Globe Window Talk Above The City

Jason Boone, an employee for Globe Window Cleaning, works outside the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles building on W. Broad Street, giving those inside a clearer view of Downtown.

A windowful life - Columbus cleaners an audience to city's daily dramas: It is one thing to walk the streets of Downtown, weaving your way along a busy sidewalk. It is a whole different thing to watch it from 100 feet in the air, dangling alongside a building by a rope. Well, in Josh Wood's case, it's two ropes. Wood, of London, is not Spider-Man but part of a 20-member crew working for Globe Window Cleaning. They wash windows from ground level to the top of the Rhodes Tower, the tallest building Downtown, 629 feet above E. Broad Street, as well as other buildings that form the Columbus skyline. "Heights have never been a problem for me," said Wood, who has several years of window-washing experience.

Chris Baze, a West Side resident, finds parts of the job - such as climbing over the edge of a building - a little bit of a rush. "I like the adrenaline," he said. "Back when I first started, it really got my heart pumping, and you freak out a little bit. The first time (my friend) put me over the edge, I was just thinking, 'What are you doing?'" But the father of six found courage in knowing he had people counting on him. "I knew I either had to do it or go flip burgers," Baze said.

Long-time work:

Globe is owned by Ron DeCapio, who bought the business in 1967 from his father, Andrew DeCapio. He moved it to Columbus in 1979 because of work being done at Ohio State University. The family tradition runs so deep that the elder DeCapio began washing windows in 1933 in Cleveland before starting Globe 60 years ago in Mansfield. Andrew DeCapio was cleaning windows three days before his death, the son said. And up until 10 years ago, Ron DeCapio, 72, was still washing windows with his crew. Being an owner and window washer wasn't meshing well any longer, so he retired his squeegee - but it was difficult. "I got called away so many times. It just didn't make sense anymore," DeCapio said.

DeCapio, who remains owner but now is retired from day-to-day activities, wears a polo shirt and khakis instead of the jeans and T-shirt his workers sport. He'd prefer to hang off the side of a building rather than sit behind a desk. "It's actually calmer," he said. "It's something you have control of. You can't control what a customer is going to think." DeCapio has seen his fair share of change during his years in the window-washing business.

The system used to put the workers on the side of a building is different from when he first started, with the shift from "block and tackle" to "chairing." Block and tackle has workers standing on suspended scaffolding, using a pulley system to pull themselves to the roof before starting work. Chairing has window cleaners in a harness sitting on a single-seat bench, anchored to a rooftop with two ropes - one main line and a safety rope.

Wood, 34, said the move to chairing is welcomed. Workers who do chairing make around $14 to $17 per hour while someone new with no experience can make $10 per hour. "A lot of set-up time is saved with chairing," Wood said. "Something with a scaffold, it would take you two hours to get it set up and ready to go. A guy with a chair and ropes is already set up."

A job with a view:

DeCapio and Wood disagree about which system is better, but they said they can agree on one thing about the job - the view from high up is incredible. The Columbus skyline typically can only be seen a couple of miles outside the city, but it is one perk of working so high up, Baze said. "You get to see the city change," Baze said. Baze, 36, started window cleaning through AAA before moving to Columbus and starting work with Globe. The vantage point also gives the workers a good look at what is happening on the streets. "You see the characters that you have in the city that no one else may see," Wood said. Whether it's a Kroger bag whizzing around 30 stories in the air, hovering falcons or a notorious homeless man running around cussing people out, it's always an interesting view, Wood said.

For Patrick Basso, one of the newest members of the crew, the heights involved are "just another part of the job." The crew is aware of the possible danger involved with their work hanging above Columbus streets. While they consider it to be no more risky than any other job, their families don't quite buy it. Jason Boone, 35, has been cleaning windows for 13years, but Boone said his three kids still worry about his safety. "The kids don't like it," he said. "They don't want anything happening to Dad." With an 8-month-old son, Basso said he is always reminding his family of how safe he is at work. "It's a real Catch-22," he said. "You have to do what you have to do to make money. My mom absolutely hates it. My girlfriend doesn't like it. They cope with it, though."

Safety is the No. 1 priority for his workers, DeCapio said. Wood said it is also his first thought before heading over the edge of a building. "I'm thinking about making sure my stuff is secured and set and that everyone around me is secured and set," Wood said. "Our first thought is safety. You can't stress it enough when you literally have everyone's life hanging by a thread. "I've never flown in a plane. I would rather climb over the side of an 80-story building than ride in a plane." Safety protocol can only go so far, as DeCapio said it comes down to the person making sure it's followed. "With my experience, I have found that the accidents happen to the guys that are more near the ground," he said. "The guys that are higher are paying attention. Sometimes the guys that are working maybe two stories are not."