Drone window cleaning for high-rise and commercial glass
Every pane, rinsed with 0 TDS pure water and carried by a tethered drone instead of a rope, a stage or a boom lift. Spot-free glass with nobody at height. The same equipment, method, insurance and published rate nationwide.
Fully Insured
$2M Liability
FAA Compliant
Part 107 Certified
Commercial Projects
Up to 200 ft by drone
Drone window cleaning, in short
A tethered Lucid Bots Sherpa drone rinses curtain wall, storefront and punched-window glass with a 0 TDS pure-water finish, so it air-dries without spots and without a squeegee, reaching up to 200 ft (about 18 stories) per staging position. Commercial glass is $0.12–$0.25 per square foot, fixed after a free site survey, with no minimum charge. FAA Part 107 crews, $2M liability. Rates shown are our published national rates. Every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.
- Surfaces
- Curtain wall, storefront, punched windows, skylights
- Method
- 0 TDS pure-water rinse, low pressure, no squeegee
- Reach
- Up to 200 ft (about 18 stories) per staging position
- Rate
- $0.12–$0.25 / sq ft, published nationally
- Access equipment
- None: no scaffolding, ropes or lifts
- Compliance
- FAA Part 107 · $2M liability
What drone window cleaning replaces
Glass shows dirt faster than almost any other exterior surface, because there is nothing on it to hide the streaking, hard-water spotting and airborne grime that settle on every elevation. Traditionally, cleaning that glass at height means a rope access technician on a harness, a swing stage on davit arms, or a boom lift working one bay at a time, each with a squeegee doing the actual finishing work because ordinary tap water leaves mineral residue as it dries.
Drone window cleaning removes the squeegee from the equation entirely. The finish comes from the water itself: a 0 TDS pure-water rinse dries perfectly clear with nothing left behind, so the drone's job is simply to carry that water to every pane, at any height, without anyone climbing to it.
The result is a full building's glass cleaned elevation by elevation with no rigging on the facade and no crew working over the edge of a roof. Frames, mullions and sills are cleaned in the same pass, since they are where grime and salt drift actually accumulate first.
Glazing we clean
- Glass curtain wall and spandrel glass
- Storefront and retail glazing
- Punched aluminum-frame windows
- Skylights and sloped glazing
- Low-E and ceramic-frit coated glass
- Window frames, mullion caps and sills
Tethered drone, 0 TDS pure-water rinse, low pressure
The aircraft is a Lucid Bots Sherpa, flown on a tether that carries power and water from a ground rig, so the drone never lands to refill and never lifts a tank into the air. On windows the emphasis is the rinse water itself: it is run through multi-stage pre-filtration into de-ionization resin until it carries no measurable dissolved solids.
Because 0 TDS water has nothing dissolved in it to leave behind, it dries completely clear without a squeegee pass, a chamois or a drying agent, even in direct sun. That is what makes the method work at height and at scale: a squeegee finish depends on a technician's stroke on every single pane, while a pure-water finish is the same result on pane one and pane one thousand.
Pressure stays low throughout, so sealant joints, glazing gaskets and coated glass are never at risk. Where the glazing carries a low-E or ceramic-frit coating with a manufacturer maintenance requirement, chemistry and dwell time are matched to that document and confirmed in the proposal.
What is not on the building
- No rope access technician or rescue plan
- No swing stage, davit arm or roof anchor inspection
- No boom lift in a traffic lane or landscaped bed
- No squeegee, chamois or drying agent
- No crew at height at any point in the job
Up to 200 ft per staging position, taller by staging
The drone reaches up to 200 ft, about 18 stories, from a single staging position on the ground. On taller towers we stage from podium roofs, setbacks or amenity decks and clean the glazing in stacked sections, elevation by elevation, so height is a scheduling question the survey answers rather than a limit on which buildings qualify.
Skylights and sloped roof glazing are reached from above using the same tethered rig, staged from the roof, so a flat or low-slope glass surface never needs a separate scaffold contract.
FAA Part 107 crews, $2M liability, and nobody at height
Every flight is conducted by an FAA Part 107 certified remote pilot with a visual observer on the ground. Where a building sits in controlled airspace we file LAANC authorization in advance; over Manhattan, where LAANC is unavailable, we file for manual FAA authorization and schedule the job around the approval. The area beneath the active flight is coned, and the tether keeps the aircraft on a fixed line rather than free-flying over the public.
We carry $2M commercial general liability plus dedicated UAS aviation liability, with certificates naming the owner and property manager issued before mobilization. Because glass cleaning traditionally puts a person over the edge on a rope or a stage, removing that person removes the fall-from-height exposure that drives so much of the cost of high-rise glass work.
Wash water is managed to the local rule: Pittsburgh and Denver both prohibit contaminated wash water entering storm sewers, and New York requires DEP approval for discharge to the sanitary system, so runoff handling is planned at the survey.
Six things that move a glass-cleaning quote
Every quote is a fixed price built from a measured glass area and a walkthrough of the building. The rate per square foot moves inside the published range according to the factors below, and the total moves with size: bigger jobs get lower rates.
- Glass area, measured from drawings and confirmed on site
- Height and the number of staging positions the elevation needs
- Frame type and mullion density, more frame means more hand-finishing
- Coating type: low-E and ceramic-frit glazing take specific chemistry
- Soiling level: light film versus heavy hard-water spotting or salt haze
- Scheduling: business hours, after-hours or weekend work
Window cleaning pricing, per square foot of glass
Commercial glass is priced at $0.12–$0.25 per square foot, fixed after a free site survey, with no minimum charge. The rate eases as the job grows: at 40,000 sq ft and up the range is $0.12–$0.20. Per-pane pricing ($0.75–$3.50) is a secondary reference for small storefront jobs; the per square foot rate is what we quote from. The totals below are computed from that model at the size shown.
Commercial glass
$0.12–$0.25 / sq ft
Fixed price after a free site survey. No minimum charge.
40,000 sq ft and up
$0.12–$0.20 / sq ft
Bigger jobs get lower rates; the slide continues on very large projects.
10,000 sq ft glass area
$1,200–$2,375
Computed from the model at this size.
20,000 sq ft glass area
$2,400–$4,500
Computed from the model at this size.
40,000 sq ft glass area
$4,800–$8,000
Computed from the model at this size.
100,000 sq ft glass area
$10,364–$20,000
Computed from the model at this size.
Recurring maintenance schedules run 20–30% below the one-off price per visit, for every service. Portfolios of several buildings under one owner or manager are priced 20–30% below single-building rates as an alternative to the maintenance discount, not on top of it.
Drone window cleaning typically lands 30–60% below rope access, swing-stage or boom-lift work on the same building, because the rate is the cleaning and not the rigging.
Rates shown are our published national rates. Every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.
Where we work
Every state, the same standard: tethered Lucid Bots Sherpa drones, heated chlorine-free chemistry with a 0 TDS pure-water rinse, FAA Part 107 crews and $2M liability coverage. Crews and equipment mobilize anywhere in the United States, with travel built into a fixed quote after a free site survey. In Florida we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning.
In New York, drone flights are scheduled around the city's takeoff and landing permit process, and water-fed pole and ground crews cover work that cannot wait for a permit.
A full-building glass and facade project, documented
Belmont Village Senior Living · Coral Gables, FL, a 130,000+ sq ft luxury senior living high-rise. Delivered in Florida, where we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning.
Belmont Village needed its entire exterior - facade, windows and floor surfaces - cleaned without closing a single entrance or moving a resident. Lifts, scaffolding, swing stages and rope access were all off the table.
Before
After- 130,000+
- sq ft of exterior cleaned
- 7 days
- start to finish
- Zero
- lifts, scaffolding or closures
- 2×/year
- asked back on a semi-annual schedule
Frequently asked questions
What is drone window cleaning?
Drone window cleaning uses a tethered industrial drone to carry a spray-and-rinse head to every pane of a building's glazing, from a single elevation of curtain wall to individual punched windows. An FAA Part 107 certified pilot flies from the ground while the pump, water treatment and chemistry stay on the ground rig and travel up the tether. Nothing is rigged to the building and nobody works at height.
Why is the rinse water treated?
Ordinary tap water carries dissolved minerals that dry into visible spots and streaking on glass, the same white residue you see on a car windshield after it air-dries. We run water through multi-stage pre-filtration into de-ionization resin until it reads 0 total dissolved solids, so it dries perfectly clear without a squeegee pass, and without a rinse aid or drying agent.
Which window and glazing types can you clean by drone?
Glass curtain wall, spandrel glass, storefront glazing, punched aluminum-frame windows, skylights and sloped glazing, and low-E or ceramic-frit coated glass. Chemistry and dwell time are matched to the coating at the site survey, since a coating manufacturer's maintenance requirements can restrict which detergents may touch the glass.
How high can the drone reach?
Up to 200 ft, about 18 stories, per staging position. Taller towers are handled by staging from podiums, setbacks or the roof, so reach is a planning question the survey answers before we quote rather than a hard limit on which buildings we can clean.
How much does drone window cleaning cost?
Commercial glass is priced at $0.12–$0.25 per square foot of glass area, fixed price after a free site survey, with no minimum charge. Bigger jobs get lower rates: at 40,000 sq ft and up the range is $0.12–$0.20. A 20,000 sq ft glass area runs $2,400–$4,500. Per-pane pricing, $0.75–$3.50, is a secondary reference for smaller storefront jobs; the per square foot rate is the one we quote from. Rates shown are our published national rates. Every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.
Does low pressure actually get glass clean, or do you need a squeegee?
Pure water does the finishing work that a squeegee exists to fix. A squeegee is only necessary because tap water leaves mineral spots as it dries; 0 TDS water leaves none, so the glass air-dries spot-free even at height and even on a windy day, when a squeegee pass on a rope is hardest to control anyway.
Do you clean window frames, sills, mullions and glazing gaskets?
Yes. The same low-pressure pass that cleans the glass also carries chemistry across the aluminum frame, mullion caps and sill, which is where grime, sealant residue and salt drift actually accumulate first and where a glass-only clean leaves an obvious ring. Rubber and silicone glazing gaskets are not touched by any chemical stripper.
Do you clean windows nationwide?
Yes. Crews and equipment mobilize anywhere in the United States, with travel built into a fixed quote after a free site survey. In Florida we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning, working year-round. In New York City every drone takeoff and landing needs an NYPD/DOT permit with at least 30 days' notice, so flights there are scheduled around that process and water-fed pole and ground crews cover glass that cannot wait.
What insurance and documentation come with the job?
$2M commercial general liability plus dedicated UAS aviation liability, with certificates naming the owner and property manager issued before we mobilize. Every flight runs under 14 CFR Part 107, with LAANC airspace authorization filed where the building sits in controlled airspace. You receive 4K before-and-after documentation of every elevation of glass.
Our core services
Get a fixed window cleaning price
Send the address and, if you have them, the glazing drawings. We measure the glass area, walk the site and reply with a fixed proposal.