Guide · Window Cleaning
What Window Cleaning Costs, and How Often Windows Really Need It
Clean glass is one of those small things that quietly changes how a whole house feels — brighter rooms, sharper views, a place that looks cared for. Here’s an honest guide to what window cleaning costs, what actually drives the price, how often windows really need doing in our corner of Ontario, and what a good clean should include.
What drives the price
Whether a cleaner charges by the window or, like us, publishes a flat rate by home size, the same handful of things move the number up or down. Knowing them helps you read any quote:
- Number and type of panes. A picture window is one big sheet; a divided-light or grid window is many small panes that each get detailed. Two homes with the same window count can be very different amounts of glass.
- Storeys and height. Ground-floor glass is quick. Upper-storey windows take more care and the right equipment to reach safely, and that’s reflected in most pricing.
- In & Out versus exterior-only. Cleaning both sides in one visit is the most thorough option and costs more than doing just the outside — Nord prices it at exactly twice the exterior clean.
- First clean versus maintenance. A home that hasn’t been done in a few years carries built-up mineral spotting and grime that takes longer than a house on a regular rhythm. Once you’re on a cycle, each visit is lighter work.
- Screens, tracks, and sills. Some quotes include these; many don’t. It’s the single biggest reason two prices for the same house can look so different.
The market range — and how Nord prices instead
To give you a fair yardstick: across Canada, most residential window cleaning runs about $5 to $15 per window for the exterior, with interior glass adding roughly $3 to $8 more per window. For a typical detached or semi-detached house, whole-home projects commonly land between $150 and $500 — an exterior-only clean toward the lower end, a full inside-and-out visit toward the upper end, depending on how much glass the home has and how high it reaches.1
Those per-window numbers are useful for understanding the market, but they make for an unpredictable final bill — you don’t know the total until someone counts every pane. So Nord does it differently: we publish flat-rate prices by home size. You pick the size that matches your home, choose exterior-only or In & Out, and see the exact figure before anyone books — no per-window mental math, no surprise on the invoice.
How often windows really need it
For most homes in Simcoe County, twice a year keeps the glass genuinely sharp, and the timing follows a local rhythm:
- Spring, after the pollen. The June pine-pollen dump coats everything in a fine yellow film. Cleaning right after it settles — rather than during — resets the glass for the season.
- Fall, before winter. A clean going into the darker months means you’re getting every bit of the low winter light, and the glass isn’t sitting under a summer’s worth of grime until spring.
Some homes want a third visit. If you’re near a gravel road, a working farm, or the water, dust, field spray, and lake mist land on the exterior glass faster than they do in a sheltered subdivision, and a mid-season exterior clean keeps up. Cottages and waterfront homes especially tend to run on this rhythm.
What’s included — screens, tracks, and sills
This is where it pays to ask questions, because the words "window cleaning" mean different things to different companies. Screen cleaning is often an add-on, and tracks and sills are frequently left out entirely.
At Nord, tracks and sills are detailed by hand as part of an In & Out clean, so the whole opening looks clean, not just the pane. Screens are a separate add-on — removed, washed and reinstalled — and we publish that price by home size alongside everything else, so it appears on your quote before you book rather than as a line you discover afterwards. Worth doing: dirty screens are a good part of why clean glass can still look hazy, so if the screens haven’t been washed in years it’s usually the difference between “clean” and “new”.
We’d rather charge for it openly than fold it into a headline number, because a bundled extra is only free in the sense that you can’t see what it cost. When you compare any two quotes, line up what’s actually in each one — and what each one charges to add the rest — before you compare the totals.
The method: squeegee first, pole where it makes sense
Good glass isn’t about one magic tool — it’s about using the right one per window. Interior glass, ground-floor windows, and any pane people see up close get the traditional scrubber and squeegee, which removes the water entirely instead of pushing it around, so there’s nothing left to streak. Upper-storey exteriors and frames get the pure-water pole, which cleans from the ground and washes the frames and sills as it goes. Our crews carry both and choose per window, not per ideology.
NordCare — the exterior-window membership
If windows are the thing you never quite get around to, NordCare is built for exactly that. It’s an exterior-window subscription: Nord cleans the outside of your glass every spring and fall, on the natural Simcoe County rhythm, so it just happens without you booking each time. Members get $50 off every visit, and you can cancel anytime — it’s a standing arrangement, not a lock-in.
Two more things members get. There’s a 7-Day Weather Guarantee: if rain dirties the exterior glass within seven days of a plan visit, Nord re-cleans the outside free — because it feels lousy to have the sky undo a fresh clean the next afternoon. And interior glass is optional whenever you want it — add it to any visit, as often as you like, priced the same as an exterior clean with $50 off as a member too — every pass over the glass earns the member discount, so you can add an inside pass in a given season without changing your membership. It’s there if it suits how you live; there’s no pressure either way.
Is it worth it?
Honestly, it depends on how you feel about the job. Doing your own windows on a nice Saturday is genuinely satisfying, and our how-to guide walks you through the pro method if that’s your kind of project. Where hiring earns its keep is three places: time (a whole house of glass is a full day by hand and a couple of hours with the right equipment), finish (a streak-free result across every pane, screens and all), and safety — upper-storey windows mean a ladder at height, which is the single biggest hazard in this trade. That’s exactly why we reach for the water-fed pole for much of the work above the ground floor: a lot of that glass gets cleaned from the ground, and where a ladder is the right tool it’s a trained, insured pro on it — never you. If keeping off a ladder is worth something to you, that’s a lot of what you’re paying for.
Frequently asked questions
How much does window cleaning cost?
Across Canada, most residential window cleaning runs about $5 to $15 per window for the exterior, with interior adding roughly $3 to $8 more per window, and whole houses commonly landing between $150 and $500.1 The drivers are pane count and type, height, In & Out versus exterior-only, and whether it’s a first clean or maintenance. Nord charges a flat rate by home size instead — see your exact number on the instant quote.
How often should windows be cleaned?
Twice a year suits most Simcoe County homes — spring after the June pine pollen, and fall before winter. Homes near gravel roads, farms, or the water often want a third exterior visit.
Are screens and tracks included?
With Nord, tracks and sills are detailed by hand on an In & Out clean, and screens are an add-on you can put on any clean — priced by home size and published, so you see it before you book rather than on the invoice. Always check this on any quote — it’s the piece most often left out.
Should I do interior and exterior, or just outside?
Exterior gets dirty fastest, so many homes do the outside more often and the inside on a longer cycle. NordCare is exterior-focused, with interior optional and priced the same as an exterior clean.
Is professional window cleaning worth it?
For the time saved, the streak-free finish, and the safety of not being on a ladder at height, most people find it is — though a DIY Saturday is a fine choice too if you enjoy it.
Sources: HomeStars — Window Cleaning Cost in Canada Price Guide · Bark — How Much Does Window Cleaning Cost in Canada