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

Marquesa, at 8990 Bay Colony Drive, is the first high-rise you pass after entering the Bay Colony gate. Built in 1994, it was the first luxury tower in Bay Colony set back from the beach. It has 15 floors, three stacks of residences plus two penthouses, which is a little over half as many homes as a typical Bay Colony tower. The lower height allowed for nine-foot ceilings. Residents look over Clam Pass and a native bird rookery, with distant Gulf views from about the fourth floor up. For window cleaning, Marquesa is different in one important way: many of its lanais are screened.

Screened lanais on the south side

Lanais on the south side of the building are screened, and those on the north side are open. A screen enclosure keeps out bugs and much of the wind-blown debris, but the screen itself catches pollen, salt and dust, and that grime washes down onto the glass and the lanai floor every time it rains. When we clean a south-side residence, we can brush and rinse the screen panels we can reach from the lanai as well as the glass. Tell us when you book if you would like that included, since it adds time.

The open north lanais

North-side lanais are open to the air, so the glass doors take whatever the wind brings, including salt mist from the Gulf and leaves from the landscaping below. North light is softer, which makes streaks harder to see during the day and easier to see at night with the lights on inside. We check every door from both sides before we call it done.

The three stacks

The 03 stack is the largest and most popular, closest to the Gulf, with southwest afternoon light and three separate lanais. The 01 stack is the second largest, an end unit with open views and good morning light. The 02 stack is the smallest in the building and among the smallest residences in Bay Colony, usually a two-bedroom-plus-den layout. Because end units have more windows, the 01 and 03 stacks take longer to clean than the 02 stack. Let us know yours when you request a quote.

Living next to a bird rookery

Views of Clam Pass and the rookery are a highlight for residents, and the birds that come with it occasionally leave marks on lanai rails, screens and glass. Bird droppings are acidic and can etch glass if they bake in the sun. We soften them with water first and lift them off without scraping, then clean the area normally.

Lower floors

On the third floor and below, the view is of tropical landscaping and mangroves. That glass collects more pollen and plant debris and less salt. We pay attention to water spotting from sprinklers on these levels, which needs a different approach than salt film.

A quieter building to work in

Marquesa is one of two Bay Colony buildings without a staffed entrance, and an on-site manager handles requests and packages on weekdays. We schedule visits through the manager during the week, send our certificate of insurance in advance, and confirm how we will be let into the building. Because the building is small, there is usually no wait for the elevator.

Amenities, parking and leasing

The pool sits on the southeast side, away from the busiest areas, and residents share a fitness room, a social room, a lobby seating area and one guest suite. There are no pool cabanas. Most residences have at least two parking spaces under the building and a storage closet. Owners may lease once a year for a minimum of 90 days and may keep one dog up to 15 inches at the shoulder or two cats.

What we clean

We clean all glass reachable from inside your residence and from your lanais: interior windows, both faces of the sliding doors, railing glass, frames, tracks and sills, and reachable screen panels on request. Fixed exterior glass on the tower that can only be reached from outside belongs to the association’s contractor.

Between visits

On a screened lanai, sweep the floor before you hose anything down, and tap the screen panels lightly with a soft brush once a month. Removing the dust from the screen first keeps it from running down onto the doors with the next afternoon rain.