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HOW WE WORK
Our equipment, safety and methods
What we clean with, how we keep your home and family safe, and how every decision on a job is made.
Most companies keep this part vague. We would rather show you. Glass House is owner-operated, so the equipment on this page is what Carson brings to your home, and the methods are the ones he uses on every job himself.
By the end of this page, you will know what goes on your glass, siding, roof and concrete, why each tool is the gentlest one that does the job well, how we protect the people and property around the work, and where our limits are.
THE RULE BEHIND EVERY MIX
Always start with the lightest mix the surface will take and work up if needed, never the other way around.
★ Rated 4.9 on Google · 44 reviews
Insured to $2M
Owner-operated
Based in Ham Lake, MN
WHY IT MATTERS
Your home is worth doing carefully
My name is Carson Brenny. I grew up in Ham Lake, went to Blaine High School and have worked full-time in exterior cleaning since 2020. Glass House has no crews and no subcontractors: I quote the job, do the job and walk it with you at the end.
The homes I work on belong to my neighbors. That is why I learn the chemistry behind every surface, invest in the right equipment and take the slower, gentler route whenever it is the better one.
IN CARSON'S WORDS
“It's my neighbors' homes: their biggest investment, one of the places they spend the most time, and where the people they care about most live. It's something everyone should enjoy, and I believe that.”
Carson Brenny, owner
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The same person from quote to final walkthrough
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Six years full-time in the trade, insured to $2M
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Clear about what cleaning can and cannot fix
CORE VALUES
What every job is measured against
Glass House runs on one line: Transparency & Care, Priced Fair. Here is what each part of it means on your property, in practice rather than as a slogan.
TRANSPARENCY
You know before we start
Before any work begins, you know the price, what is included, what is not and what cleaning cannot fix. Our service policies come with every quote, so the terms are in writing before you book and nothing arrives as a surprise on the day or on the invoice.
CARE
Protecting what we are not cleaning
Care means treating your plants, trim, glass and floors as seriously as the surface we came to clean. Indoors, drop cloths go down before anything is wetted, protecting couches, carpet, rugs and drapes. Inside and out, we reach for the gentlest method that will do the job well.
PRICED FAIR
Built from your home
Prices come from the size and condition of your home, and the ranges we publish are real ones. Discounts are standing offers rather than a negotiation, and we accept check, cash, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle instead of cards, which keeps pricing fair.
HONESTY
Limits said out loud
When cleaning will not solve a problem, you hear it before you spend a dollar, even when that means a smaller job for us. A realistic expectation set at the start is worth more than a disappointing result at the end, and the specific limits we hold are listed below.
EDUCATION
You should learn something
Every visit should leave you knowing more about your home: what caused the problem, how to slow it down and what to keep an eye on between visits. Carson would rather over-explain than leave you guessing, so ask him about any part of the method while he is there.
RELATIONSHIPS
Clients for decades
Glass House is built for clients who stay for years, not for one-time jobs. That is why the standard does not drop on a small job, and why every recommendation is based on what your home needs rather than on what would fill a schedule.
THOUGHT PROCESS
How Carson thinks through a job
Every decision on a job comes back to finding the gentlest way to clean a surface thoroughly without putting it at risk. This is the order Carson works in, and the reason for each step.
01
Look before settling a price
Carson reviews your property online first, then walks it on the day of service. Siding type, glass, access, landscaping and anything fragile all change the method, and choosing the wrong method is how permanent damage happens.
02
Name it before treating it
WHY THE WALK-AROUND MATTERS
It confirms we have the right chemicals, at the right mixture, for the right surfaces. Most days nothing changes, but it is how anything of concern is raised with you before the work instead of after.
Orange streaks are iron from well water, green film is algae, white chalk on siding is usually oxidation, and black stripes on a gutter are bonded carbon. From the driveway they can look alike, and the fix for one can make another permanent: bleach sets rust rather than removing it.
03
Start with the lightest method
In practice, the rule at the top of this page means a first pass at the light end of the range for that surface, a close look at the result, and a second application only where growth remains. Reapplying is normal and costs only a little time.
04
Test before committing
Stain work starts with a spot test, and hard water removal starts on a single window after the glass has been cleaned normally, because severity cannot be judged on dirty glass. If a test shows a job cannot be done well, you hear that before you pay, and we only charge for work we can complete.
05
Protect everything around it
Plants, glass, trim and anything we are not cleaning are rinsed before, during and after the work. Overspray that lands on a pre-wet surface is diluted to the point of being harmless, which is why landscaping comes through a wash in good condition.
06
Finish, check and document
Every job ends with a walkthrough. Before and after photos are attached to your receipt, along with anything we noticed while we were up there, such as a blocked downspout or a loose piece of fascia.
THE EQUIPMENT
What the van carries, and why
Glass House runs out of a work van set up for exterior cleaning. Nothing on it is there for show: each tool is the gentlest one that does its particular job well.
GLASS
A pure-water filtration system
Reverse osmosis, carbon and deionization filters are mounted in the van, and rinse water runs through them until the meter reads 0 PPM: zero parts per million of dissolved minerals. Spot-free glass needs under 10 PPM. If a reading reaches 15, the resin is changed before the next glass job, and on hard-water homes it is checked mid-job.
HEIGHT
A carbon fiber water-fed pole
Fed with that pure water, the pole reaches six stories with a boar's hair brush on the end. Glass and frames are scrubbed, rinsed from top to bottom and left to dry with nothing in the water to spot. It also means fewer ladders against your house.
BY HAND
A traditional window kit
A T-bar applicator wets the glass, #0000 steel wool made for glass loosens what is stuck, and a professional squeegee is cut in at the edge, then fanned across the pane in one continuous pull. Lint-free surgical towels finish the frames, edges and sills. Tinted glass never receives an abrasive.
SIDING AND ROOFS
A soft wash system
Soft washing cleans with chemistry and rinses at low pressure. Ours runs at 50 to 300 psi, about the force of a garden hose, while moving 11 gallons a minute with roughly 85 feet of reach. High flow means we apply and rinse efficiently, which uses less water overall, not more. With no water access, a tank can come to the job.
CONCRETE
A surface cleaner
Concrete is the one place real pressure belongs. A rotating surface cleaner at 2,000 to 3,500 psi, with a treatment before and after, cleans evenly without striping or etching the slab. A heated machine is available on special request for oil, because heat thins oil and draws it out of the pores.
GUTTERS
Hands, air and water
Gutters are hand cleaned, blown out or flushed, whichever that gutter needs on the day, and every downspout is flushed to prove it flows. For gutter brightening, carbon fiber poles reach 60 feet, so the whole gutter face is brushed from the ground rather than from a ladder.
SOLAR
Brushes made for panels
Solar panels receive the same 0 PPM water through brushes made specifically for solar panels, and only on a cool panel. Minerals left on a panel can etch it the same way they etch glass, and cool water on a hot panel can damage it permanently, so early mornings and overcast days are best.
WINTER
Steam and custom-cut C9s
Ice dams come off with a dedicated ice dam steamer that melts the ice instead of breaking it, so nothing is chiseled off your shingles. Holiday lighting uses deluxe C9 bulbs in warm white, custom cut to your roofline, and it is the one service that needs no water.
SAFETY EQUIPMENT AND PRACTICES
How we keep you, your home and ourselves safe
Safety on a job protects three things: the people who live there, the house itself and the person doing the work. Here is what that looks like on your property.
LADDERS
Built to protect your house
Our ladders carry padded standoffs, so nothing rests against or marks your siding, gutters or trim, and levelers on the feet for soft ground and slopes. No ladder ever comes inside your home. Indoors, specialized poles reach the high glass, and anything that cannot be reached safely is raised before the visit.
SETUP
Ladders and roofs, set up correctly
Ladders go up at a 4 to 1 angle and are tied off above two stories, and a standoff keeps the ladder's weight off your gutters. On a roof, Carson wears roofing-specific traction footwear and a harness when conditions call for it, and no one walks on wet shingles.
PROTECTIVE GEAR
PPE for chemical work
Acid work calls for personal protective equipment (PPE): rubber gloves, a respirator and safety glasses. Acidic products go on through a dedicated sprayer, never through a pressure washer, and most are used only above 50°F and out of direct hot sun, and each product's label sets its dwell and drying.
CHEMISTRY
Two things that never meet
Bleach-based wash mixes and acidic stain removers are never mixed and never used back to back without a full rinse and dry in between, because together they make chlorine gas. It is also why we advise against treating rust yourself right after washing your own siding.
STOP-WORK RULES
Wasps, weather and anything unsafe
An active wasp or hornet nest stops work in that area. We finish everything else and tell you exactly what we skipped and why. Weather that makes the work unsafe or ineffective means a reschedule, and weather reschedules are always free.
HOME LIFE
Kids and pets are welcome
Kids and pets at home are completely fine. We only ask that they stay clear of the work area while we are working, and off washed or treated surfaces for at least 3 hours afterward so everything can dry.
WATER
Your spigot, your landscaping
We connect to your outside spigot, so please make sure it is turned on and reachable. A spigot shut off at an inside valve is the most common cause of a delayed start. Runoff from concrete work is diluted heavily and kept away from lawns as much as the site allows.
COVERAGE
Insured to $2 million
Glass House carries $2,000,000 in general liability coverage on every job. For fragile or high-risk surfaces, such as oxidized or loose siding, aged paint, brittle screens or old caulking, Carson may ask you to sign a damage waiver first, so the real risk is discussed before the work begins.
HONEST BOUNDARIES
What we do not do, and why
Saying no clearly is part of doing the job right. These are the lines we do not cross, so you never pay for something that was never going to work.
Concrete under two years old
We do not clean concrete that is less than two years old, and no one should: it will permanently etch the surface. On older slabs that have been sealed or stamped, a test corner comes first, so the finish is checked before the whole surface is treated.
Staining or sealing wood
We wash wood; we do not stain or seal it. The one exception is cedar restoration: wash, brighten, then seal, because bleach-based wash chemistry greys cedar at any strength. On other wood, a finish that was not properly sealed can discolor when washed, so tell us what is on your deck.
Taking gutters apart
We never disassemble downspouts or gutter hardware, and we never remove, install or lift gutter guards. Gutters with guards can still be cleaned with a blowout or a flush, although the guards themselves are not guaranteed free of debris. If a downspout is blocked inside, we find it and tell you.
Repairs cleaning cannot make
Cracked panes, fogged units and failed seals need a repair, not a clean. A fogged window is not dirty: the seal has failed, and the moisture is inside the unit, between the panes. We refer that work to Pro Window Repair in Blaine, a family-owned shop, and take no cut.
Promises we cannot keep
No firm price on anything sight-unseen, and no promise that etched glass, bonded rust or faded vinyl will return to new. Etching is damage in the glass itself, and rust left to bond becomes part of the surface. We tell you what is realistic instead, before you spend anything.
Glass we do not clean
We typically do not clean stained or leaded glass, and we do not work on storm windows that have to come out from the outside, which in most cases we are not permitted to do. Storm panes that come out from inside are cleaned on both sides and reinstalled in order.
HOW QUOTING AND BOOKING WORK
From your first message to the walkthrough
01
Ask for a quote
Walk through the Glass House Experience, send the quote form, or call or text (612) 294-8796. Carson reads every request himself.
Every quote and booking follows the same steps, so you always know what comes next.
02
Your quote comes by text
It comes from (612) 294-8796, and by email when we have it: a written quote listing every service, what is included, your guarantees and our policies, plus a short visual walkthrough of how each job is done.
03
Choose your options and a date
Pick the options you want and a day that works. Days marked Preferred take 5% more off. Confirm you have read the policies, and book.
04
Texts before the visit
You receive a confirmation text, a text the day before with your arrival window, and another when Carson is on the way. Morning arrival is 8:00 to 10:00 AM, and afternoon arrival is 12:00 to 2:00 PM.
05
Confirmed in person
Every quote is confirmed in person with a short walk-around before any work starts.
06
The final walkthrough
Carson walks the finished work with you. Before and after photos come with your receipt, and payment is due at completion.
FAQ
Questions about our equipment and safety
Do you pressure wash houses and roofs?
No. Almost everything on a house exterior is a soft-wash surface. Force is what strips paint, drives water behind siding, furs up wood and knocks granules off shingles. We soft wash at 50 to 300 psi and save real pressure for concrete, where a surface cleaner does the work evenly.
What does 0 PPM water mean?
PPM means parts per million of dissolved minerals. Water with minerals in it spots as it dries; water with nothing in it cannot. North metro water is hard, so our rinse water is filtered in the van until the meter reads 0, leaving nothing behind to spot on glass or solar panels.
Do I need to be home?
For exterior work, usually not, as long as an outside spigot is turned on and we can reach it. On Basic Window Cleaning, take the screens out beforehand and you do not need to be home at all. Interior work needs someone there to let us in.
Is the soft wash safe for my plants and pets?
Yes. Plants are pre-wet and rinsed throughout the wash, as described above, and pets are welcome at home as long as they stay off washed surfaces while they dry. Before the visit, tell us about specialty landscaping, cedar, dark metals or powder-coated surfaces, so the mix can be adjusted for them.
Why not use a stronger mix to finish faster?
Because over-concentrating is how finishes are damaged, and that damage is permanent. Each surface has its own ceiling: painted siding and cedar take a far lighter mix than brick or stone, and a roof mix is among the strongest, often left on for the rain to rinse. Starting light and reapplying is slower, but it is safe for your home.
Are you insured?
Yes. Glass House carries $2,000,000 in general liability insurance. Carson does every job himself, with no crews or subcontractors, so the person working on your property is the owner who quoted the job and who answers for the result.
What happens if you find damage on my roof or gutters?
Anything we notice on the roof, gutters, fascia or other surfaces is photographed, noted and shared with you. We clean and improve surfaces; Glass House is not a repair or roofing service. Most homeowners never get up there, though, so we act as a second set of eyes.
