Frequently Asked Questions
About Our Proposals/Quotes
Our extensive experience and basic common sense tells us that there is just no accurate way to quote window and gutter cleaning or pressure washing over the phone. There are too many factors involved.
Here’s how we do our estimates
1) Call us before 4pm on any given business day.
2) We set up a meeting within two business days based on your availability to review your project in person.
Give us another business day, and our Proposal will be in your email inbox.
Our Proposals are valid for 2 years from the date they are written.
Our Standard Proposal Covers:
Windows
• Interior/exterior cleaning of windows as viewed from the exterior of your property. Please advise if you have interior doors or windows that can’t be seen from outside
• Drying sills and sashes
• Removing and replacing window components
• Routine window cleaning will not remove hard water stains, construction debris, overspray from waterproofing/pest control, or artillery fungus.
Pressure Washing
• Pre-soak, treat and rinse siding, soffits and fascia
• Pre-soak and rinse vegetation as needed
• Other pressure washing services like roofs, decks, surface cleaning, etc. are quoted separately
Gutter Cleaning
• Removing debris from leaders
• Unclogging or reattaching elbows, minor repairs, etc. is not included in your original quote
Gutter Brightening
• Removing runoff stains and debris from the exterior, “front facing” portion of your leaders
Note: Other important factors that impact price, service delivery and safety, specific to your project, are addressed in the Scope of Work field of your proposal.
We do not require you to sign and return a copy of the proposal provided that you text your approval to (845) 987-1111, or respond to the email we sent with an approval.
Give us the go-ahead in writing and we’ll get you scheduled!
All written proposals prepared by Estate have a two-year shelf life. If your proposal was written more than two years ago, we can probably requote the job without another site visit. The turnaround could be as fast as same-day.
All valid proposals (within two years of the date specified on the proposal) are eligible for a 10% discount during September each year, and during our off-season (December 15- March 15).
Estate offers a 5% discount for veterans, first responders and seniors. To be eligible please advise when booking your appointment. Proof required in advance. Text (845) 987-1111 or email jwagner@estatewindowcleaning.com
Your Project Lead is not authorized to apply any discount in person on the day of your appointment.
Getting Ready for Service
For all service calls, please clear small breakable items from our work areas, both inside and outside. If it’s not possible for you to move things, please let us know and we’ll work out a reasonable cost for this service.
For larger items, we use furniture sliders to remove and replace as needed. If our Project Lead determines that there is a risk associated with moving something, he will ask you to give a call to the office to discuss before proceeding.
You do not have to remove window treatments, we’ll set them up as needed to do our work. Upon completion, our standard procedure is to lock windows and move window treatments to the “half-drawn” position. Doing so ensures that everything was working properly prior to our departure.
If you have silk, or heirloom window treatments, please remove them prior to our appointment.
The bottom line is if the weather is going to put our team or the quality of our results at risk, Estate will proactively reschedule your appointment.
We’ve been at this a long time, so we know there we have to balance our scheduling demands with the customer’s expectation of receiving service that is not impacted by weather.
As a rule, so long as temperatures are in the mid to upper 20s, wind is calm, and there isn’t a driving rain, your window cleaning appointment is good to go. We need things closer to freezing for gutter cleaning, and for pressure washing we need temps above freezing. Pressure washing appointments are not impacted by rain, unless it is really pouring out, in which case safety is bigger issue than the rain itself.
For more information, please read What is Estate’s Cancellation Policy?
Weather has been, and will always be our greatest challenge! We understand that you want our work performed under ideal conditions, and surely you understand that we have many obligations to fulfill and need to stay on schedule for the convenience of others. Our 40+ years of service has taught us that balance is required, and with all parties in mind (you, our next customers, and our team) we feel we have developed the fairest possible Cancellation Policy:
• All appointments will remain active until your scheduled date, regardless of weather forecasts
• If we cannot perform our work safely and effectively, Estate will postpone and reschedule your appointment 30 minutes prior to our scheduled ETA
• Estate-initiated postponements will be made up at the very next mutually convenient time
• Customer-initiated postponements (for any reason) will be rescheduled at the tail end of our current backlog
If your appointment is at 8am we’ll be there at 8am. For all other appointments after our start time, we give you a two-hour window as an Estimated Time of Arrival time based on the scope of work involved for the preceding appointments that day. We ask for a two-hour window in case an earlier appointment adds or subtracts tasks to their service call. Also, for safety reasons, we do not want our people rushing to make deadlines.
If our team is going to be arriving 15 minutes before or after your scheduled ETA, they will call in advance to update you just as soon as they are aware that a change might be needed.
Things happen, but trust that we will be there, and that we’ll be in touch as our day unfolds.
Currently Estate does not require a deposit to book an appointment. For us to keep that going, we need everyone’s cooperation.
Please be considerate if you must cancel or change your appointment. We’d like at least 24 hours advance notice if you have to make a change.
Our preferred method of payment is check.
Same price cash or check. Cash discounts are not available.
Credit card payments accepted via Guest Checkout at PayPal only.
Estate does not accept payments via apps.
In all cases, payment is expected in full upon completion, unless other arrangements are made in advance.
Other Services & Service Questions
Estate offers a “Set-It-And-Forget-It” Maintenance Plan, designed to fit your needs, wants, budget and standards. No more having to remember to call. As an Estate Preferred Customer, you get the services you need, delivered exactly when you want them.
Let Estate make it Clean & Easy for you!
So often, we will go out and do an excellent job cleaning windows, and the customer will say, “I didn’t know you did pressure washing!” Well, now it is too late to pressure wash, or we could pressure wash, but we’d have to charge you to clean the exterior of the windows again.
With that in mind, Estate developed the Luxury Makeover Package, a comprehensive review of all exterior cleaning projects your property needs to look its very best. Your Luxury Makeover quote is available upon request.
As an added benefit, the Luxury Makeover is a great tool for envisioning the potential of your property, and perhaps can act as a catalyst for considering other projects completely unrelated to cleaning and maintenance.
“Wow, could you imagine if…” Yeah, we’re very happy to help you with that!
There’s a combination of factors to consider before making a decision that works for you:
What’s my budget?
What standard am I trying to attain?
Which projects are important to me, and which ones can I skate on?
Are there environmental concerns, for example persistent organic matter on the north elevation, but not on others?
There’s never a bad time to have an impeccable home or office! But each season has its advantages:
Winter (December 15-March 15)
Frozen conditions mean less airborne dust and debris
Things stay cleaner, longer
More brightness, more light during an otherwise dreary time of year
Reduced cost
Spring (March 16-June 15)
Traditional “safe bet”
Jump start Spring Cleaning
Set the tone for improving your property throughout the year
Fresh & Clean – open some windows!
Summer (July 16-September 15)
Less precipitation
Greater flexibility/availability
More hours of sunlight illuminating just how great everything looks
More time spent outside appreciating your property
Fall (September 16-December 14)
Views, views, views!
The sun low in the sky is no longer revealing just how dirty everything is
Peace of mind knowing your property is prepared for winter
Crisp & Clean – toast some marshmallows!
Our cleaning mix is a combination of liquid chlorine, a mild detergent and a surfactant (foaming agent). You know liquid chlorine well, it’s the most common treatment for swimming pools. Our mix is very highly diluted by the water that delivers it. The surface area is also pre-soaked and post rinsed, after the watered-down mix has been applied.
The mix and process are safe for your home, residents, pets and vegetation. As a precaution, we do pre-soak and post rinse vegetation as needed, especially if the growth has been under stress from hot and dry conditions for any period of time, or shows signs of disease.
Still concerned about your vegetation? Yeah, we get it. Ask about adding Plant Wash to your pressure washing project. Not only will your landscaping get an extra round of water, it’ll also feast on a nitrogen-based fertilizer!
If you’ve completed the fall clean-up of your yard, then yes, we’ll haul the leaves away.
If you have a compost pile, please advise your Project Lead, we’d be happy to put them there.
In all cases, we will not leave debris on surfaces that can be stained or discolored by organic matter.
Removing runoff stains and debris from the exterior, “front facing” portion of your gutter leaders.
Insurance & Legal Questions
As a C Corporation, we carry statutory NYS Disability and Workers’ Compensation Insurance.
Estate’s general liability policy has $1M/$2M limits, and the company is bonded.
Our presentation package includes sample certificates of insurance for current policy periods, for both workers’ compensation and general liability policies. Personalized certificates are available upon request at no cost, for projects over $2000. For projects under $2,000 there is a $15 service charge for each custom certificate request.
The Estate Window Cleaning Company is a dba for J&B Maintenance Corporation, incorporated in the State of New York in 1980.
Although filing a 1099 is not necessary, W-9s are available upon request.
Request a Proposal
Let us prepare a custom quote for your tasks.
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