Window Cleaning News

EU to mull plan to bring non-euro states into bank union: BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union countries will examine a plan this week to allow the ECB to supervise banks in states outside the euro zone alongside those within the currency area, according to an EU document that lays down limits on the central bank's role. Last week, EU leaders agreed to build a new system of supervision led by the European Central Bank, as a step towards a banking union where chiefly euro zone countries would jointly back problem lenders, in a move to underpin the currency. Pictured: Window cleaners at Brussels HQ.

Superstorm Sandy hits the US north-east - in pictures: Superstorm Sandy leaves flooding and fallen trees in its wake, bringing chaos to parts of the states of Maryland, New Jersey and New York. Seawater floods the Ground Zero construction site as pictured above.

To the point: window cleaners working on the fog-shrouded Shard building in London attempt to spell out YMCA.

Award-winning Star photographer Tyler Brownbridge caught images of Windsorites. The effects of Hurricane Sandy are being felt as far west as Windsor. Window washers work high above Pitt Street as they clean the windows at the Windsor Riverside Inn in Windsor, Ont. on Monday, October 29, 2012.

Chemo hastened footballer’s death:  Chemotherapy “hastened” the death of a football-mad 22-year-old, an inquest found. Chipping Norton FC player Shaun Weller died on May 2, two days after beginning chemotherapy for a rare form of liver cancer. The window cleaner, a dad-of-one, died at The Horton Hospital in Banbury after suffering a cardiac arrest. Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter recorded a verdict that Mr Weller’s death was an accident after hearing from medical staff. His family afterwards praised the NHS and paid tribute to a“considerate” son.

Mr Salter said: “It does seem to me that the treatment of chemotherapy hastened the death”. He added: “That is not to say there is any negligence in the treatment. Medical treatment does sometimes result in death or hasten death. “That may be because of some adverse reaction or complication that can’t be anticipated.” In a statement, GP Dr Stephen Quelch said he referred Mr Weller for scans after he complained of chest pains. He was diagnosed with the terminal disease on February 2 and oncologist Dr Kinnari Patel saw him on March 22.

Because the cancer was so rare, further help was sought from specialists at London’s Royal Free Hospital on treatment, she said. Dr Patel said: “Shaun expressed the wish to have anything that might be beneficial, no matter how toxic it was.” She said: “I wonder if some very rare event has happened with chemotherapy that I don’t think we could have foreseen.” But she said the cancer could have “overwhelmed” his body.

Consultant pathologist Ben Phillips said: “If he hadn’t started on chemotherapy he wasn’t likely to have died at that time.” His dad Anthony, mother Charmaine, sister Kim and partner Sally Keen attended yesterday’s inquest in Oxford. The Oxford United fan, from Cotswold Crescent, Chipping Norton, played for the first team of Chipping Norton FC and was dad to Tiana, now three. His mother told the Oxford Mail: “We never felt that anyone was to blame. It never entered our heads.” “He was a considerate young lad. He would always worry about everyone else. “When he was going through his treatment he would always worry about everybody else.”

The family “never wanted to hear anything negative” about his prognosis, she said, adding: “Where there is life there is hope. That is what you have got to believe in.” An August charity football match at his former club featuring former United stars raised £2,000 to support his daughter and Oxford University cancer research. A further cake and coffee event will raise cash for research at Chipping Norton Town Hall on November 7 from 9am to midday.

Tonya Gentle, of Gleam Cleaning Pros, cleans a mirror at Abundant Life Church last week. The business recently partnered with Cleaning For A Reason to offer free housecleaning services to area cancer patients.

Couple helps patients by ‘Cleaning For A Reason’ - When David and Tonya Gentle, the proprietors of Gleam Cleaning Pros, heard someone who works for one of their clients was about to undergo cancer-related surgery, they knew they wanted to help, somehow. Jennifer Wiley, the music pastor at Abundant Life Church, said she began her breast cancer ordeal in the fall of 2011, and with the help of the Gentles, was able to come home after major surgery to a clean home and with a load off her mind. “They were a big, big relief for me, because when I came home from the hospital, I didn’t have to do anything,” said Wiley, 50. “... It was a true blessing.” Gleam Cleaning Pros has been in operation since 2008 and while the Gentles informally offered their cleaning service to Wiley in a time of need, they have recently partnered with the group Cleaning For A Reason to contribute more broadly.
David Gentle said he discovered the group on Facebook, and connected with Cleaning For A Reason last month to assist local residents undergoing cancer treatment. “We can’t offer a whole lot in the curing part, but we can definitely come in and try to relieve some of their pain through taking care of some of their general cleaning,” David Gentle said. “And on our end, it just feels good to help. It’s nice to be able to give back with something you do for a living,” he added. Gentle said that Cleaning For A Reason collects information from patients looking for free housecleaning services, and pairs them with cleaning businesses in their area. Patients need only demonstrate their medical condition, Gentle said.
Gleam Cleaning Pros serves a mix of residential and commercial clients, including some offices of the City of Jackson, and specializes in window cleaning and pressure washing. David Gentle said their service is particularly in demand around the holidays when customers are looking for a deep cleaning ahead of family gatherings. He said he and his wife are hoping to get the message out that they want to help area residents battling cancer with free cleanings. Tonya Gentle noted that when someone battles cancer, it’s an ordeal for the entire family. “When women get cancer — when anybody gets cancer — it’s not just that person going through it, it’s the whole family,” she said. “So to come in, even if it’s just to clean, it really seems to help a lot.”

Middlesbrough 'protector' jailed for harassing OAP: A window cleaner who offered to protect a pensioner from a family who were allegedly "after him" has been jailed for harassment. Philip Robert Sinclair, 39, offered protection to the elderly man after hearing rumours he had sexually assaulted a young girl. But in a bizarre twist, Sinclair has now been locked up after his “protection” took a sinister turn. The pensioner denied the claims but took him up on the offer - giving him £25 for him to do so.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday it was in January this year when Sinclair first attended the pensioner’s house. Prosecuting, Olivia Checa-Dover told the court it was there he told him about the rumour and that the family “were going to sort him out”. Sinclair, of Tower Green, St Hilda’s, Middlesbrough, then offered to protect the man. Ms Checa-Dover added that at a later date, the defendant camouflaged himself and hid in a bush to prove how “easy it would be” for the family to get him. At a later date, the elderly man returned home to find a two-page letter from Sinclair who wrote “he had sorted it”.

But Sinclair continued to attend the elderly man’s home, who soon began to have doubts. In interview, the man said: “His attitude changed from being helpful to aggressive very quickly and this frightened me.” On another occasion, Sinclair showed the man a text message allegedly from the girl’s family. Ms Checa-Dover said: “The complainant didn’t believe this was a real conversation and thought the defendant was just trying to scare him.”

The court heard the pensioner eventually had enough when in June this year, Sinclair attended his home twice on the same evening. Ms Checa-Dover told the court Sinclair was “banging on the door for about thirty minutes”. He then returned a short while later, once again banging on the doors and windows. Joan Smith, defending, said Sinclair, who pleaded guilty to harassment, was “trying to help”. She said: “His intention was not to cause harassment but he understands this is what happened.” Sentencing Sinclair, Judge Tony Briggs, said the elderly man was “clearly in a vulnerable situation”. He said: “No court can condone the ill-treatment of the elderly or the vulnerable. You presented a terrifying picture to him.” Judge Briggs jailed Sinclair for 12 months and gave him an indefinite restraining order.

Two workers rescued from 23rd-floor fall - Cleaners’ platform sways heavily in strong winds: Abu Dhabi: Two cleaning workers were rescued from falling from the 23rd floor of a building still under construction in the Khalidiya area in Abu Dhabi, by the Emergency and Public Safety Directorate of the Abu Dhabi Police. The Asian men were trapped on scaffolding which they used while cleaning the building’s exterior. Winds accompanying a sand storm which hit the capital caused the scaffolding to swing heavily. The Central Operations Department at Abu Dhabi Police received a report on the incident, bringing the Al Falah rescue quickly to the site along with an ambulance, according to Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Ebrahim Al Ameri, Deputy Director of Emergency and Public Safety Department.

After clearing the surrounding area to ensure the safety of the workers and pedestrians, Abu Dhabi Civil Defence had to break the glass window where the workers were located, because of the challenges which the wind posed in moving the scaffolding. The two men were transported to Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) where they were examined and cleared as free of injuries and medical complications. Earlier this month, two Indian window cleaners fell to their death from the 15th floor of a building at the end of Al Muroor Road, Abu Dhabi, due to a technical failure in the platform they were using. The men were trapped for four hours before the maintenance cradle they were using crashed to the ground.

Meanwhile, two Asian workers were rescued by Abu Dhabi Police earlier this month after they almost fell from a building on Al Salam Street. The window cleaners were saved from falling 15 stories after the rope supporting their scaffolding suddenly snapped. Rescue workers gave the two men directions to help them steady the scaffolding and prevent it from swinging before they were safely brought to the ground. This came as the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) issued a warning for towering clouds associated with thunderstorm, rain, rough seas, and strong winds along the UAE’s west coast yesterday with poor visibility.

A bright yellow hard hat is among the remnants of the broken platform that killed two window cleaners.

UAE cleaning firm scraps high-rise cradles after worker deaths: DUBAI A high-rise window cleaning company has stopped using maintenance cradles after two of its workers plunged 15 floors to their death. Modern Building Maintenance will start training staff in rope access, which industry experts say is safer. K Sudarshan, 24, and J Raju, 29, were trapped in their cradle above Khalifa Street for four hours before it fell to the ground on October 16. Their bodies were repatriated to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. ETA Ascon group, which owns the company, will pay each of the dead men's families Dh105,000 - their salary for the next 24 months, as required by law, and a welfare fund contribution of Dh50,000 - and an additional Dh1,000 a month for three years.
After the deaths Abu Dhabi Municipality said the company should have called Civil Defence when the men were first trapped. The incident has been referred to the courts. "We are working on alternative methods of window cleaning without using cradles, which involves maintenance by other agencies," a spokesman for ETA Ascon said yesterday. "We are reviewing procedures and have stopped all window cleaning using cradles since the incident. We have already started sending letters to clients about our new rope access system. It will be implemented in a phased manner, starting right now."
The company tested out a rope system last week on an eight-storey building in Dubai and will soon start a 10-day training course for workers. Rope access, used at buildings such as the Burj Khalifa and the Burj Al Arab, is a more secure option for window cleaners working at great heights, the spokesman said. "It is safer than a cradle. The major advantage is that we don't have to depend on equipment provided by another agency. The cleaner goes up and down using his own device and it is under his control. He tests the equipment before using it. There is no machine involved." Cleaning companies rent cradles from maintenance or property-management companies.
Rope access is often used when other methods of reaching the outside of tall buildings, such as cherry pickers or scaffolding, are impractical or too expensive. "Whoever can learn the rope access will be trained. There is a practical test where they will have to demonstrate the skill of using the rope access, their capability in cleaning windows and rescuing people," the spokesman said.
Rope access is said to be statistically safer than using cradles in window cleaning and its use is increasing. "It operates on a two rope system," said Amel Vriesman, regional advisory committee chairman of Irata, the International Rope Access Trade Association. "Each individual is suspended on two independent ropes, a primary and a back-up. Every job is supported with a full rescue scenario, unlike a building maintenance unit which has no back-up system. "Given the challenging building designs in the UAE, rope access is much safer, faster, hassle free and requires less manpower."
Only nine companies in the UAE are Irata certified, although Mr Vriesman estimates that more than 60 use the system. "It helps to reduce fatalities but is still dangerous if not carried out by professionals. It needs a certified company with a certified workforce." Abu Dhabi and Dubai municipalities prefer to deal with companies that have Irata certification but there is no law requiring certification for rope access, Mr Vriesman said.

Jack Craig, owner of Jack's Extreme Cleaning & Restoration in Kansas City, works Friday morning on cleaning a stained glass window at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Independence. The original stained glass windows, dating back to the mid-1800s, last received an extensive cleaning in 1986.

Bringing the life back into art of stained glass (Independence, MO) — For the past couple of weeks, Jack Craig has stood atop a ladder, the radio playing background music, a cross around his neck held close to his heart. On Friday morning, while sitting inside St. Mary’s Catholic Church in a pew, the sunlight shone into the historic Independence church at 611 N. Liberty St. Light inside several stained glass windows, recently cleaned by Craig, showcase his work, while others await their chance for a thorough restoration. “I’m all about the preservation of the art that is there,” says Craig, owner of the Kansas City-based Jack’s Extreme Cleaning & Restoration business. “Then, the community can actually see the beautiful art on the stained glass windows.”

 Craig’s cleaning is extensive. He checks the windows for structural problems or any bad lead. Once his work is complete, which he anticipates finishing up this week, the thorough cleaning will last another 25 to 30 years. The stained glass windows at St. Mary’s date back to the mid-19th century, and they received a layer of Lexan in July 1986, Craig says. Years ago, to protect the stained glass, that layer of Lexan glass was installed for protection. Lexan, which also is used in space helmets and vehicle headlight lenses, among other uses, protects the stained glass windows from hail, rocks and other strong elements. “Basically, I’m cutting off the yellow,” Craig says, “and then I’m polishing it back out. It’s a green solution, too. Our dumps are full of Lexan, and we don’t need no more in the planet. It’s a green way out.”

A Catholic himself, Craig emphasizes that he’s worked on stained glass restoration at churches of different denominations all across the metro region. When Craig started cleaning windows 20 years ago, he noticed different reactions to different kinds of windows. With stained glass windows, Craig taught himself to clean them in a hands-on, experience-driven setting. While the cleaning is extensive, he says being careful is essential since the materials are more than a century old. “They’re beautiful,” he says. “Each and every one of them is different – that’s what makes it so fun.”

While Craig’s business is based out of the Waldo neighborhood in KC, he and his family travel to Independence annually for the Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival, and he’s looking forward to seeing his work at St. Mary’s for years to come. “That’s kind of a payment in itself,” Craig says. “There’s something about restored art of your forefathers – who did wonderful work – and keeping it alive. It’s really important."

Workers use window-cleaner style platforms, restoring the Hollywood sign on October 26,2012 in Hollywood, California.

Hollywood sign gets first makeover in 35 years, ahead of its 90th birthday next year The operation, which started earlier this month, will take eight to 10 weeks to restore the sign to its bright white glory atop Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills north of Los Angeles, said the Hollywood Sign Trust.  The iconic Hollywood sign overlooking Tinseltown is getting its biggest renovation for 35 years, ahead of its 90th birthday next year. Workers are using window-cleaner style platforms as they strip down the 50-foot tall letters, powerwash the corrugated iron and apply nearly 400 gallons of fresh paint, organizers said. The operation, which started earlier this month, will take eight to 10 weeks to restore the sign to its bright white glory atop Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills north of Los Angeles, said the Hollywood Sign Trust.

The original sign was erected in 1923 to advertise a property development called Hollywoodland, but the last four letters were removed in the 1940s. One of the City of Angels' most beloved attractions, the sign had fallen into disrepair until it was restored in the 1970s after a campaign that saw nine donors pay $27,777 to "adopt" one letter each. It was threatened again more recently when investors who own land surrounding the giant white letters indicated plans to sell the plot to developers. But Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner helped secure the sign in 2010, along with then-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other Hollywood luminaries including Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Although members of the public are forbidden from accessing the area around the landmark -- a sophisticated alarm system including motion sensors has been set up to deter trespassers -- the sign has a grisly history. In 1932, British actress Peg Entwistle infamously committed suicide by throwing herself off the top of the letter H.

Stained Glass - Cleaning & Some History

Window cleaners at some point in their career will be asked to clean stained glass windows.

Clone Trooper Stained Glass Window is One of a Kind: For those of you who are building your very own Star Wars cathedral, you will want to check out this Clone Trooper stained glass window for inspiration. I’m sure that all of the churches and cathedrals throughout the Empire have stained glass like this, portraying troopers, Vader and the Emperor. Maybe a Hoth attack scene. How else are you going to keep the rabble in their place? That would be a pretty amazing sight. I would worship there for sure. Aiden T' also made a sweet Star Trek emblem stained glass window. They are both some amazingly awesome work. I hang my head now to pray for more amazing and geeky stained glass.

Spring cleaning for 16,000 glass mosaics in Berlin's historic church hit by WWII air-raids: Industrial climbers clean window elements of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. To restore the original luminance of the windows of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, more than 16,000 glass mosaics are being washed with hot water high-pressure cleaners. Click pictures to enlarge.

It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. People either love them or hate them, I loved jigsaws as a kid which is probably why I ended up in stained glass windows.

Jonathon Hunt: A stained glass jigsaw obsession - Coloured glass has been used and created by humans since ancient times, predominantly used in glass vessels, jewellery and decorative works reaching as far back as the Egyptian and Roman empires. However, the most recognised use of stained glass throughout the ages has been in the production of stained glass windows, commonly found in churches, cathedrals and places of worship throughout the modern world.

Evidence of stained glass windows can be found as early as the 7th century in England, the earliest of which dates from 675 AD when Benedict Biscop imported French labour to glaze the windows of a monastery he was building in Monkwearmouth. Much of the technical and artistic development behind the stained glass window movement in North Western Europe arose during the Middle-Ages, with the desire to glorify Gods, Saints and Generals in lavishly decorated cathedrals to educate a largely illiterate populace on religious teachings and glorious victories. Not to mention the need to keep congregations sheltered from the elements.

Shelter was and is a key design consideration for stained glass window makers. They must be able to withstand the wind and rain but also, especially in larger works, must support their own considerable weight of glass and lead. Today the use of coloured glass can be found almost everywhere, in contemporary design, architecture, wine glasses and lampshades. Stained glass has a number of aliases and production techniques, functioning as an umbrella term for a myriad of glass practices, depending on the place and time of manufacturing. Glass panels can be painted with enamels or reactively stained using metal salts and minerals and then fired in a kiln to preserve the coloured translucent effect.

Stained glass is a generic term. Leaded lights and stained glass comes under the same banner, but staining itself is a particular yellow stain which you use. It is not like enamel – which is how you paint on glass – but staining. The yellow stain actually reacts with the glass and literally stains it. Enamels and paints will need to be touched up and replaced but the staining will remain. Again, that is just one type but purists will say that is the genuine form of stained glass. The processes of making and restoring a stained glass window: essentially you take the window out of the frame, either a wooden frame or, with churches and stone buildings, the windows are set and glazed within the stone, so you would have to chip away the mortar. Once the window is removed we can then board or temporarily glaze the window space and we take the window back to the workshop to take a rubbing.

Once the rubbing is done I remove the glass and recycle the old lead. From the rubbing, which is your basic template, just like a jigsaw puzzle, you place the panes of glass in the right order and map the trace lines of the heart, which will be your template for putting the window back together again. Before piecing the work back together you obviously have to clean and replace any dirty or damaged glass, which is a usual occurrence when it comes to restoration, along with wear and tear on the leads and the cement. Stained glass needs to be carefully cleaned using ionized water and a shammy leather. There is a difference between leaded lights and stained glass. Stained glass is where the colours are actually painted on and then fired in the oven, which is a very delicate process. When cleaning you need to keep as many of the original painted features as possible.

Once the glass is cleaned it is placed in a jig, with a border lead which is generally 12mm thick. Then you place and attach the glass onto your template with a lead ‘came’ which is what holds the lead together, along with soldering joins on the glass and lead. The soldering flux then needs to be washed off, which can stain the lead. Some people use tallow which is a mixture of rendered animal fat and resin. Personally I use a plumber’s flux which is non toxic and doesn’t stain. Next comes the mucky part: the cementing of the piece which, depending on the complications of the pattern takes a long time. The cement itself is based on the dust of old cement, black vegetable die, linseed oil and white spirit. Whiting (calcium carbonate powder) is then used to dry the cement, which is left for a day and then you have a finished panel which you refit.

Alot of people say “Oh, stained glass that’s really arty etc” but then I say stained glass is really like a jigsaw puzzle and then they get it. People either love them or hate them, I loved jigsaws as a kid which is probably why I ended up in stained glass windows. This work has been going on for a thousand years if not longer. The old methods and techniques really haven’t changed. It is just like a craft such as carpentry or stone masonry. Obviously now there are machines like sand blasters that can speed processes up such as shaping glass which would have taken months or years of forming with pliers before such technology.

Stained Glass Windows With A Difference

Transparent Stained Glass Prints Hang in the Church of Geek: You don’t have to be religious at all to enjoy these fantasy prints designed to look like stained glass windows. Created by Marissa Garner of Fay Productions, they incorporate a variety of entertaining subjects from Batman to My Little Pony. Despite just being ink on transparency paper, they’re designed to be taped up to your window or a light box to create a cool stained glass effect.

Characters from the Batman comic book universe.

Or if you fancy the original X-Men, you can get Iceman, Miss Marvel/Jean Grey, Cyclops, Angel and Beast to hang up too. You’ve gotta love Professor Xavier filling everyone’s minds from the center.

Wales’ finest stained glass gets window online: Anyone interested in church history can now view and research more than 2,000 stained glass windows from hundreds of churches in Wales online. From medieval to modern, the windows have been photographed and catalogued in a project by the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. The website allows all the windows to be searched thematically by date, artist or location. The project was initiated by the artist and photographer Martin Crampin. “Stained glass is part of the visual vocabulary of many of our churches, and a pictorial manifestation of the church’s faith and tradition,” he said. “Yet often little is known of the artists or studios that made them, and sometimes the meaning of the windows is unclear to those that worship in their midst today.” The catalogue covers stained glass from medieval times up to the present day, including the fine collections of medieval glass, imported continental glass, work by the large Victorian firms and artists of the arts and crafts movement, as well as more recent windows by artists trained and based in Wales from the second half of the 20th century up to the present day.