Do You Have What It Takes To Clean High Rise Windows?

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Casey on the Job: Window Washing - (KUTV) Casey is on the job - and going to great heights to do his best! He kicks off his 20 Jobs in 20 Days by scaling the Wells Fargo Building in Utah to help wash the windows. For more Casey on the Job and to enter for your chance to win a window cleaning kit click here & like.

Added note: This video is 21 minutes long, but see what it takes to actually put yourself over the ledge. The actual going over the ledge starts at the 14 minute mark, but there is a nice interview with "College-Brite" Window Cleaning who explain the 423 ft job takes around a week. The host doesn't even attempt to clean any windows! Watch the video.

David Schmidt on High-Rise Window Cleaning (by Kate Gace Walton).

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below.

Roko Camaj washing windows at the World Trade Center.

Whenever I see high-rise window washers, I always think of Roko Camaj, an Albanian immigrant who worked at the World Trade Center for 26 years, before he died in the 9/11 attacks on the towers. I didn’t know Mr. Camaj, although I happened to work with a relative of his; like millions of others, I learned about his life mainly by reading about him in The New York Times. One of the things that always came across in the profiles about him was how much he loved his work. Clipped in 1300 feet above the street, he reportedly found a freedom in it that gave him great joy.

David Schmidt

Those two words, freedom and joy, don’t come up all that often talking to people who sit all day in desk jobs. I’ve started to think that physical labor might bring with it both a sense of light heartedness and a sort of deep satisfaction that office jobs rarely do; that was certainly one take-away from Samantha Cole’s essay about becoming a carpenter. I could never be a high-rise window washer—I’m far too afraid of heights—but I still feel like there’s something to be learned from people who are able to do this kind of work, so I sought out David Schmidt.

About David Schmidt: David Schmidt began working as a high-rise window washer in his twenties and went on to own his own window cleaning company. After nearly two decades in the window cleaning business, David sold his company and started a new venture: the Dutch Bike Company. His bike business now has two locations, in Seattle and Chicago, and is growing fast. But David still cleans high-rise windows from time to time—just because he loves it.

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