Window Cleaning News + Free Book

Photographer Kerry lands on both feet after his fall: A FORMER window cleaner who suffered horrendous injuries after falling off a ladder has turned his life around by taking up a new career. Kerry Taylor, 31, swapped soap and suds for shutter speeds after opting for a new life behind the camera lens. And tonight the BBC TV series DIY SOS helps him on his way to a new career.

A businessman claims to have lost thousands of pounds after BT (British Telecom) left him disconnected for more than four months. A group of four families moved into new housing off Back Lane, in Badwell Ash, three months ago and, a month before the move, informed BT they would need a phone line. Ash Asasi said he was promised it would be up and running within a few weeks, so he continued to spend around £3,500 advertising his window cleaning business with his home phone number. Mr Asasi said: "During the summer, I normally make around £2,000 a month, but it has been only a few hundred this year. The business has gone down and down."I'm really fed up now, this is the 21st century but I feel like I'm living in Africa." Mrs Jarvis said: "It's an absolute nightmare. We are dependent on having a home line not just for a landline but also for the internet. "My husband is also self-employed and everyone has our home telephone number and email address." A spokeswoman for BT said it was hoped work by contractors would be finished yesterday and apologised for the delay customers had experienced. She said the delay was due to a large amount of preparation work.
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Girl filmed in shower using spy camera: A pervert window cleaner has been jailed for setting up a spy camera to film a 15-year-old girl showering.Richard Pogson, 44, filmed the girl for his own sexual gratification and stored the clips on videos, a court heard. He was locked up for six months by a judge who said the offences were “of the utmost seriousness”. But after the case, angry relatives of the teenager said Pogson should have been imprisoned for several years. The girl’s weeping mother, who cannot be identified, said her daughter had been violated and betrayed. Pogson told officers of his sorrow and remorse. A former serviceman, he was of good character and had been married for 20 years. His wife was 20 years his senior and suffered a stroke in 2002. Pogson was her sole carer and she continued to support him. He had lost his window cleaning job as a result of the court proceedings and he and his wife had been threatened. Pogson had committed a gross breach of trust by filming those who used his bathroom.
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Man injured in Hawthorn assault, Australia: Police have arrested a man following an assault at a Hawthorn fast food restaurant early this morning which resulted in a man being taken to hospital.
Investigators have been told that at about 5am, a 20-year-old Glen Iris man had attended the restaurant and began throwing food around. When asked to leave by the manager, he became involved in an argument. The argument escalated and the manager was hit to the head with the handle of a window washer, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious. He was later taken to hospital with head injuries. The Glen Iris man has been interviewed by Boroondara CIU members and is assisting with inquiries. No charges have been laid at this stage.
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Kevin the Window Cleaning Business Coach now has the book available - read it for free, go to his site for details.

Water Fed Pole Academy Giveaway

Those great guys at WFP training academy Joe & Jeff always come up with some great stuff. One of their forum subjects includes an "off topic" board. They were the ones that put me on to "Give away of the day." Todays give away is "Leadertask" Click on the above left picture to see if the give away is still available, click on the right pic' for features.

"Want to complete more? Get tired less? Earn more? And permanently improve the quality of life, work hard less and have more time to speculate in peace? LeaderTask will help you with that! LeaderTask = Business organizer + Personal Information Manager + Calendar + Address Book!" This may be a freebie that a small business window cleaner can actually use. Just go to "giveaway of the day" to download - YOU HAVE AROUND 10 HOURS LEFT FOR THE FREE PROGRAM INCLUDING THE CODE FOR FULL USE.

Above is a video that Joe made around a year a go for the WFP Academy training forum. The video Joe made for me can be seen HERE, please go to the "youtube" page to watch - & leave a comment. THANKS! THE MORE HITS IT GETS THE MORE POPULAR THE BLOG GETS!

P.S. DON'T FORGET TONIGHT IS WCR LIVE SHOW NIGHT (1 A.M. LONDON TIME)

Window Cleaning News UK & USA

Moaning pensioner threatened with jail: Sunderland UK: A Victor Meldrew-style moaner who whinged about his neighbours in sheltered accommodation has been warned one more complaint could land him in jail. Ernest Harvey's serial snipes have been investigated by police and housing officers – who say they are unfounded. The 70-year-old's battles with the warden at his last home led to him being arrested four times, but never charged. Now, he has been given a court order banning him from moaning and told he could be locked up if he doesn't stop complaining. But the retired window cleaner says he has been treated unfairly by the gentoo staff who run his home at Jubilee House, Easington Lane. He claims they ignore his problems."I'm not complaining for no reason," he said. "I'm being made out to be a liar."

Tributes have been paid to a window cleaner and keen athlete from Burnham, UK - killed while on a cycling holiday in Spain. Marathon runner Peter Mitchell, 60, died instantly when he was involved in a collision with a lorry near San Sebastian on the morning of Saturday, August 23. His friend for 12 years, Tony Nester, 40, was riding with Mr Mitchell on a 1,200k cycle ride from northern Spain to France when it happened. "He had an infectious personality and people warmed to him. He regularly and easily made friends with large groups of people from al walks of life and he will be missed by many friends in the world of athletics," he said. Mr Mitchell leaves a son, Simon, 24, and daughter Sarah, 20.



Most window cleaners have seen untold eye-opening situations from the top of their ladders. But few will have witnessed anything as blue as the sight that greeted a team of volunteer underwater washers in landlocked Birmingham. Because the nine scuba diving members of Scubaction have the weirdest window cleaning job in town. Their task is simple – to descend into the underwater world at the city’s Sea Life Centre to keep the giant tank spick and span. Oh, and try to ignore the sharks and turtles keeping them company while they work. Dive leader Adrian Marsland, aged 42, said: “It is unusual, but where else in the centre of Birmingham can you get to dive with creatures like that?” The tropical 800,000-litre tank is one of the main attractions at the centre in Brindleyplace with its two giant Green Turtles, family of Blacktip Reef Sharks and colourful reef fish. While the water is continuously filtered, sediment settles on the viewing windows and across the tunnel, creating a thin film interfering with their view of the marine creatures inside. About once a month, the team pack their scuba gear, pick up their fluffy squeegies and plunge into the five-metre deep fish tank to begin their unusual cleaning operation in full view of the paying public.
I know Birmingham city centre can sometimes be a dangerous place, but it’s not every day you get headbutted by a 42-stone Green Sea Turtle. I’d expected the threat of a nibble from the family of sleek Blacktip reef sharks to be a more pressing underwater problem. But when I joined the window cleaning dive team at Birmingham’s National Sea Life Centre, they made it clear the beautiful sharks were not an issue – but the turtles could be. Underwater, graceful Gulliver and Molokai like to let you know they are boss and will bump you, scrape past your head and nibble long hair. The visitors to the Sea Life Centre last Sunday were not seeing ‘fins’ – that really was a journalist with a soggy notepad and squeegie in hand. I’d joined volunteer divers to spruce up the inside of the tank but I’m not sure I made much a splash with my window cleaning. It’s fair to say I’m no George Formby.



Paul Mullin (pictured above): Writes plays about: Science, death, radiation sickness, sex, amnesia. Has had them produced in: New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Louisville, Baltimore. A plate-glass window and a sudden gust of wind christened Paul Mullin's career as a playwright. It was 1990 in New York City, and Mullin was 23, working as a window washer. "It was the stupidity of youth times a thousand," he says, sitting in the backyard of his Seattle home with a glass of bourbon, soaking his feet in his sons' inflatable pool. "I was also working as an actor at the time, and as a night porter, so during the day I was climbing 60-story buildings on two hours' sleep. Stupid." Hours before the opening of his Ellison and Eden, Mullin was in a fancy apartment building, cleaning its 70-pound windows. He had to pop each one out of its frame and lean outside while he washed the glass. He was struggling to yank one of the windows back into its frame and called Al, the large Puerto Rican building manager, to help. A rogue gust blew the window into Mullin, shattering it against his face and body. "I asked, 'How bad is it, Al?' And he just stood there freaking out, going 'uh—uh—uh.'" Blood was pouring out of Mullin's face, but he felt oddly calm: He knew he had to get to a hospital immediately. Fortunately, there was an emergency room kitty-corner from the apartment building. "Cars were beeping at me as I tried to cross the street, and I thought: 'So this is how it is? My face is bleeding and you're honking? Fine.' That's when I decided to leave New York." He got 40 stitches sewed into his cheek that night and missed the opening of Ellison and Edison. "We were a young, angry ensemble," Mullin says. "Our artistic director—and main donor—was a call girl."

Two classroom buildings at Kean University, New Jersey, USA were evacuated last night but will be open today following a fire in a storage trailer on campus, a university spokeswoman said. The fire started around 8:25 p.m. in the trailer, which was used to store solvents for window cleaning. The Union Township Fire Department and Union County hazardous-materials team extinguished the blaze by 8:40 p.m. Nearby Willis Hall and Hutchinson Hall, where students were attending evening classes, were evacuated. The buildings will be open for classes today, said Audrey Kelly, the university's spokeswoman. Kelly said the storage trailer was destroyed. Willis Hall "has some scorching outside, but no significant damage to the inside." The cause of the blaze is under investigation, Kelly said.

A HUDDERSFIELD businessman & ex-window cleaner leaves his millionaire lifestyle behind to sample life on the breadline in a TV show next week. Gavin Wheeldon, who heads award-winning translation company Applied Language Solutions, is featured in Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire returning to the North Wales resort of Rhyl, where he spent childhood holidays. Gavin, who was named Employer of the Year in the 2007 Examiner Business Awards, finds that the town has faded over the years, with unemployment and poverty rife. The programme – at 9pm on Tuesday – follows Gavin as he works under cover, living on an allowance in a B&B while searching for local people he can help. Gavin, 32, who lives at Meltham, first demonstrated his entrepreneurial streak by taking gardening and window cleaning jobs as a youngster. At 14 he was selling kitchens. Despite being under age he was kept on by the firm because he was the best salesman they had. By the time he was 20 Gavin had set up his first IT company and four years ago he started a translation business – despite not being able to speak any foreign languages.

Postal is a 2007 film based on the 2003 computer game series of the same name. The film is directed by filmmaker Uwe Boll and filmed in Cloverdale, British Columbia. Postal premiered in Montreal on July 22, 2007 during the Fantasia Festival. Initial trailers market the film as a shock comedy, and have caused controversy as they show a jet flying into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, reminiscent of the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was later revealed that this scene is in fact the opening scene of the movie, where two of the hijacker terrorists get to know that their sign-up deal for the "99 perfect virgins" might not work out due to the lack of resources after too many recent martyrs, and decide to hijack the plane to the Bahamas instead, only to be overpowered by the airplane passengers, who, in the struggle for the controls, end up driving the plane into one of the towers. In his seminar at Breakpoint 2007, Boll has noted that he will "probably end up in jail for it", and claimed that he wanted to create a movie that is "ruthless, just like Monty Python movies used to be". Out on DVD in the UK this week, trailer below...

Window Cleaning Generates $500 Million

Don't Do Windows? You May Be in Luck (A Journalists View/Wall Street Journal):

With summer's distractions drawing to a close, we're reluctantly turning to home-improvement projects, and one thing is clear: We don't do windows. Or at least, we don't do them well or often enough. That's evidenced by the layers of grime and suicidal moths caked on our glass from years of putting off cleaning until, well, next year. Rather than donate a precious weekend to balancing on ladders with buckets, we opted instead to call for professional help. It's not hard to find; there are dozens of independent contractors advertising online and in the Yellow Pages of most towns. But we worried about credentials and liability issues if something went wrong. It seems we're not alone: From 2004 to 2007, the number of consumer inquiries to Better Business Bureaus about window-cleaning services has more than doubled to 33,937, putting it in the top 10% of all industry inquiries. Window cleaning generates about $500 million annually in the U.S., according to the International Window Cleaning Association, an industry trade group.
So we turned our sights to a handful of national franchises that either require or strongly encourage units to carry hefty insurance and be bonded against theft, and to vet cleaners with criminal background checks. What's more, the franchises also set standards when it comes to how workers clean. While in most cases the services performed well beyond our expectations, in one instance we were left with a badly scratched window that made us glad the franchisee was part of a national chain we could hold accountable.
Our testing took place in four particularly grimy-windowed houses in Arlington, Texas; Takoma Park, Md.; Atlanta; and Garrison, N.Y. In each location, we were able to land an appointment for interior and exterior cleaning within a week with one of four franchises: Window Gang, Squeegee Squad, Fish Window Cleaning and Dr. Glass Window Washing. We never got to test a fifth franchise, Window Genie, which has 32 locations in 10 states, because the Pittsburgh shop didn't promptly return calls and our backup location, Chicago, got rained out.
To our surprise, we discovered many of these franchises do more than just clean windows -from pressure washing driveways to polishing chandeliers and cleaning gutters - though none pushed these extras too hard on us and not every franchise participates. We also learned that in most cases cleaners are paid on a commission basis, or "by the glass" as one worker described it to us, rather than an hourly wage to encourage them not to dawdle. They used a wide arsenal of tools - from Dawn detergent and steel wool to proprietary cleaners and scraping blades to remove bugs, paint, tree resin and gunk.
The best bet for our buck was Squeegee Squad, which nicely shined our 2,200-square-foot 1906 Atlanta bungalow and all its varied glass -- including original wavy panes, stained glass and new insulated windows -- for $175 bucks. Then they knocked another 10% off that because we were first-time customers. We appreciated that our cleaner took off his shoes inside and stuck to his original quote after realizing we had more windows than anticipated. He used only dish soap, noting it wouldn't harm plants, and employed a scraper.
Likewise, it was hard to nitpick with the work done on our Texas and Maryland homes, which used Window Gang and Dr. Glass respectively. Dr. Glass adheres to a $225 minimum but the franchise offered to drop that by $100 for a simple exterior cleaning if we became a "regular" and got a second yearly servicing. We liked how carefully Dr. Glass's Eme Awa (who says he sings in a band when not washing windows) laid towels under his buckets indoors. Meanwhile, Mr. Awa's partners cleaned a handful of doors not included in the original price.
In Arlington, Texas, while Window Gang's crew neglected to remove footwear inside, they made our home sparkle using a custom cleaning formula and Dawn detergent for dirtier windows. Removing our storm windows for cleaning was labor intensive and more than doubled our cleaning bill, so we opted to service fewer windows. Window Gang said the old storms were inefficient and offered to discard them for $5 a pop. We declined but were pleased they took the time to seek our approval of their polishing work before putting the storms back on.
It was during our final cleaning in Garrison, N.Y., that we stumbled upon a potential pitfall of the trade: scratched windows. We were grateful Fish Window Cleaning ventured outside its territory to service our house (though charged us for the travel time) and were impressed by how quickly the two polite cleaners finished our 2,000-square-foot contemporary: 2.5 hours, the shortest clean-job in our test. But later in the afternoon when the sun shot into our kitchen, we noticed spidery scratches all over one small window and a few stray nicks on other larger ones. The real downer: We'd just paid nearly $3,000 to replace these units last fall with new high-efficiency insulated tempered glass.
When we told Fish franchise owner Mike Silverstein, he apologized and returned a few days later to examine the damage. He agreed on the spot to replace the small window and either buff out scratches on the others, or replace them too. He also said he would begin accompanying workers on residential jobs "for the foreseeable future" to ensure quality control.
Fish's corporate vice president of operations, Benjamin Mudd, says the scratches could possibly be traced to debris trapped on the glass during the tempering process that got knocked loose during scraping. He also directed us to an online Fish corporate training video that says using a new blade is "essential" to prevent scratching, and cautions workers never to scrape in a back-and-forth motion. Since this information was revealed post-cleaning, we had no way of knowing if our cleaners complied. Regardless, Mr. Mudd says Mr. Silverstein should have asked us to sign a glass-scratching waiver before using a scraper. (He didn't, but neither did any of the other franchises we tested who scraped.) Mr. Mudd also assured us if the local Fish franchise had balked at paying for replacements, "then we would take care of it." We'd already revealed our WSJ identity at this point, but both Mr. Mudd and Mr. Silverstein promised they'd follow the same procedure for any customer complaint of this nature. (Mr. Mudd later offered us a full refund of the $460 we paid.)

Making the Skyline Shine

It's difficult to think of an occupation where getting high on the job is acceptable, much less a requirement. But that is the case for employees of Grand Rapids-based Award Window Cleaning Services, Inc. — strictly in the literal sense, of course. Mark S. Reinhart, Award founder and sales manager, watches his book of business grow with each addition to the Grand Rapids skyline. He is responsible for keeping the hard-to-reach windows on structures such as Bridgewater Place, DeVos Place, and the new JW Marriott hotel glistening on the horizon. When he ventured into the field, little did he know what an important role it would become. “I loved cleaning windows from the minute I got started,” said Reinhart. “I never saw the growth coming.” Reinhart discovered his calling in 1983 on the facilities team of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. While dangling outside the 30th floor of what was then Grand Rapids’ tallest structure, hooked to a line, Reinhart became, well, hooked. Window washing appealed to his desire to be outdoors while harnessing his maintenance proficiency. Twenty-five years and many, many buckets of soapy water later, the hotel is one of Award’s oldest customers. Every occupation has its quirks, but those of being a window cleaner differ from the foibles of most jobs. For one thing, looking in people’s windows sometimes can’t be helped. For another, you’re always on stage.
“Everybody’s looking at you because you’re dangling from a rope 20 stories up,” says Award Safety Coordinator Mark Reinhart II, the second-generation of Reinharts in the window cleaning business. While employees are washing, tenants are inside conducting business, often in suits and ties. As such, the company emphasizes professionalism. Workers are in uniform and doing what they can to make a good impression. Washers don’t try to see inside buildings while wiping the windows clean, and facilities generally alert staff and visitors before a scheduled washing, but still — things happen. Washers have seen women’s phone numbers — and body parts —pressed against windows. Then there was the larger gentleman who, despite his awareness of the man outside, lounged blithely in a brightly-lit hotel room — in the buff. “[The employee] cleaned that window the fastest he had ever cleaned,” says Reinhart, Sr. So if the stage is a board with a bucket and squeegee, the audience is everyone, inside and out. And this audience is not averse to joking with — and sometimes heckling — the actors. They’ve seen and heard everything from knocks on the windows to the classic ‘You missed a spot!’ and ‘Hey, can you get my car windows?’ For car window requests, Reinhart II shouts down a quote of $20. So far, no one has taken the deal.

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There are other, more serious questions the Reinharts here on and off the buildings. “Everyone wants to know: ‘what’s your secret?’” says Reinhart, Sr. They are seeking the brand name of some miracle cleanser or product, but there is no secret. Just a good tool: the squeegee. In fact, Reinhart has used hand soap from a bathroom when he has run out of his own soap and still ended up with sparkling windows. “The real trick is not to drink too much coffee,” he jokes.
Thrill-seekers need not apply. For much of its existence, the company has operated in an industry with no formal safety protocol, with the International Window Cleaning Association only recently drafting a set of safety standards. Reinhart II has has been washing windows for his dad since he was 14 and officially went to work for him at 18, but his zeal for the industry didn’t emerge until he attended a 2000 IWCA conference. "The IWCA convention was definitely an eye-opener," he says. "We realized that there were so many things we were doing wrong. There were so many changes we had to make." Since that conference, Award has developed a written training program and implemented monthly safety meetings, while growing from a five-employees to an 18. Reinhart II attributes the growth, in part, to lessons learned at the IWCA convention.

So who are these people that want to rappel down the sides of skyscrapers, secured by a 7/16-inch work line and a half-inch safety line, all to make the view a little nicer? They’re not necessarily the same high-risk folks going skydiving and cliff diving. When job applicants come to an interview and play up their bungee-jumping and hang-gliding experience, "We don't want them,” says the younger Reinhart, “not to say they wouldn't be good, but that's not who we are looking for. “We want them to be a little afraid. I'm afraid, too.” It’s the fear, he says that makes them respect the calculated risks they take every day and ultimately, makes them safer. If someone gets spooked while in the air — for whatever reason — Award has the employee do something else that day or simply head home. Everyone has days like that, they say, and keeping a washer outside could compromise safety. To keep the wheels of fear from turning, the safety coordinator turns on his iPod and avoids looking up, which, he says, is worse than looking down. Remembering that, statistically, it’s more dangerous to drive a car down the road than to wash the windows of a tall building provides a measure of comfort, too. When watching a big building go up, most of us don’t think about how the windows will get clean. “Most architects don’t either,” asserts the younger Reinhart. But more and more, architects are turning to Award for advice on how to incorporate window-cleaning efficiencies during the design phase, saving property owners hassle and cost down the road. There also are opportunities to use window washer expertise for the greater good. Reinhart’s staff was on hand for the highly publicized River House for the Michigan Community Blood Centers earlier this month, assisting the $1,000-a-head donors and an assortment of media types on their descent. The Reinharts also see their work as a small measure of community service on day-to-day basis as well. It is their company’s job to keep the city skyline clean and beautiful.

“There is a high level of satisfaction in knowing that you provide a clear view for anyone who has to look through that window,” says Reinhart, Sr. “ When you’re done and you look at the result, you feel like you’ve accomplished something.” And as long as there are big buildings with windows, there will be a need for someone like the Reinharts to clean them. “It’s a great occupation,” adds the owner. “There’s no other job like it.”

Building Contractors Beware of Tempered Glass

BELFAST, MAINE, USA: There is an on going issue regarding tempered glass which can be very costly to your business. 80-90% of all tempered glass being produced today has fabricating debris fused to the surface. This debris consists of glass fines produced when the glass is cut. The glass fines are not being washed off before the glass is tempered and they become fused to the surface. This debris is microscopic, however razor blades used in the cleaning process will dislodge them and the glass fines then scratch the glass. The glass industry recommends not using razors to clean the glass. Razors are an industry standard tool for removing paint, silicon, and general debris that will inevitably get on windows during the construction phase. Asking window cleanings not the use razors is like asking carpenters not to use a hammer. There are ways to avoid the use of a razor in the final cleaning phase of construction if certain precautions are taken. A lot of window companys are now applying protective film to the glass. This film must be left on until all construction is complete to minimize the amount of paint, etc that gets on the glass during building. If windows do not have this film it is highly recommended to mask the glass as soon as the windows are installed. While this issue is with tempered glass, it is a good idea to treat all the glass at your jobsite the same.

This news report comes on the heal of recent postings after Jack Nelson of MWCoA interviewed GANA Board Chairman Cliff Monro & of Arch glass. The interview can be read here. And more information from MWCoA can be read here.

More fabricating debris info here.

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San Jose Firefighters Rescue Window Washers

San Jose, California: Two window washers who were stuck about 100 feet in the air on a downtown San Jose office building were rescued this morning by members of the Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue Team. The scaffolding the two men were working from on the 9th floor of the One Almaden Blvd. building on West Santa Clara Street apparently malfunctioned. About 8:10 a.m., the two window washers called their employer and said the scaffolding would not move. After evaluating their options, firefighters decided to rappel about 70 feet from the roof and one-by-one pull the men up to safety. Firefighters had also considered using helicopter to rescue the men, but concluded that that tactic was just as dangerous as rappelling down the building. A fire-truck ladder was 30 feet too short to reach the men and the scaffolding was too far away from the windows to break them and pull the men inside the building, according to fire officials.
"These firefighters did a tremendous job," fire Capt. Alberto Olmos said. "Their training really shined today." Firefighter Paulo Brito, wearing a safety harness, scaled down the building and reached the stranded window washers sometime around 9:45 a.m. He attached safety harnesses and ropes to one of the men who was then pulled to the roof. Brito then did the same with the second window washer.
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 2.0 shook the South Bay this morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter of the 4:40 a.m. quake was about eight miles north of Morgan Hill and about 16 miles east-southeast of San Jose City Hall, the USGS reported.

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