Post-construction cleanup in Bozeman and Belgrade

New glass arrives covered in the residue of everything that happened around it: construction film, paint overspray, mortar, adhesive, and stickers that have baked in the sun for a month.

This is slower and more careful work than a maintenance cleaning. New glass is often coated or heat-treated, and the glass industry’s guidance treats a blade as the last option on heat-treated glass and never the right one on a coated surface. A careless pass can ruin a new pane.

For builders

We schedule around the closing date and the final walkthrough, after the last trade is finished with the glass, and we tell you about any scratches we find before we start rather than after. The builder is invoiced when the job is done, or the way your office needs it, and a certificate of insurance is on file before we arrive.

Why a blade is the last resort

The glass industry is blunt about construction sites. The National Glass Association’s guidance on protecting glass during construction warns that “irreparable glass damage can occur” from nearby construction “and improper cleaning methods,” and that “the use of a more aggressive procedure may itself damage the glass.”

Heat-treated glass can carry microscopic particles on its surface from the tempering oven; scraping can dislodge them and drag them across the pane. The association says scrapers “are not recommended for any glass product because they can cause irreparable damage” (Heat-treated glass surfaces are different), and its cleaning guidance allows a new blade, in one direction, only as “the last possible option.”

Window makers go further. Marvin says labels “should be removed from glass as soon as possible after installation” and “don’t use scrapers of any kind,” and glass scratched by a scraper is not covered by its warranty (Marvin care and maintenance). Pella and Andersen say the same about razor blades. So labels and residue come off with soaking, time and soft tools first, and a blade is a decision made with you, on glass whose maker allows it.