
Looking at what we have done before (Nov 2014 and July 2020), we decided to use the same process. We used the Windex Outdoor. Listed at Home Depot as "32 fl oz Blue Bottle Outdoor Sprayer", $12.98.
But our notes suggest we will need two bottles. As fate would have it, we still have the (empty) spray bottle from the last time we washed windows, and Home Depot has "Windex 128 fl. oz. Outdoor Glass Cleaner Refill" which is good for 4 refills of the spray bottle for only $19.58. So we bought one of the 128 fl.oz. refills, and used only half of it (two of the 32 fl.oz. bottles), so we have enough left-overs for another washing, in about 5 years!
We started about 9AM, and by 11AM had all the exterior windows done. For each window, we first rinsed it, then soaped it, let it sit a bit, and then rinsed the soap off. Actually, we broke the windows up into groups, and rinsed them all, soaped them all, then went back and rinsed them all. That took about 200 gallons of water.
We left the screens on, so that we rinsed and soaped thru the screens. The idea is to wash the screen and the window.
Then we went back inside the house and, using a normal spray bottle of Windex and a clean rag, washed each window, inside and out. The windows are designed to be opened up into the house, both top and bottom, to allow inside and outside to be cleaned. This took hours just because of the number of windows involved.
1. Utility room window
2. Kitchen Breakfast Bay windows (4)
3. Media Room (Dining Room) windows (3)
4. Living Room windows (6)
5. Central Bathroom window
6. Back Bedroom windows (4)
7. Back Bathroom window
8. Guest Bedroom windows (2)
9. Computer Room windows (2)
10. Loft and fixed second story computer room window (2)
11. Master Closet window
12. Master Bath window
13. Master Bedroom windows (2)
14. Front door window and side window (2)
15. Library windows (2)
16. Garage door windows (4)
17. Garage window
This leaves out the Attic window, since we didn't wash it. That would make an even 40 windows. (Oops! Forgot the window in the door in the Back Bedroom. I guess that would be 41).
All the windows are supposed to open inside, to allow them to be cleaned both inside and outside, but one of the Living Room windows will not open. In fact it is so tight, it will not even slide up all the way. And for some windows, like the Living Room windows, the computer room windows, and the Library windows, it is easier to just pop the screens off and wash the outside from the outside.
All the water and soap spraying showed the windows to all be water tight. Only the exterior door for the back bedroom leaked water into the house.
One of the screens for the Master Bedroom windows has a small tear in the upper left (seen from the outside) -- probably a tree branch from one of the winter storms. The repair of the Master Bathroom window screen could use some repair.
Also the windows for the Back Bedroom, the Guest Bedroom, and the Computer room all seem to be fogging or spotting from either something like acid rain or a mineral deposit. Normal Windex is not clearing that up. The windows on the south and east side of the house do not seem to be showing this, so it could be the windows that are more exposed to the weather or different glass properties in the windows replaced at different times.
