Gutters are like your home's drainage system. They're not fun to maintain, but they play an important role in the way your home serves you. As long as they work, you probably don't spend a lot of time thinking about them. When your gutters are clean, the excess water can't damage your home. That's why it's so important to clean your gutters regularly, especially after a long winter.
  Roof Damage
  When water stands in clogged gutters, a few bad things happen. First, it's a perfect breeding area for mosquito larvae. Second, the excess weight from the water creates constant pressure on the nails holding your gutters in place. Third, pooled water can leak out of gutters in the wrong places. Constant dampness from pooled water can rot your fascia, and eventually your gutters can fall off, leaving you to deal with a repair that costs more than gutter cleaning.

 Foundation Damage

When gutters get full and overflow, the excess water runs down and rests beside your home's foundation. The constant moisture can damage your foundation, but that's not all. Some of the water seeps into the basement and can form mildew and dangerous mold if left untreated.

  Tips for cleaning YOUR Gutters

• Clean your gutters at least once a year if your yard is free of trees. Clean gutters at least twice per year if you have a lot of foliage around your home.
• Wear thick gloves because gutters have sharp edges. Gloves also protect your hands from smelly debris that collects in gutters.
• Avoid the hassle of moving the ladder every few feet by walking on the roof and kneeling down to clean gutters, but only if your roof's pitch isn't too steep and you have a good sense of balance.
• It's better to hire someone to clean your gutters if you have concerns about safety or if you are uneasy around heights.
  
•  Call Innovative Glass 865-455-9871 for a FREE quote today!! Serving all of Knoxville, Tn.
  

When a customer asks Innovative Glass how often it needs our commercial window cleaning services, we always answer the same way: “It depends.”  And it depends on a number of factors, the biggest of which is the type of business you run. Because your facility is customers’ and prospects’ first impression, all businesses should make an effort to keep their windows clean. Some, however, get dirtier more easily and more often, requiring greater frequency of professional cleaning. 

There are no fast-and-hard rules about how often to clean your windows, and many things influence how often you call in the commercial window cleaning professionals, including:

• Location. Windows on facilities close to highways and on busy streets get dirty much faster than those in quiet suburban areas with only moderate traffic.
  
  
• Landscaping. If your building has trees that drip sap, mulched areas up against the building, or is alongside a parking lot, you may need more frequent cleaning because of the debris in the air.
  
  
• Weather. If the spring season is rainier than usual, you may need a commercial window cleaning company to wash the windows more often to remove the mineral deposits left by water.
  
  

Now that you know what can affect a commercial window cleaning schedule, here’s a basic guideline to help you determine how often your type of facility needs its “eyes on the world” professionally cleaned: 

Restaurants, because of the moisture and grease circulating in the air, need their windows cleaned about every 2 weeks, if not more. These windows need to be done inside and out. Dirty, grimy, fingerprinted windows are pretty unappetizing and detract from the image of quality you’re trying to project. 

Healthcare facilities – physicians’ offices, clinics, hospitals, etc. – must present a spotless, well-maintained appearance. Windows, particularly on the ground floor and on floors with patient exam or treatment rooms, should be cleaned monthly. A well-cared-for appearance gives patients confidence that they, too, will be well cared for! 

Retail stores and other businesses with lots of foot traffic typically need to be cleaned at least once a month. With as much competition you have, the impression you make is critical to a positive image and repeat traffic. 

Office buildings don’t need windows cleaned quite as often. These types of facilities should have a full cleaning (inside and out) about twice a year; the lobbies, however, should be cleaned monthly or every other month because of how important this area is to visitors’ impressions of the company. Touch-ups on the inside may need to be done more often, depending on the type of business environment. 

Have you ever driven past a commercial building with untidy landscaping, a debris-filled parking lot and dirty, dusty windows? It gives passersby the impression that the business isn’t doing well and that they “just don’t care.” Don’t let that happen to your business. Call Innovative Glass to talk about a window washing services schedule that fits your budget and your business needs . We’re happy to help you make a positive first impression on customers and prospects!

There probably aren't too many people out there who get absolutely no outside assistance with housecleaning. Even if you don't splurge on a regular cleaning service, you've most likely hired a pro at some point to handle a chore you didn't have the time or inclination to tackle yourself. No matter how dedicated a cleaner you are, you're going to need help from time to time. http://www.knoxvillewindowcleaners.com/  865-455-9871

As we see it, there are three basic categories of household chores.

• Daily or weekly tasks: dishes, dusting, toilets, showers, laundry, sweeping, vacuuming
• Occasional, more time-consuming chores: windows, draperies, carpets, floor refinishing
• Infrequent or emergency-situation jobs: chimneys, mold, gutters

Most of us go DIY for daily or weekly chores. Even if you use a housekeeping service because you need a little help with the laundry or despise cleaning bathrooms, you probably do end up scrubbing a tub or folding clothes from time to time. Plenty of people also steam their own carpets and climb onto their roofs to clean gutters -- but they, frankly, are probably just a little bit crazy. We're here to give you the go-ahead to call the pros for certain tasks in those last two categories that are just too time-sucking, annoying or downright dangerous to attempt on your own.

Don't feel guilty about it. It's better to spend some money than to injure yourself playing chimney sweep or to inhale toxic spores while removing black mold from your basement. If you can afford it, you shouldn't even waste a Saturday washing windows. Get out there and enjoy your life!

Here's our list of 10 cleaning chores that you have our permission to skip.
 

10: Draperies and Blinds/ The experts say that you should vacuum, dust and sponge down your draperies and blinds on a regular basis. Metal and vinyl blinds, they say, should be taken down and scrubbed with a car-washing brush. We suspect that there are about four people who actually do this. The rest of us would definitely benefit from a professional window-treatment cleaning every once in a while.

9: Carpets/ You're probably aware that a weekly halfhearted carpet-vacuuming job, although it makes things look spic-and-span temporarily, isn't a thorough cleaning. You suck up the surface dirt but leave most of it lurking close to the ground. When you realize it's time for a deeper cleaning (which should be about once a year), you might be tempted to rent a steam cleaner to do the job yourself. It'd be cheaper, sure, but it'd take forever, and the results wouldn't come close to the work of carpet-cleaning professionals. They have the heavy-duty equipment, so let them come to you.

8: Windows/ You probably don't think about cleaning your windows all that often. Unlike counters and floors, there isn't that much opportunity for windows to get visibly dirty -- they just get subtly dingier over the years until you suddenly wonder where all your beautiful natural light has gone. Washing them (both sides, plus screens and sills) can be a major production. A professional cleaning might be pricey, but just think of it as a once-in-a-while expense.

7: Refinishing Floors/ Mopping hardwood floors probably isn't anyone's most favorite chore in the world, but it's not that difficult or time-consuming in the scheme of things. Refinishing those floors, however, is a different story. Sure, you could attempt it yourself, but why? It's back-breaking work, and there's such a small margin of error -- you do run a risk of ruining your floors. So it'd behoove you to call in the pros, sit back, relax and watch your dull floors come back to life.

6: Upholstery/ Upholstered furniture can really take a beating, especially if you have pets or small children. But other than spot-cleaning spills and vacuuming up dog hair, there's not much you can do that will make a major difference in the appearance of your sofas and armchairs -- and you actually could ruin your furniture by using the wrong kind of cleaner. Here's where pro upholstery cleaners come in. They have the equipment and the know-how to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

5: Air Ducts/ According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the verdict is still out on whether dirty air ducts cause health problems or increase dust. But if you do decide, for whatever reason, that you want your home's air ducts to be cleaned, please don't take matters into your own hands. Unless you've had extensive training, it would basically be impossible for you to handle the job.

4: Chimney's/  Your chimney should be cleaned once a year, right before the cold weather and heating season begin, or when you notice a buildup of creosote on the chimney walls. If you're even remotely thinking of attempting to do it yourself, stop right there. Do not go near that chimney with any kind of cleaning apparatus. Contact a chimney sweep. The only thing worse than spending a weekend cleaning the house is spending a weekend stuck in your chimney.

3: Gutters/ Gutter-cleaning should be a semi-annual task (generally in the fall and spring), and -- especially if you have a lot of trees on your property -- it's probably not a very enjoyable one. There are some who claim that gutter maintenance is a DIY job, but we definitely do not fall into that camp. Why get up on a ladder with a bucket, hose and trowel if you don't really have to? We'd say there are about a million better (and safer) ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.

2: Major Organization/  People with mild organization issues can generally remedy the situation themselves, given enough time and space to tackle the problem. But if your disorganization is causing chaos in your life -- or making it difficult to see the floor in your home office -- it's time to get help. Professional organizers can do so much more than remove clutter from your home -- they can remove a good deal of the stress from your life and replace it with order and calm.

1: Mold/  This one is not a question of being lazy or crunched for time: Trying to remove mold could be hazardous to your health. Sure, you can wipe up minor shower mold fairly easily, but if there's a moldy area larger than 10 square feet -- especially if it's the toxic greenish-black kind -- you should back away from it slowly and get on the phone with a professional mold cleaner ASAP. The pros will thoroughly inspect the area, clean it and make sure the mold doesn't return.