Meet Our Members: Summit Window Cleaning

What are your names and what is the name of your business?
Our names are Kaleb Phelps & Liz Brennen and our business is Summit Window Cleaning LLC.

How did you get to Sandwich, NH?
Kaleb grew up in town and lived just outside the village for the majority of his childhood, but we moved to Sandwich together in 2022. Kaleb’s grandparents, mom and aunt had visited Sandwich in the late 70’s during a Sandwich Fair weekend and fell in love with the town and people. His grandparents vowed to move their family here someday and did so in 1980. Kaleb’s mom grew up in Sandwich, attended Sandwich Central and Inter-Lakes High School, traveled a bit after college but ultimately decided that Sandwich offered Kaleb the best community to grow up in and moved back to town in 1998. Kaleb and his two younger siblings, Phoebe & Roley Hoag all attended Sandwich Central School and then graduated from Inter-Lakes High School where Kaleb and Liz met, became close friends and later started dating. Liz grew up down the road in Center Harbor, so Kaleb picked her up for school on the way by. Liz’s parents often took her for drives through Sandwich, parking at a friend's house nearby so they could swim at the potholes and a trip to Sandwich wouldn’t be complete without driving down to the creamery for some ice cream. Liz has many memories of having dinner at the Corner House, sitting on the couches next to the fireplace, and of course attending most, if not all, Sandwich Fairs, Halloweens to trick or treat, and Third of July Fireworks. Like many people who grew up in Sandwich, Kalebs first job was at the Corner House working for Don Brown where he started as a dishwasher, shortly later being promoted to a busser and for the majority of his time, a waiter. ​

How did your business get started?
Back in highschool, Kalebs friend suggested that he work with him during the summer for a window cleaning company based out of Sandwich. Kaleb decided to apply and got the job. The owner at the time noticed that Kaleb was a natural with the squeegee, was fast and very detail oriented, never leaving a streak behind. Kaleb loved the job and went back for a second summer before graduating highschool. The owner decided to sell the company and Kaleb worked with the new owner for another three summers through college. Liz graduated from NHTI in 2018 with her Hospitality & Tourism Degree, working at Mill Falls at the Lake in highschool, the Lakes Region Tourism Association during college and Riverwalk Resort at Loon Mountain after graduation. Kaleb attended UNH and transferred to Plymouth State University, graduating in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. After wanting a change from the hotel industry and being interested in starting a business, Liz noticed that there was a need for a window cleaning company in the Lakes Region that was professional, reliable, local, and involved in the community. She knew that with Kalebs window cleaning experience and her customer service skills, as well as what they learned in college, that they could take a chance and start a window cleaning company themselves. Summit Window Cleaning was started shortly later in March of 2019, completing their first job the day after Kalebs college graduation.

Tell us about your business. What do you do and offer as a service? 
We offer interior & exterior window cleaning, screen cleaning and house cleaning to homes and businesses around the Lakes Region & White Mountains. For interior window cleaning, we use the standard mop and squeegee method, only needing the occasional ladder for those sometimes high, tricky, hard to reach windows. For the exterior, we usually use our 3-stage water purification system that is connected to a water-fed brush that we can extend up to 30 feet in the air. No squeegee needed? Nope! So what does this mean? We filter your water until it’s 100% free from any minerals, dirt or dust. Once we successfully scrub off all of the major dirt, debris or anything else that may have found its way onto your windows, we fully rinse them down with the pure water, leaving no streaks or drops behind!

What is the most fun and satisfying aspect of your work? 
Of course, as many know, window cleaning is very satisfying to watch! Taking on dirty windows and turning them into shiny masterpieces everyday is not only just satisfying, but it’s extremely rewarding too. One of the things we love most about our business is that every day is different. One day we could be on the lake, the next up in the mountains, and later in the week down in Meredith cleaning another local business, sometimes all three places in one day! We’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of different houses and properties around the state, and have met and talked with so many people with all different backgrounds. In result, we’ve made a lot of new connections, being one of the things we love most about what we do. Another fun thing about Summit is that we’re a family business! Kaleb’s brother, Roley, started working for us when he was 15 years old. Roley’s now turning 20 this May, has worked for us for the last 5 summers and is planning on coming back this Spring. Also, our amazing head house cleaner, Dana, is Kalebs cousin! It’s been really fun working alongside both Roley & Dana and we are grateful for all of their hard work and dedication to Summit's success! ​

What is the hardest thing about your work?
Like what a lot of other business owners struggle with in our area, one of the hardest things that we deal with is how seasonal we are. A big chunk of our clients have a second home in the area, so sometimes they only need their windows cleaned in preparation for the summer. Our window cleaning operating months are early April to early December, leaving 3-4 months of the year where it’s too cold to clean windows, and there just isn't a huge demand like there is in the warmer months. We decided to offset the seasonality of window cleaning by adding year around house cleaning and snow shoveling in the Winter so we can still offer work to our employees and stay busy when it gets cold! This has worked out really well for us and we appreciate the support from everyone here in town! 

What are your goals and hopes for the future?
A goal we’ve always had was to eventually move to Sandwich, and now we’re here! Next, we have a goal to buy or build our dream home in town, but right now it's a matter of waiting for the right property during this crazy market! We plan to continue to own and operate Summit Window Cleaning and see what else life has in store for us!

What else can you tell us about yourself, your business, and your life in Sandwich?
Last year, Liz & Kaleb became the Vice Presidents of the Sandwich Business Group and love working with all of the other local businesses in Sandwich and surrounding towns. For the group, Liz created and maintains the Discover Sandwich Instagram account where she posts pictures, events and business highlights from around town. She also became the Market Manager for the new Sandwich Farmers Market coming this summer! Liz started another Instagram account, Explore Lakes Region, where she posts videos and pictures of businesses around the Lakes Region in hopes to help promote and bring more business to them. Going along with her passion for photography and supporting small businesses, she has recently started another endeavor, Liz Brennen Photos. Summit Window Cleaning has won Best Window Cleaners in the Lakes Region for the last six years in a row and they hope to win again this year. Kaleb & Liz got engaged in Croatia in 2022 and finally got married last Fall on the pond in Quimby Park after 10 years of dating and truly love everything Sandwich! They feel beyond grateful to call this special community home and are looking forward to their future here in town with their dog Jack and two cats, Oscar & Lulu. If you’re in need of any window cleaning or house cleaning, you know who to call! ​