Window Cleaning at Biltmore at Bay Colony. Your view, restored.

The Biltmore stands at 8473 Bay Colony Drive, between Brighton and Windsor on the Bay Colony beach in Pelican Bay, two buildings from the Bay Colony Beach Club. It was finished in 1997 and holds 75 residences on 22 floors. Homes run from roughly 2,860 square feet to a five-bedroom penthouse of more than 7,000 square feet. Because the elevators sit in the center of the building, nearly every residence looks west to the Gulf and east over Pelican Bay, so daylight passes straight through the home. For window cleaning, that means glass on both sides of the unit and more lanai doors than most towers of its size.

Two or three lanais per home

What sets the Biltmore apart is lanai space. The interior stacks have three separate lanais, laid out as a split design, and the end units have two large ones. Every lanai brings its own set of sliding doors, tracks and railing. When you ask us for a quote, tell us which stack you are in so we can count the doors correctly. An end unit and an interior unit with similar square footage can have quite different amounts of glass.

West glass and east glass are different jobs

The Gulf side collects salt spray and afternoon sun, so its doors usually show crusted mineral spots near the bottom and a light haze higher up. The east side, looking toward Pelican Bay and the mainland, sees less salt but more pollen, dust and the residue left by rain. We treat the two sides differently: a soak and gentle scrub for the Gulf doors, and a lighter wash and detailed edges on the east-facing glass, with a check for any spotting on each pane.

A set-back position

The Biltmore sits a little behind its neighbors, and buyers sometimes notice Brighton and Windsor framing the views from the first and fourth stacks. Some faces of the building may also get a little more shelter from direct wind. Salt still arrives, though, and it settles evenly rather than in streaks, so it is easy to miss until the low sun shows it.

Private elevator landings

Each elevator landing at the Biltmore serves only two residences. That makes our visits quiet: we bring our equipment up in one trip, lay down drop cloths at your door and keep the shared landing clear for your neighbor. Please tell us if the building asks contractors to use a particular elevator or entrance, and we will follow that.

After the 2016 remodel

The common areas were given a multi-million-dollar contemporary renovation, completed in 2016 and designed by Olsson Fernandez Design of Miami. Many owners have since updated their own homes; some have removed the wall between the kitchen and the living area. If your residence has had recent work, we can remove paint overspray, tape residue and drywall dust from the glass and frames carefully, using blades only where the glass type allows.

Amenities on the ground floor

Residents share a pool and hot tub, a barbecue area, a fitness room, a billiards room, guest rooms and a grand lobby, with a path to the beach. Each residence normally has two assigned parking spaces under the building, and most also have a storage locker. We park only where the staff tells us and keep our vans out of resident spaces.

Owners who are often away

The Biltmore permits a single lease each year with a 90-day minimum, and most owners choose not to rent. Many are seasonal instead, so the most popular booking is a full cleaning the week before arrival, scheduled with the front desk. One dog no taller than 15 inches at the shoulder or two cats are allowed, along with two birds. If you have a pet, we pay extra attention to the lower part of the doors, where nose prints collect.

What we clean and what we leave to the association

We clean all glass reachable from inside the residence and from your lanais: windows, both sides of the sliding doors, railing glass where present, frames, tracks and sills. The exterior faces of fixed windows that cannot be reached from a lanai are cleaned by the association’s rope or stage contractor.

Small habits that help

Run a damp cloth along the Gulf-side door tracks every couple of weeks during season, keep lanai chairs a few inches from the glass, and close the doors before an afternoon storm blows rain and sand across the lanai. These steps keep the glass clear longer between our visits.