Window Cleaning News, Fish, Squirrels & Dragons

First impressions always count for window washer Jason Smith: Clean windows are often part of a customers' first impression. That's why many businesses have their windows cleaned professionally by Jason Smith of Fish Window Cleaning. "Some businesses are on a weekly rotation, and others are once a month," said Smith. Smith takes calls and gives free estimates. He charges by the pane to do residential and commercial windows. When he's looking for new business, he will make cold calls by stopping at a strip mall, offering to wash windows and setting them up for future appointments.
Smith starts with a bucket of clean water and dish soap. He uses a window mop that looks like a sponge on a squeegee and washes the window until the mop glides. He changes to a squeegee with a sharp rubber blade and uses the swirl or fanning technique to glide the dirty water down and off the window. The squeegee leaves the window streak free. He finishes the job with a clean, lint-free cloth on the window edges, the sills and the frame. "I don't just wash windows; I clean them," he said.
Smith also works on windows up to three stories with either a pole or a ladder. He does windows inside and out. What's needed: A window washer must like to work and be self-driven for business cold calls. Working in the elements year-round and some ladder work is required. Attention to detail is important. Smith likes to see a positive attitude and punctuality. Employees must be clean cut and in proper uniform.
Smith worked in appliance delivery for 10 years. He's also worked in construction, car detailing and carpet cleaning. Now he's the operation manager. "This is the first time I've been in management, and I really like it," Smith said. In addition to washing windows he handles the phone calls, estimates, paperwork and billing and makes sure the employees get paid.

• Highlights: The best part of the job for Smith is the drive time and seeing all different types of businesses.
• Lowlights: The worst part of the job is filling up the gas tank.
• Advice: There's no such thing as a stupid question.
• Future: Smith would like to someday own part of the company.
• Facts: No special formulas are used in professional window cleaning — plain old dish soap and water and elbow grease.
  

Local business owner witnesses OSHA and IWCA alliance: Local business owner, Victor Munson, traveled to Washington, D.C. this past month to be part of a long awaited event. The International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced their alliance to promote safe and healthful working conditions for professionals who work within the window cleaning industry. “We pursued the alliance with OSHA to promote the importance of on-going safety education in our industry,” said Victor Munson, IWCA President and owner of Erlanger Window Cleaning in NKY. “With representatives of both organizations working together, we should be able to achieve our goal of increasing safe and healthful working conditions.”
The new alliance will concentrate on educating members by providing them with information and guidance to help them protect their employees. It is IWCA’s intention to focus on (i) improving fall protection education (ii.) reducing other job site hazards and (iii) addressing the challenges of small business owners and low literacy and limited English of employees in the window cleaning industry. In addition to member education, IWCA and OSHA will work together to promote workplace safety and health on a national level. “We want our members, and everyone in our industry, to know we take workplace safety very seriously,” said Debra Nemec, Executive Director for IWCA. “Together, SWRI and OSHA will be able to utilize their combined resources to maximize job site safety and awareness.” Both groups formalized their alliance during a meeting at 3 p.m., June 10 at OSHA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. For more information about the alliance, please contact Vic Munson at 859.371.4210

Michael Portillo (smug picture) has been staring out of a lot of windows lately, exploring Britain's rail journeys for the BBC. So he knows a good shine when he sees one, and has taken to evangelising about his window cleaner back home. Residents of Chelsea have received hand-signed letters from the former Tory MP recommending the services of one David Doyle. "When someone works inside and outside the house, I must have complete trust in that person," it reads, "I do place my trust in Mr Doyle." In case you don't believe him the letter provides Portillo's home address, email and even his mobile phone number. He's clearly forgotten what it's like to have constituents.

Answers From a Window Cleaner, Part 3 - have been added to the original questions & answers featured here. Andrew Horton, who has been a window cleaner for more than two decades responds to readers. Andrew Horton knows the secrets of the trade and safety practices.

Friends and family of murdered teenager Ben Lund have marked the first anniversary of his death and collected more than 1,200 signatures in support of a memorial garden. Nineteen-year-old Ben Lund, a popular window cleaner, was murdered in the Funktion Rooms Nightclub on July 11 last year. Nicholas Sitko, 25, repeatedly punched the teenager causing a fatal brain haemorrhage and was sentenced to at least 14 years in prison for his murder. Last Sunday, on the anniversary of Ben's death, sunflowers were placed outside the Funktion Rooms from Ben's family and other flowers, letters and cards were left by his friends.

First case of it's kind: Man told to pay £1,500 after being found guilty of drowning a squirrel - When grey squirrels invaded Raymond Elliott’s garden and targeted his bird feeders, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He bought a cage to trap the pests and, when he did catch one, dropped it into a water butt, killing it ‘almost instantaneously’. But after a neighbour tipped off the RSPCA, he was hauled into court, charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and - in a legal first - forced to pay £1,500.
The 58-year-old window cleaner, who said he believed he had killed the animal in a humane way, will now be lumbered with a criminal record. The case sets an important precedent for killing grey squirrels, which are classified as a non-native invasive species, and could pave the way for hundreds of other prosecutions across the country. The RSPCA, which brought the prosecution, warned that many common methods of killing grey squirrels and other pests could now fall foul of the law. It added that the only humane - and therefore legal - way to kill them would be to have them put down by a qualified vet, which can cost up to £40 a time.
Mr Elliott, from Branston, Staffordshire, was prosecuted under Section Four of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. He pleaded guilty and was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £1,547 to cover investigation and legal costs incurred by the RSPCA at Burton Magistrates last Friday. Yesterday, he described the fine as an ‘injustice’ and claimed he had been singled out by the charity.
He insisted that the way he killed the grey squirrel was not cruel or inhumane and said he was simply trying to do what homeowners across the country do when the pests invade their homes and gardens. 'This is an injustice. People do it across the country all the time - they are just making an example of me,’ he said. ‘I do not feel what I did was inhumane or cruel and I was shocked by how big the fine was. ‘All along it was going to be guilty because it was a test case and they needed a guilty verdict.’

Dragon helped me spread my wings: Tony Earnshaw was just 18 when he started his first business, buying a rundown burger van for £50. After securing a pitch in his home town of Glebe in Washington, Tyne and Wear, he made £3,000 in two months before selling the van for £6,000. Tony, 25, used the profits to buy a window cleaning round for £300 that he rapidly builtup before selling it for £16,000 six months later. Next he bought two transit vans and a small depot and launched UK Commercial Cleaning Services, offering everything from shampooing office carpets to a specialist operation cleaning up crime scenes.
Last year Tony appeared on the Dragons' Den television show, which began its latest series last week, and secured £100,000 from Dragon judge Duncan Bannatyne in return for 35% of the business. At the time of appearing the company's turnover was £370,000 and it operated only in the North East, but Tony had plans to take the business nationwide, having bought a second depot in Leeds in 2008. Now, nearly a year on, a London depot will open in two weeks' time and a depot in Stirling will open in six months. The firm now employs 40 people, up from 16, and turnover for the year ending April rose to £1.2m, with predicted turnover of £4m for this year.
Tony is also setting up a franchise that he hopes to sell to franchisees in the south of England. Though Tony had to hand over 35% of the business - up from the 20% stake he initially offered - he has no regrets about securing funding through Dragons' Den. 'Appearing on Dragons' Den gave the business a real publicity boost and has helped us to grow rapidly,' he says. 'I have the support and advice I need from Duncan, we speak monthly, but he gives me the freedom to run the business as I know best. As far as I am concerned there were no downsides.'

London's Strata tower: It is the world's first skyscraper with built-in wind turbines. But is London's Strata a green gimmick – or the future?At 147 metres, the newly opened Strata is London's tallest residential building. The plan was first made public six years ago and work is unlikely to be completed before 2020. It's a colossal challenge, as well as an opportunity, and the £113.5m Strata, the first of three skyscrapers planned for here, is a symbol of the dynamism and energy the project demands. And that energy must, of course, be seen to be green. It's early days, but if the turbines work as planned, and aren't too noisy for residents in the pricey penthouses beneath them, they should generate 8% of this 43-storey building's energy needs. This is roughly enough to run its electrical and mechanical services (including three express lifts and automated window-cleaning rigs) as well as the lighting, heating and ventilation of its public spaces, which include an underground car and cycle park. Strata is the first building in the world to incorporate wind turbines into its structure.

Harrisburg, Pa. - A glass panel from a 9th floor tower fell from a downtown Harrisburg building Monday evening. The panel was from a Verizon Tower and fell from the building, landing on the bridge to Capital Park from Strawberry Square. Hassinger said a visual inspection from the ground was conducted by Hershocks and HDC employees following the incident. City and Capitol police were notified and the bridge to Capitol Park remains closed until further notice. Also, the sidewalk corridor along the South side of Walnut Street along Strawberry Square has been closed to pedestrian traffic. Glass from the incident is being swept from the area by a contractor hired by HDC. An inspection of the glass panels on both the Verizon Tower and SO1 (State office tower occupied by Revenue and Attorney General's office) is being scheduled within the next 24-48 hours.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group: "Snapple was founded in 1972 by Arnold Greenberg, Leonard Marsh, and Hyman Golden. Greenberg operated a health food store on the lower east side of Manhattan. His boyhood friend Marsh ran a window-washing service with his brother-in-law, Golden. In the early 1970s, the three founded Unadulterated Food Products, Inc., to sell pure fruit juices in unusual blends to health food stores. Products were bottled at a small plant in the New York metropolitan area. The partners ran the business in their spare time while all three kept their regular jobs, and the enterprise plodded along until the late 1970s. In 1978, Unadulterated Foods began to market carbonated apple juice. The company called the product "Snapple," after purchasing the name for $500."