Window Cleaning News Round Up

A clean start to a new business venture: A forestry industry worker has given up his chainsaw for a squeegee. Faller Darryl Stephens and his wife Tamara have started up a new business, Pro Clean window washing service. Darryl noticed the forest industry slow down and knew he needed to find something else. He said the bottom line driver was to find a job that was practical. The Stephens have grown up in the area, living in Kitwanga for nearly 20 years and here in Terrace for two and a half years, and they wanted to find something that would allow them to stay in the Northwest. “I kind of had an idea about doing (window washing), because I have friends in the business,” Darryl said. He visited his friend in Dawson Creek to learn about the industry, and started up his own business here in July. “Terrace is kind of working in that direction, to keep things clean and keep the buildings looking good,” Darryl said, adding that businesses he has worked for recognize the importance of clean appearances. “This just looked like a need that needed to be filled,” he said. He splits his time operating his business and working as a part-time faller. Stephens is one of a growing number of forest industry employees who have either left the industry or have developed other ways of making a living while still involved in the industry.

Something to be ashamed of! Now another potentially embarrassing, yet related confession by Susan Writer (pictured). In our last house, which had about two dozen windows — most with the original muntin-divided panes — I barely ever washed a one in the more than 11 years we lived there. That, I know would shock the woman I recently heard at my exercise club say she was going to use the rest of her day off washing her windows, because, after all, it had been more than six months since she’d last done them. I nearly howled with mental laughter! There are people who wash their windows more than twice a year! Can you imagine?! She certainly put my recently formed once-a-year ambition to shame. Of course, we have over 30 windows in our 1880s farmhouse as compared to our 1950s split level, but sheesh! It just took me about four different weekend days over a several week period to get through the non-attic and cellar windows. And, I still have the ones over our daughter’s desk, and the kitchen sink to tackle. I saved the hardest to reach until last.

REDBRIDGE: Conman window cleaner jailed - A prolific burglar who posed as a window cleaner before breaking into homes across the borough has been sentenced to four years in jail. Scott Gambier (pictured) confessed to burgling a total of 28 homes in Redbridge after being caught by police when one of his finger prints was found at the scene of a raid. The 30-year-old, of The Drive, Ilford, told officers that he would dress up in a smart suit and knock on the door at targeted properties in order to scope out their potential security 'weaknesses.' A police spokesman said Gambier had been an active burglar in the borough for a number of years before he was finally snared. Detective Inspector Phil Davies of Ilford CID said: "Gambier faces a lengthy period behind bars which represents the many victims that he generated. "This should serve as a warning to other burglars who lead a hazardous and destructive life of crime. "To assist in reducing crime I would urge the public to use immobilise.com and view the Met Police website regarding Operation Bumblebee. "To stop a burglar you have to think like one."Gambier was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, October 16. Also here.

CLARINGTON-At least four men jumped off the edge of a highrise building in downtown Bowmanville Wednesday. But, they weren't injured. They were Clarington firefighters, doing what's described as high-angle rescue training --- learning what to do if a window-washer, for example, gets stuck high up a tall building or someone falls down the bluffs at Lake Ontario. The training helps firefighters prepare for "low-frequency, high-risk" rescues, said training officer Tim Calhoun. "We don't use this operation very often but we do need to practise," he said. Attached by secure harnesses and a rope system, feet flat against the building, two firefighters at a time slowly rappelled down the multi-storey Veltri complex, carrying what's called a Stokes basket, used to rescue unconscious or injured people. Even training is a complex operation, requiring a trainer, two firefighters to go over the building and two others on standby just in case something happens to the two actively rappelling, someone to act as a victim and someone to act as incident commander. "Everything we do, we have a back-up team on," said firefighter Duane Tyte. "It doesn't matter if you're 12 feet or 200 feet up, it's still going to hurt" if you fall, said Captain Pete Lomax. "You've just got to trust your ropes."

Some people are getting back to basics. Eileen Blackwell and her sons Terry and Shon started out 20 years ago doing yard work, weed abatement, hauling off unwanted items, cleaning windows and more. They saved up enough money doing cleanup work to purchase All Season Resort Rentals in Big Bear Lake. Now that the vacation rental business is slowing down, they’re posting their cleaning services flier in the window and waiting to see what happens. “We’re doing anything we can do to make money,” Eileen says. “If we can do this it will tide us over until vacation rentals pick back up. It’s the first time we’ve had to do this in 20 years.”

Bidmycleaning Announces Partner Program: Bidmycleaning.com, the first online marketplace for house cleaning services providing instant bids and online scheduling, today announced a new partner program designed to provide an additional revenue opportunity for high traffic websites. Bidmycleaning.com is the simple new way to find and schedule house cleaning services, including Maid Service, Window Cleaning and Carpet Cleaning. Bidmycleaning.com makes it easy to find and compare trusted cleaning services in a specific zip codes - in just a few clicks customers can get bids from several providers to compare prices, browse ratings and customer reviews and set up a cleaning appointment with the provider they select. A customer dashboard allows them to easily manage their cleaning schedule, locations, profile and relationship with their providers. Bidmycleaning.com’s partner program is targeted at high traffic websites focused on a similar target customer where the partner is able to extend their offering to include access to instant bidding and online scheduling of house cleaning services via a widget or simple ‘Book Now’ button which links to Bidmycleaning.com. Partners receive a commission for all transactions generated via referrals from their website. In addition, partners also receive recurring commissions from customers who schedule regular maid service, thus providing an ongoing revenue stream. See previous blog here.

Save your neck: You took advantage of the warm weather last weekend to hang your Christmas lights, right? No? Well, there are several businesses in town that take care of that chore for you, and Kevin Kennedy of Kennedy's Window Cleaning is joining the market. He says an advantage of hiring his crew is its years of experience scaling ladders to safely reach your rooftop or tall tree. "We don't fall off ladders," he said. Kennedy started the service last year with a few homes, and it went well so he will start advertising for this holiday season. The lights he hangs aren't the tangle-prone, old-fashioned kind. They're the new, low-energy LED lights, and he cuts them to fit your specific rooftop. Then he returns after the holidays to take them down and store them for you until next year. There's a choice of colors and sizes - even icicle lights - and you can adjust how the lights flash on a box. And you don't have to go out in the cold to decorate your house.

South Jersey: Repairs had not yet begun on the $40,000 worth of damage when Phelan joined relatives in suing the owners of a series of dams whose collapse during a ferocious rainstorm devastated Burlington County in 2004. In his three-story house on Main Street in Lumberton, the computer used for the family's window-washing business was ruined; the basement ceiling fell in.