Window Cleaners Brave Elements, Heights

Window cleaners brave elements, heights.

Window cleaners brave elements, heights (TERRE HAUTE, Ind.) – There are a lot of thankless jobs out there, especially when winter comes calling.  Road crews certainly come to mind.  Another is window washing crews, in particular, those who have to clean the windows of multi-story buildings.  One window cleaning crew gives us an inside look at how they make sure they get the job done safely.

An icy roof… Temps in the 20’s… Breezy.. And on top of the four-story main branch of first financial bank… Not exactly an ideal day to wash windows.  Kenny Fark and Greg Ingalsbe work at TBM Building Services in Terre Haute.  They tell us it’s just another day at their outdoor office. “This is the longest job we do like this in the winter, because we do this one quarterly,” said Kenny. “No, it’s not too bad really.  It doesn’t seem that dangerous,” said Greg.

Kenny and Greg certainly know their job can be dangerous.  Look no further than November 13th, when a window washing crew had to be rescued from outside New York’s new World Trade Center. They were trapped more than 500 feet above ground. Of course, there are no skyscrapers in Terre Haute.  But on this job, you don’t want to take any chances.  These guys make sure they’re safe before every descent. “First time you jump off, it’s a little intimidating.  After that, you get used to it,” Greg said.

Plenty of safety measures are in place before anyone drops to a window.  First, the main safety line is anchored to a building structure, in this case a sturdy air duct.  A second line hangs from a piece of equipment called a “Sky Genie.”  And both lines have independent levers that must be pushed together in order to slowly lower the washer into place. As Kenny explains, “You raise it up, then it’s free.  When I let go, it’s locked.  And the only way he can go down on this right here is to push the lever on.”

The lines are set to slowly lower Greg to where he needs to be.  Once he’s at a window, it’s just like he’s on the ground, using a specific washing technique to ensure each window is streak-free after washing. Once Greg reaches the bottom, he’ll disconnect himself from the lines and take the elevator back to the top floor, and they’ll start all over again.

Now you may be wondering how long it takes these guys to clean the entire building.  The crew tells me they can do the outside of the building in one day, but it takes them a good couple of days to get all of the windows from the inside. Another question you may have: How does their washing solution hold up in the cold? “All we use is ammonia and joy, but to keep the water from freezing, we use methanol alcohol,” said Kenny.

Greg’s been at this six years.  Kenny has more than 40 years on the job. We asked Kenny, “and you’re still not sick of cleaning windows?” “Nope,” was his simple answer. Hopefully we showed you it takes quite a bit of skill to safely get someone down to a window to simply clean it.  It’s work these two take a lot of pride in doing, and one they really enjoy, too. TBM has been serving the Terre Haute area since 1962.