We pay 30% to a crew leader, and their labor is paid out of that 30%.Simple example: Job invoiced $100 takes him and his laborer 2 man hours to complete job. His cut is $30. (30% of $100) - $10 (1 hour for a laborer) = crew leader makes $20.

All workers are employed by us (no contractors) and we do all the payroll. We have a spread sheet breakdown of all the details for each crew leader put in with their check so they can see exactly how it is all broken down.

Mark Holder
Hoosier Window Washer - Valparaiso, IN

What works for us is making up to 35% commission available to Team Leaders. 25% of the available bonus applies to total revenue generated, minus the cost of hourly labor of all his helpers. Up to 10% more is paid every 2 week per pay period for the following achievements;

• 6% bonus paid for customer satisfaction of clients and staff. No complaints from jobs performed (random surveys performed by office staff). No complaints from office staff (i.e. paperwork properly filled out, company policies and procedures followed).
• 2% bonus paid for dependability of team (Team Leader and team members arrived on time daily.) This helps puts the management of the employees on the Team Leaders.
• 2% bonus paid for vehicle and equipment management. A checklist is used to inventory and inspect equipment as well as maintain the exterior and interior of vans clean and professional looking

For example, an $800 8 hour day pays the Team Leader $200 - $80 (helper at $10/ hr) for a total pay to team leader of $120. When a Team Leader receives full bonus in the scenario above his pay for that day goes up from $120 to $200. ($800 revenue x .35 - $80 labor = $200) In this example a Team Leader earns $25 per hour.

Our direct labor costs always remain at 35%. This may not be the perfect set up but is currently producing reliable and profitable results with little employee turn-over.

Brian P. Smith
Extreme Cleaning - Salt Lake City, UT

How do you account for overtime? I am almost positive labor laws require that you keep an accurate record of hours worked, particularly overtime. We are required to track and pay overtime even though we are a piece rate house.

Teresa Emerson
Clearview Window - Springfield, MO

Overtime can be calculated by percentage. Take the gross pay for the pay period and divide by the hours worked. You get the pay rate for that pay period; overtime is paid at hours worked over 40 x 50% of the weekly pay period pay rate.

Ron Friman
Expert Window Cleaning – Hawaii - Chicago, IL

Do your team leaders always work with the same laborer? I’m curious about the situation where some laborers make a little more or have more experience than others laborers.

Geof White
Valley Window Cleaning, Inc. - Kaukauna, WI

Our team leaders are assigned a laborer they will ultimately develop into a new team leader. This is not a natural desire since they want to keep a good laborer. We've learned that a "team leader promotion bonus" is helpful to motivate a team leader to develop other team leaders. This bonus not only requires that certain skills be taught and developed but that growth also is obtained to support another team leader. The bonus amount has to be substantial to bring about your objective.

Brian P. Smith
Extreme Cleaning - Salt Lake City, UT

I think the water acts as a lubricant. The blade moves across the glass easier. Also what you’re scraping off has less a chance to reattach itself to a wet surface than that of a dry.

Michael J. Draper
Clearly Windows - Bloomington, IL

When I'm taking micro photographs for an article, I do a lot of dry scraping on clean glass. I may end up with scratches caused by fabricating debris defects, but whether the glass is wet or dry, I'm not seeing anything you could call a "scraper scratch".

I think people mostly tell you to wet the glass first because it mostly doesn't make sense to try to clean a window without water - but that doesn't mean you can never use a scraper on dry glass. I won't always bother to rewet if I'm cleaning windows and discover I missed a solitary paint or fly speck, but generally speaking a dry scraper slows you down.

And I learned to use a scraper when I was working at the glass fabricator in Bensenville, Illinois - maybe 35 years ago - where we never wet glass before using a scraper to remove stickers or sealant.

Gary Mauer
Window Cleaning Network - Oconomowoc, WI

I would not want to use straight ammonia indoors without respirator equipment. Visit your local janitor supply distributor and ask for something to remove cigarette smoke deposits. There are many products on the market designed to remediate fire and smoke damage so you should find something better than ammonia.

Furthermore, read the MSDS for ammonia. Ammonia can result in possible loss of vision if splashed in the eyes; cause dermal burns, necrosis & scarring. It is corrosive to the respiratory system and is potentially fatal. It has a hazard code of 3 meaning "serious hazard." Contact with certain chemicals can form explosive compounds.

Ed Samson
Ameri-Clean Commercial, Inc. - Northbrook, IL

I have used ammonia in the past but lately have been using real TSP (trisodium phosphate) on smoky glass with good results – without the smell. I have also cleaned walls with an old strip washer on my pole with good results. I wonder if you could do the same. You might need to do a second rinse to remove all the dirt. Two things to note; change your water often and make sure to cover your area well. I did a large room like this only to come back later to see an area I had missed that really stuck out with sunlight on it.

Dave Thompson
Thompson’s Window Cleaning - Mt Carmel, PA

I would try trisodium phosphate or Soilax with a big natural sponge, starting at the bottom of the wall working your way up. Keep rinsing and squeezing the sponge. It takes time to do it right.

Wear proper PPG (gloves, safety glasses, long sleeves)

Steve Hamel
Donald Hamel Window Cleaning Company - Chicago, IL

You may want to try buffing or polishing with Cerium Oxide. If they are truly etched it could end up being extremely labor intensive.

Craig Aldrich
Sparkle Window Cleaning - Canyon Lake, CA

In our experience, degreaser stains usually don’t respond well to CC550, SafeRestore and the like but are fairly easily removed using BioClean, A1 or similar.

Evan B. Pyle
Expert Window Cleaning - Baton Rouge, LA

They should at least consider the possibility of replacing the glass. People expect us to do miracles when sometimes we can only do wonders. Sometimes it's just a matter of sucking it up and replace the glass. Then they need to learn how to maintain it without using all the strong chemicals on it.

Jay Egeler
The Window Doctor - Jackson, MI

There's probably always some left. We can often see more than one set of parallel fabricating debris scratches in the same spot, so logic tells us a scraper is not capable of dislodging all fabricating debris defects in one pass - because If all the defects had been removed, there couldn't have been a 2nd or 3rd set of scratches in the same spot.

Gary Mauer
Window Cleaning Network - Oconomowoc, WI

When a "Window Cleaning" scraper is used, excessive fabricating debris defects are dislodged and create scratching, but fabricating debris not 100% removed can be detached on future passes now or in future cleanings - or when window film is installed.

Dan Fields
Fields Construction Services Inc. - Livermore, CA