Most homeowners in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs know the moment. It is a clear Saturday in October, the spring pollen has settled into a yellow film across the upstairs glass, and someone in the house suggests getting the extension ladder out of the garage. On a single-level home in Bentleigh that might be a reasonable plan. On a two-level home in Glen Waverley, Doncaster or Balwyn, with a sloping driveway, a garden bed under every window and a second floor sitting five or six metres off the ground, it is a very different proposition.

Double storey window cleaning is one of those jobs that looks simple from the lawn and becomes complicated the moment you are halfway up a ladder with a bucket in one hand. This guide explains why the upper level of a home is genuinely harder to clean well, what professional crews do differently, what drives the price, and what to ask before you book anyone to work on your house.

Why the Second Storey Is a Different Job

The ground floor of a home is an easy surface to clean. You can stand on the patio, reach every corner, see the result and go back over a streak. The upper floor removes all of that. You are working at arm’s length, often at an angle, on glass you cannot properly see until you are back on the ground, and by then the water has dried and any streaks are set.

Access is the main issue. Melbourne’s double-storey homes rarely offer flat, open ground beneath every window. There are side passages barely wide enough for a wheelie bin, retaining walls on sloping blocks in the Dandenong foothills, pergolas and verandah roofs over the back living area, and established gardens that nobody wants trampled. Every one of those obstacles changes where a ladder can stand, and most of them push it to an angle that is less stable than it should be.

The windows themselves add complexity. Many homes built through the 1990s and 2000s have large fixed panes in stairwells and voids that do not open from inside, highlight windows above the entry, and upper-level awning windows that only open partway. Newer builds in growth areas such as Clyde North and Point Cook often feature tall, narrow glazing on the second level that is impossible to reach from inside at all. Proper double storey window cleaning means treating each of these as its own access problem rather than assuming one ladder position will cover the whole elevation.

The Real Risk of Doing It Yourself

Falls from ladders around the home are a well-recognised cause of serious injury in Victoria, and both WorkSafe Victoria and the state’s health services have run safety campaigns about the risks for years. The pattern is familiar to anyone in the trade. The ladder sits on soft lawn that gives way slightly on one side. Someone leans out to reach the far corner rather than climbing down to move the ladder. A gust of north wind catches the extension. Both hands are busy with a squeegee and a cloth. Nothing about the task is dramatic, which is exactly why people underestimate it.

Working at height is also where property damage happens. Ladders leaning on gutters crush and dent them, particularly the thinner profiles on project homes. Ladder feet mark render and scuff paint. Dropped buckets crack terracotta pavers. A homeowner might save on the cleaning invoice and then spend more fixing a bent gutter or replacing a downpipe bracket.

None of this means a capable homeowner can never clean their own upstairs windows. Many internal faces can be cleaned safely from inside, and some upper windows tilt or slide in a way that allows both sides to be reached. The question is the outside face of glass you can only reach from a ladder. For that glass, the calculation shifts quickly towards paying someone who works at height every day, carries insurance for it, and uses equipment designed so they do not need to lean anything against your home.

How Professionals Approach Double Storey Window Cleaning

The biggest change in the industry over the past decade has been the move away from ladders altogether for most upper-floor glass. Modern double storey window cleaning is usually done from the ground using purified water and telescopic carbon-fibre poles, a method we explain in detail in our guide to water-fed pole systems for window cleaning.

Pure Water From the Ground

The principle is straightforward. Tap water is filtered through a series of stages, finishing with deionising resin, until the dissolved minerals are removed almost entirely. Technicians check the result with a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, aiming for a reading at or close to zero. Water that pure acts as a solvent, pulling dirt off the glass and drying without leaving the mineral spots that ordinary tap water would. A soft brush on the end of the pole agitates the grime, a final rinse carries it away, and the glass dries clear without a squeegee touching it.

For a homeowner, the practical benefits are significant. Nobody climbs onto your roof or leans a ladder against your gutters. The technician stands on stable ground and can see the whole pane as they work. Frames and sills are rinsed at the same time, which removes the dust and spider webs that collect in Melbourne’s warmer months. Because no chemicals are used, gardens, pets and pool water are not affected by runoff.

When Poles Are Not Enough

Pole systems do have limits. Very steep blocks, windows above a lower roof that cannot be reached from any safe ground position, and heavily stained glass that needs hands-on treatment all call for a different approach. In these cases a professional crew may work from a properly secured ladder with stand-offs that keep it clear of the gutter, from a small elevated work platform, or, on unusual or larger homes, using roof anchors and harness systems. The point is that the method is chosen to suit the house, not the other way around. A good double storey window cleaning service will look at your home and tell you which approach it needs before they start.

What Melbourne’s Conditions Do to Upstairs Glass

Upper-floor windows tend to get dirtier than people expect, and in different ways from the ground floor. They are exposed to more wind, they catch more airborne dust, and they rarely get the occasional wipe that a downstairs window near the back door receives.

Spring is the season most homeowners notice it. Pollen from plane trees, wattles and grasses settles as a fine film from September onwards, and a hot northerly can drop a layer of dust across a whole elevation in an afternoon. Our article on how Melbourne’s climate affects window cleaning covers the seasonal pattern in more depth, including why booking just after the spring pollen peak tends to give the longest-lasting result.

Location matters as well. Two-level homes in Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham and Beaumaris face a constant fine salt deposit carried in off the bay, which builds up fastest on the upper level where the wind hits hardest. If you live near the water, our guide to window cleaning for coastal properties in Melbourne explains why coastal glass usually needs attention more often. Homes in the hills around Kalorama, Belgrave and Mount Dandenong deal with eucalyptus oils, bark dust and leaf litter instead, while homes near major roads in the inner north and west collect a greasy traffic film that rain alone will not shift.

Then there are sprinkler and garden-hose marks. Reticulation systems that catch the lower edge of upstairs glass, or hosing from a balcony, leave mineral spots that harden over time. Left long enough, those spots can begin to etch the surface. The early warning signs are covered in our article on signs your window glass has mineral damage, and regular cleaning is the simplest way to stop it reaching that point.

What Affects the Cost of Double Storey Window Cleaning

Homeowners understandably want a price before anything else, and the honest answer is that it depends on the house. The pricing for double storey window cleaning is shaped by a handful of factors that a good quote will account for openly.

The number and size of windows is the obvious starting point, but access matters just as much. A home with clear, level ground on all sides is quicker to clean than one with narrow side passages, sloping garden beds or a second-floor window sitting above a single-storey roof section. Whether you want inside and outside cleaned, or just the external faces, changes the time involved considerably. Flyscreens and tracks add time too, because screens need to be removed, washed and refitted, and tracks need to be vacuumed and wiped before they look properly clean.

The condition of the glass is the other big variable. Windows that have been cleaned within the past year are a routine job. Glass that has not been touched for several years, or that carries paint overspray from a renovation, builder’s silicone or hardened mineral spots, takes longer and may need specialist treatment. Our post on the hidden costs of delaying window cleaning explains why the first clean after a long gap is usually the most expensive one, and why regular double storey window cleaning tends to work out cheaper over time.

Frequency is where many households save. A home on a twice-yearly or quarterly programme is quicker to clean each visit, which is reflected in the price. Combining the visit with other work at height, such as gutter cleaning, also makes sense, because the access setup is already in place and you pay for one visit rather than two.

Choosing Who Works on Your Home

When a company is working at height on your house, the right questions are less about the price and more about who is turning up and how they work.

Start with insurance. Ask whether the business carries public liability cover that applies to work at height on residential property, and ask to see it. Then ask how they will access the upper level. A company that relies on water-fed poles for most of the glass and can explain how it handles the awkward windows is in a very different position from one that simply brings a taller ladder. Ask whether they will lean anything against your gutters, and how they protect garden beds and paving.

Trust matters in a residential setting in a way it does not on a commercial site. You are letting people into your home and around your family. Uniformed, police-checked technicians, clear arrival times and a company that answers the phone when you call are reasonable expectations, not extras.

Finally, consider what else the crew can tell you while they are up there. A technician looking closely at every upper window is well placed to notice cracked putty on older timber sashes, perished rubber seals, failing silicone around the frame, or condensation trapped between the panes of double-glazed units. Spotting a seal issue early can save a much larger repair later, which is why we treat window cleaning and basic glazing checks as part of the same visit. It is the same thinking behind our broader approach to building maintenance: small problems found early stay small.

How Often Should Upper Windows Be Cleaned?

For most double-storey homes in Melbourne, twice a year is a sensible baseline. A clean in early spring removes the winter grime and catches the pollen season, and a second visit in late autumn clears summer dust and leaf debris before the wetter months. Bayside homes, properties on busy roads and houses surrounded by large trees often benefit from three or four visits a year.

Many households also book a one-off double storey window cleaning visit before a specific event: a family celebration, Christmas entertaining, a property sale or the end of a lease. After a major storm, upstairs glass can be coated in mud, leaves and debris, and our article on window cleaning after storms explains what to check for once the weather clears.

Whatever the schedule, consistency is what keeps the job affordable and the glass in good condition. Regular double storey window cleaning means the grime never has time to harden, the mineral spots never have time to bond, and each visit is quicker than the last.

Getting the Upstairs Windows Done Properly

The upper level of a two-storey home is where the risk and the difficulty of window cleaning sit, and it is also where professional equipment makes the biggest difference. Pure water and ground-based poles mean no ladders on your gutters and no one balancing on your roof. Trained crews mean the awkward windows above the verandah or over the stairwell are handled safely. And a careful technician working on every pane will often spot a seal or frame problem long before it becomes expensive.

McPherson Window Cleaning brings the same height safety discipline we apply to Melbourne’s commercial buildings to our residential window cleaning work, with uniformed, police-checked technicians who treat your home with care. If your upstairs windows have been on the to-do list since winter, or you would simply rather not be the one on the ladder this spring, call us today on 1300 30 15 40 and we will talk through what your home needs for double storey window cleaning done safely and properly.