Before the Clocks Fall Back: Clean Skylights and Upper Windows for Darker Delta & Surrey Days
Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 1, 2026. On a Delta or Surrey house, a lot of the light in the dark months was never coming through the front window. It was coming through a skylight, a stairwell pane, or an upper-storey window that has been wearing summer pollen and a brown leaf film since the maples let go.
Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 1, 2026. On a Delta or Surrey house, a lot of the light in the dark months was never coming through the front window. It was coming through a skylight, a stairwell pane, or an upper-storey window that has been wearing summer pollen and a brown leaf film since the maples let go.
The clock change leaves the length of the day alone. Sunset arrives an hour earlier by the clock, so a grey Lower Mainland evening shows up first in the kitchen and the hall. Film on a skylight, or on a second-storey window you cannot reach from the lawn, is what makes those rooms feel dark.
This post is about that high glass after the leaf drop, and about the line between a wipe you can do with both feet on the floor and ladder work that belongs with a crew. A wash does not guarantee every tannin shadow or etched ring lifts. Our post on cleaning windows before leaf season is the early wash while the trees still hold their leaves. The mid-October window washing guide is leaf paste on the panes you can see from the driveway. The screens, tracks, and sills piece stays on ground-floor hardware. This one stays on skylights and the upper windows those posts leave on the ladder.
Why the high glass matters once the clocks fall back
November 1 is when the short evenings become the default, and a lot of Delta and Surrey skies are already grey. You live with those panes on a dim afternoon.
A skylight often lights a room with no tall window. So does glass over a stair, a gable over a two-storey foyer, or a kitchen window that faces a cedar. Filmed glass makes that room go flat, even when the ground floor looks fine from the sidewalk.
A skylight on a low-slope roof in Ladner, Tsawwassen, North Delta, or a treed Surrey street holds wet maple leaves and cedar needles. Rain spreads that layer instead of rinsing it off, which is a different mess from the lower panes in the mid-October guide.
- After November 1, the film does not get a brighter month to hide in.
- South and west upper windows still carry summer pollen after a September wipe of the front door glass.
- North glass and panes under a deep eave stay damp between Pacific fronts, so brown leaf film does not dry and blow off.
- A skylight over a hall or a kitchen is the light you notice when the lamps come on early.
What pollen, leaf tannin, and fall film do up high
After the leaf drop, high glass holds a stack. It is harder to see from the sidewalk than leaves pasted on a lower pane.
- Summer pollen and fine dust on south and west upper panes, and on a skylight you cannot hose from the lawn. Rain wets it. It does not lift it.
- Leaf tannin and sap. A wet maple leaf on a skylight leaves a brown mark when it blows off. Overflow from a gutter leaves the same brown on an upper window.
- Cedar needles and maple keys along the low edge of a skylight and in an upper screen, holding moisture between fronts.
- Gutter overflow. A full trough sheets dirty water onto the glass below. Gutter cleaning removes debris and flushes the downspout. Clean gutters at least twice a year. A window wash does not open a packed spout.
- Mineral spots. Sprinkler mist can reach an upper pane. If the rings look etched, a wash does not guarantee they come off.
Tannin is the brown a leaf leaves behind. On a skylight the water sits longer than on a vertical pane, so the mark can spread over summer pollen. Fog between the panes, a drip into the room, or a cloudy skylight on a dry day can be a failed seal. Cleaning does not repair a sealed unit. Note it from the floor.
What you can see without leaving the ground
Walk the rooms on a grey afternoon, then the outside while the wind is down. Our post on DIY gutter cleaning and ladder safety is about the trough. Same limits here: stay off the roof, skip ladders in rain or wind, and keep clear of lines. If a line is down or sparking, stay back and call BC Hydro.
- Inside. Stand in the kitchen, the hall, and on the landing. If the skylight or upper window looks milky or browner than the sky beside it, the film is on the glass.
- From the sidewalk. Upper panes greyer than the ground-floor glass on the same wall were skipped. A brown line under a gutter is overflow.
- The skylight, from the lawn. Leaves on the glass, or a dark rim around the frame, show from the ground on a lot of these houses. Stay out from under a cracked limb, and do not pull on it.
- Upper screens. Grey mesh blocks light even when the glass behind it is cleaner than it looks. Leave the screen in place.
- The ground under that wall. A slope, a wet bed, a stair, or a deck with no flat spot is a reason to skip any ladder idea. Photos from the grass are enough for a quote.
If the flashing or shingles around a skylight look lifted or cracked, that note belongs with a qualified roofer. A cleaning visit is not that inspection, and a clear view from the lawn does not guarantee the edge is sound.
The indoor wipe that is actually reasonable
A careful homeowner can do a small job before November 1. It is smaller than the glass that looks dirty.
- Interior glass you can touch with both feet on the floor. A damp cloth, a drop of mild dish soap, and a dry cloth. If you would need a chair, a bed, the tub, or a ladder in the stairwell, stop.
- Ground-floor exterior panes on firm, level ground, on a dry day with the wind down. The screens, tracks, and sills post already draws that line. Do not add a ladder for the storey above.
- Do not scrape unless you already know that pane can take a metal blade. A scratch stays after the film is gone.
- Leave the pressure washer parked. Pressure washing is for patios, walkways, and other hardscape. A blast on glass, mesh, or a skylight will not lift tannin cleanly.
- Bag debris you can reach from the ground. Do not rinse needles toward a track or a downspout. Leaves on the outside of the skylight stay put.
If the dull cast remains after the inside is dry, the film is on the weather side. That wipe does not clear a skylight or an upper window.
What belongs off the ladder
The troublesome glass is ordinary: a second storey, a skylight set back on the roof, a window over a stair or a slope. The table is a sorting tool. It does not guarantee a setup is safe. If a pane sits between two rows, leave it.
| What you are looking at | On your own? | The sensible call |
|---|---|---|
| Inside of a skylight or upper window you can reach from the floor | Yes, if your feet stay on the floor | Damp cloth and mild dish soap, then dry it. No chair and no ladder. |
| Ground-floor exterior pane, firm level ground, dry day | Yes | The screens post covers that hardware. No ladder for the storey above. |
| Second-storey window, gable, or stairwell glass | No | Leave it. Crews wash multi-storey homes up to three stories and are fully insured for high-access work. |
| Outside of a skylight, or leaves sitting on that glass | No | Stay off the roof. Do not lean a ladder on the skylight. Name it on the quote. |
| Upper-storey screen, including one over a slope or a stair | No | Leave the screen in place. Taking it out is still ladder work. |
| Fog between the panes, a drip indoors, or cracked glass | No | A wash does not repair a seal or a crack. Flag it for the right trade. |
The FAQ says crews clean windows on multi-storey homes up to three stories, and the company is fully insured for high-access work. Our DIY window cleaning guide describes water-fed poles for second and third-storey glass from the ground. A pole may still miss a skylight set back from the eave, so say that when you book and stay off the roof. If the ground slopes, the shingles are wet, or a wire crosses that side, hire. A cleaning does not guarantee the roof edge is sound.
How to book the glass you cannot reach
Window washing on this site is interior and exterior glass, and the residential page includes frames and sills. Site copy also includes screen cleaning, track cleaning, and sill wiping. The window washing page currently offers screen cleaning with the windows for a limited time, and broader copy lists screen cleaning and repair, so mention a torn upper screen. Skylights are not named as their own item. Name the storey, and say whether you can touch the inside from the floor. A wash does not repair a failed seal or a leak.
Say which rooms look dim, which upper windows you cannot reach from the patio, and whether a gutter is striping the glass. Most quotes are provided within 24 hours. We are fully insured. Clear a spilling gutter before the glass so the next front does not repaint the pane. A house starts with residential exterior cleaning. A shared townhouse skylight goes through our commercial and strata service, and we are fully licensed and insured for commercial work. Owners are usually asked to stay off a common roof.
If Christmas lights are going on the same eave, wash first. Christmas light installation uses drill-less clips on fascia, eaves, and gutters. Installs run from October 1, crews are normally fully booked by the middle of November, and bookings close December 10, 2026. Details are on the Christmas lighting page. The free 48-hour service guarantee covers a failed light, not film on the glass.
Quick answers
Will November rain rinse the skylight?
No. Rain spreads pollen and leaf tannin. It is not a reason to walk the roof.
Can I ladder the upper windows before the clocks change?
No. A dry Saturday does not make a two-storey wall or a skylight a homeowner job. Stay off the shingles.
Are skylights part of a window washing visit?
They are not named as their own package. The service is interior and exterior glass, with frames, sills, screens, and tracks in the site copy. Screen cleaning is currently offered with the windows for a limited time. Name the skylight on the quote.
Do dirty upper screens make the room darker?
Yes. Grey mesh sits in front of the pane. Leave upper screens for a crew. Ground-floor screens are the other post.
Will a wash remove leaf tannin and etched hard water?
It clears film on the surface. It does not guarantee a brown shadow that sat through wet weeks, or a mineral ring that is already etched. Fog inside a sealed unit is a repair, not a wash.
Get the high glass clear before the short evenings settle in
Late October in Delta and Surrey is a short gap between the leaf drop and the darker evenings. On November 1 the clock moves sunset an hour earlier. The maples have already filmed the glass that lights the middle of the house, and another Pacific front will not rinse it off.
If a skylight looks dull from the hall, an upper window looks greyer than the ground floor, or leaves are sitting on glass you cannot reach, tell us what you see and where you are in Delta, Surrey, or the rest of the Lower Mainland. We will quote the window washing around that high glass. You can also call 778-652-5906.