For a typical single-story South Florida home with exterior glass only, think in terms of 1–2 hours. A small storefront often takes under 1 hour. A large 2-story home with interior glass, screens, and tracks in the scope can fill 4–5 hours. The spread is wide because the work is not really about counting windows, it is about what each window needs.
What adds the most time to a visit?
Pane count is only the starting point. Access is the bigger factor: glass over a pool cage, above a steep grade, or behind dense landscaping takes several times longer than the same pane at chest height. Interior work roughly doubles the touches per window and adds the careful movement around furniture and floors.
Add-ons carry real minutes too. Screens have to come off, get washed, dry, and go back on, which across a whole house commonly adds 1 hour or more. Tracks full of years of grit take real time to detail properly, often a few minutes per window rather than a quick wipe. None of this is padding; it is why 2 quotes for the same house can describe visits of very different lengths, as covered in do you clean interior and exterior windows.
Does the condition of the glass change the time?
Significantly. Glass that gets cleaned on a schedule, say every 3 months, releases dirt quickly. A first visit after 2–3 years of skipped maintenance runs noticeably longer, sometimes 50% or more over a maintained visit, because film that has bonded to the glass needs repeated passes instead of 1.
And if sprinklers have left bonded mineral deposits, those spots do not come off with routine cleaning at all. They need a separate water spot removal treatment, which we would identify during the walkthrough rather than burning time fighting them with the wrong method.
Why not just quote hours over the phone?
Because a neighbor’s 2-hour house tells you about their house, not yours. Different pane count, different access, different condition, different scope. When we give you an estimate, we give you a scheduling window based on your actual property and scope, not a number recycled from a different home. A phone guess that misses by 2 hours helps nobody, so we would rather look first and schedule honestly.
One practical tip: the visit goes faster and the price stays predictable when the crew can reach the glass. Unlock the side gate, trim the hedge away from the problem window if you can, and clear the sills inside if interior glass is on the list. Those 10 minutes of preparation can save 30 or more on the clock.
Related questions
- Do you clean interior and exterior windows? ; Yes. Exterior, interior, or both, with frames and sills included and screen cleaning available.
- Is professional window cleaning worth it? ; It can be valuable when access, time, glass condition, or a consistent finish makes do-it-yourself work impractical.
Explore all services or browse every exterior cleaning answer.
Reviewed .