Routine Danger In Grand Rapids

Sam Rodriguez, with Award Window Cleaning Services, cleans the windows of the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids. The hotel is cleaned twice a year. More pictures at the link.

23 stories up, window washers dangle high above Grand Rapids, MI – Dangling over 200 feet in the air, four men inch their way down the face of the JW Marriott while wiping each window clean. The building's height and its unique shape make rappelling from the roof the most efficient way to ensure that the windows shine on the riverfront hotel that has become a Grand Rapids landmark.

The work is not for the faint of heart. "Terrifying," window cleaner Sam Rodriguez said of his first trip down the JW Marriott. "You finally get to the ground and you almost want to kiss it." One "drop" or trip down the face of the hotel takes more than an hour.

From left, Sam Rodriguez, Brenden Riggins, and Tim Scott, all with Award Window Cleaning Services, clean the windows of the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids.

The first time Rodriguez performed the task as part of the Award Window Cleaning crew, it took him twice the time of an experienced window washer. With each swipe of his squeegee, he felt sure something would go wrong. After six years of working high above the ground, like any other job, it becomes routine. Now, he has to remind himself that it's dangerous and to check and double check his equipment.

What's one thing facing window washers that passersby can't see from the ground? "Spiders," said Mark Reinhart, Award Window Cleaning's president. The eight-legged creatures leave cobwebs for the cleaners and sometimes crawl up their pant legs. Before pesticide use, window cleaners would duct tape their pants and shirts closed to keep them out. Now, there aren't nearly as many, but they still can be found even on the highest buildings in town.

Grand Rapids' most recognizable buildings, including the Amway Grand Hotel, Bridgewater Place and the JW Marriott are cleaned twice a year, moments that often draw the attention of downtown crowds.

Window Washing Is A Dirty Business

Window washers clean glass on the 23-story One South Market building under construction in downtown San Jose on Feb. 3, 2015.

Window washing is a dirty business, but somebody's got to do it (by Bruce Newman): As a design feature for large public buildings, the window has experienced a long, humbling decline. Preening architects transformed the urban skyline into a high-rise hall of mirrors, while windows that once breathed light became rare as gargoyles. But through all the changes, window cleaners - who now scour entire glass buildings armed with only squeegees and buckets of soapy water have remained indispensable.

The dangers inherent in a job that sometimes requires working hundreds of feet off the ground for hours at a time became painfully apparent during a 10-day stretch in November. First, a pair of window cleaners working 69 stories above the street outside New York's new World Trade Center found themselves suspended for an hour from a scaffold that had tilted to nearly vertical, before firefighters cut through the glass and reeled the men in.

The following week in San Francisco, a workman who had not yet begun cleaning windows at the Sterling Bank and Trust Building plummeted from the roof, screaming as he fell 11 stories, before landing on a moving car. That saved his life, although the still unnamed window cleaner has endured numerous surgeries since the accident.

Thirty years ago, when Andy Shavalia, owner of Superior Window Cleaning in Santa Clara, was learning the business, the sort of safety equipment that almost surely saved the lives of the window cleaners in New York was rarely used. Instead of the motorized scaffold-like devices that are used today, called a "swing stage," window washers were lowered from the tops of skyscrapers on a small chair tied to pipes or air conditioning units. "That's like rappelling down the side of a building," Shavalia says. "I would say rope work is probably the hairiest situation you can be in when you first learn the trade."

Shavalia has cleaned the 40-story McKesson tower in San Francisco and the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose - jobs that can take a month or more. The work is slow and methodical, and often the only thing that breaks the tedium is the occasional surprise encounter. Shavalia has come across couples in the full flower of connubiality. "Especially on hotels," he says, "we've had a couple of incidents where maybe the management forgot to tell their guests that if they want privacy to close the curtains. They tried to cover up. You just turn away and continue with your job."

Most window cleaning companies do a mixture of commercial and residential work, although not all of them ascend to great heights. Tim Zickuhr's R12 Window Cleaning in San Jose is only insured to go three stories high, after which the cost of his coverage would quadruple. "How they figure that there's more danger at four stories than three stories is beyond me," says Zickuhr, who uses an 85-foot articulating boom to reach the glass at the top of triple-decker office buildings.

Unlike most homeowners, who tend to use spray products such as Windex to clean their glass, the pros typically use Dawn dishwashing soap and water, which they slop on with a mop, then remove in a long coiling motion with a squeegee. This is known as "snaking" the window, and Shavalia says the technique can take as much as a month to learn to do without leaving any streaks. Zickuhr uses a 45-foot telescoping pole that hooks to a water de-ionizer that filters out San Jose's notoriously hard water. Windows dry spot free.

Zickuhr has "window washer" among his Google search terms, but he disdains the term. "When you've been doing windows as long as we have, there's an art to it," he says. "It's not just a matter of washing a window. You wash your clothes, you wash your car, you don't wash windows. You clean them. If I come in and clean your house, and I miss some dust, chances are you're not going to notice it. But if I miss a spot on the picture window that you sit next to every morning to have your coffee, you're going to say I didn't do a very good job. The art of window cleaning is having an eye for detail and being very meticulous."

The window cleaning industry used to be quiet, or would switch to gutter cleaning during winter months. But when taggers began etching graffiti onto the windows of ground floor stores and restaurants about three years ago, polishing out the etched messages created a booming new business. Billy Berk's bar and restaurant, on the corner of First and San Fernando Streets in downtown San Jose, has suffered vandalized picture windows several times. Nick Ramezani, who has owned the place for two years, estimates he has gone through seven replacements, costing a total of $1,600. "It's really expensive," says Ramezani, looking at several panels of defaced glass. "To be honest with you, I've just given up. As soon as you put on a new one, they start writing on it."

Along a block of mostly abandoned storefronts on the east side of Second Street between Santa Clara and San Fernando streets, at least 48 separate panes of glass have been defaced with gang glyphs and other etchings. The supplies for a three-step polishing process that can remove the disfiguring marks costs Zickuhr $3,500 to repair 600 square feet. "It's a good business to be in," he says. "Silicon Valley has a lot of people in tech, and they don't have enough blue-collar people who are willing to come out, get dirty and make everything real shiny for them."

David Van Bebbers 50 Foot Fall To The Aisle

David Van Bebber worked hard to recover after falling from a 50-foot building while helping his father with his window-washing business.

Louisburg Rehab celebrates a remarkable patient: David Van Bebber’s fall from atop a 50 foot building put him in a wheelchair with a fractured back and damaged spinal cord. His determined recovery let him walk unaided down the aisle just over a year later to marry his bride and gain the title of 2014 Great Recovery Patient from Miami County Medical Center Louisburg Rehabilitation.

Van Bebber’s therapists gave him this recognition to highlight National Rehabilitation Awareness Week and to laud his positive attitude one calls “electric” and all admire. “That’s the majority of the battle,” said physical therapist JJ Vogelsberg. “We point them in the direction and guide them along, but ultimately what the patient does is the difference.”

Van Bebber, 30, said he takes full responsibility for the fall he took May 27, 2013, at Geary Community Hospital in Junction City while helping his father at his window-washing business. “I had been a certified outdoor guide at the time,” Van Bebber said. “I would inspect climbing equipment, so I told my dad ‘I’ll look at your stuff.’ “I looked at it, it looked good, so I said I would rappel down before anyone else.”

He said he knows he overlooked a few things. “The mistakes were mine,” he said. “Just as I started to rappel down, the rope popped and down I went.” His experience as a rock climber, boulderer and zip-line attendant all combined, he said, to desensitize him to the sensation of free-falling, and he subconsciously moved in place to land on his feet.

Extensive damage

His injuries included damage to his spinal cord — the result of a burst fracture in his back bone that sent bone fragments flying — lumbar fractures, ankle fractures and heel bone fractures. He had four surgeries on his heels, three lower back surgeries, including a L1-5 spinal fusion, and two surgeries to place and remove blood clot filters.

He said his recovery process began with a determined thought that, down the road, he would not regret that he had not put forward a full effort. “I didn’t want to have to think that I could have worked harder,” he said. “That essentially was the more motivating factor, it is simple to settle, and I don’t like that idea. “I had worked hard prior to being injured, and I hated to let that seem to be all for naught.”

He knew, too, that he was not alone in his recovery. “I had a lot of people around me that are incredibly encouraging, people who spent time praying for and with me and speaking affirmations in my life. When you have people wanting you to do well, you seem to be persuaded or compliant to pushing in that same direction,” he said.

The right place

After finding Louisburg Rehabilitation in January, he said he always felt like he was in the right place, and he encountered the right people. His physical therapists were Vogelsberg, Christine Davis and Lisa Robbins. “They take ownership in you as a patient and in your recovery,” he said. “That’s what sets Louisburg Rehabilitation apart.”

“He was very fortunate that he didn’t end up paralyzed,” Vogelsberg said. “He came from a very low place to now he rides his bike 20-some miles, he’s back to some light running, it’s just an amazing kind of recovery.” Had Van Bebber avoided physical therapy, his physical therapist said he would not have gotten back much function. “He had a fall that damaged him clear to the frame of who he is,” Vogelsberg said. “The doctors put the frame back together, but that does nothing to what holds the frame or makes it move. “What moves, supports and protects the frame, that’s what we worked on in physical therapy.”

He’s gone from a wheelchair, to a walker, to a cane to walking unaided, albeit with what Van Bebber calls “a few deficits” including numbness and tingling sensations. “Recovery isn’t linear,” Van Bebber said, “You have to shift your paradigm to reassess what progress is. It is forward and backward, but you can use the setbacks to assess, to take time off. It prevents things from getting worse.” From the time of his fall until his wedding day in July was just under 14 months. “Thanks to Louisburg Rehab,” he said, “I could walk down the aisle.”

Roof Fall Window Cleaner Making Recovery

"I was helping my dad do some window cleaning and I was showing the other workers how to use a repelling device and so I demonstrated by going off the building and I just had a freak accident and the rope broke."

Man Who Fell Off Hospital Continues To Rebound (Manhattan, Kan. ) - David Van Bebber is defying the odds. The 29-year-old pastor and instructor at Missouri State University came home for the summer to help with his family's business when he fell from the top of the Geary Community Hospital in Junction City on May 27, 2013. "I was helping my dad do some window cleaning and I was showing the other workers how to use a repelling device and so I demonstrated by going off the building and I just had a freak accident and the rope broke," Van Bebber said.

He fell 50 fifty feet from the top of the building, plummeting several stories to the ground. "When the rope broke, I just thought in my head, not ‘oh darn’ or ‘oh I’m falling,’ it was ‘I better land on my feet.’ And so I did situate by body so that I could land on my feet and I did land my feet. That’s why I have two shattered heel bones. I landed on my feet and then hit my tailbone and it bounced off the concrete and I fell back. The impact basically crushed my heels, my tailbone and a burst fracture of my L-3 lumbar which in your lower back," he said.

Right away, crews brought him into Geary Community Hospital's emergency room and he was then transferred to Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka where the spinal surgeon was amazed that he could move his legs. Van Bebber says multiple doctors have told him that people who have a burst fracture of the L-3 or below are paralyzed below the waist. 

The pain from his injuries was unimaginable and the road to recovery has been grueling but he continues to make strides and grow stronger. "I really want to get better and so every day, I just pray that God will help me work as hard as I can to recover as much as I possibly can. I can take steps and walk with a walker. I've been doing that for two weeks," Van Bebber told WIBW during one of his physical therapy sessions at Maximum Performance Physical Therapy and Fitness in Manhattan.

His parents have been by his side supporting him through his recovery. He's also found strength in the support from those in his hometown of Riley, KS and members of his church in Missouri. Friends and family have been visiting him and sending him notes of encouragement. "I think I’m going to recover to about 95% percent. Already, I’ve done more than what I should be able to do and so I’m just going to keep doing everything I can because I want to be able to run again, ride my bike, rock climbing. I love to run. I love to swim. I want to hunt again and I want to get all those things back because I love them," he said.

As he continues to heal and strives to get back to his active lifestyle and ministry, Van Bebber is teaching an online communications class (Intro to Public Speaking) for Missouri State University. He says he is grateful for every step he takes and his continued progress. "What's great is that everyday, things get a little bit better," he told 13 News.

Window Cleaner Cleaning Hospital Becomes Patient

Identified as 29 year old David Vanbebber Jr. of Riley, Ks. The contract worker fell approximately 30 ft. from the roof of the hospital. He received treatment at Geary Community Hospital before being transported to Stormont Vail Hospital.

Man Falls Several Stories From Geary Community Hospital (Geary County, Kansas) - Officials say a man sustained very serious injuries after falling 3-4 stories in Geary County Monday morning. The man was cleaning windows at Geary Community Hospital in Junction City when he fell to the ground. The man was wearing a rope harness at the time of the accident, according to Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf. He was taken inside the hospital to be treated.

A 29 year old Riley man, David Vanbebber Jr. was transported to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka following an accident as he was washing windows at Geary Community Hospital Monday. Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf said Vanbebber was “on a harness, and a kind of a rapelling rig off the side of the building there.” And he was washing windows when something went wrong with his rigging or the  harness, and it broke, and down the side of the building he went.” Wolf estimated Vanbebber was approximately 25 to 30 feet off the ground when he fell, or about two stories up in the air. The sheriff reported Vanbebber was believed to have suffered feet and possible back injuries. The incident occurred just before 10 a.m. Monday.

Man in stable condition after fall from GCH roof: A Riley man is in stable condition Tuesday after he fell approximately 30 feet from the Geary Community Hospital roof Monday morning. The Geary County Sheriff’s Department reported contract worker David Van Bebber Jr., 29, received treatment at GCH before he was transported to Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka. On Tuesday, GCH Public Relations Director Cyndy Platt said Van Bebber was in fair condition Monday when he was transported to Topeka. Platt said Stormont-Vail officials Tuesday morning told her Van Bebber is in stable condition and awaiting surgery in the intensive care unit.

Sheriff’s department deputies responded to the call shortly before 10 a.m. Monday. Sheriff Tony Wolf on Tuesday said Van Bebber was at the hospital with a crew washing windows. He was experimenting with some new rigging at the time of the fall. “He was over the edge (of the roof) showing these guys how the new rigging worked,” Wolf said. “All of a sudden, the rope broke and down he went.” Van Bebber suffered injuries to his feet, legs and lower back, Wolf said.

Window Cleaning Video News Revisited

Facelift van gets an appearance in the background.

55 stone man turns life around: A jobless man has started up his own window cleaning business because he said his weight made him unemployable. Gerald Ash used to weigh 55 stone, but even after losing 20 stone he says it's still hard to get work. So, he's set himself up as a window cleaner and is donating some of his earnings to charity. Ken Goodwin reports. See the original blog here.

No peeking, It even says so on their shirts.

Company features men washing windows in kilts (Boston) - A new business in the Boston area may turn a few heads, because it includes men who are skirting around town washing windows in kilts. They are the kind of window washers where wind could be a problem. "Yesterday was actually really nice really sunny warm so kept the kilt down, no breezes," said Chris Murphy, Men in Kilts. The business is called Men in Kilts. The name says it all; they wash windows, pressure wash homes, and clean gutters in traditional Scottish garb -- and they don't seem to mind. "If you don't look down, it feels like you're wearing shorts,” Murphy said. "Nope, I’m Scottish so I don't mind it at all, paying tribute to my heritage," said Shane Ross. 

The franchise started in Vancouver with only $500. Now, there's one in Holliston which serves the Boston area. People seem to like the idea already. "I got a good thumbs up from everybody. They liked it, they liked the idea of the kilt," Ross said. It's not a job for the bashful; the men have to climb ladders, giving many on the street a view. But, their motto? No peeking. It even says so on their shirts. They’ve already had to remind some people about that rule. "We did a photo shoot last week in Boston. My son was up on the second floor and the women were walking down the street and instead of going around the ladder, they'd go under the ladder. And he just politely said, ‘no peeking,’" said Judy Briggs, franchise owner. And when asked what they wear under those kilts? "You’re going to have to hire us to find out. So, I can't tell," said Murphy. See original blog here.

Sacramento firefighters recover a man's body Monday from the 16th-floor level of a high-rise at 12th and K Street. A rope had constricted his breathing.

Suspected 'extreme graffiti' vandal in Sacramento is identified: The Sacramento County coroner on Tuesday identified a man who died nine stories up an office building in what appeared to be an attempt at producing what's sometimes called "extreme graffiti."Craig Fugate of Vancouver, Wash., was found dead hanging outside the downtown Sacramento building Monday. Police said he appeared to be attempting to vandalize the facade of the building; a spray-paint bottle and a tool for etching glass were found on the roof of the building. Police have been targeting daredevil taggers, who have vandalized such landmarks as freeway signs and the walls of the L.A. River. Earlier this year, a tagger was killed trying to vandalize a freeway sign in the Sacramento area.

In 2006, "Buket," the daredevil tagger who gained Internet notoriety for his brazen, daylight tagging of a sign over the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles and vandalism of a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus, was sentenced to three years and eight months in state prison. Cyrus Yazdani, 26, became something of an Internet sensation when he plastered his "Buket" tag 20 feet above the freeway -- vandalism that was captured on videotape and posted with a rap soundtrack on YouTube and numerous tagger-related blogs.

In the Sacramento case,  Fugate allegedly used rope to tie himself in a seated position like a rappeller, authorities said. The rope was tied off with a window washing anchor, and fire officials believe that that anchor could have held his weight. But they don't think he was a window washer. The Sacramento Bee reported that the man had two pieces of rope looped around his body in a style used by rock climbers. Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja told the Bee the Fire Department had no reason to believe the man's death was a suicide. "It looks like accidental more than anything else," Bentovoja said. According to Fox 40, a door was found propped open on the roof of the building at 12th and K Streets, suggesting the man was planning on going back down the stairs.

Man found dead on high-rise not known for graffiti, his uncle says: An uncle of the man who police suspect was in the act of tagging when he accidentally asphyxiated himself outside the 16th floor of a downtown office tower said Tuesday that he never knew his nephew to deface any property with graffiti. "I have never known for him to do that before," Joseph Fugate said of his nephew, Craig Michael Fugate, 30, who was discovered Monday morning as office workers arrived at the high-rise at 1201 K St., just blocks from the Capitol. "He is an artist. I know that," Fugate said. He said his nephew was adept at artwork on T-shirts, including silk-screening.

Sacramento police spokeswoman Michele Gigante said Fugate apparently died accidentally while trying to tag the building's exterior. She said markers, etching tools that could be used to deface glass, and spray paint were found at the scene. Officers also found a stencil. Craig Fugate grew up in Concord and was recently living in Vancouver, Wash. He had told his uncle that he planned to move to the Sacramento area. His uncle said he had been discharged from the Navy on a disability. "He was a really sweet kid," Joseph Fugate said. "He went out of his way to do things with others even though he didn't have the means. He seemed to gravitate toward those who were down-and-out and tried his best to help them."

The Sacramento County coroner's website lists Fugate's cause of death as undetermined. A Sacramento Fire Department official said he had accidentally asphyxiated himself. The rope that Fugate had used to lower himself down the building's facade had looped around his chest and legs, constricting him and pulling him into a fetal position when the rope cinched up. Sacramento police said Tuesday that Fugate had entered the building Sunday. Police said he entered the stairwell and tried to pry open locked doors. Eventually, Fugate reached the top of the 19-story high-rise, which is known locally as the "Ban Roll-on" building. Using rope left by window washers, the man employed an antiquated mountaineering technique to descend to a 17th-floor landing, the Fire Department official said. Then, after retying the rope, he descended to the 16th floor, where he became stuck. See original blog here.

Man Found Hanging With Window Cleaning Equipment

Firefighters recover the body of a man who was found hanging by a rope from the edge of a balcony of a downtown building at 12th and J Streets Monday morning April 1, 2013, in Sacramento, Calif. Officials said they believe the death was accidental.

Dead man is found dangling from downtown Sacramento high-rise: Sacramento authorities are investigating the death of a man whose body was found dangling outside a downtown building. At some point Monday morning, it appears the man tied a rope around himself, authorities said. However, he was tied in seated position like a rappeller. The rope was tied off with a window washing anchor, and fire officials believe that that anchor could have held his weight. But they don't think he was a window washer.

Around 7:45 a.m., a person in another building reported seeing the man hanging near 12th and K streets. Rescuers soon reached the man, took him down, and confirmed that he was dead. The man was at least nine stories above the ground. The Sacramento Bee reported that the man had two pieces of rope looped around his body in a style used by rock climbers. Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja told the Bee the department had no reason to believe the man's death was a suicide. "It looks like accidental more than anything else," said Bentovoja.

Man found hanging from Sacramento high-rise: SACRAMENTO - There was a spray can and an etching tool found on the roof where a man was found hanging from a window-washing hook high above downtown Sacramento Monday morning, police said. The dead man may possibly have been a graffiti "tagger", according to police officer Michelle Gigante.

Police and firefighters were called to the building at 1201 K Street after employees in an adjacent building spotted the man hanging around 7:45 a.m. Firefighters brought in a tactical rope team for a possible rescue, but quickly determined the man was dead.

Rescue workers were able to retrieve the man's body and determine his death had likely been accidental. "The rope was clover-leafed around his body, it's a common knot that we use, and it tends to be self-cinching, the knot is, and with his body weight hanging on the rope, it looks like that might have been what tightened the rope up on him," said Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja. According to Bentovoja, responders believed the man had anchored himself to a window-washer's hook on the 17th floor and then rappeled over the edge. Investigators were examining evidence to determine why the man was rappeling in the first place.

Man found hanged from downtown building identified by coroner: The Sacramento County Coroner's office has released the name of the man whose body was discovered Monday morning hanging from rope outside the 16th floor of a downtown building. He was identified as Craig Michael Fugate, 30, of Vancouver, Wash. The coroner's website lists the cause of death as undetermined. Sacramento police spokeswoman Michele Gigante said Fugate apparently died accidentally while trying to vandalize the building's exterior.

Battalion Chief Craig Wiedenhoeft, of the Sacramento Fire Department, said Fugate accidentally asphyxiated himself. Wiedenhoeft said the rope that looped around his chest and legs had constricted him. "He got pulled into a fetal position when the rope cinched up on him," he said. It wasn't known Monday how Fugate reached the top of the high-rise, known locally as the "Ban Roll-on building," 1201 K St.

According to the Wiedenhoeft, the man used an antiquated mountaineering technique to begin his descent. He used a rope left by window washers to descend to a landing on the 17th floor. Then, after retying the rope, he descended to the 16th floor, Wiedenhoeft said. Local climbing experts said the "classic rappel" technique is seldom practiced. It uses friction from the rope against the body at various points to slow the descent. The victim was noticed at 7:50 a.m., and firefighters recovered the body. Gigante said markers, glass etching tools that could be used to deface glass, and spray paint were found at the scene.