Exterior cleaning tips for South Metro homeowners.

How Often Should You Have Your Windows Cleaned in Minnesota?

It's the question we hear most in Lakeville, Farmington, and Rosemount: "how often do windows actually need professional cleaning?" The honest answer depends on your home, but for most South Metro houses, twice a year — once in spring, once in fall — is the sweet spot.

Why Minnesota is hard on windows

Our climate throws everything at your glass. Spring brings pollen and rain-spotting. Summer means sprinkler overspray and hard water minerals baking on in the sun. Fall drops leaf debris and organic film. And winter? Months of road salt spray, ice, and grime that all needs to come off when things thaw.

Signs it's time

• Hazy or cloudy glass even after rain
• White spots that don't wipe off (that's mineral buildup from hard water)
• Screens that look gray instead of their original color
• You can't remember the last time they were professionally cleaned

Why professional cleaning lasts longer

DIY window cleaning with tap water and household glass cleaner often leaves mineral residue behind — which actually attracts dirt faster. We clean exterior glass with a purified water-fed system: zero minerals, zero spots, and a finish that stays cleaner longer. Interior windows get hand-cleaned and squeegeed the traditional way.

Soft Washing vs. Pressure Washing: Which Does Your Home Need?

They sound similar, but using the wrong one on the wrong surface can seriously damage your home. Here's the plain-English difference — and which surfaces around your South Metro home need which.

Pressure washing: for hard surfaces

Pressure washing uses high-pressure water to blast away dirt, moss, and grime. It's the right tool for concrete driveways, brick steps, stone patios, and other hardscapes that can take the force. Done right, years of buildup disappear in a single visit.

Soft washing: for siding and delicate surfaces

Vinyl siding, painted surfaces, and roofs should never be hit with high pressure — it can force water behind siding, strip paint, and void warranties. Soft washing uses low pressure plus cleaning solutions to gently break down algae, oxidation, and organic growth, then rinse it away safely.

The short version

• Driveway, sidewalk, brick steps, pavers → pressure washing
• Siding, painted trim, delicate surfaces → soft washing

A good exterior cleaning company owns both methods and knows when to use each. (We do, and we'll always tell you which your home needs — for free.)

Why Your Windows Have White Spots That Won't Come Off

If you've scrubbed your windows and those cloudy white spots keep coming back, you're not doing it wrong — you're fighting chemistry. Those spots are hard water mineral deposits, and the South Metro's water is loaded with the calcium and magnesium that cause them.

Where they come from

Sprinkler overspray is the biggest culprit — every time irrigation water hits your glass and dries in the sun, it leaves minerals behind. Over months, those layers build into stubborn white scale that ordinary glass cleaner can't touch.

Why purified water changes everything

Professional window cleaners use water that's been run through filtration to strip out 100% of dissolved minerals. Pure water is "hungry" — it actively pulls dirt and minerals off glass, then dries completely spot-free because there's nothing left in it to deposit. It's the same reason our clients tell us they've "never had spot-free windows like this before."

Preventing spots between cleanings

• Adjust sprinkler heads so they don't hit windows
• Don't rinse windows with a garden hose — that's hard water too
• Get on a regular professional cleaning schedule before buildup gets severe

Preparing Your Home's Exterior for a Minnesota Winter

Fall in the South Metro is short — and what you do (or skip) before the first snow makes a real difference in how your home comes out the other side. Here's the exterior checklist we recommend to every client in Lakeville, Farmington, and Rosemount.

1. Get windows cleaned before the freeze

Winter grime seals itself onto dirty glass, and you'll be looking through those windows for five months straight. A fall cleaning means more light all winter and less baked-on buildup come spring.

2. Wash the siding while you still can

Algae and organic growth don't die over winter — they hibernate and spread in spring. A fall soft wash removes the growth before ice locks it in.

3. Seal your pavers

Freeze-thaw cycles are brutal on unsealed pavers — water gets in, freezes, expands, and cracks them. Sealing before winter protects against water penetration, salt damage, and fading.

4. Clean screens before storing them

If you swap screens for storm windows, clean them first — storing dirty screens lets grime set permanently into the mesh.

Most of this list is exactly what we do all fall. One visit, everything winter-ready.