Hi WCR fans, I’m still a newbie to WFP and I have a 153 window 3 story apt bldg that I have done yearly for 4 years straight. I have used the big heavy ladders each time and always wonder why I took it on until I get the check. This May I have picked up a second one almost identical. Now though I have a WFP. But I know both building have double hungs with a thin aluminum mutin (glass dividers) and white powdering paint frames that is difficult to keep off of the glass even with careful traditional hand work.
[B]I need some advice from anyone experienced with this problem, as I hope to use my WFP and leave the 32 foot ladder on my van for decoration only![/B]
Also I have both a nylon Tucker brush and a boars hair, I only used the boars hair once and it may have been my inexperience but it did not do as well and it had an odor when it was wet. But if it works better for this problem, I can deal with the smell.
[B]Please Help![/B] [/IMG] [/IMG]
I’ve run into this many times WFPing and by hand… I’d scrub the frames really well and go through the whole process . I guess other call it a pre-wash, but I’d do it as a final wash.
Then I’d move ahead and clean the whole top floor as a final wash, scrubbing the frames overly well and do a prolong rinse !
When finished with the top floor I’d go back to the beginning and inspect the glass to see if the dead paint or if the frames are vinyl and are beginning to degrade, and look to see if it drifted down on to the glass with the final rinse and dried there !
If I find this I re-clean and rinse and hope it doesn’t reoccur !
Dead paint and degrading vinyl are a major problem with WFP work ! Personally I’d ladder it if I felt the WFPing won’t come out !
Are the cuts exterior or in the thermal pane , Is it wood frames or vinyl ? If the cuts are external they will have a tendency to bleed the dead paint or vinyl, then there’s a good likelihood it won’t come out right and will look like heck !
If they are clear plates with internal cuts then you might have a better chance of success…Try test a bottom floor window to see what will happen before starting with the whole top floor…That better then having to re-do because it didn’t come out right.
If your test shows a chance for a failed cleaning then do it by ladder. There are many that say every window can be done with a WFP…and they can be…but not every window will come out, ergo dead paint/dead vinyl.
Oh I like your Mrs. TUCKER POLE in your pictures…OH YEAH.
Say what is your process with the screens ? Are you going to have the tenants remove them ! If your going to go up and remove them yourself then doing it by hand is the only way to go ! To wet the glass through the screen thinking your getting them clean , well then that’s a half a_ _ way of doing it and a very non quality process !
Hey Dange,
The janitor will move the screens before we come, as for the cut ups it is a little strange the horizontal is on the out side and is unpainted gray aluminum only sticks up maybe 1/8" while the vertical dividers are outside of the inside of the window which does not affect us as we are to do out only.
The frames are likely aluminum painted white, but I’m sure they are not wood.
I like the idea of doing a ground floor first, as we can’t go into the apts to check our work on the higher floors.
I have heard that a washing of the frames first, then after some dripping time passes to go back and clean the glass as normal. I just want to know for sure as these jobs are too big to do twice.
Thanks for your reply!
Hey Shawn, I am confused, are you saying the bristles are too long?
I would have thought that since it was sold as a WFP brush that it should have been engineered for the job!
Should I get scissors out and trim it out or did I make a mistake to get one altogether?
I am not making fun, I am inexperienced in this area. Is there a short boars hair or should I not think about one at all!
Thanks for your help!
Matt
You can use a Tucker pole adapter - Tucker Pole Adaptor that will allow you to use any euro threaded brush. Here’s a video of my Tucker after I installed the adapter.
