Cleaning 200+ Windows at a Tampa Hospital with a Water-Fed Pole

This rehabilitation hospital in Tampa was about a year old, and its windows hadn’t been cleaned since it was built. Over 200 panes, some of them around 20 feet tall, were covered in spider webs, spider eggs, and bird droppings. We cleaned the whole building over two days with a water-fed pole and purified water, working around patients, staff, and visitors the entire time.

Project at a glance

• Location: Tampa, Florida

• Property: Rehabilitation hospital, about a year old

• Scope: Exterior cleaning of more than 200 windows, some around 20 feet tall

• Problem: First cleaning since construction, with heavy spider webs and eggs, bird droppings, and leftover construction residue

• Method: Water-fed pole with reverse osmosis filtered water, scrub pads for stuck-on spots, and a soft wash pre-treatment on the worst sections

• Schedule: Recurring service every six months

Why we use a water-fed pole on commercial windows

A water-fed pole pumps purified water up to a brush at the end of a telescoping pole. Before we start, we run water through our reverse osmosis system to flush it out so we know we’re putting pure water on the glass. Pure water has no minerals in it, so it dries clear without streaks or spots and doesn’t need to be squeegeed. That lets us clean upper-story glass while standing safely on the ground. Learn more about how water-fed pole cleaning works.

On a hospital, it’s also quiet and low-impact. We don’t need lifts or scaffolding, and we can pack up and move quickly to stay out of the way of patients and staff.

Starting with the areas that mattered most

The hospital’s biggest concern was the glass by the gym, where patients and visitors spend a lot of time and the bird droppings were most visible. We started there, cleaning the upper windows first so we could put the ladder away and stay out of patients’ way before moving on to the rest of the building.

Scrub pads for stubborn spots, not razors

Most of the dirt came off with the brush, but some spots wouldn’t budge. One turned out to be construction residue left on the glass from when the building went up. For those, we use a scrub pad on the pole or extra-fine steel wool instead of a razor blade.

We generally don’t use razors on commercial glass. Many newer buildings like this one have UV-coated glass, and a razor can scratch the glass or damage the coating. The risk isn’t worth it. Instead we use:

• Walnut scrub pads. They’re not abrasive enough to scratch glass, they last longer, and they attach easily to the pole.

• 0000 (quadruple-zero) steel wool. It’s the finest grade and won’t scratch glass, but it removes stubborn grime. People are often surprised we use it on windows. The downside is that it rusts quickly once it gets wet, especially in Florida.

Some marks, like etching from hard water, can’t be scrubbed off at all. Here’s what hard water etching is and what can be done about it.

Breaking down heavy spider buildup with a soft wash first

The tallest section of the building had the worst buildup, with thick layers of spider webs, egg sacs, and nests packed into the window frames. Cleaning that with the pole alone would have taken forever. So we pre-treated it with a soft wash, applying a diluted sodium hypochlorite solution at low pressure to break down the webs and eggs. Then we followed with the water-fed pole and purified water to leave the glass clean. It saved a lot of time on the worst areas. This is the same low-pressure method we use for house washing.

Day two and the tallest windows

On day two we came back for the other side of the building. It went faster because there were fewer parked cars on that side, so we didn’t have to work around patient parking as much. We used a combination brush with acrylic and boar’s hair bristles. It’s lighter and easier to control at height than a boar’s hair brush alone, and it handled the spider residue well.

The hardest part was reach. At the time, our water-fed pole extended to 30 feet, which wasn’t quite enough for the tallest panes. We had to stand on a stepladder, move it for every bank of windows, and on one section balance on a narrow wall over gravel to get to the top glass. Including the soft wash pre-treatment, the job took about 13 hours. It’s a lot of windows, but the ladder slowed us down.

Update: we now use a 50-foot water-fed pole

Since this job, we’ve upgraded to a 50-foot water-fed pole, so we no longer need a ladder for windows like these. Everything is cleaned from the ground, which is safer for our team, keeps walkways and entrances clear for patients and visitors, and gets the job done faster. It also means we can reach the upper floors of most offices, medical buildings, and multi-story commercial properties around Tampa Bay without a lift.

Why the first cleaning takes the longest

A first cleaning always takes more time, especially on a building that hasn’t been cleaned since construction. Spider webs, eggs, and residue build up layer on layer. This is now a recurring job: we clean these windows every six months, and each visit goes faster because the buildup never gets that bad again. In Florida, most commercial properties need window cleaning at least twice a year. Here’s how often windows should be cleaned in Florida.

Commercial window cleaning in Tampa Bay

We clean windows for hospitals and medical offices, office buildings, retail storefronts, and other commercial properties across Tampa and Hillsborough County. We can schedule around your hours to keep disruption to a minimum and set up a recurring plan so your glass stays clean. Learn more about our commercial window cleaning in Tampa, our window cleaning service, and our other commercial exterior cleaning services.

If you manage a property in the Tampa Bay area, request a free estimate and we’ll put together a quote for your building.