Blog Archives - Lake State Cleaning

House Washing- What to expect.

Why should I have Lake State Cleaning soft wash my house?

The condition of your home’s siding can make or break it’s curb appeal. Green stains caused by algae, cobwebs, dirt and debris can all significantly detract from the beauty of your home. Lake State Cleaning employs the use a low pressure, soft wash method to safely and effectively clean your home’s siding. The results are immediate, dramatic and long lasting!

What do I need to do to be ready for my house washing service?

We just need a few simple things from you prior to your service:

Please make sure all windows and doors are shut tightly and locked up. We wouldn’t want to get any water inside your house!
Please make sure your pets are inside during the service. We don’t offer pet bathing, so you’ll have to call someone else for that 🙂
We will need access to a functional exterior water source.
Your exterior windows will be rinsed with detergent and water as part of our cleaning process. House washing is NOT an adequate substitute for window cleaning. If you would like to talk about exterior window cleaning service, please give us a call or email and we can put a package together for you.

That’s pretty much it. So buckle up and prepare to be amazed at how awesome your home looks when we are done!

Wow! I would love a quote for house washing. How can I get one?

That’s easy. Just fill out our quick form below and we’ll get you a quote right away.

Which online reviews matter the most when choosing a service company?

When it’s time to make a purchase, what’s the first thing you do? If you are like me, you jump online to look at reviews. Wether it’s a product or service, the honest feedback of our peers is the single most reliable way to judge quality. According to one recent study, 88% of consumers now trust online reviews just as much as they do personal recommendations!

Online reviews are a great way to get a feel for the quality of experience you can expect from a given product, service or provider. But not all online reviews are created equal. When searching for online feedback, it makes the most sense to look at reviews that are as unbiased as possible.

Look at sites like Google, Bing and Amazon. These websites are free to join, require nothing of the reviewer other than that they log into their account, and offer no incentives that might skew a reviewer’s viewpoint. These sites also effectively move the best products and services to the top of the list for searchers. How so? A product or service’s ranking in the search results of these sites is based solely on the customer’s feedback. That’s not the case with other types of sites.

Rochester, MI's favorite window cleaning team.

Take Angie’s List, for instance. Angie’s List has become somewhat popular for homeowners who are looking for reliable home service providers. But Angie’s List search results may not give the consumer the unbiased results they are looking for. Sites like Angie’s, Yelp and Home Advisor are, in effect, “pay to play” companies. Why is that the case? Because these sites list companies who have paid (sometimes exorbitant) fees to appear higher in search results.

It works like this. The more a service company pays out in ad dollars, the higher they will rank in the results list. This effectively eliminates the naturally “organic” rankings that occur when no advertising dollars have to enter into the equation. A scenario is created wherein the best companies for any given service may not be shown at the top of search results or even on the first page! Instead, companies who have paid for advertising space will take up those top spots. So what the consumer gets is a list of the companies who have paid the most for the highest spots, a list that pushes great companies who aren’t willing to “pay to play” down and out of your view. Does that sound like a reliable way to find the best company? Who’s interests are being served in that case- you, the customer’s, or the website who’s trying to sell ad space? The answer is clear.

Consumers are best served when they can choose a company that’s been peer-reviewed without the built-in bias that advertising games create. This is where search engines like Google and Bing, and e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay, are superior. The reviews are unfiltered, unbiased and straight from the source.

Of course, a wise service provider will always maintain a strong online presence with every significant online review portal. They just may have to work harder to claim their rightful place at the top of the search results.

Window cleaning at 350 North Main, Royal Oak

Roof Cleaning and Power Washing in Bloomfield Hills

Your Bloomfield Hills home’s siding is vulnerable to algae, mold, mildew, cobwebs, dirt and a host of other nasty situations. What can you do if the exterior of your home needs to be power washed? You could try to do it yourself, but without the proper techniques and equipment, it could be an impossible project.

That’s where Lake State Cleaning comes in. We can quickly and affordably refresh your Birmingham MI home’s curb appeal with our soft-wash pressure washing method. It’s safe, effective and long lasting.

For pressure washing or power washing at your home or business in Oakland County, including such towns as Troy, Rochester Hills and Bloomfield Hills, gibe us a call today at 248-910-2500. We’ll help you get it clean!

Surface pressure washing in Bloomfield Hills, MI

As a Bloomfield Hills homeowner, your probably try you best to keep up with your property. Sometimes that may involve the need for a pressure washer. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to get your hands on quality equipment to do the job.

The proper tools make all the difference when it comes to pressure washing. A professional contractor has the edge when it comes to getting difficult jobs done quickly and efficiently. That’s why Lake State Cleaning has invested in the best equipment available for pressure washing.

One simple phone call can turn your all-day Troy, MI pressure washing project into a relaxing afternoon. How? By turning the project over to us! Lake State Cleaning can get your power washing job done quickly and affordably. What can you do with all the extra time? Well, you could go golfing at one of the many beautiful courses in Oakland County!

For pressure washing in Troy, Birmingham, Rochester or any other city in Oakland County, call us and we’ll help you get it clean!

Surface pressure washing Bloomfield Hills, MI

Post-Construction Window Cleaning Project in Saleen, MI

We were contracted to perform a final window clean on this new custom home in Saleen, MI. It’s a contemporary design with many large picture windows. Although it was cold out, we finished the project on time. The window cleaning turned out great.

Saleen, MI is about an hour outside of our normal window cleaning service area. So why did we travel so far? Well, the general contractor on this project, Thomas Sebold & Associates, uses Lake State Cleaning as it’s exclusive window cleaning contractor. We’ve been their go-to company since 1999. Because of this long-term relationship, we are happy to go the extra mile for our loyal client. We are proud to work with such a well-respected builder, and they are always pleased with our results.

Post-Construction Window Cleaning in Michigan

We had the opportunity to provide post-construction window cleaning for a builder in Royal Oak, Michigan last week. J. Williams Construction is a luxury home builder/renovator base in Troy, MI. They have used us for window cleaning and pressure washing on all of their projects over the last several years.

This particular job involved a full scale remodel of a small bungalow-style home. Many of the the windows were replace with new ones, but some of the old glass was kept. We were responsible for removing construction debris, paint overspray, stickers and drywall mud from the glass and window frames.

Lake State Cleaning specializes in this difficult form of window cleaning. There are many challenges that come along with post-construction restoration of glass. The proper tools and techniques must always be used or damaged glass is a real risk.

We’ve been the exclusive window cleaning provider for a number of high-end commercial and residential builders for over a decade. Over the coming months we’ll be providing this specialized kind of window cleaning on projects in Birmingham, MI, Bloomfield Hills, MI and Orchard Lake, MI.

If you are a builder in search of a reliable, experienced post-construction window cleaning company, give us a call. We have a number of references we can provide, so you’ll be able to get honest testimonials from others in your business about our work. If you are a homeowner or business owner in the midst of a project, ask your builder to give us a call. We promise you’ll both be glad you did.

: A new window covered with dirt and debris from the construction process.

: After post-construction window cleaning, the view is much better!

The Properly Insured Window Cleaner

When you first start a service business, there is a laundry list of choices to make. What business name should I choose? What logo? What service area will I target? One of the most important items is selecting insurance.

Every business needs liability insurance, but it’s especially important for a service business. Working at customers’ homes or places of business exposes the service contractor to a certain amount of risk. No matter how carefully a contractor works, there is always the potential for an accident.

Liability insurance is designed to protect both the worker and the property owner in the event of an accident. For instance, if a window cleaning company sends workers to a site, and those window cleaners accidentally drop a ladder on someone’s car (GASP!), the damages and associated expense of repairs should be covered by the window cleaning company’s insurance policy.

: This siding has been damaged by improper pressure washer use. Without Care, Custody and Control insurance, it’s not covered!

Most window cleaning and pressure washing companies in Oakland County, Michigan carry some form of general liability insurance. As a customer, you should insist on seeing proof of that coverage. If the window cleaning or pressure washing company can’t provide it, then you should run the other way! But there’s more to it than that. Why? A typical general liability policy has a hidden gap that most people aren’t even aware of. That gap can make all the difference when it’s time to make a claim.

What I’m referring to is called Care, Custody and Control. It’s an insurance term that basically means this: A service contractor takes into his care, custody or control any item that he is working on as part of his normal or expected service. So, when a window cleaner in Bloomfield Hills begins to clean a window or mirror, that particular item is now under his care, custody and control. Or if a pressure washer in Troy washes vinyl siding, that siding comes under his care, custody and control. But here’s the catch. Most general liability policies exclude Care, Custody and Control! Yes, that means what you think it means. If a window cleaner damages a window while cleaning it, it’s not covered! If a pressure washer damages a deck or siding while pressure washing, it’s not covered!

Most service contractors, and even their insurance agents, are ignorant of this fact. They often don’t realize they are flying without a net, so to speak, until it’s time to make a claim. It’s only then that they realize they don’t have the coverage they need. In that unfortunate event, both the contractor and the customer lose.

Lake State Cleaning has coverage for Care, Custody and Control. We make it a point to have insurance coverage for every possible scenario on the job site. We take every precaution, and we’re very careful. We do our best to always work safely, too. We’ve been in business since 1999 and have never had to file an insurance claim. But, in the event that an accident occurs, we wan’t our customers to be protected. We’ve gone the extra mile to make sure we have the coverage we, and our customers, need.

Whatever service contractor you choose, make sure they have Care, Custody and Control coverage. That way there won’t be any surprises if and when it comes time to make an insurance claim.

Q & A- “What do you window cleaning professionals do in the winter?

Well, the short answer is: “We clean windows.” But there’s more to it than that, of course.

It’s amazing how many times we get asked that question. It’s not surprising. I mean, who in their right mind would willingly try to work with cold water out in the conditions we routinely see here in Oakland County, MI?

The simple fact is, glass gets dirty in the winter too. Se we’ve adopted “tricks of the trade” that allow us to continue serving our wonderful customers, despite the challenges that a Michigan winter brings.

By layering up we are able to stay relatively warm, even when it’s windy or snowing out. There are a number of options for us window cleaners when it comes to gloves, too. Neoprene and other fabrics make it possible for us to have warm hands even when they get wet. Yet these gloves are flexible enough that we can still work effectively. We wear wind-blocking coats and pants, insulating layers, wool socks and waterproof boots. So don’t worry about your favorite Bloomfield Hills window cleaning pro’s- we’re just fine!

We also get asked this question: “How do you keep your window cleaning solution from freezing when it’s so cold out?” There are a few ways to do this. First of all, if the temp is up near the 30’s, we usually don’t have to do anything special. The glass is often warm enough (being heated a bit from the inside) that our solution won’t freeze. For those days when the temps dip into the 20’s and below, we have a special trick to keep our solution from freezing. We add a little alcohol or windshield washer fluid to our buckets. This does the trick and allows us to keep working in even the nastiest of conditions.

Here’s an example of a window cleaning job we did in Birmingham, MI a couple of weeks ago. It was snowing and about 25 degrees out, but we completed the whole job without issues. The windows turned out great!

Old World Window Cleaning Craftsmanship meets Old Cape Cod

An article by my friend, Jesse Green, about maintaining historical homes on the Cape. Jesse takes extreme care when working on these old gems, and represents our profession well.

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