Kaleb, the son who helps run Sparkle Window Cleaning, says the standard he works to came from his father. “My dad always taught me that the last 5 percent of the job is what people remember, so we never rush to get to the next site.”
In practice, he says, the crew doesn’t stop at the glass. “We clean the sills, the frames, and make sure there are no streaks or drips left behind.” The company’s website makes the same point in its own words: frames, sills and edges get the same care as the panes everyone notices.
Sparkle works out of Waterloo and covers the Cedar Valley, from Cedar Falls and Waverly to Independence and Grundy Center. It is a family business with a handoff underway. Three people run the operation, he says: his father, himself and Tanner, a friend since fifth grade. “My dad is starting to step back a bit and enjoy more time off, so Tanner and I are taking over more of the day-to-day management.”
The company’s website traces the family’s window cleaning to 1973 and calls Sparkle a third-generation business. Iowa corporate records show Sparkle Window Cleaning, Inc. incorporated in 2000, with Dennis Boleyn listed as president. Kaleb’s own part of the story is simple. He says he started helping his father in high school and came on full-time after college.
Residential work is the company’s primary business, and Sparkle also runs commercial routes. On the commercial side, he names storefronts, office buildings and retail plazas. The company’s website adds senior living and apartment complexes, which it calls its specialty. On those properties the crew coordinates with management and works building by building.
With commercial customers, the goal is standing routes. “We really like establishing those long-term relationships with local businesses where we come out on a regular schedule, whether that’s weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly,” he says. According to the website, a route starts with a walkthrough to look at access, height and the condition of the glass, followed by a written proposal priced per visit. Public contract records show the company cleaning exterior windows for the City of Waterloo in 2025.
Much of the exterior work is done from the ground. The crew uses a water-fed pole system, according to the website: filtered water runs through a soft brush on a telescopic pole, and the glass dries without mineral spots. Interiors, and some exteriors, are still done by hand with squeegees and microfiber. The website is plain about limits. Sparkle takes on buildings it can reach safely by pole or lift and does not do high-rise rope-descent work. If a property is beyond that, the company says it will tell the owner at the walkthrough rather than after starting.
Gutter cleaning and holiday lighting came later, added because customers asked for them, the website says. For the lighting, Sparkle uses its own commercial-grade LEDs and stores them between seasons.
On commercial jobs, timing is the work. “We show up when we say we’re going to show up, period,” he says. He thinks of the business owner expecting a crew at 8 a.m., before the doors open. “Being late reflects badly on them too.”
He counts it as part of the job that the owners do the work in person. “With us, you’re getting the actual owners on the job site,” he says. “When Tanner or my dad or I show up, our name and reputation are on the line.”
When the three of them bring on seasonal help, he says, the new hands learn by watching. “Tanner and I are right there working alongside any extra hands we bring on,” he says. “We don’t hire people who don’t share that same attitude.”
Google reviews describe the same habits. One customer wrote that a big old farmhouse was not an easy job and that the crew stayed until 7:30 p.m. to finish it. Another wrote that Tanner cleaned out an egress window well, laid gravel in the bottom and covered it so debris and small animals couldn’t get in.
The plan, he says, is to keep the company in the family and hand it to the next generation if they want it. “We just want to build a sustainable, respected business that supports our families and serves the community,” he says.