High Rise Stories USA

Mark Rutkowsky, above, and Eric Katzer hang off a building at Rock Pointe. The two regularly rappel off the roofs of buildings to clean windows around Spokane.

One thing is for certain: High-rise window washing is not a job for everyone. Eric Katzer said he can tell by the way job candidates walk across a roof whether they are cut out for it or not. Katzer owns and operates WestCoast Window Cleaning, a window washing company that cleans windows on tall downtown buildings like the U.S. Courthouse, the downtown post office, the Spokane Arena and on this particular day, Rock Pointe Corporate Center. “And some applicants just kind of go wobbly when they get up here,” Katzer said, while standing on the roof of Rock Pointe. “The worst thing that can happen is that they don’t tell us how scared they are before they go over the side of the building.”

Katzer got into the business when he was about 16 because he needed work and a friend’s father owned a window washing company. And today, roughly 30 years later, it’s still what he does for a living. “There’s nothing better than hanging off a building, washing windows,” Katzer said with a big smile. Katzer has rappelled down nearly every tall building in Spokane, and many in Seattle and other Northwest cities. 

He’s donned superhero costumes while washing the windows at Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, to the delight of the young patients there. Office workers may be momentarily startled as the washers swing down in front of a window pane, but most continue with their tasks. If he’s ever come across any sort of unusual behavior in an office, Katzer is not saying. “We just do our job,” he said.

The equipment he uses is pretty simple: He sits on a platform that looks like a sturdy backyard swing, with a tall bucket of window washing water dangling below it. Rags, squeegees, suction cups to hold him up against slippery glass façades and anything else he needs to do the window job is somehow attached to him.

And over the rim he goes. “I hang the platform over the edge of the building and just slide down and sit down on it,” Katzer said. The platform ropes and Katzer’s safety harness are, of course, attached to the building. Sometimes there are special attachment points on a roof. Other times Katzer runs ropes around a structure – like a huge air-conditioning unit or a ventilation tower of some sort – then attaches his ropes to that. “We know the buildings we work on very well,” Katzer said. “All the ropes and straps we use are tested on a regular basis.”

Spend a morning with Katzer and his crew and it’s very obvious he doesn’t rely on luck to keep him safe. Everything the crew does is methodical, organized and done in the safest possible manner. During an ordinary workday the biggest crisis they encounter is yellow jackets. “You see the nest and they just come at you, and you have to decide whether it’s worth it,” said Mark Rutkowsky. “The best way is usually to come back later when the bees are all in there and spray them.”

The two joke and chat as they work their way down the building, quickly and efficiently, before heading off to the next job. Do any of them climb mountains for fun? Both shake their heads no. “Climbing is for work,” Katzer said. “I can’t imagine doing it in my spare time.”

Entry level window cleaners start at $12 an hour. Pay increases with experience. As for Donahue, he says he makes enough to be a stay-at-home dad during the winter months.

It's a job that starts 85 feet in the air (Montpelier, Vt.) "Check that everything is locked, safety's on, pins, pins, pins. And you go over," Matt Donahue said. Donahue has no problem rappelling off the roof of the National Life Building in Montpelier. "And you descend down," he said. He's a high-rise window washer. In fact, he and his wife run the family business. It's an idea Donahue got from his dad. "He figured out that he could make as much money with a $20 squeegee, than he could with a $20,000 backhoe," Donahue said.

He grew up learning the business. "When I was 14 years old I did my first drop at the McClure building at Fletcher Allen when it was new," he said. "And every summer since then, I've been washing windows." In 1995, he started Donahue Window Cleaning. He only had four contracts that year. Now he has 88 clients and got so busy he had to quit being a Montpelier volunteer firefighter.

"Everyone is always happy to see the window cleaners show up. They're going to have clean windows," Donahue said. "It's a very satisfying job knowing that at the end of the drop, I look up and say, 'Wow, we just cleaned all those windows.'"

He and his team specialize in office buildings, colleges, hospitals and high-rise condos in Vermont, New Hampshire and upstate New York. They see most clients twice a year, in the spring and fall. Besides sudsing, they also caulk, reglaze windows and fix leaks.

Reporter Jennifer Reading: Is your job dangerous?

Matt Donahue: No, it's not... You check your knots, make sure your setup is proper, check the machines. It's really safe. Weather and slippery roofs are the biggest pitfalls. But he says in his 25 years he's never had a rope break. "If you asked me if I was afraid of heights, I would say yes. But it's a healthy respect that I have for it. You can't ever forget where you are and what you're doing to be safe," he explained.

Remaining injury-free is definitely a team effort. They work in pairs. One dangles from the ropes, squeegee and mop in hand, while the other monitors the progress from above, slowly moving their partner across the massive buildings using a machine called a wall walker. "If I tell someone I'm a window cleaner they think, yeah, well anyone can do that," Donahue said.

A theory I decided to put to the test. For safety reasons, I went up from the bottom rather than over the top with my bucket, seat and squeegee. And it wasn't exactly pretty. It's harder than it looks; Donahue and his team make it look really easy. With each mop swipe, gravity swung me away from the building, resulting in an accessory casualty-- my necklace broke. OK, so I'm slightly less graceful than the pros, but I sure put on a show for everyone inside.

"When they see the ropes dangle in front of the windows they go, 'Oh, the window cleaners are coming.' But once in a while you really do scare somebody and they just 'BAHHHHH!' Some people actually get up and leave office. They can't deal with someone hanging out their window," Donahue said. He admits the gig's not for everyone and, at times, struggles to fill his crew.

"Spiders. Spiders love the sides buildings. If you don't like heights, you don't like spiders, it's not the job for you," he said. But for this Charlotte dad, the nine-month work schedule and a love of Mother Nature make this Odd Job a perfect fit.

Matt Donahue: What scares me the most is looking in the windows at the people working in cubicles. I wouldn't want to do that.

Jennifer Reading: Do you think you have an odd job?

Matthew Donahue: No... I can't see myself doing anything else, honestly. I really enjoy it.
So now the million dollar question: what's the secret to squeaky clean windows? Donahue says it's all about what's in the bucket and spills that the odd ingredient behind his success is laundry detergent. Entry level window cleaners start at $12 an hour. Pay increases with experience. As for Donahue, he says he makes enough to be a stay-at-home dad during the winter months.

Ned Harris considers himself lucky to be alive, surviving a 20-story fall as a high rise window cleaner in Hawaii in 1978.

Not ready to hang it up, Kelso man, 88, opens dry cleaning business: “My whole family thinks I’m nutty for doing this, but I need something to do,” says 88-year-old Kelso resident Ned Harris. After owning many businesses throughout his life, the Kelso native decided to open Discount Dry Cleaners at 1146 15th Avenue in Longview to keep himself busy. He considers himself lucky to even be alive after surviving a 20-story fall as a high rise window cleaner in Hawaii in 1978.

“Today I feel lucky because I don’t know how the hell I made it to 88, but I did. All my friends ... are dying on me and it’s really sad,” he said, adding that he also lost his wife three years ago. “I don’t like being a bachelor.” The 88-year-old World War II veteran has lived in Hawaii, Alaska and other places, but he’s always returned to Kelso. “This is home for me,” he said. “My family thinks I am too damn old and their probably right. How I made it to this point after my big fall is luck. But now I’m 88 and I know damn well I’m lucky.”

Technicolor Window Cleaning - A Glass Act

Technicolor videos & groovy sounds from "A Glass Act" in Spokane, WA.


Highrise Window Ninja on South Tower One with David the veteran.


The best of the best on the Chronicle Building with Mark R, Mark M, Micheal, Johnny, and David.


Highrise window washer on death's corner with Mark doing a 21 story corner drop.


Professional Window cleaning in Spokane Valley: 28 windows, with 7 anodized lower panels also, in just five minutes eight seconds... high detail.

Cold Weather Window Cleaning, Window Drawing & Ice Dams

Window washers still head to work, even in bitter cold: The bitter cold isn’t stopping area window washers from working. One of those die hard workers is Jeremy Anglin. He works for Reflections Window Cleaning. He was still out scaling walls and cleaning windows even as temperatures dipped down into the 20’s. Anglin says it’s a misconception window cleaners don’t work in the winter, but he says sunshine or snow he’s battling the cold temperatures from nine to five. This is Anglin’s fourth winter cleaning windows. He uses special chemicals similar to windshield wiper fluid to keep his water from freezing.  He also wears special gloves to keep his hands as dry as possible during dangerous temperatures. When the weather gets too bad, most of the workers will hold off on the bigger buildings for a few days or even the whole season if they have to. 

A regular Picassoap: Jose Urias first discovered he had a natural talent for art in elementary school. Combining his artistic ability with his career as a window washer occurred 20 years later. “When I was in second grade, I discovered I could draw,” Urias said. “The teacher asked us to draw a picture of a ship in this book. Mine ended up looking just like the one in the book.” Urias started drawing more but never made a career or serious hobby out of it. After jobs in construction, gardening and maintenance, Urias was offered a job at The Vintage Club in Indian Wells as a window washer. The Indio resident jumped at the opportunity.

“They taught me how to use a squeegee,” said Urias, who found that the squeegee could be used for more than cleaning off the soapy mixtures. It also could be his “brush” for soapy window art creations. “The Vintage has 83 windows around the pool,” Urias said. “I found that it entertained me and the people and kids watching me to make different pictures in every window.” Using a solution of dishwashing soap and alcohol and two different sized squeegees, Urias creates hummingbirds, dinosaurs, ships, sea horses, faces (Dick Tracy is a favorite), butterflies and more.

“I started doing this about four years ago to keep kids from putting their hands on the windows,” Urias said. “I soon discovered I could draw anything in the soap. ... I take requests, and people bring their grandkids to watch and take pictures.” There is a real technique to drawing in soap, Urias said. “You have to hurry before the water starts coming down. “I love it when they applaud. I tell them I will give them the sun and the moon, and I do.”

Why did you choose this business?

In 1985, I jumped from being a maintenance man to being a window washer, which paid more.

What makes your business special in the valley?

I have never seen a window washer draw.

What would you be doing if you had another career?

I never thought I'd be a window washer or an artist.

How do you enjoy your time away from work?

I work eight hours, plus side jobs, so I don't have much free time. But I do enjoy doing things with my family.

Homeowners Beware: After Snow, the Ice Dam Cometh: The latest winter storm, coupled with heavy snow accumulation and long cold snaps across the U.S., have left homeowners, pedestrians and buildings themselves unusually vulnerable to the dangers of ice and snow buildup. Well beyond slipping, there's a growing risk of injury from falling material. Recently, a chunk of ice plunged from a pine tree and landed on Mark D'Ambrosio as he cleared the driveway of his of Abington, Mass., home. His son called 911, and Mr. D'Ambrosio was hospitalized briefly with a head wound that required three staples. "I've been in this house 13 years and never seen anything like what's happening this winter," says the 39-year-old Mr. D'Ambrosio.

Other times, the danger comes from homeowners trying to clear roofs of winter's mess before it causes structural damage. While roof collapses get the most attention, a more common worry for the average homeowner is ice dams. These often form when an under-insulated home's heat escapes through the attic, warms the roof and melts snow. As water runs down the roof it can refreeze into an icy dam along the overhang, which is cooler—much like a bridge. If the dam gets big enough, it can then block water from running off the roof and force it to back up under shingles, triggering leaks and other damage. Icicles are one symptom of dams forming.

As snow and ice storms pummel the Northeast, Midwest and South this week, consumers are trying to remove snow however they can. Sales of roof rakes—long-handled tools used from the safety of ground level—are up 30% at Garelick Manufacturing Co., which went back into production this month to meet demand. Northern Tool + Equipment Co. cites unusually strong demand for its hockey puck-sized RoofMelt tablets made of calcium chloride, which can be tossed atop roofs to fuel melting.

Businesses specializing in ice-cutting with pressurized steam or hot water and other solutions report a surge of interest. Bylin Heating Systems Inc. has logged a 200% rise in inquiries this winter for its electrical ice-melting roof systems, which are best installed after existing dams are cleared. Similar demand is brewing for installers of attic insulation and other products that prevent heat loss and slow ice dam formation.

Tom Mahoney's 8,000 square foot house in Edina, Minn., was damaged after a thick ice dam formed along his roofline and triggered water leaks in his master bedroom. His solution: pay $1,000 to have chunks of the ice removed professionally. Mr. Mahoney's contractor, Philip Grave of Dale Services Inc., says he and his brother are on track to earn $100,000 this winter as roof ice-cutters. The duo, who operate a carpet and window-cleaning business in warmer weather, charge $250 to $300 an hour to climb on roofs and blast away at ice dams with 180-200 degree water using a pressure washer. Says Mr. Grave: "We cut ice every day in December and had a wait list."

But with so much snow, residents often are taking drastic short-term actions themselves. In Minnesota, where some areas have received more than 55 inches so far, a Shoreview man died Christmas Day after falling from his roof clearing snow. Meantime, Immanuel St. Joseph's hospital in Mankato has logged a surge of emergency room visits from people injured toppling off their rooftops while shoveling, says hospital spokesman Kevin Burns. "It's directly attributable to the increased snow," says Mr. Burns who reports everything from scrapes and bruises to broken bones and serious internal injuries. "People are very well-intentioned but aren't prepared for the slippery conditions and steep pitch of the surface."

Last week in New York City, which had its snowiest January in history, the Department of Buildings issued a warning reminding property owners they are legally obligated to remove ice and snow from roofs, overhangs and awnings—and singled out icicles as "a threat to public safety." A growing number of new homes are built with thicker insulation that can help prevent ice dams, including more than a million new homes that have earned the federal government's Energy Star label, and there are tax credits and subsidies available for retrofits.

"Most of the time, the ice is there and you are rolling the dice and may or may not have a big chunk hit someone's car or head, or a leak, but the risk is always there," says Mike Rogers, vice president of GreenHomes America Inc., a national home energy retrofit company.

When 51-year-old April Butler of Syracuse, N.Y., moved into her home in December, she wasn't aware that her house was at risk. But soon, dams and icicles hung like a cave around her front door, threatening to pull down her gutters and possibly harming a passer-by, including her 17-year-old daughter. Ms. Butler hired GreenHomes America last week to blow insulation into her attic crawl space, seal air-leaks with foam and replace recessed ceiling light fixtures where the home's heat was escaping.

All these measures are designed to prevent ice dams from forming in the first place; much of what she has now is beginning to thaw. The total cost: $7,062, for which she received a $2,500 subsidy based on her income as a teaching assistant from the Assisted Home Performance with Energy Star program. "As of yet, we've had no leak damage," Ms. Butler says. "Hopefully this will eliminate the fear."

High Rise Window Cleaning & A Free Fall Survivor

The Vindow Viper (by Daniel Walters): Hanging on a string above the streets of Spokane, pictured is West Coast Window Cleaning employee John Peterson as he clings to the side of the Spokane Arena. How much would they have to pay you? Andy Oliver’s dangling on a rope, 15 stories up, 220 feet in the air, suspended from the top of the U.S. Bank building. But the window is four feet away — too far to reach with his squeegee. So he pushes himself away from the overhang, turning himself into a pendulum, and swings toward the building’s face. There, he finds a place to a hook in a line. All for a clean window.

For the past year, Oliver has been a high-rise window washer for West Coast Window Cleaning, the company with contracts to clean the majority of the high-rise windows in Spokane. Their clients include the Bank of America, the Spokane Arena, Spokane International Airport and Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Cleaning those buildings — the Bank of America building is 20 stories tall — means looking down, down, down, and making the choice to step off the roof. “I think the smaller buildings scare me more,” Oliver says. “The ground is so close.” Fall off the B of A building, and splat, you’re dead. But fall three stories and — if you’re unlucky — you’ll survive.

Oliver’s final test to be hired was a simple one. “He told me to jump off the side of a building,” Oliver says. Do that, and he’d have the job. He had a harness on, of course. But many guys balk, says fellow high rise-washer Michael Katzer. They take one look over the precipice and freeze up. The job is more “frightening” than “dangerous.” If the harnesses are hooked up properly, window washers are safe. Even if the main line gets stuck, they can use the second rope to tie a knot around their carabiners and slide down the rope. For larger buildings, the motorized “swing stage” — a hanging scaffold platform that can lift a truck — is even safer. But it can be a startling job. The rope may slip slightly if it’s not tied or if, Oliver suggests, the other guys feel like playing tricks on you.

If they aren’t careful, and the window is too old, they could come crashing through the glass with their feet. (It’s happened.) If they forget to let the rope down all the way to the ground while lowering themselves, they could — whoops! — free-fall the final six feet. The suction cups they use to pull themselves further to the left or right could pop off, sending them swinging back and forth. It can be an interesting job. While cleaning at Sacred Heart, one window washer caught a glimpse of an open-chest surgery before the surgeons shut the blinds. Sometimes, the office workers on the other side of the glass they’re cleaning will press notes against the glass: “HEY THANKS FOR WASHING THE WINDOW. IT LOOKS GOOD.”

It can be an annoying job, too. Some of the skylights sag heavy with pigeon poop — sometimes nine inches deep. There are the summer days, when the glass heats up so hot steam hisses off the window. There are the winter days, when ice scrapers join the squeegees and sponges and when windshield wiper fluid is added to the bucket to prevent the mix from freezing as soon as it hits the glass. There are the blustery days, when a 25-mph gust can swing window washers across the face of a building — compelling them to scramble for a foothold to avoid being blown around the corner. (They call it quits when the wind, rain or thunder gets too bad.) But for all that, Oliver loves the work. “You don’t have to deal with anybody [up there in the air],” Oliver says. “It’s a unique job.” It makes for a great conversation topic. It provides an unmatched setting for contemplation. And you can’t beat the views.




Man jumps 40 storeys to land on a car and survives: He suffered just a broken leg, a shattered ankle and a collapsed lung after his 10.44am leap from atop the West End Towers on West End Avenue at 63rd Street. "I can't believe this. My car saved his life," said Guy McCormack (pictured), 40, a worker at a nearby construction site who had borrowed the 2008 red Dodge Charger from his wife. Mr McCormack, of Old Bridge, New Jersey, told the Daily News he is convinced that rosary beads he kept inside the Dodge saved Mr Magill's life. Mr Magill fell more than 121 metres - and reached a maximum drop speed of about 203km/h - before crashing onto the roof and rear window of the vehicle, which was parked along the west side of the building.

Man survives 40-storey leap - Still no answers to why 'happy, fun loving' 22-year-old actor jumped from 39th floor of building: The view from the 39th floor is as breathtaking as it is deadly.

Thomas Magill (pictured), 22, sneaked into his former West End Ave. apartment building prepared to die. He stepped onto a penthouse balcony on Tuesday and jumped off - only to survive after he crashed through the back window of a sports car on the street below. "I couldn't imagine anyone surviving a fall from this height," said Conor McKenna, the resident of the 39th-floor apartment where cops think Magill took his near-deadly leap. "When I heard he was still alive, I was shocked," said McKenna, as he stared down at the busy street where people appeared to be the size of ants. "It's a long way down." Magill plunged 400 feet at nearly 100 mph before he slammed into the red 2008 Dodge Charger, landing with a boom and sending glass in every direction. Stunningly, he was upgraded to stable condition yesterday at St. Luke's Hospital. "Everything went well," doctors told Magill's parents.

Detectives told McKenna they found his apartment door open and believe Magill strode through the living room before reaching the balcony, on which a barbecue grill and potted plants sat undisturbed yesterday. "It's surreal to know someone used your apartment to do this," McKenna said. "The fact that he survived is something special." Magill, who graduated from Fordham University last year, has undergone a series of surgeries. Doctors inserted rods in his legs, rebuilt an ankle and stopped massive internal bleeding. He fell feetfirst, shattering much of his lower body and landing in a twisted heap. He survived without serious head injuries. It was nothing short of amazing, according to a doctor familiar with such cases.



"The only way to survive is to not land on your head," said Dr. John Boockvar, who operated on window washer Alcides Moreno after he survived a 47-story accidental fall from an East Side skyscraper in 2007. "You want to land feetfirst, or maybe on your side, which would spare your head and major organs," said Boockvar, a neurosurgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "You also need something to cushion the force of the impact - in this case, even the backseat would help." "The key for [Magill] will be tosurvive the next two weeks, and get through any complications from the orthopedic injuries, like infections, embolisms, pneumonias," Boockvar added. "He gets through that - he has a real chance to make it."



Magill, who grew up on Staten Island and attended LaGuardia High School of Music and Art before majoring in English at Fordham, recently starred in an Off-Off Broadway production of "Into the Woods." Though hoping for a career in theater, Magill was working as a salesman at Club Monaco, friends said. "I spent time with him this past weekend, and he was his usual happy, fun-loving self," said a friend who asked that her name not be used. "All of this is just really out of character for him." Detectives are not certain what prompted Magill's desperate leap and did not find a suicide note, police said. The owner of the $14,000 Charger turned down his insurance company's suggestion that he sue Magill for totaling his car. "That's the last thing I need to tell this kid, that 'I'm suing you,'" said Guy McCormack, a construction worker. "You look at it, but you can't believe the guy went through the roof of the car," added McCormack, who wants to meet Magill. "It's out of a movie."

Painful road to recovery: Window washer Alcides Moreno, who cheated death in a 47-story plunge in 2007, knows from experience that Magill and his family will have a tough road ahead of them. Magill escaped brain injuries, but sustained plenty of other damage. "It's not just him. It's what the family will go through, especially because he tried to jump," said Alcides' wife, Rosie Moreno, 39 (pictured). "The family is going to suffer a lot." Three years after surviving the fall from an upper East Side skyscraper, Alcides Moreno, 40, still suffers from serious mental problems.

Moreno can carry out simple tasks like walking the dog and playing with the kids. But he's forgetful, and his wife says he is not the same as before the fall. "He's not doing well. My husband still has mental problems. He forgets things," Rosie said. "I don't think he'll be the same. He's only 45% there." Yesterday Alcides Moreno was playing with their children in the backyard of their Linden, N.J., home. He retreated into the home when he spotted reporters and refused to comment, citing a pending lawsuit.

Alcides Moreno and his brother, Edgar, were working on a scaffold attached to a building on E. 66th St. when the platform collapsed on Dec.7, 2007. The pair fell to the ground - about the same distance that Magill plunged from an upper West Side building Tuesday. Edgar Moreno struck a fence, and his body was cut in half. He died on impact. Alcides Moreno wasn't expected to live either and was in a coma for several weeks after the terrifying fall. He needed 24 units of blood, had a catheter inserted in his brain and underwent at least 14 operations in the first month. Eventually, he started talking and even walking. Still, his wife insists that real recovery is a long way off.

Window Cleaning News

Jarrow cleaning company has high hopes of wiping out the opposition: A window cleaning company hopes to more than triple turnover after picking up a number of large contracts and is now looking to become a fully fledged facilities management business. Quayside Cleaning Maintenance was set up 18 months ago by ex-serviceman Simon Clare and has already secured contracts with Brentford-based construction and support services firm Carillion and Doncaster builder Frank Haslam Milan. The firm, based in Jarrow, has begun to specialise in high access service, with two of its six staff trained to abseil larger structures, providing a cheaper and less invasive cleaning service to customers.
The company, which has benefited from around £20,000 of funding from South Tyneside Means Business, hopes to land even larger contracts after being signed up to clean The Gate entertainment complex in Newcastle. Mr Clare, who worked as a window cleaner for 10 years after leaving the Army, said: “We have been fortunate enough to win contracts cleaning for the likes of The Gate, Carilion and Wynyard Park. The feedback we have had from these clients shows that we are able to offer safe, innovative and cost efficient services, focused on customer care.”

Rain-Gutter Maintenance: It’s a winter tradition: husband on the roof in the rain, pulling leaves out of the gutters and trying not to fall to his death. So far, he’s been successful. I hate to make him do it, but, as Tory Marino at Elite Window Washing (619-634-9580) says, “If you don’t get your gutters cleaned, then the debris from leaves and pine needles and the debris from your roof will build up. The gutters will start to sag from the weight. Eventually, you’ll have to replace them. And if the downspout gets clogged so badly that it can’t be flushed out, it too will have to be replaced.”
Marino knows, because Elite doesn’t do just windows. “A 2000-square-foot home might have 130 lineal feet of gutter and might take us around five hours to clean at $3 to $5 per lineal foot, depending on how bad the gutters are. If there is over an inch of sediment in the gutter, we’ll take a gutter scoop — it’s like a hard-plastic hand shovel — and remove the sediment manually. If there’s only a half-inch or less of sediment, we’ll use a pressure washer to flush the sediment through the drains. If the downspout is clogged, I have a tool that looks like an umbrella handle that I put on my pressure wand. I feed it in from the ground up, and the pressurized water flushes things out pretty well. Then we start cleaning the gutters by hand, using rags and a cleaning solution. It whitens up the exteriors of the gutter — and it makes dark colors brighten up, too.”
For future protection, Elite can install “a product called Rainflow [$10–$15 per lineal foot]. It’s not a gutter guard or gutter screen…something that sits on top and changes the look of your house; it’s inserted into the gutter. It looks like fiberglass-mesh insulation, and it strains out debris. Leaves and pine needles will stay on top of the mesh during the rain, but after the rain stops and they dry out, the wind should blow them off. It comes with a lifetime guarantee, and if you have it in, your gutter should need only minor maintenance every five or six years. All I would need to do is take the Rainflow out at your gutter’s high spot and send pressurized water toward the downspout to flush out any dirt. A homeowner could even do it with a hose.”
That is, if I wanted to send my homeowner up there. I have some scary-hilarious visions of Patrick teetering like a circus clown, 20 feet up. “We follow OSHA ladder-safety guidelines,” Marino assured me. “When the ladder is fully extended, it should rest at a 45-degree angle from the house. And there’s the three-point rule: you must have three points of contact with the ladder at all times. Both feet and one hand.”
Like Marino, Jim Hamilton at Any & All Rain Gutter Cleaners (619-444-0041, rainguttercleaners.com) is a stickler for safety. “We work from the roof, and if a roof has any kind of pitch, we’ll use a harness. And there’s always a ground guy and a roof guy in communication.” Unlike Marino, Hamilton doesn’t put anything into (or on top of) his gutters. “We used to install gutter screens but found that the leaves lay on top of the screen and biodegraded to form a sort of lid. When the water hit it, it skipped right over the gutter and onto the ground. And when the leaves finish decomposing, they drop through the screen as sediment.…
“We’ve been doing this for 16 years,” continued Hamilton. “When we started, we scooped gutters by hand or we used blowers, but we found it didn’t work for downspouts and roof drains. So, we’ve devised a water-jetting system; when we’re through, you could eat out of these gutters. We use a high-volume, low-pressure treatment. The machines on our trucks push eight gallons per minute — most washers only get two — and the higher volume carries everything downstream.” But not to the downspout. “You don’t want to send debris down the downspout. Some of them go underground, and you risk getting impacted sediment down there that will impede water flow. We block the downspout, blow everything out of the gutter into a receptacle, then unblock the spout and blast water through.” For that, “We use a spinning roto-jet nozzle that we can crank up to 4000 psi or down to 200 psi as needed.”
Hamilton’s prices start at around $175 per house and go up from there, depending on size. “We perform a flow test; if we see leaking at the seams, we’ll seal them. If necessary, we’ll readjust spikes to improve the angle of flow. We remove debris, clear the roof, and do a free pressure rinse of the home’s exterior.”

Suspects Identified In Skybridge Vandalism: Two young adults from Davenport were issued citations Thursday for their part in a graffiti spree on the Davenport Skybridge. Police say 19 year old Justin Mitchell and 18 year old Joshua Young are both charged with Criminal Mischief. Police say both admitted to their involvement. Three other members of the group were also identified, but it is not believed they participated in the vandalism. Police say surveillance video provided key information in helping identify the suspects. The graffiti was discovered early Sunday. Words and images, some considered obscene, were scrawled over windows and railings inside the glass and steel pedestrian Skywalk. The city hired a window-washing crew to clean it up. Police say cost of the clean-up is estimated at $175.

Gone and (almost) forgotten: In the last year it’s estimated that somewhere between nine and 15 people have died in the local community because of poverty related issues. There is Lorne Clapper (pictured). A singing window washer who would plod his way up and down the main streets of Peterborough with his bucket and squeegee in hand. A man who was loved and hated all at the same time. He died of a heart attack, alone in his room. He was 42.

HALIFAX, N.S. - Nova Scotia's finance minister says people should be angry about an embarrassing political spending scandal that has cost one politician his job and dominated headlines across the province for two weeks. Graham Steele, speaking Thursday after a cabinet meeting, said he's received an earful from residents as he's travelled the province seeking suggestions on how the NDP government should deal with a massive budget deficit. "People are angry and they should be angry because their money has been wasted, and has been spent on things that should never have been bought with their money," he said. Earlier, the New Democrats released a list of members' expenses related to their constituency assistants, and services related to their constituency offices, including window cleaning, garbage disposal and snow removal.

Talking Trash: The psychologist B.F. Skinner suggested that in an ideal society, jobs would be differentiated according to their degree of unpleasantness. A window-washer, or a garbage man, might only have to work four hours a day because the job was so odious (or odorous). Meanwhile, a musician (or a newspaper columnist?) would be expected to labor perhaps 10 hours a day, given how much fun s/he was having. Although nobody paid any attention to Skinner’s proposal, one bit of fairness has developed over the years: Garbage men may have the worst job, but they tend to get decently compensated for it. Municipal garbage workers typically receive all the benefits of a government job, including health insurance, pension contribution, public holidays, sick leave, overtime, and job security. That’s the case in Falls Church (at least for the garbage workers – the recycling is contracted out to a private firm).

Elderly man attempts to chase down wallet thief: SPOKANE, Washington - A man in his late 80s was crying as he attempted to chase down the man who had just stolen his wallet, according to a witness who called Crime Check. Last Sunday, the man and his wife allowed the thief into their home after he told the couple he was a window washer. Once inside their home in the 8100 block of E. Upriver Dr., the man, instead of 'counting windows' like he said, grabbed the homeowner's wallet and ran from the home. The couple chased the man who drove off in what they described as a red station wagon with license plates similar to 5147110 of an unknown state. Minutes later, a passerby called Crime Check and reported an elderly couple chasing an old red mini-van with a Montana license plate 541770. He told the operator the elderly man was crying. The couple described the suspect as a 50 to 60-year-old white male who was about 6'01" tall. He had gray hair that was receding, a thin build and gray eyes. Police ran different combinations of the license plate numbers given but none came back as belonging to a mini-van.

Lunch with the Barenaked Ladies: Well, they weren’t bare naked. And they weren’t ladies. But during a snowy, cold Niagara Falls lunch hour Monday a multi-platinum Canadian rock band gave a whole new meaning to the term “ladies who lunch.” “I teach about the Barenaked Ladies,” said Voss, who teaches literacy to teachers. “Their lyrics are all poetry put to music.” As just one of many examples, she said, are the lyrics “crystal clear canvas” from their song “When I Fall,” about a window washer who relates to life being cleanable and renewable, just like a window. Huh?

Chu Lai Float Glass Plant put into operation: The Chu Lai Float Glass Plant was put into operation in the Bac Chu Lai Industrial Park in Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province yesterday. The plant invested by the Chu Lai – INDEVCO Float Glass Joint Stock Company has a capacity of 900 tonnes of float glass a day, which comes up to Japan’s standard JISR 3020-1996. The first Chu Lai float glass products are expected to be available in market in early April. This is the first float glass in Vietnam produced with the advanced technology. The Chu Lai Plant’s operation will considerably meet the domestic and export demand for construction glass, especially for 12 mm thick glass which Vietnam has had to import so far.