Window Cleaning in Saint Paul, MN
Saint Paul is built on bluffs, and it is built out of Victorians. Both of those change the job.
We have been cleaning windows on this side of the river since 1988. Free quote in 24 hours. Call (952) 922-6860.
Saint Paul is hillier than people admit
Minneapolis is mostly flat. Saint Paul is not, and it matters more than any other single thing about working here.
The city runs from about 686 feet at the river up to roughly 1,050 feet in the far northeast — around 370 feet of relief inside one city. And it is not spread out evenly. Highland Park has 335 feet of relief on its own. The West Side has 314. Battle Creek and Highwood, 295. Dayton's Bluff, 232.
On a bluff lot, the back of your house is a story taller than the front. What looks like a two-story from the street is a genuine three from the garden. Ladder footings need leveling on graded ground, and some elevations are only safe to reach with a water-fed pole rather than a ladder at all.
We would rather look at that before we quote than discover it with a crew standing in your yard. If you are on a bluff, say so when you call.
Hamline-Midway, by contrast, has about 51 feet of relief across the whole neighborhood. Flattest ground in the city. Not every Saint Paul job is a hard one.
How the city is laid out
Saint Paul works differently from Minneapolis. There are 17 numbered planning districts, each with an elected district council, and the named neighborhoods people actually use sit inside them.
Where we work, and what the houses are:
- Summit Hill (District 16) — median build year 1912, 91% pre-1940, and 75% of the houses are two-story. The steepest, tallest, most sash-heavy work in the city.
- Summit–University (8) — median 1909. The oldest prestige stock in Saint Paul.
- Macalester–Groveland (14) — median 1923, 90% pre-1940, and half of it is stucco.
- Merriam Park and Union Park (13) — median 1913, 73% two-story or one-and-three-quarter.
- Hamline–Midway (11) — median 1916, 90% pre-1940, and 38% bungalows.
- Saint Anthony Park (12) — median 1916, 55% two-story.
- West Seventh / Fort Road (9) — median 1911, and 27% of it predates 1900. The oldest housing in the city.
- Dayton's Bluff (4) and the West Side (3) — bluff-top and bluff-side, 73–76% pre-1940.
- Como Park (10) — median 1940, and 49% bungalows. The single most bungalow-heavy district in Saint Paul.
- Highland Park (15) — median 1946. Much newer than people expect.
- Greater East Side (2) and Battle Creek–Highwood (1) — median 1952 and 1959, half of them one-story. Postwar, picture windows, easiest access we get here.
If you are near the Cathedral of Saint Paul, the State Capitol, Summit Avenue, the James J. Hill House, Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, Landmark Center, Union Depot, Indian Mounds Regional Park, the Highland Park water tower or Allianz Field — that is our normal week.
Summit Avenue and what comes with it
Summit Avenue runs 4.5 miles from the Cathedral to the Mississippi, and it is widely described as the longest preserved stretch of Victorian-era homes in the country.
Saint Paul has nine local heritage preservation districts — Historic Hill, Summit Avenue West, Irvine Park, Dayton's Bluff, Lowertown and others — plus several on the National Register.
Here is what matters if you own one of these houses. The Heritage Preservation Commission's own guidance says original windows must be repaired rather than replaced wherever possible, and that standard aluminum combination storms are prohibited in the districts — wooden storms built to match the window are what is expected instead.
That has a practical consequence. In a lot of Saint Paul, the storm window on your house is a custom wooden sash, not a triple-track unit you can slide. It comes off and goes back on, and it is not replaceable at a hardware store if it gets broken. We handle them accordingly.
None of this means you need approval to have your windows cleaned. Cleaning is maintenance. We mention it because it tells you we know what we are handling.
One thing that works in your favor: the water
This surprises people. Saint Paul water is not hard.
Saint Paul Regional Water Services draws from the Mississippi River — surface water, not wells — and softens it centrally with lime before it reaches you. The published mineral reports put total hardness around 84 to 94 mg/L, which is roughly 5 to 5.5 grains per gallon. SPRWS says outright that you should not need a softener on their water.
Compare that to the northern suburbs on well water, where 12 to 21 grains is normal. Saint Paul homeowners get far less sprinkler mineral spotting on their glass than someone in Blaine or Fridley does.
It is not nothing, though. The treatment deliberately holds pH near 9 and dissolved solids run 200 to 320 ppm, so tap water still leaves a film if it dries on glass in the sun. That is why we finish with purified water rather than whatever comes out of your hose.
Tree canopy
Roughly a third of Saint Paul is tree canopy — the last full assessment put it at 32.5%, though that study is from 2010 and the city says plainly it no longer reflects current conditions.
What has changed since is emerald ash borer. Saint Paul had around 27,000 ash trees on its streets, and had removed more than 25,500 by 2022, finishing its public ash removals in 2024. Thousands of replacements have gone in.
For your windows that means shade patterns on a lot of blocks are genuinely different now than they were ten years ago — less mature canopy drip in some places, more direct sun and pollen load in others.
What we do in Saint Paul
Residential and commercial window cleaning, inside and out. Wooden storm and screen removal, cleaning and reinstall. Original sash and art glass. Gutter cleaning. Pressure washing. Siding cleaning and soft washing. Deck and fence cleaning. Solar panel cleaning. Holiday light installation.
Our Services in Saint Paul
Saint Paul questions we actually get
We have wooden storm windows, not the sliding kind. Can you deal with those?
Yes, and they are common here because the historic districts require them. They come off, get cleaned both sides, and go back on. Tell us when you book so we allow the time.
Our house is in the Historic Hill District. Do you need a permit?
No. Cleaning is maintenance and needs no review. What matters is that we know not to force century-old sash or disturb original glazing putty.
We are on the bluff in Dayton's Bluff and the back is three stories down. Can you do it?
Usually yes. Tell us before we quote so we plan the access rather than improvise it.
Is it true Saint Paul water is softer than the suburbs?
Yes. It comes from the river and the utility softens it — around 5 grains a gallon against 12 to 21 in the northern suburbs. You will see less mineral spotting than your relatives in Anoka County do.
We have leaded glass in the stair landing. Can you clean it?
Common in houses of this era. Hand-cleaned, different product, and we plan for it. Point it out when we walk the house.
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