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.”

Another Rescue + Window Cleaning News

Window washers stuck 17 floors up on downtown Norfolk building, Norfolk: Rescue workers have reached two window washers stuck on malfunctioning scaffolding on a downtown Norfolk bank building. The two men are outside on the 17th floor of the BB&T building on E. Main Street. "The motor on the scaffolding burned out, so they can't move it ," said Battalion Chief Harry Worley. Technical rescue personnel rappelled about 20 feet from the roof to the scaffolding, harnessed the workers and were getting them back to safety. Some of Main Street in the immediate area is blocked off as crews manage the rescue effort on the west side of the building.

Norfolk, Va. - Rescue crews responded to the BB&T building in Norfolk where two window washers became stuck at the building's 17th floor Wednesday afternoon. According to Captain Mike Marsala with the Norfolk Fire Department, the two became stuck after a mechanical issue with one of the motors. The window washers were about 15 to 25 feet below the roof line and were unable to get to the scaffolding, Capt. Marsala told WAVY.com. Crews used ropes to access the crew and bring them to safety. C.L. Fault with the Technical Response Team told WAVY.com, "We went up there, found two victims stuck in the scaffolding, we built rope systems, lowered a firefighter down to them, placed them in a different harness and brought them up on top of the building one at a time." Fault said rescue crews are trained in rope rescue operations and undergo a lot of training in this type of rescue. It took just 45 minutes to bring the men to safety, Fault said. No injuries were been reported. 

Window washing competition attempts to set World Record: St. Pete Beach - Hundreds of window cleaners from around the world will try to break the Guinness World Record for fastest window cleaner during the 2011 International Window Cleaning Association Convention & Trade Show. The show starts February 16 and ends February 19 at the TradeWinds Island Resort. The contest will be friendly a friendly competition. Seasoned professional window cleaners will show off their skills as they try to break that world record. The race is focused on speed, but the competition will also be determined by the ability to clean glass accurately, without streaks and drips. The convention will also have education sessions featuring window cleaning tips, tools and techniques, safety training and compliance, marketing, improving your business and more. Another highlight of the convention will be a display of the newest equipment and resources available to the window washing industry. More info here.

Walking window washer finds business success in Bedford: When a job search did not yield results, Bobby Patterson decided to open his own business washing windows, painting fences and doing other odd jobs in Bedford. 

The joy of singlehood: Dave Atkinson, 42, of Port Credit, is unmarried and childless, a choice driven mostly by a desire to travel, which he does six months a year. It’s not a life that makes long-term relationships easy. It’s also not a life of luxury: He operates a one-man window and eavestrough cleaning company six months of the year, working 12-hour days and living in a modestly furnished bachelor apartment. Then, come winter, out comes his 28-litre backpack and he’s off. Is that selfish? Not, at all, he says, without apology. “Selfish means you’re doing something for your benefit to the detriment of others. If I choose not to have kids, that’s not about being selfish, it’s just about being a realist. I like ’em but I don’t want them. It’s more self-absorbed than selfish really.” Not all childless singles are quite so secure in voicing their status, though research suggests that more than half of all singles are not looking for a committed relationship. 

Subway shocker for 999 callers: Two friends who called 999 when they came across a girl having a fit were shocked to see the paramedics apparently stop for a sandwich en route. Leighton Hancock and Hayley Beavan dialled for an ambulance when they happened upon the 19-year-old epilepsy sufferer and her panicked friend in the street. They watched the ambulance pull up nearby. But instead of seeing the paramedics hurry over, they watched one of them go into Subway. Window cleaner Leighton said: “We assumed they were going to come over. I asked Hayley to wait with the girl and went over and asked if they had had a call about a girl having a fit and they said ‘yes’. “I said ‘She’s over the road. And you’re here and your friend is in Subway. Don’t you think you should go over there?” 

Man jailed after attempting to burgle three Burnley pensioners: A convicted sex attacker who tried to sneak into three pensioners' homes in Burnley has been jailed for 18 months. Leon Slattery, 24, had downed a litre of vodka, with orange, after visiting his little girl and was carrying a bag of alcohol. Burnley Crown Court was told the defendant, who was on a community order at the time, also had convictions for being a conman and had run a scam collecting window cleaning money. 

Ring leaders: Keene brothers shine in Golden Gloves boxing tournament - We’ll call them the “Bash Brothers,” although officially, in amateur boxing circles, where imposing nicknames and fancy robes aren’t allowed, they’re known simply as the Durling boys. In any event, Matt and Mike Durling, a pair of Keene High graduates who work, train and box together, have been making names for themselves with inspired runs to Northern New England Golden Gloves championships. “They’ve exceeded all of our expectations,” said Ed Farris of the Claremont Boxing Club, where the Durlings train twice a week. Between training sessions, the Durlings run a window washing business in Keene. 

Saelig Weighs in with Smart Load Sensor: LoadSense - an intelligent load sensor that can be integrated with a crane hook, fork lift or other handling device for intelligent feedback of loading events. It has an on-board single-chip computer for recording, analyzing and archiving readings, and wireless communications to transfer data in real time to a host computer. Applications include monitoring window cleaning cradles on high rise buildings. LoadSense is made by Sensor Technology, one of Europe's premier torque transducer suppliers, and is available from their USA distributor Saelig - starting at under $3,000. 

Plymouth Resident Climbs the Ladder of Entrepreneurship: Plymouth entrepreneur Lisa Temple knows a thing or two about the latter. A few weeks ago, I located Temple’s contact information via an online Plymouth business directory which advertised her company, Life Maid Easy: Temple was a professional residential and commercial cleaner. Fast forward five years and Temple, a 15-year Plymouth resident and proud mother of two (Kyleigh, 21, is a student at the University of Michigan, and Amanda, 15, is a student at Canton High School) is on an entirely different path, albeit one that seems poised to take her straight to the top, literally. Temple’s new venture involves a new business, one which enables her to represent and distribute a new product called the WorkStation Pro. The WorkStation Pro is a portable work/tool surface that has a universal fit securing it to the top of most extension ladders, which provides the user an accessible work area. “This is the new calling for my life,” Temple said with a healthy dose of conviction."Being a homeowner and a single parent, I’ve been on ladders and cleaned my gutters and hung Christmas lights and what not." "Well, when I got up on the ladder myself to try the product, I thought, I would actually not be afraid when I put this on my ladder. I could do this!" "As a woman, I could use a ladder now with this product and take care of my house and not have to hire someone."  Do you think that if you were still a professional cleaner the WorkStation Pro would be a part of your cleaning arsenal? "I think it would, particularly to get in the corners of high ceilings, for sky lights, and window cleaning." 

Social entrepreneurs should employ the long-term unemployed: Employing the homeless and ex-offenders changes lives and could have a huge social impact, says co-founder of Aspire. That is why social enterprises that create new jobs for unemployed people, (perhaps with a focus on ex-offenders, or ex-homeless people, or those with mental health issues), are an increasingly vital part of our sector. The nature of the work you offer is so vital. Decorating work and refurbishment of empty properties seems ideal. Many possible employees may have some experience of it; you can supervise a team of people relatively easy and you can see the fruits of your labour at first hand. I have also heard that gardening and window cleaning work has worked well – serving both the public and supplemented, perhaps, with larger contracts with businesses or local Councils. 

Icelandic volcano 'set to erupt' - Scientists in Iceland are warning that another volcano looks set to erupt and threatening to spew-out a pall of dust that would dwarf last year's event. Geologists detected the high risk of a new eruption after evaluating an increased swarm of earthquakes around the island's second largest volcano. Pall Einarsson, a professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, says the area around Bárdarbunga is showing signs of increased activity, which provides "good reason to worry". By comparison, Bárdarbunga dwarves the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which shutdown most of Europe's airspace last year after its ash cloud drifted across the continent's skies. See info' here on: Window Cleaning Guideline After Volcanic Eruptions. 

Fujitsu's whiteboard-cleaning humanoid robot: Robots - is there anything they can't do? Actually, there's plenty - though a team of Italian and Japanese scientists have decided they should clean whiteboards instead. If movies have taught us anything though, it's that robots will eventually overthrow their cruel masters (us) and enslave humanity until the end of time, while harvesting our delicious organs for whichever evil ends they desire. Hence any demonstration of robotics is a cause for concern, whether it's Sony's lonely Japanese businessman toy, the robotic AIBO dog, or cyborgs such as Robocop or Stephen Hawking. A team of fate-tempting Italian and Japanese researchers have taught Fujitsu's HOAP-2 robot the menial and somewhat demeaning task of cleaning a whiteboard after discovering a breakthrough in the robot which was first released in 2003. The term the team is touting is “upper-body kinesthetic teaching”, which can apparently be applied to a variety of vertical surface tasks, such as wallpaper fitting or window cleaning. Truly, they have created the dullest robot you can ever imagine. The research was conducted as a joint effort between the Italian Institute of Technology and Tokyo City University and is to be presented at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in May 2011 in Shanghai, China - an event which has 'giant robot uprising begins' written all over it. Video here. 

Window washer Santo Pineda cleans the window at a Verizon store in Boston, Massachusetts February 10, 2011. Verizon Wireless began selling Apple's iPhone at long last on Thursday, ending AT&T Inc's more than three-year stranglehold on the device in the United States. 

Four more seek City Council seat: Four new applicants for a vacancy on Aspen City Council emerged Friday, taking the total number of people vying for the soon-to-be open seat to six. Marcia Goshorn, Jag Pagnucco, Dan Kitchen and Howie Mallory filed their applications with the city clerk’s office on Friday. Kitchen, who has long been an outspoken activist and protector of wildlife, is a master window washer, according to his application. He desires an appointment to the council “to make change with different options of how we spend and, or waste taxpayer money ... Entrance to Aspen - expand the Castle Creek Bridge ... Do we need a big box store - yes ... Do we spend money to study Droste - no! ... Droste and Seven Star [located in Pitkin County and Snowmass] should be close (sic) to all recreationalists June 20 to Oct. 20 ... We should not spend money to promote special events like the upcoming Quiznos bike event, etc.” Kitchen said he doesn’t plan to run for election this spring, but if he did, it would be for mayor. He added that he’s disappointed that Romero isn’t fulfilling the term he was elected to serve for the people of Aspen. “I think it’s highly poor of him,” to force the council and community to replace him, Kitchen said. 

What will be the alternatives to cheques? These include debit and prepaid cards, and various ways of paying for items with your mobile phone. It won't be long before Britons are using their handset to pay for items simply by placing it against the cash till reader – Visa has been testing the technology in Spain. Mobile-to-mobile payment systems are being developed where you pre-load your phone with cash and then pay the window cleaner by texting him, at which point the money instantly moves from your account to his. Alternatively, the window cleaner could set up a PayPal account. 

The Kravis Center: By any means, the building is not cheap to maintain. The administration estimates that it will cost a shocking $800,000 a year to keep the exterior clean alone. But when one takes into account the fact that IT’s servers and the chilling system for the entire west end of campus will be moved into the center, the figure becomes understandable.A large portion of the yearly maintenance costs results from the glass windows that make up much of the building’s exterior. The college has to contract out for exterior window cleaning, which costs approximately $12,500 per wash. According to Worley, “the Cal State Universities can’t wash their windows at all anymore,” but CMC plans to wash the exterior windows twice a year. 

Volunteers sign up in droves to run Burnham's tourist information centre: This week, Neville Jones, chairman of the charity, told the Weekly News: “I think you need 40 to 50 people in total to run it but it wasn't just people who wanted to sign up for one or two hours, but for a whole day at a time. “A window cleaner even said he'd clean the windows for free! “It gives you an idea of the good community spirit we have here. It's a good example of the big society and everyone working together.”

Window Cleaning Micro Business to Riches

State support for micro business programs likely to be halved: Joe Blakely went from earning $10 an hour as a nurse’s assistant to making $52,000 a year as a one-man window-cleaning, windshield fix-it shop and janitorial service. He’s made enough money over the last 15 years, he says, to support his family and even to buy a couple of rental properties. Blakely would be the first to tell you being self-employed isn’t easy – he works long hours– but he loves being his own boss, and his flexible schedule enables him to help take care of one of his children who has health problems.

“I have that flexibility to come and go as I please, so I can meet the needs of my family,” Blakely said one evening last week before he was scheduled to clean the Washington County Superior Court. “When you provide services, you have a solid income forever.” Blakely’s entre’ into entrepreneurship came from the Micro Business Development Program, a business startup training program designed for low-income Vermonters who want to launch a sole proprietorship or a business that employs several people. The program, which is offered through the five regional community action councils, has helped to establish 1,700 businesses statewide.

Blakely said the Central Vermont Community Action Council’s Micro Business Development Program helped him figure out how to organize his business records, develop a marketing plan and get started on the right foot with the tax man. In addition, the program helped him obtain $2,000 in loans for the ladders and other window-washing equipment he needed. The Micro Business Development Program is one of the economic development services partially funded by the state that is on the chopping block as part of the Challenges for Change government restructuring plan.

According to Jim White, who runs the Micro Business program at CVOEO. White characterized participants as “not strong in literacy.” The program counselors assess the skills of the clients and help them get the basic services they need – job training or Adult Basic Education – before they move ahead with business planning.“More than half of our clients are women,” White said. “Women still represent the vulnerable end of the population. “Virtually all of the clients we work with have no experience with a business, and they typically have a desperation to earn money,” White said. “What separates us from the Small Business Development Centers is, we don’t just hand them a business template and say come back to us. We offer very intensive one-on-one training.”

White said because the programs are “co-located” with the regional anti-poverty agencies, counselors can assess what a family needs to make a business successful. If warranted, the programs help to stabilize clients’ finances through fiscal management and credit counseling, and, if necessary, counselors refer them to the Three Squares (the food stamp program) and general assistance. “We’re plugged into resources, as well as the business knowhow,” White said.

“We are not a social services agency,” Quillen Blume said. “Our mission is business development. When you’re counseling a client, you may get into other issues. We stay focused on moving the business forward.” Blakely said he didn’t consider going to the local Small Business Development Center office because it was too intimidating. He prefers the community action program because he says he feels more at home there, and he continues to get help with issues that come up in his business. “I think it’s just more specialized resources for smaller businesses,” Blakely said.