Bill Thomas, the owner of Northern Illinois Windows, stands outside the Hidden Pearl Café in McHenry. Hidden Pearl is one of the customers that rely on NIW to keep their windows clean.
Northern Illinois Windows – celebrates 25 years of cleaning area windows ‘one pane at a time’: They call it the Silver Anniversary. That's what McHenry-based Northern Illinois Windows is celebrating this summer - 25 years of cleaning Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin windows for 25 years. How many window panes have they cleaned 'one-at-a-time' over the course of those years? That's a number that's almost too astronomical to consider. Suffice it to say that it's a lot.
"I started the company with a bucket, a squeegee and a truck," said owner Bill Thomas. "I would knock on the doors of businesses and ask them if they wanted their windows cleaned."
Today, Thomas has crews of window washers who do the window washing as he runs the business. He coordinates the routes, schedules window washing, which also includes washing the windows in private residences, and he does continue to do sales. In those early years, he also did the book keeping, marketing and all the other chores that are necessary to a successful business.
"I still knock on doors," he said. "And, I go out and do estimates. I like meeting with prospective clients so that they know who stands behind the quality and service we provide."
Shortly after starting the business, Thomas was joined by his son. Today, Thomas operates a window washing business in downtown Colorado. Father and son communicate often sharing ideas and suggestions. But, here in McHenry, Thomas has learned that he can't, or shouldn't do it all. He works with others to keep his business on track. This frees up his time to further develop the business.
Actually, window cleaning is only part of what Northern Illinois Windows offers, albeit a big part. They also provide home and office window tinting, gutter cleaning and power washing. They also install and take down Christmas lights during the holidays.
"We have several types of window film we install," said Thomas. "But, our 3M window film is the industry standard."
The window film comes with different levels of tinting. One thing that almost uniform about the film is that, whatever level of tint, most block 99.9 percent of ultraviolet rays. Over time, the UV rays can bleach furniture, flooring and stock that businesses keep in the windows. And after installing the window film, Northern Illinois Windows is available to wash the windows when they get dirty again.
Windows last November. The teenager plans to attend Boise State University to study human biology before going to medical school to become a cardiologist.
Area Teen Adds Shine With 7B Windows (Sandpoint): There are plenty of Bonner County teens who are happy to wile away their downtime from high school hanging out at City Beach or staring into the screens of mobile devices. Nathan Roe is not among them. The 17-year-old opened 7B Windows last November. It was initially slow going because November is hardly the peak of window-cleaning season.
But Roe’s persistence began paying off. “I went door to door downtown and was able to drum up some business for it,” said Roe, who will be a Sandpoint High School senior when the new school year starts this fall.
Roe is now cleaning windows for Pita Pit and Trinity and City Beach. “I was really happy to get the Trinity job,” said Roe. Roe also picked up some residential clients, although his services don’t include cleaning windows on buildings more than a story high.
Roe said he picked up some advice from a high school custodian, who gave him some of the basic equipment needed to restore the lustre in people’s windows. “I didn’t really see any downside to doing it,” Roe said of 7B’s launch.
Roe said the business allows him to market himself while taking pride in doing a thorough job. “There’s no hiding the work you do,” he said.
Roe plans to attend Boise State to study human biology before going to medical school to become a cardiologist. Roe’s business venture is not impinging on his academic career. He is among the top 10 percent of his class. “The kid maintains a 4.2 GPA,” said Roe’s father, Mark.
Brush couple Titus and Joy Grant recently set out on an exciting new venture as the duo began their new Mobile Wash LLC business, offering residential and commercial cleaning services of all sorts to clients in Morgan County. “We also wanted to create something to pass on to our kids,” Titus added. “We really created this business for them.”
Focus on family moves couple to create Mobile Wash business: Making the leap into a new life and a new occupation can prove bold for many, but for Titus and Joy Grant, the move into a new town and new business has given the couple newfound strength and freedom. “Joy was just burned out on the kid scene,” said Titus Grant, whose new Mobile Wash LLC business has become an exciting new adventure for he and his wife, Joy. “She’s been doing the daycare thing since she was in high school, for over 20 years. She was tossing around the idea of buying the house across the street and opening up another daycare, but I could see how exhausted she was. Life was not easy.”
With a trio of children in tow, including Austin, Shyann and Shailynn, the couple from California were looking for a way to support their family, as well as find more free time to spend together. When Titus mentioned the possibility of expanding his new mobile wash business to include window washing and janitorial services, a spark ignited in Joy.
What had begun as a pressure washing service started by Titus just after he created his self-built washer, which he has since upgraded in a purchased pressure washer, has since boomed with the addition of window and janitorial services, which many of their Fort Morgan and Brush business clients have taken advantage of.
When the couple made their move from their home in California, back to Titus’ family roots in Colorado, it was the area that first brought appeal. “We are loving it here in Brush,” said Titus. “It has a rural feel and a country feel that we just didn’t get in the city.”
Titus was born and bred in Colorado, making the state home to him. When his parents made the move to California, Titus went with. He met wife Joy there 23 years ago and has been married to his bride for 21 years as of May 20. Spending the majority of his own career in sales, promoting everything from Yellowbook advertising sales to large equipment sales, gave Titus a vast knowledge of promotions and marketing, but when he looked toward the future, he saw something more.
For the duo and their children, it was taking time to focus on the family, to spend with their children and even to inspire their offspring, that proved a prime priority. The Grants made the move back to Colorado just a year-and-a-half ago and it wasn’t long afterwards that they ventured forth on their exciting new journey.
“It’s a bit scary, but it is exciting,” said Joy whose career in childcare had brought her much pride, but didn’t afford her the time she had wanted to devote to her kids. “But this decision has been more about quality of life and priorities for us.” “We also wanted to create something to pass on to our kids,” Titus added. “We really created this business for them.”
The Grants’ Mobile Wash LLC got going officially in September of 2015, but picked up steam after the addition of Joy and the window and janitorial services, with many big and small businesses around Morgan County counted as clients. “It’s mostly been word of mouth and referrals that have us doing so much business so far,” noted Titus. “But knocking on doors also has helped. It’s what I’ve done for the past 20 years in my sales experience, so getting out, canvassing and speaking to people in person is still my greatest asset.”
From residential to commercial, the Mobile Wash cleaning company has a long list of services offered, including professional window cleaning, commercial janitorial services, commercial, residential and rental vacancy cleaning, store fronts, decks, sidewalks and gum removal, graffiti removal, road signs and road clean-up, spider webs, restaurant hood vents, flat roofs and rain gutters to farm equipment, semi-tractors and trailers, commercial fleets and oil field service cleaning.
“We are a family-run business,” finished Titus. “It was created by the family and for the family, to serve the community. And our clients have been wonderful so far.” The company tag line, “What do you need cleaned?” pushes the couple’s notion that there’s nothing they can’t tackle and they urge anyone in need to contact them about any dirt or grime invading a space.
Patrick and Annette Archambeau stand with their horse Mariah Storm at
their home in Severance last month. The couple owns Willy's Window
Washing, and part of the proceeds from their business help fund
nonprofit Foal Rescue & Training program. The pair rescue young
horses and raise them until they are about 3 or 4 years old, then find
them homes.
Severance couple wash windows to help rescue horses: Patrick and Annette Archambeau wash windows in Northern Colorado to help clear the way for animals to have a better life. The Severance couple use most of the revenue they generate from their business, Willy's Window Washing, to support a nonprofit that focuses on rescuing young horses. The Archambeaus have been running the charity with a focus on assisting abandoned and injured animals since 1995. "Our job is the window washing, but what we do is the horses," Patrick, 53, said.
Through Archway Foal Rescue and Training, the Archambeaus are able to save some foals from being orphaned or killed by horse slaughterhouses. The couple commit to raising and training the foals they rescue for three to four years, then try to get people to adopt the equine animals. "These baby horses haven't got anybody; they have no voice," Patrick said. "A lot of 'em were rescued literally right out of the hands of the kill-buyer. They're going with us or they're going straight to Mexico or Canada."
The Archambeaus understand the issue of horse overpopulation and how costly the animals can be for struggling farmers, and they said they're not opposed to older or unusable horses being sold to manufacture products like glue or pet food. "It's not much fun to think they're going to go for dog food or whatever, but it's a viable thing," Annette, 53, said. "We're not against that. It's just the babies. The babies should have a chance to have a life."
Archway Foal Rescue and Training is a nonprofit operated by husband and
wife Patrick and Annette Archambeau. The Archambeaus support the charity
using funds from their window washing business.
The Archambeaus' nonprofit is partially funded by contributions from community members and a handful of organizational grants. The donated funds help the couple purchase hay and care services. Feed costs them a minimum of $600 a month, and every two months, they have to spend $300 to trim the horses' feet.
LaPorte veterinarian Allen Landes helps Archway Foal Rescue and Training by providing medical care and services to the seven foals currently in the program at a discounted rate. Often times he charges the Archambeaus only for supplies. "There seems to be a lot more unwanted horses these days," Landes said. "You know, veterinarians have to make a living too, but I feel like I can at least give back to the community by helping some of these rescues."
Another big help is people who buy King Soopers gift cards from the nonprofit, Annette said. The Kroger Company gives the charity 5 percent back from the purchase amounts made on the reuseable cards. Kroger's program, grants and community donations cover only about a third of what it costs to run the charity, the Archambeaus said. The couple is using money earned by Willy's Window Washing to pay for most of the nonprofit's expenses. They have owned the business for 27 years, and when weather conditions are good, they do about 60 residential jobs in a month.
Most of their work is in Boulder County because that's where they lived up until 2010. They're working on building more clients in Fort Collins, Severance, Windsor and surrounding communities, Annette said. "We're not rich, especially with the nonprofit, but we make it work," she said. "We take nothing compared to what's out there."
To get involved: Those interested in learning more about Archway Foal And Rescue Training can call (970) 482-5559 or visit www.nicehorses.org. The nonprofit's founders Patrick and Annette Archambeau are looking for people to buy grocery gift cards that benefit the charity, those interested in getting the foals used to being ridden or others who can help the organization.
Mark Plantz, owner of Mark’s Window Washing, has been keeping Telluride’s windows clean for 16 years. Click to enlarge.
Transparent cleanliness: It’s the day after a particularly heinous dust storm, and the evidence is everywhere. Cars, benches and windows all sport a fresh brown coat. A dusty truck rumbles down Colorado Avenue, pausing as its driver sees a group of rivals across the street. The window rolls down and a series of gang signs flash back and forth between the driver and his opposing posse.
The truck’s driver has thrust both arms out the window, shaping the fingers of one hand into an M and the other into a W, for Mark’s Window Washing. Once the laughter dies down, they all get down to business, and main street’s windows slowly morph from translucent, dusty messes into gleaming transparencies.
“I’m always stoked when I see dust on the horizon,” said Mark Plantz, who has owned Mark’s Window Washing for the past 16 years, always sporting the motto “Safe. Reliable. Courteous.” “I do emergency window washing, too. I’ll put a red light on the truck and rush to your house.”
Plantz said he gets most of his business by word of mouth, but his long running ad in the Daily Planet has helped, too. “It’s turning into an icon, like Betty Crocker,” he said. “If you look at the ad, I haven’t aged in 20 years.”
Paul Pierce of Mark's Window Washing rappels down to buff the skylights.
Plantz used to get most of his business at the Last Dollar Saloon and the now-defunct Swede-Finn Bar, coming home from nights’ revelry with names and numbers scrawled on his palm. Nowadays, most people in town know who he is. In fact, a handful have actually worked for him over the years.
“I usually have anywhere from four to seven guys working for me at any given time, but I tallied it up, and more than 100 have claimed the honor at one time or another,” he said. “I always see ‘em walking down the street and say we say hi. I pay ‘em a decent wage and treat ‘em right, so I don’t have anyone going around town saying I was a lame boss.”
According to Plantz’s experience, washing windows is one of those trades most people wouldn’t notice unless it went away. Main street shopkeepers — eager to show off their wares as clearly as possible — are the most obvious beneficiaries of the service he provides. But new homes, coated in construction grime but ready for sale, are also a big deal.
“Sometimes it can take months or even years to build a house,” he explained. “The windows can get pretty dirty, so we get out there and clean ‘em up so that they’re ready for sale.”
Asked what they want to be when they grow up, most children opt for iconic professions such as astronaut, firefighter or doctor. Plantz said that his choice to wash windows for a living boiled down to finding a way to become part of Telluride’s community fabric. He found a niche that needed to be filled, and went for it.
“I was just a slope dope and needed a job like everyone else,” he said, grinning. “After I learned the skill from Jerry Robertson, I got busier and busier. I’d like to put two kids through college, so if you need your windows washed, I’m safe, reliable, courteous.”
Warm weather not sunny for snowpack levels: Summit County - In his efforts to do his part to make the world a brighter place, Bryn Hinvman with Fish Window Cleaning has been very successful getting a lot of windows clean. "Just cleaning windows," Hinvman said. These days, he is making good time thanks to plenty of sunshine along with dry, warm weather. Manager Tim Satterly says the days are perfect for window washing. "You know, that sun comes out, it heats things up, and the windows are easier to clean," Satterly said.
It's the kind of weather that's helped them clean more windows making December business spotless with a 20 percent increase over last December. The problem is, it's making for some terrible snow conditions. Statewide, the snowpack is around 33 percent below average. It's 42 percent below average in the Colorado Basin, where many ski areas are located. With grass still showing in some spots, residents in Summit County, like Michelle Renner, say it's a far cry from last year. "This time last year it was probably 9 degrees and we had several, several feet of snow on the ground," Renner said.
The good news is that State Water Commissioners are saying the long-term forecast shows an El Nina pattern setting up. That produces more snow after January and means that and the end of the snow season, the state's snowpack will be close to average. If it works out that way, it will mean Hinvman's pleasant window cleaning weather will be wiped clean, making things more difficult. "If it's dumping, you can't always work," Hinvman said. Still, he says he'll be out there wiping away the grim in sun or snow. "Someone's got to do it," he said.
After four months of construction, Brush resident Virgil Roberts has completed an approximate 85-square foot 'miniature home.' The project also included an outhouse.
Brush resident builds 'miniature home' - After years in the janitorial business, washing windows for companies and building furniture, one Brush resident decided to take his knowledge of construction and build a ‘miniature home.’ Brush resident Virgil Roberts recently completed construction of an 8x10 home with approximately 85-square feet inside, a front porch and an outhouse. “Actually, I wanted to see if I could do it,” Roberts said of the part that he enjoyed the most about building the home. “It’s like a hunting cabin or you could use it for a mother-in-law cabin. It looks nice enough that if someone wants a little office in their backyard (it would work, too). Nobody has anything like this.”
The home includes electricity, a variety of small appliances, a bunk bed and a large window designed to allow sunlight into the home in-order to heat it through a ‘passive solar’ window. In addition, the entire building is wrapped in ‘reflective insulation.’ “It’s supposed to reflect the heat,” Roberts said of the insulation he used. “It’s about the same as regular insulation.” The outhouse was built to allow Roberts a break from constructing the building. “I got bored one day, so I made an outside john,” he said. Construction began in April and came to an end in late July.
According to Roberts, the building was built on railroad ties and only worked on it part-time in-between other projects around his main house. “I didn’t put in over two hours a day,” he said adding that his son-in-law helped with installing the rafters. A building permit was not required since the unit was smaller than 120-square feet. All of the material was bought locally. With the project complete, Roberts is now interested in selling it. “I’d like to make a few extra bucks,” he said.
Roberts is asking $7,000 for the building. Included in the price is all of the brand-new appliances with their original boxes, a bunk bed, porch, outhouse and a never been used generator. After he sells the home, Roberts plans to build a similar one. The second building will include a regular size front door; however, it will be located on the side of the house to allow for additional square-feet, detachable solar panels on the end of the unit and a larger front porch.
The beautiful mind of the Aussie who beat Microsoft: Inventor Ric Richardson is a no-bull, unassuming Aussie, but when Microsoft pinched his big idea, he took on the software behemoth ... and won. Jane Cadzow meets an unlikely giant-slayer. The phone rang early, rousing Ric Richardson from a fitful sleep. As the sun rose over the northern NSW coast, he sat on his verandah and absorbed the news that a jury on the other side of the world had awarded him half a billion dollars. "I didn't really feel like celebrating," he remembers. "I just felt like breathing for a while."
Richardson is the Australian inventor who took on Microsoft and won. In April 2009, a United States court found the giant software corporation had used his technology without his knowledge or permission, and ordered Microsoft to pay compensation of $US388 million (then worth more than $530 million). The award was one of the highest in US patent history. As it turned out, Richardson was right to keep the cork in the champagne bottle - the verdict was overturned five months later. But early this year, an appeals court upheld the original jury's decision that Microsoft had infringed his patent. He was vindicated, though still didn't feel like throwing a party. "I was just very relieved," he says.
Richardson, 49, has a friendly, round face, dark-rimmed glasses and blue eyes. Friends and colleagues speak in awe of his prodigious intelligence but the sheer size of him is what you notice first - his nimble brain is trapped inside a lumbering body that tips the scales at close to 180 kilograms. When we meet at a smart Byron Bay resort, he is wearing a navy T-shirt so enormous it could probably accommodate Bill Gates and the entire Microsoft board. While he talks, he perches on the edge of his seat, as if afraid his full weight might be too much for it. Though gregarious and good-humoured, he has the slightly apologetic air of one who knows he takes up more space than he should.
The innovation that prompted the legal battle is an elegant method of deterring software piracy - essentially, a system of locking software titles to individual machines so they can't be illegally copied. But Richardson isn't just a computer geek: over the years, he has produced blueprints for everything from optical-fibre fingerprinting to a home-based hydro-electric scheme and a toothpaste tube that can be squeezed to the last drop. A problem-solver, he likes to call himself. "Because that's what invention is. Solving a problem before everybody else." The Microsoft saga isn't over yet. The appeals court ruled that the jury had erred in calculating the damages payment, so a new trial will decide the amount due to Richardson and Uniloc, the company he founded. But he says he isn't hanging on that result. "The fact that they have been found guilty is the most important thing from my perspective. A lot of people think this is all about some big settlement, but no, it isn't. This case was about a lot more than money."
For much of Richardson's youth, he basically wanted to be Jimi Hendrix. Years of obsessive practice turned him into a more than competent electric guitarist - but "I could never get his loosey-goosey feel", he says, still a bit crestfallen. "I was too uptight and Caucasian for that." Since he couldn't be a thin, black rock god and had no alternative career in mind, nor any interest in going to university, he spent a while drifting between casual jobs: window washing, garbage collecting, guitar teaching. Then in 1982, when he was 20, he got his hands on a Commodore 64, one of the newfangled home computers. And everything fell into place. He already had two inventions under his belt: the Shadesavers sunglasses cord, dreamed up and sold by him and his brother, and an extendable pole for washing apartment-block windows. Read more.
A window cleaner to write home about - Koron Mays moves from the Willamette Valley to Sandy to expand his business. Koron Mays has established his home-based window washing and gutter cleaning service in Sandy, a business that serves the Portland, Salem, Albany, Corvallis and Jefferson areas. He has accounts in Sandy and serves residential, commercial and post-construction clientele. Mays, who relocated from Jefferson, says — as owner of Koron’s Professional Window Cleaning — he cares about the environment and only uses cleaning products that bear the Green Seal, which are products safe for the environment.
While working at the Mt. Hood Athletic Club in Sandy last week, Mays said he strives not only to get windows clean but to make window cleaning a “wow” experience for clients. “My goal is not to get the job done as fast as possible and do the minimum requirements to get paid,” he said. “My goal is to establish a long-term relationship with my customers and do whatever it takes to earn their return business and enthusiastic referrals.” Mays’ money-back guarantee seems to help his clients feel more comfortable, especially the first time they order service. “I want to give my customers the peace of mind of knowing that they will not be put in the situation (that some people have found themselves in) of having a window cleaner do poor or incomplete work,” he said. “There is no risk with KPWC. If (the customer) is not satisfied with the job, then he or she will not be required to pay.”
Before pursuing his window cleaning business, he worked in Portland and Lebanon as a medical assistant — a detail-oriented career. Mays describes his business philosophy in simple terms: “Establishing lifelong customers through excellent service, competitive prices and a 100-percent satisfaction guarantee.” “Earning your return business, and your enthusiastic referral,” he said, “is my number-one goal.” Mays’ attention to detail is likely responsible for the testimonials on his website. Here’s a sample, from a customer at a real estate office in Albany: “Our windows look amazing. Just looking out and seeing how clean they are makes me happy. You did a fabulous job and we will tell everyone about KPWC and how great of a job you do. Thanks again, you really came at just the right time for our office. Warmest regards.” Mays’ business has been screened by Service Magic, a group of professionals screening service providers. Service Magic screens the following areas of each business it approves and certifies: verify trade license, insurance and state business filings; criminal records search; sex offender search; bankruptcy search; legal search for civil judgments; liens search; and identity verification with a Social Security number and reverse telephone search. Mays accepts payments by major credit cards and PayPal. He offers free estimates, and is licensed and insured.
Seychellois court jails 9 Somali pirates: A court in Seychelles has handed 22-year jail terms to nine Somali nationals charged with piracy, amid a drive to seek convictions for suspected pirates. "When we come across a boat with ladders on board, we can be sure they are pirates," complained a senior member of NATO's anti-piracy task force in October. "After all, there are no known window-cleaning operations in the Indian Ocean."
Big-hearted Orangemen had a whipround to replace an elderly Dreghorn couple’s stolen Christmas savings – after reading about their plight in the Irvine Herald. Members of Dreghorn and Parish Loyal Defenders LOL 218 were so touched by Eddie and Isabella Short’s story they clubbed together to raise the full £400 nicked by a bogus window cleaner. Eddie, 65, and Isabella, 60, of Cumbrae Court, had scrimped and saved the cash for a year to buy presents for their four grandchildren before the callous conman struck on November 26.
A “sadistic and controlling” window cleaner has been sentenced to two years behind bars for a series of cruel assaults. Basildon Crown Court heard Steven Scannell, 27, carried out a string of inhumane beatings against housemate and work colleague Zack Greaves over six months. The final and worst attack at the pair’s flat in Hollands Walk, Vange, saw Scannell assault his victim with weapons, including a rolling pin, police truncheon and wheel brace. Mr Greaves, 23, who is from the Basildon area, suffered a broken jaw and numerous cuts. He also had to have two skin grafts on his left leg because of the horrific nature of the wounds.
The attacks took place between August and December 2008. The victim had previously made up stories to explain his injuries but informed police after the final assault and Scannell was arrested. Scannell, who was 25 at the time of the attacks, met Mr Greaves through playing roller hockey and later offered him a job working with him as a window cleaner. The victim later moved into his attacker’s flat and the problems began. The court heard Scannell began by withholding cash from his flatmate, telling him he was not capable of looking after his own money.
LEGO – Moscow Office: If you’re anything like me, you lived, breathed, and occasionally ate LEGOs in your younger days. There was nothing more exciting than the chance to build your own toys right out of your imagination. Most of us grew up and had to leave our LEGOs in the back of the closet, but a lucky few get to live the dream of playing with them and get paid for it. Some of those people live in Moscow. And we are looking at their office today. The office doesn’t disappoint. Actually, it has even more LEGOs than I would’ve expected. There’s a fancy doorman, a tourist (sandals and socks!), a window washer, a painter, a knight, a Russian landscape, a monkey, three parrots, hedgehog, an office pig… all made entirely out of LEGOs. They even made a giant Russian nesting doll out of LEGOs!
Loneliness is a disease that afflicts most small-business owners. It can be so severe that mental paralysis prevents the business from growing and it may even lead to failure. The best defense includes surrounding yourself with other business owners who understand the challenges you face daily. They can help you take a step back from problems that seem all consuming so that solutions become more apparent. Additionally, it is likely that others have faced similar challenges and were able to conquer them. Jeannette Watling-Mills, owner of Bob's Window Cleaning in Sarasota told me that, "Even when their business is going well, they are tired of doing it all and doing it alone." In addition to being an entrepreneur, she is a volunteer business mentor with the SCORE Manasota chapter, based in Sarasota, Fla.
Gutter Rake Review: An Easier, Safer Way to Get the Leaves Out - The Product: Gutter Rake. The Price: $9.95, plus $6.95 shipping and handling. The Claims: 10 times faster and easier than other gutter tools. The Gutter Rake reduces the thing I hate most about cleaning gutters -- watching my husband climb a ladder. Greg is the gutter rake in our house. And twice a year my heart stops as he climbs the extension ladder, balances on one leg as he reaches for leaves, then climbs down and moves the ladder over six feet to do it all again. The Gutter Rake, which claims to extend your wingspan up to 32 feet, actually does cut down all that upping and downing and oops-I've-plunged-to-my-death-ing.
The Gutter Rake is a simple, 2-foot piece of plastic with a hook at one end, and a straight scraper at the other. Twist the Gutter Rake onto a broom handle or extension pole. The scraper grabs leaves and other gutter crud, then the hook pushes debris under and past fastening struts. I guess it could add 32 feet to your reach, if you fasten the Gutter Rake to a 16-foot pole, although that's a bit much to maneuver from a ladder. But a 5-foot broom handle is manageable and triples your reach. That translates to fewer ladder moves and fewer chances for it to fall through the kitchen window. The Gutter Rake also makes cleaning gutters obstructed by tree branches easier. Instead of positioning the ladder between branches, Greg parked the ladder 3-feet away from the tree and reached past and under the limbs with the rake.
Is the Gutter Rake 10 times faster than other gutter tools, as it claims? Nope. You still have to scrape the leaves, bag the leaves, and move the ladder. Also, the Gutter Rake is about 2-inches wide, while gutters typically are 5-inches wide, which means repeated passes until you clear all the leaves. But the Gutter Rake does shave time off a dirty and dangerous job that, with a little luck, my husband will do for years to come. Video at link.
Fighting ashes with ashes: Cleaning glass fireplace doors - Sooty fireplace not looking Santa-ready? Instead of using ammonia or harsh chemical cleaners to clean glass fireplace doors, opt for a most unlikely soot-removing remedy: Fireplace ash. When removing built-up carbon residue and other gunk from glass fireplace and wood stove doors, a normal glass/window cleaner most likely isn’t tough enough given that you're not dealing with regular glass. As an alternative, most folks resort to rags dipped in household ammonia, oven cleaners like Easy-Off, or harsh, heavy-duty products manufactured specifically for the task.
Although these solutions can be effective in removing soot and built-up grime and don’t require an extraneous amount of elbow grease, they must be used with utmost caution given their hazardous properties that call for the wearing of rubber gloves and googles, the holding-in of breath, and the opening of windows. Or, you could avoid chemicals altogether and opt for old newspapers dampened with water and dipped in fireplace ashes. Yep, fireplace ashes. Although it’s counterintuitive and requires a bit more effort on your part, scrubbing glass fireplace doors with the what-in-the-heck-do-I-do-with-this residue left from a raging wood fire does indeed do the trick.
Extra Clean Inc., the leading window cleaning, pressure washing, post construction cleanup, and exterior building maintenance service company in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia is pleased to announce the appointment of Angela Dixson as the new company president. In her new role, Mrs. Dixson will have total responsibility for day-to-day operations of Extra Clean. Angela Dixson, President of Extra Clean, Inc says
"I look forward to serving Extra Clean in my new role," Angela Dixson said. "I will build on the skills and knowledge I have acquired over the 22 years of working for the company and in the cleaning service industry. I will ensure Extra Clean remains the industries preferred window cleaning, construction cleanup, and pressure washing company in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia area".
Elgin residents will have to endure the frigid holidays this year without the favorite Christmastime tradition - the Remembering Elgin calendar: Since 1996, Councilman and auctioneer John Prigge has been publishing a “Remembering Elgin” calendar showing Elgin scenes from the 1940s through the 1960s. But he says he won’t do that this year because sales have gone down over the past two years to the point where he loses money on the project. Each year, Prigge says, he would print about 1,000, of which he would give away 200 to his business clients and offer 800 for sale, mainly at the State Street Market in Elgin. He said people still can buy back issues of the 15 calendars at the State Street Market, for half their original $10.95 price. The photos all were taken by an Elgin window washer named Bob Will, who carried around one of those old-fashioned cameras that took photos on 2.25-inch film, five times as large as the usual 35mm film. Prigge says Will often would come home from church on Sunday, file away that week’s bulletin, then walk back downtown with camera in hand, looking for targets of opportunity.
Cleaning windows 50 metres above the ground: Cleaning the windows of a highrise building doesn't seem like a big deal, until you witness one of the abseil cleaners strap into a harness and lower themselves over the edge. Perched on top of the ABC Collinswood building, some 52 metres above street level, Daniel the operations manager from SA Window Cleaning believes he has one of the best jobs in the world. As he slips over the edge of the building in his abseiling gear, it's easy to notice it is not a job for the faint hearted. "I think it's a good cure for people with a fear of heights," Daniel said. "A few people come in with a fear of heights, they end up doing this and they love it by the end of the day."
Depending on workloads and weather conditions, Daniel can be found on the sides of up to eight buildings per week around Adelaide giving the windows a quick clean. Wind, thunder and rain can make a job unsafe for the crews to start. Even on a relatively calm day, updrafts can make it a little challenging. "It's a bit hard to keep your windows clean with the wind blowing your water back up the side of the building." Abseiling teams are used around Adelaide on buildings of up to 26 storeys in height. "There's a couple a bit bigger than that, but we use the building maintenance units on those ones," Daniel explained.
Strangely for observers, the higher the crews are, the easier the cleaning can be on the larger sites. "The further you get down the building, you get a lot more bounce in your ropes and you pendulum a lot more." With over 12 years of abseil window cleaning, Daniel says apart from the amazing office views the feeling of freedom whilst he is abseiling down the face of buildings keeps him coming back for more. It's not all swinging from ropes and looking at the views though, with the job's physical demands ruling it out for many. "Some jobs it really takes it out of you, especially a long job with a lot of scrubbing involved."
On hot summer days temperatures of 40 degrees can jump another 20 degrees thanks to rising hot air and reflected sun from surrounding buildings. And on hot, windy days, one of the biggest challenges the crews face is their washing water drying too quickly. With a quick smile and a wave, Daniel attaches his cleaning gear bucket and slides over the edge to keep working on cleaning off what the weather and local pigeon population has left decorated on the side of the ABC Collinswood building. More pictures here.
Chicago braves season’s first cold snap: Window washer Sergio Enriquez dumped some rubbing alcohol into his wash bucket to keep it from freezing. “I usually wear windproof stuff, ’cause it’s kind windy here,” Enriquez said. “It’s the Windy City.” Kevin Birk, with the National Weather Service in Romeoville, said the region can expect cold temperatures and bitter wind chills for the rest of the week.
Window Cleaning Springs woman sells business, possessions for Buddhist life in Colorado Springs: Gwyn Waterfield, her head shaved and wearing a white robe, walked slowly down an aisle at Shove Chapel on the Colorado College campus last week during her Buddhist Precept Ceremony. Nine months ago, Waterfield was an Austin, Texas, business owner with 10 employees. She gave it up and most of her possessions to pursue becoming a Buddhist nun. “I have some nervousness and fear about my new life,” Waterfield said, “but mostly I have an enormous amount of gratitude.” The ceremony signified Waterfield becoming an Anagarika within Buddhism’s Thai Forest Tradition.
As an Anagarika, Waterfield will adhere to the Eight Buddhist Thai Forest Precepts: refraining from sexual activity, speaking falsely, ingesting mind-altering products, eating after noon, entertainment, beautification, adornment and oversleeping. After one year, Waterfield will be a novitiate, which requires, in addition to the precepts, prohibition from preparing food and driving a car. Two years from now, she may be an ordained Buddhist monastic, though the process usually takes longer. Waterfield is the first to join the monastic arm of the nonprofit Awakening Truth, founded by Ajahn Thanasanti earlier this year in west Colorado Springs. Awakening Truth also offers Tava Sangha, a free meditation and talk from Thanasanti for lay people.
Monastics within the Thai Forest Tradition take a vow of poverty, making them dependent on donations for survival since they never charge for their talks and good works. “We live in a world where self-discipline, restraint and self-renunciation are not popular,” Thanasanti, sitting cross-legged on a pillow, said. Monastics “open the door for people to question their choices. There is another choice.” Raised on a ranch in Canadian, Texas, Waterfield got a double-shot of Christianity. Mom was a Roman Catholic and Dad a Methodist. Her teen and early-adult years were marked by drinking and drug use, she said. Because of her wayward lifestyle, it took her a number of years to finish her math degree at St. Edward’s University, a Catholic college in Austin. In 1998 she founded “Gwyndows,” a window-cleaning operation in Austin that quickly grew into a formidable residential and commercial business.
Hello there old beans. Here we are in the far east having a jolly good time playing the old Sport of Kings, Nepal-style. Being the off-season at home, some of us chaps got a team together and flew out for the annual Pimms and Elephant Polo Festival at Chitwan about 200km from Kathmandu. You know what they say - too much polo is never enough. Jolly good show, too. The main difference, as you can see, is longer sticks and a chap has his own driver - sort of like the chauffeur one has at home. It's jolly relaxing and you have rather a long time to think about your next shot. We all take the sport very seriously and us chaps practise at home by riding around on the top of our Range Rovers swinging mallets fashioned from window-cleaning apparatus.
A 59-year-old Llanelli window cleaner who failed to stop after two road accidents and then resisted arrest has been ordered to pay £365 by town magistrates. Michael Finnegan, of Havelock Street, admitted two charges of failing to stop after an accident and one of obstructing or resisting a police constable in the execution of their duty. Gerald Neave, prosecuting, told the court that police received a report of a hit-and-run road traffic collision outside New Dock Road post office on September 20 this year. Finnegan's Nissan Bluebird was seen to drive away from the scene. A minute later, police received another report saying the same vehicle had hit the fence of a garden at Ropewalk Road. A police officer attended the scene and encountered the defendant. Then, said Mr Neave, Finnegan "became aggressive without provocation". He told magistrates how Finnegan said to the officer: "What the **** are you doing here? I wasn't driving."
Mr Neave said: "He was showing aggressive behaviour. "The defendant clenched his left fist, leaving the officer to believe he was going to strike." The police officer took Finnegan to the floor using a handcuff take down and he continued to struggle, the court was told. The officer called for assistance, but managed to handcuff Finnegan before help arrived. Finnegan told police that after the collision in the post office car park he "panicked", and when he got to his home he collided with a fence. He said he did not answer the door when police called "for fear of being arrested". The court heard Finnegan had been a self-employed window cleaner in the Morfa area, but had given up work. For failing to stop he was fined £100 and his licence was endorsed with ten penalty points, and the second failing to stop after an accident resulted in a further fine of £100. Finnegan was ordered to pay £65 for obstructing a police constable in his duty, prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £15.
Piano technician, window cleaner sell Lombard 3BD: Cyril, David, Kevin, and Scott Grandsard sold a three-bedroom, four-bath home at 1135 E. Adams St. in Lombard to Ingerrev and Kent Lawrence for $270,000 on June 7. The 1,560-square-foot house was built in 1967 in the Lombard East neighborhood. David Grandsard is the owner of It's A Pitch Piano Service in Lombard, which specializes in tuning, repair and regulation of pianos. He is a certified piano technician. He is a graduate of the Chicago School for Piano Technology. Scott Grandsard is the owner of C & S Window Cleaning in Carpentersville, which he founded in 1979. According to BlockShopper.com, there have been 462 home sales in Lombard during the past 12 months, with a median sales price of $206,000.
Platmin Completes Placing of US$90 Million of New Shares: A total of 83,846,154 common shares were indirectly placed with Dutch pension manager, Algemene Pensioen Groep N.V. ("APG"). Following completion of the placing, APG will hold, indirectly, 124,998,417 common shares representing approximately 16.7% of the then outstanding common shares. APG provides for the collective pension schemes for participants from the education sector, the government (civil servants), the construction sector, the cleaning/window-cleaning sector, housing corporations and energy/utilities companies, amongst others. APG manages around €265 billion in pension capital for these sectors (as at 30 September 2010). APG works for more than 20,000 employers, provides for the income of more than 4.4 million participants, and manages over 30% of all collective pensions in the Netherlands.
Forty Years Ago: The La Cañada High School Marching Band struck upon a unique fund-raising project for the December break in 1970. Called "Rent-a-Spartan," it allowed La Cañadans to telephone the student chairman of the project and request any type of household assistance, including garage clean-up, window-washing and baby-sitting.
Thanks to the late, pioneering eco-architect Bengt Warne’s Naturhus (Nature House) concept, maintaining a vibrant topical garden while cutting back on household energy costs during the middle of a brutal winter is indeed possible. Basically, a Naturhus is a normal, modestly sized abode completely encased in a greenhouse that “functions as an outer barrier” and allows for the year-round growing of plants that wouldn’t normally survive in frigid climates. Warne’s Naturhus concept has garnered a small but devout following in his native Sweden (Warne completed his own Naturhus in the mid-1970s) that includes Rosemary and Anders Solvarm, a couple whose own Naturhus consists “of a climate-shell, living quarters and a self-contained ecological system.” The self-contained ecological system conserves energy and nutrients which are transformed by plants and trees into flowers, fruits and vegetables. Any misgivings concerning circulation, window cleaning, problems with humidity, sensitivity to storms etcetera, can now be dismissed.
Toronto-Dominion Bank is buying Chrysler Financial for $6.3 billion, the second time in a week that a Canadian lender has placed a big bet on the U.S. economic recovery. A window washer cleans the sign on a TD Bank in New York's financial district.
A Colorado man is using a love of the outdoors to promote the love of Jesus Christ. Daniel Johnson of Colorado Springs is hiking through the country as part of the "Coast to Coast for Christ" program. "I am hiking from the top of Maine to the bottom of California, spreading the word of the gospel," Johnson said. The 38-year-old window washer began his hike in June, heading up and down much of the Appalachian Trail. He now is following the American Discovery Trail, which follows U.S. 50 from the East Coast to the West Coast. He hopes to end his journey in August in California.
Johnson said the life path leading to the hiking trail took a little longer to navigate, with about four years of thinking and praying before the idea became a reality. The idea first came to him when he saw television reports about a man hiking cross country, but not for any specific purpose. "I thought, this guy is getting all of this publicity for no real reason," Johnson said. "Why isn't someone doing this for the cause of Christ?" Now 162 days into his mission, Johnson said he is thrilled to be spreading the word. He relies heavily on churches and the kindness of strangers in his journey, he said, often speaking to groups about his mission and making new friends.
When not staying at a church or with locals, Johnson camps outside in a tent he carries with him, something he has only had to do once during the chilly winter months. "That was a pretty cold night," he said. Johnson has been staying with Phillip Smith of Davisville since his arrival in the area. Smith lives about 100 yards from a section of the North Bend Rail Trail, which is part of the American Discovery Trail. Both Smith and his wife are avid hikers, and he said he admires Johnson's spirit and drive. "He is hiking my hike," Smith said. "I wish I could be doing this."
In about two weeks Johnson hopes to be in the Cincinnati area, touring the Creation Museum in nearby Petersburg, Ky. "I would like to have people able to come out and meet me while I'm at the museum," he said. Johnson said those interested can track announcements and updates through his Web site, as well as through Twitter, YouTube and other social media.
A Texas native is walking across the country for Christ, and Monday he made his way into Belpre to make sure his message was heard. The 38-year-old first began his journey across the country on June 4th in Maine, and his goal will be to make it to the border of Mexico. Johnson is traveling solo and counting on help from others with his accommodations while dealing with the winter elements. He has a 42 pound backpack he travels with, but he said nothing is going to slow him down. "I've seen other people walk across the country or bike across the country for their cause. I thought all the publicity people get with that someone should be doing that for the cause of Christ," said Johnson. Johnson is planning on getting to California by August.
