I thought I had it all in the bag! Early this year I hired an exceptionally skilled window cleaner to help take the company to the next level. The two of us were crushing through jobs like an unstoppable train. With all the work adding up and the long days I was blinded to the fact that I had all my eggs in one basket. Ya, the old saying. 

Well, my guy was a very hard worker and had a tendency to overexert. Eventually I got the call on a monday morning that he had to rest his sore arm. Days later his doctor advised him to stop using it. Disaster struck, and very quickly the unstoppable train was derailed and the struggle to avert disaster was the new non stop beast.

Another famous saying - everything happens for a reason. Once I got news that I needed to replace my main crewman I decided to make some serious changes to the company structure and started to create and staff another crew, in another truck. And never to have all my faith lying on one single card. 

We're now about ready to get back full swing into the service end of things. I'm very thankful to my loyal clients for their patience during the sudden overhaul. Trust me, it's all for the best. 

We wish Dennis a fast recovery and hope that in time he can return to the work force and once again be a word class window cleaner.

Just added to the Window Viper arsenal of eco friendly cleaning services is a state of the art soft wash system. What it is and how it works are two questions I will answer in this latest blog post. How I came upon discovering this method was kind of funny after one day posting a before and after photo of some siding washing I recently did in Chemainus BC.

I shared this to a Facebook group, thinking how great it was that I could wash this wall in 45 minutes with a water fed pole. The response I got was an un expected barrage of "Soft wash would only take ten minutes" comments, and within 24 hrs I had been convinced to try it out myself.

How a soft wash system works is quite simple and very effective, but you need to invest some money in it to get yourself going. I searched for the best and most eco friendly water additives and came across a Vancouver based company that sells the product and also a professional / portable soft wash system. The active ingredient is Hydrogen Peroxide instead of bleach or other sulphates and chemical compounds. The mixture is pre mixed in a reservoir and then pumped at low pressure onto the roof or whatever it is you're cleaning. The you wait for five or ten minutes to let it do it's thing and then, with gentle pressure, rinse. The amazing thing is how fast and safely a roof can be restored to pristine condition. 

No more waiting for weeks to see the results of a traditional roof clean using rakes and powdered moss killers. With this new system the results are instant and gratifying.

Have you ever wondered about the latest technological developments in professional window cleaning? Probably not, and I don't expect that you would. For years, and years the squeegee, hands down the greatest invention ever, has been the undefeated go to tool for perfect window cleaning - and I will not disagree. Invented by Ettore Steccone, the rubber squeegee is regarded by all as the end all be all due to it's versatility and ability to completely remove water from glass, leaving no streaks (when used properly). However - times are changing .. .

For over 50 years there has been another tool known as the water fed pole, or WFP that has slowly gained popularity in the window washing community due to the removal of the ladder. Only until a few years ago the WFP used soaps and detergents to attempt a wet window wash technique that would dry without streaks. The new science is simple and it's results are proven! Read this:

Using a portable water purification unit (De-ionization) the minerals that are collected by H2o molecules by electro static energy, are removed from the H2o through this process, providing PURE WATER without any foreign particles or residual minerals that can dry and leave unwanted spots or drops. The PURE WATER dries free of any particulates on the glass. This is best window cleaning product on earth today. And it only makes me laugh to know that as an ECO Friendly company, not onl yard we doing the best to give results, we are doing ZERO harm to the environment.

To sum this up, the system is not cheap, it costs a LOT to invest in this stuff. Thanks to you, the client, I was able to invest in this so that The Window Viper can stand strong behind it's ECO standards, and provide the public with the best latest technology that will protect and clean your property. This is not a replacement for the almighty squeegee, but more like the squeegee's heavy artillery division, ready to blow away large commercial jobs efficiently and safely.

Another really challenging situation put me to the test. A house with an entire ceiling made of glass, separated by wooden post and beam construction. How to reach the interior and wash it? Well lately I've been brushing up on my extension pole skills and decided this was the quickest, and safest method to use in the situation before me. The results were very nice so I decided to set up the camera phone and document it for all to see. I love how every day this work brings a different hurdle to overcome, and how if you are smart, you can turn it into a field goal. Enjoy this little film 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY6X8l9JpIE&feature=youtu.be

While reaching for the peak of the roof I was standing on the second rung from the top when the pressure washer hose got snagged on the gutters. I gave her on good tug and the force was enough to dislodge the feet of the step ladder from the snow guards and it slipped down about one meter before the safely line bought it. This jarred me pretty good and I had to wear a wrist brace for about 24 hours afterwards. Without the safety line it could have been way worse. For the rest of this job I increased the tension on the safety strap to make sure that the ladder would not budge and that is how it will be done from now on forward. 

A couple days later I got a text from my friend Dennis at Perfectly Clear Windows. He was working on an initial interior window wash in Nanaimo and had his 24 footer setup to reach some high windows in the great room. The hard wood floors were still covered with paper for protection and taped around the edges. Something we've all seen a million times and had no issues. I believe that this time, he must have had the ladder leant out on a pretty low angle because his ladder feet slid with the paper below them and his ladder came down with him on top with enough force to break the window trim and shatter the window below. His head missed the broken glass by only a couple of feet.

Think he was scared?

It's time to slow down and take extra precautions. Be careful out here everyone. We love to work faster and make more money but when your body is your paycheque, it's your most valuable tool. 

The 2014 spring cleaning season has hit and it has hit hard! Trying to keep up with the steady stream of calls and estimates is almost as demanding as washing 500 windows a day -without a break. (yes that's how we roll!)

Ok, now that you know how tough we all think we are and if you're still reading this, then let's get to the meat and potatoes of window washing season. ..

The year began with a bang in March with the completion of an 18 storey high rise in Nanaimo. The weather was nasty for most of the week, we were cold and the rain fell hard. Even with rain gear, the Nanaimo Harbour managed to unleash it's wrath upon us. Maybe it was just too early of a start, or bad luck for stealing the biggest window cleaning contract right out from under the noses of our Nanaimo competitors. May the best team win :)

Soon after we had a call from Knappett Projects in Victoria. They needed the new Salt Spring Island Public Library's windows cleaned inside and out. This was a great moment for us since we'd just expanded out services to the small island community. If you look close at the picture you can see the aluminum sun shades on the top windows and a parking lot below. Safety was a MAJOR concern, as was preservation of property. These are some pretty pricey building materials and there's no way it's getting damaged on our watch.

In May The Window Viper set up a booth in the Cowichan Home Expo. This was our second expo and as you'd expect, the response was very positive. (aside from the odd ophidiophobiac)
We met a lot of other exhibitors and made a lot of good connections. We even had the pleasure of meeting some fellow window cleaners from Island Clean in Nanaimo who had a booth almost directly behind us. It was nice to swap stories and act as comrades and not competitors. But after all was said and done, it was time to get back on the street and make sure that they remain in that same position as at the Expo - behind us. :P

Excuse the rant but I am so frustrated by this new trend I keep seeing regarding moss and roof cleaning. There's a house down my street that had quite a lot of bulbous moss growing all over the roof. The owner had someone come and throw piles of what looked like lime or something all along the peaks of the rooftops. Apparently to kill the moss. Almost a year has passed and the roof is still covered with moss, only the moss is now dead and a brownish red colour. And it won't be long before new moss uses this dead moss as a medium for re growth. I don't want to know how much they paid for this but it bothers me that people are actually selling this bogus service to people.

When you call The Window Viper to take care of your moss problem you know that it's going to be done right. There are many services out there selling you "quick solutions" but in all reality, there is no effective shortcut. 
Before applying any moss killer, the moss must be removed safely and gently.

The first thing we do is physically remove the moss by hand and put it in re-usable garbage bags. 

We also clean the gutters as part of the process since the moss naturally gathers there. 

Next we sweep and blow off any remaining moss particles from the roof and your decks and patios. If necessary, we will rake it from your lawn as well. Once the roof is free of any visible moss we apply a biodegradable moss killer. What this does is simply adhere to the roof shingles and raises the PH levels to a point that it cannot sustain vegetation and it kills any tiny bits of moss that may promote regrowth. 

What you are left with is a beautiful roof free of moss on the day of service - and a guarantee that moss will not grow back for at least a few of years, depending on your location of course.  When you go with the green there's just no comparison.

Thy ground hog hath spoken! And it's not clear that the warmth of spring will be coming any time soon, but this winter has turned out to be one of the driest I can remember. I feel like I'm back in Calgary!
I'm already staring to consider making my spring calls due to the amount of early bookings that are already piling up.
I've been working very hard over the last couple months on some new marketing strategies, website upgrades, tweaking the logo, putting decals on the vehicle, and lots more. I joined the Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce and am proudly taking care of the new visitor centre next to the forestry museum. I'm also now affiliated with the Society of Professional Ropes Access Technicians, and am about to get my certification. We sealed the deal to do a huge high rise clean, twice year on a Nanaimo Harbour high rise know as 'The Pacifica'. So much has been going on that i feel very confident going into the busy spring season this year. I have a feeling that you might see me with a helper in my passenger seat a lot sooner than I anticipated. You will definitely  be seeing me and my set up again at the Cowichan Home Show this May, and I will post more info about that a little later. As anticipated, GST is now being added to all invoices since the company no longer is views as a 'small supplier'. All of this news is good, and should definitely set us up for an even better year next year. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, there's a lot of work coming and The Window Viper will continue to uphold its values of grassroots community commerce, the highest eco standards on the market, five star customer service, and 100% satisfaction guarantee. Thank you to all of the Window Viper client base for your customer loyalty, and if you're a potential new client, thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. 

I'll see you on the ladder!

Winter has arrived and with it the beauty of the holiday season surrounds us all. I have had the pleasure of decorating numerous homes this year with The Window Viper's professional xmas light installation service. It's a great add on because we can't do any gutter cleaning or roof de-mossing etc when everything is frozen solid. It is still possible to do some window cleaning, but hanging christmas lights helps to keep me busy  when I would otherwise be busy waiting for the rain to return. 

I'm always very satisfied when I get to see the home all illuminated for the first time and hear the joy in the clients voice when they call to tell me how great it looks. Since I'm there during daylight hours I rarely get to experience the full glimmer that the darkness adds to the lights. The photo above clearly shows the magic. 

One other thing that I love about the new homes being built is that they all pretty much have a christmas light plug socket under the soffits that can be switched on and off from somewhere inside the home. This way I can connect all the lights to one circuit and even allow for the string to end near a shrub and run lights right out into the yard. All of this at the control of one switch inside your home eliminates the hassle of setting timers and going outside to unplug at the end of the night. 

I hope you enjoy this holiday season, and if you are considering an xmas display, then look no further. The Window Viper can provide you with professional service that is safe, insured, and guaranteed.

Happy Holidays! - Chris Jackson (owner / operator)

So far we have had a gorgeous autumn season here in the Cowichan Valley! The 2013 Home Expo was a huge success. Window Viper gave away a free gutter cleaning and offered 25% off of our eco friendly window cleaning to all. I look forward to doing something similar in the spring of 2014. Congratulations to Carolyn Wolter for winning the free gutter cleaning!

With fall almost halfway gone and the nights getting longer, we all begin to feel the doldrums of winter setting in. The leaves are piling up in our yards and roofs and it's hard to get motivated. Did you know that Seasonal Affect Disorder (S.A.D.) impacts close to ten percent of north americans? Particularly the elderly.. But there are proven ways to fight the winter depression with mood lights that emit full spectrum light waves and taking vitamin D supplements. It has also been proven by researchers that keeping your windows clean in the winter can also improve the amount of natural light in your home by 5%. Every little bit counts!

As I look out my office window I see that the busy gutter cleaning season is very close indeed, and I will be spending a lot of hours in my rain gear over the next several weeks collecting the fallen leaves that are clogging up the gutter outlets. This is the time to hunker down and work the remainder of the year into 2014. If you haven't already done so, you should call and book your gutter cleaning as early as possible and avoid the rush of last minute calls, and inevitably - the wait list.