As soon as glazing is out of arm's reach, cleaning stops being a question of technique and becomes a question of access. It is the variable that moves a quote the most, and the one where shortcuts cost the most.
Five families of method
1. Water-fed pole from the ground. A light pole, often carbon, brings water and brush to the glazing while the operator stays on the ground. The safest and most economical solution where it applies: no work at height, no lifting equipment, quick set-up. Limits: needs clear ground in front of the façade, suffers in wind, loses precision with length, and does nothing for baked-on deposits.
2. The ladder. Suited to modest heights on flat, stable, clear ground. Allows precise squeegee work with close visual control. Limits: short reach, needs a bearing point, effectively ruled out on soft or sloping ground, above a conservatory, a stairwell or a public road. A badly placed ladder is the classic cause of accidents in this trade. A professional who refuses a ladder on your layout is not dodging the job — he is doing it.
3. The powered access platform. A platform on a chassis or truck bringing the operator to the glazing. The standard answer for multi-storey buildings with no other access. Limits: hire and transport cost, need for load-bearing clear ground, often a municipal permit to occupy the public way, and operation restricted to trained, certified operators.
4. Scaffolding. For long jobs on a single façade, or where a platform cannot be positioned. Limits: erection, dismantling, lead time, cost, ground footprint. Rarely relevant for a single clean.
5. Rope access and building-mounted cradles. Rope descent or a cradle built into the building, for tall structures. A trade in its own right, with training, certification, equipment inspection and certified anchor points on the building. Limits: cannot be improvised, and depends on equipment being present and inspected on the building side.
How the method is chosen
- The actual height of the highest pane. Not the floor: the height.
- What sits underneath. Flat ground, lawn, bank, conservatory, roof glazing, stairwell, road, terrace below. This point often rules out the ladder.
- Clearance in front of the façade. A hedge, a border, parked vehicles or a covered terrace can block both pole and platform.
- The condition of the glazing. A baked-on deposit demands contact work, so close access, so equipment.
- The frequency. A single visit rarely justifies scaffolding; an annual contract may justify a structured solution.
- What the building already provides. Anchors, a façade cradle or reversible windows change everything.
Safety is not an administrative formality
Work at height is regulated in Belgium, and rightly so. In practice a serious provider refuses a layout he cannot handle safely, even at the cost of the job; does not improvise access from whatever is lying around; does not climb on a balustrade, a conservatory roof or a window ledge; states the chosen method in writing along with what it does not cover; and has lifting equipment operated by trained people.
Why the price rises so fast with height
Because it is no longer the same cost item. At ground level you pay for time. At height you pay for time, equipment, logistics and sometimes an administrative step. Identical glazing can move from a thirty-minute visit to half a day with a machine.
That is also why a quote "at height" produced without a wide photo of the façade and its immediate surroundings is worth little.
What to send us for a useful assessment
- A wide photo of the whole façade, taken from a distance, showing the ground
- A photo of what lies beneath the glazing concerned
- A height indication: number of floors and approximate height
- The state of the ground in front of the façade and whether a vehicle can be parked
- Any known constraint: narrow road, public passage, roof glazing, sunken garden
If photos cannot settle it, we propose a site visit. That is more honest than an optimistic figure revised on the day.
FAQ
Can you clean fourth-floor windows? It depends entirely on access. The photo of the façade answers that, not the floor number alone.
Why refuse to use a ladder at my property? Because the ground, a slope, a conservatory, a road or an obstacle below makes the bearing point unsafe. A refusal is a sign of seriousness.
Is platform hire included in the price? It appears as an identifiable line in the quote, along with any road permit. It is never buried in a lump sum.