Winning Clients At Construction Stage

A crew from Stamford, Conn.-based Sentinel Maintenance cleans the LED video display at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Cleaning company winning clients at construction stage: On a sunny morning in early July, the glassy facade of a former GE Capital building on Long Ridge Road reflected light in the direction of the comparatively modest offices where Marc Schultz sets the weekly schedule for his Sentinel Maintenance. It was not so long ago Schultz was working inside that building—and if his new company keeps up its momentum, it may not be long before he is working the exterior.

Nearly three years after establishing Sentinel Maintenance East Coast in Stamford, Schultz has grown the building cleaning company to 30 workers with clients throughout the Tri-state area and as far south as Miami. If still a small company, Sentinel Maintenance is living up to its company slogan “clean across North America.” Created by cousins of Schultz, initially in the province of Saskatchewan and then in Phoenix, Sentinel Maintenance expanded throughout Canada and the Western United States.

Marc Schultz, with Sentinel Maintenance. Schultz started Sentinel Maintenance's east coast group three years ago. Sentinel Maintenance specializes in building maintenance, construction cleaning, power washing and high-elevation window and facade cleaning.

Schultz grew up in New York City, with his father selling bulletproof vests to the military, law enforcement and corrections facilities. Schultz moved to Stamford in 2000, working for GE Capital here and in Norwalk. Following the financial crisis, General Electric began paring back GE Capital and in 2012 Schultz lost his job as a senior vice president of strategic marketing.

He took the summer off, improving his golf game while assessing career options, but he didn’t find any great opportunities in his field. The phone did ring one day, however, with his cousin Craig Grotsky in Phoenix, who had gotten word of Schultz’s free-agent status. “They called me up and said, ‘Just a thought —fly out to Phoenix, sit with us for a few days,’ ” Schultz recalled. “I came [back], found an office … For two months I was pounding the pavement, dropping off cards and flyers. Landlords, building owners, developers—I was shooting for the fences.”

Schultz won an initial job cleaning a Webster Bank branch in Greenwich. From there, he started to see a trickle of responses from his outreach, with much of the early work coming from Sentinel Maintenance’s focus on cleaning up buildings under construction.

With New York City's Freedom Tower as a backdrop, workers with Stamford, Conn.-based Sentinel Maintenance prepare to clean windows at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park.

Sentinel’s big breakthrough was the result of happenstance, however. Spotting the glass tower of the Ritz-Carlton Westchester while passing through White Plains, N.Y., on a whim, Schultz pulled up and asked to see a manager about taking on window cleaning duties there. Leaving a card, Schultz hit the road for Stamford, and within 10 minutes got a call from the manager, who told him she happened to be looking for a vendor. Sentinel got the deal and delivered —and got a major reference that has generated ample business. “From that, our phone just keeps ringing,” Schultz said.

It is a ground-up business model —literally. Sentinel Maintenance has built its customer base by getting contracts with developers to tidy up after construction crews as they build structures, then perform a final cleaning in advance of tenants taking occupancy. Those jobs are short but intense, with constant touch-ups required over several months. While those contracts have a shelf life, from those relationships Sentinel has been able to win ongoing exterior window cleaning of building facades or “porter” work keeping common areas on property spotless, providing it a base of recurring revenue.

Employees of Stamford, Conn.-based Sentinal Maintenance position a suspended platform at the Ritz-Carlton, Westchester in White Plains, N.Y.

Schultz said he has no interest in expanding to include broad commercial or residential janitorial services, saying he prefers daytime jobs that showcase the professionalism of Sentinel Maintenance’s crews in action. Locally, the company’s highest-profile project is still a work in progress —Stamford Hospital’s new tower rising on the city’s West Side. With a client that is as obsessed with cleanliness as any, Sentinel Maintenance crews will perform the final major cleaning in advance of hospital staff bringing the facility up to exacting health facility standards.

Today, Sentinel Maintenance has expanded to encompass a staff of 30 in Stamford, who have undertaken cleaning assignments for new buildings in the city’s Harbor Point district and window scrubbing for the Trump Parc Stamford tower and other high-rises in the city.

Two years ago, Sentinel Maintenance opened a Georgia office, and in June added a location in Miami. Schultz is now considering opening an office in the Charlotte, N.C. area. He says he can envision having 10 offices covering the East. If seeing momentum and repeat business after a tight first year, Schultz will still go out on a limb—or more precisely, a lanyard—in a bid to impress a potential client. Hearing that Schultz himself had never been over the side of a high-rise himself, a Sentinel Maintenance client told Schultz he would sign on the spot for year’s worth of service if he did it then and there. “I harnessed up,” Schultz said.

Sentinal Maintenance's Alan Martinez prepares to descend a facade of the UBS building in Stamford, Conn. in June 2015, with a helping hand from colleague Antonio Marquez.

Window Cleaning Company Fined For Safety Breaches

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) successfully prosecuted Brian Stubbs (director) and Brian Stubbs and Company Limited at Stafford Magistrates’ Court after a window cleaner was observed standing on guttering on the outside of a balcony parapet wall on the third floor of St Joseph’s Nursing Home, Lichfield Road, Stafford.

Window cleaning company fined for safety breaches: A window cleaning firm and its sole director have been fined for health and safety breaches after the company was employed to clean the windows at a nursing home.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) successfully prosecuted Brian Stubbs (director) and Brian Stubbs and Company Limited at Stafford Magistrates’ Court after a window cleaner was observed standing on guttering on the outside of a balcony parapet wall on the third floor of St Joseph’s Nursing Home, Lichfield Road, Stafford, on 21 August 2014. An HSE investigation found that there was no suitable edge protection or other appropriate safety measures in place.

Mr Stubbs, of Westhead Avenue, Stafford, was fined a total of £660 and ordered to pay £867 costs after pleading guilty to breaching 3(1)(a) of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Brian Stubbs and Company Limited was fined £660 and ordered to pay £846 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After the case HSE Inspector Katherine Blunt commented: “Work being carried out in this manner was entirely avoidable. This could very easily have been a fatality. “They didn’t have to do the work this way. As advertised on the company’s website, a ‘reach and wash’ system could have been used, which allows the cleaning of windows up to 65 feet.”

For more information on what employers need to do to protect employees when they work at height please visit the HSE webpage here.

Seattle's Building Boom Means More Work For Window Washers

"Competition is fierce," said Mark Yokers, owner of Puget Sound Window Maintenance.

Wagtail squeegee's are used a lot in high-rise work.

Seattle's building boom means more work for window washers: The rapidly evolving Seattle skyline is proving to be a good thing for more people than just the developers. Window washers are experiencing a boom, too. More buildings means more dirty windows. "Competition is fierce," said Mark Yokers, owner of Puget Sound Window Maintenance.

When Yokers started his business in 1980, the landscape looked a lot different. Always in love with heights, he left the roofing business to grab a squeegee and harness so he could make a living by rappelling off Seattle's tallest buildings to wash windows. It's something he still loves. Now, his business has swelled to 10 employees and Yokers is hiring.

"Two-thirds of the buildings weren't even here when I started," he said. "In 2005-2008, a ton of building went on, then there was a lull. Now it's just going crazy". The city says 23 buildings have been built downtown in the past three years and Seattle has already surpassed its growth goals for 2024 by threefold.

Yokers takes pride in having a clean safety record and says the job is not as dangerous as it looks if you do it right. Still, there is inherent risk dangling hundreds of feet in the air without a platform. A starting window washer makes about $17 per hour.

Even those who take the job can find it's not for everyone. "Twice now, a guy gets to the bottom and they'll come to me and say, 'You know what? I don't think I'm cut out for this,'" said Yokers.

With Seattle's skyline growing every day, there is plenty of work for the city's window washers. "My chair now is mostly in front of a desk and I don't like that as well," he said. "I'd much rather be out hanging."

Dilapidated Government Buildings & Their Windows

How bad is the California state building where you work? Mechanical failure has kept one building’s windows unwashed for 10 years. Some office structures lack fire sprinklers, contain hazardous materials, suffer from leak.

Fun fact: The windows on the Resources Building in downtown Sacramento haven’t been cleaned in more than a decade. “The window cleaning platform is not functional,” the California Department of General Services stated in a new report on the 51-year-old building. “The windows have not been cleaned in over ten years, and without an operable platform, the exterior tile joints cannot be maintained.”

Other problems inside and outside the building include asbestos in the walls, ceiling and floor tiles, exterior joints around windows that allow water to seep in, a “spongy” roof the verge of leaking and fire-safety systems that aren’t up to code. Those troubles and others gave the 17-story structure at 1416 Ninth St. the ignominious distinction as the most-dilapidated office building that the state owns or leases among the 29 assessed by HOK, a well-known architectural firm.

HOK figures that fixing everything, from replacing restroom exhaust fans to seismically retrofitting the Resources Building’s exterior, would cost $148.8 million. Lawmakers commissioned the first-ever survey of state properties last year. The Brown administration has said the results will guide policy for repairing or replacing government buildings. Want to check on the state building where you work? General Services has posted the results all the state building assessments by HOK. You’ll find them here.

Part of the problem is that many of the building’s 3,000 windows in the Houses of Parliament of the building on the banks of the River Thames in central London will not close properly

Deteriorating Houses of Parliament could catch fire again, warn Parliament officials: The Palace of Westminster is in such a state of disrepair that it could burn down for a second time, senior officials in charge of a major overhaul have warned. MPs are getting stuck in lifts and missing votes because of the scale refurbishment required at the Houses of Parliament, they said.

Part of the problem is that many of the building’s 3,000 windows of the building on the banks of the River Thames in central London will not close properly, further causing more damage to the fabric of the building designed by the architect Augustus Pugin. Richard Ware, the director for the Restoration and Renewal Programme at the Palace of Westminster, said the £50million a year work programme only kept the building working operationally. More fundamental work was needed to stop the building deteriorating further, referring to the last major fire in the Houses of Parliament in 1834. 

A report on the future of the Palace of Westminster concluded in 2012: “If the Palace were not a listed building of the highest heritage value, its owner would probably be advised to demolish and rebuild.” One of the major problems is that asbestos – a deadly substance which was used in the 1940s and 1950s to fireproof buildings - had been “liberally applied all around the building – not just as insulation but in light switches, toilet systems and as a sound suppressant”, Mr Barlex said.

Window Cleaner Of Soi Dogs Tries For World Record

Izzy Van De Ven and Zat Lewis at Soi Dogs.

Sunderland window cleaners honoured for their work helping dogs in Thailand: A dedication to animals has shone through for a Wearside window-cleaning couple. Izzy Van De Ven and Zat Lewis, have been named volunteers of the year by international dog and cat charity, Soi Dogs. The Sunderland pair visited the charity’s kennels in Phuket, Thailand and were so moved by the plight of the animals they have since 
dedicated all their spare time to helping the charity.

The pair run the organisation’s merchandising site and recently organised a massive fun day at Ross on Wye, where 566 pooches helped break the UK record of the most dogs in one place wearing bandanas. Hundreds of people went along to the event, including many of the dogs who were rescued from horrific conditions in Thailand and are now living new and happy lives in the UK. Izzy, 42, said: “We didn’t beat the world record, but we were still proud to beat the UK record.”

Window cleaner, Zat Lewis at Soi Dogs.

Since joining the charity, Izzy and Zat, 49, who live in Millfield, have between them raised in the region of £150,000. They have also made nine trips to Thailand to act as flight volunteers, bringing a total of 54 dogs back to Britain to their new families. Izzy said: “When we visited the kennels, that was it we fell madly in love with the place and both felt this was where we were meant to be.”

Window cleaner, Zat Lewis, going for the Guinness World record.

She said the pair, who have two cats of their own, are well known in the city and everyone on their Roker window-cleaning rounds knows about their voluntary work. Izzy said: “I am always selling them calendars and things to support the charity.”

She said the dogs suffer heartbreaking cruelty and torture when they are stolen for the meat trade and the charity, which works across the world, is dedicated to fighting it. Pop singer Will Young and comedian Ricky Gervais are both celebrity ambassdors for Soi Dogs.

The charity is always in need to funding as the process of getting one rescue dog to a new home in Britain costs £700. Izzy said: “People who donate and who give these dogs new homes are saving a life.” Anyone interested in supporting Soi Dogs, such as volunteering at the shelter, fundraising, donating, sponsoring a dog, becoming a flight volunteer or adopting, visit the website here.

Izzy Van De Ven at Soi Dogs.

Those Chalk Symbols Outside Homes

Chalk signage has been used far & wide for decades. All marks are different depending on country.

Burglars are using coded chalk symbols to let other criminals know whether a property is worth targeting. The marks, are made by would-be thieves to indicate if the house is vulnerable, revealing who is living in the house and whether there is anything worth stealing. Chillingly one sign, in the shape of an open book, says a vulnerable female resident is the occupant and another symbol indicates a homeowner who is ‘nervous and afraid’.

Police are now investigating the shapes after speaking to other residents in the area and have distributed leaflets in the area warning of the symbols. The code has been previously been spotted in other parts of the country. Resembling washing instructions with a series of crosses, circles and boxes, they have been found on walls and surfaces of homes as well as pavements and kerbs. A simple 'X' means the home is a good target, while the same symbol outlined with a circle means there is nothing worth stealing in the property.

A capital D with a dash drawn in it indicates that burgling the house is too risky, while five circles in the shape of a star shows that a property is wealthy. Other marks reveal if a house is alarmed or has already been burgled. Salford police are now urging people who have noticed these symbols to take a picture and then wash them off the property as soon as possible.

"There was a man knocking on doors in Tuxford Close at the start of the year claiming to be a window cleaner, but without any proof of belonging to or running such a business. "They extract the detail they are after, such as whether there is an elderly person living there. After this round of door knocks a mark was seen outside the home of an elderly man."

Mystery chalk signs could be burglars' code for next target: Last week the symbols were seen on pavements and buildings and it is feared they may be a code telling thieves about properties. Concerned residents in Maidenbower and Three Bridges have reported seeing bright pink chalk markings left on pavements and the walls of homes. Such symbols have been known to be left by criminals wanting to indicate to other burglars whether a property is worth targeting or not. The marks can mean anything from "nothing worth stealing" to "good target" or "vulnerable person lives here".

Last week members of the Maidenbower Residents Group Facebook page reported spotting such markings near homes in Pallingham Drive, Tuxford Close, Chapman Road, Barber Close and Collingwood Road. Similar markings have also since been reported in West Way, Three Bridges. John Bowers has seen suspicious markings near his home in Gates Close, Maidenbower. He said: "Mysterious chalk symbols have been drawn at the entrance to the close. "We have had fibre broadband already installed in our road so I cannot believe it is for that, as some people have suggested. "It is weird. We are being vigilant."

Another Crawley resident, who asked not to be named, said she suspects this method was used to select the home of an elderly burglary victim in Tuxford Close in January. She said: "As far as I am concerned there is truth in these methods being used. "They have been around for a long time and I don't think the symbols or markings left are overly complicated.

"There was a man knocking on doors in Tuxford Close at the start of the year claiming to be a window cleaner, but without any proof of belonging to or running such a business. "They extract the detail they are after, such as whether there is an elderly person living there. After this round of door knocks a mark was seen outside the home of an elderly man."

Some people, though, have suggested that the markings have actually been left by utility companies preparing to carry out work. However, this is not the first time suspicious markings have been spotted in Crawley. In July 2013 Sussex Police launched an appeal after a home in the town was daubed with a symbol. A police spokeswoman said there have not been any recent burglaries in Crawley where chalk markings were found outside the homes. But she said anyone who sees something suspicious should call police.

Click to enlarge.

Hobo signs - Beginning in the 1880's and still today, hoboes place markings on fences, posts, signs, sidewalks, buildings, trestles, bridge abutments, trees and railroad line side equipment to aid them and others of their kind in finding help or steering them clear of trouble. Usually, these signs would be written in chalk or coal letting others know what they could expect in the area of the symbol. 

These symbols can be used today or in an emergency to assist in finding fresh water or shelter or warning of danger. It is these symbols which can assist that we will cover and add a few of our own as should the need arise, a pictograph language for communication is one of the simplest and basic forms that allow all regardless of spoken language or education level to quickly grasp and use.

Click to enlarge.

Cleaning Windows In High Heels 60ft Up

Cleaning Windows In High Heels 60ft Up.

Government worker climbed out window onto 60ft-high ledge: A staff member at Government Buildings has been reminded of safety protocols after pictures emerged of her perched on a ledge at Government buildings. The incident took place at Upper Merrion Street buildings that house Taoiseach Enda Kenny's offices on Tuesday evening.

The woman was pictured on the ledge as much as 60ft above the basement level below. Photographs of the incident were posted online yesterday. People speculated on a message board that the women was cleaning the windows in the Department of the Taoiseach due to budget cutbacks following austerity measures. No harness or other means or other means of securing her safety on the ledge of the Edwardian building can be seen in the pictures.

The incident was described by a spokesman for the Taoiseach as "a one-off occurrence". "The staff member in question has been reminded of their obligations under the Safety, Health and Welfare Act," he added. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) said that they were not aware of the incident last night.

A spokesperson said that it would be inappropriate to comment on the act without knowing the context behind the pictures. The Department of the Taoiseach did not respond when asked by the Herald what the woman's job title is or what she was doing on the ledge.

A question over whether the incident would be reported to the HSA also went unanswered by staff in Mr Kenny's department. The photographs appear to have been taken from inside another Government building, where the Department of Agriculture is housed. They were posted online where people expressed amazement at the daring episode. A spokesperson from the Department of Agriculture said that they were not aware of the images last night but added that there are a number of occupants in the building.