I have an interesting project to bid on and I want some input from this group before I begin to put it together. The following photos are of a building at the local university.
They want to clean the windows on the inside and out. They also want 16 ceiling fans cleaned. The outs of the windows are a no-brainer. If I had a WFP, this would be perfect, but thats a whole other discussion, so man-lifts will be used. I am familiar with them and very comfortable with their use.
However, the insides are what is giving me fits. I was wondering if some of you rope guys would comment on the chances of the effectiveness of cleaning the inside of the big atrium from a rope descent system.
Manlifts could be used on the inside if I could get them through the standard double doors. There are no larger doors or openings to bring in equipment. Also, the floors are somewhat sensitive as they have just been re-done.
I also want to hear something about reaching those fans. I estimate that the highest reach needed for anything will be 50’. This is an enclosed bldg with fire protection/smoke detectors in place so gas/diesel operated equipment is out of the question.
I would say hand out rain coats and wfp the inside too! just kidding. Do they make scissor lifts that go up that high? Most of those will fit through a standard door and are electric. I just don’t think I have seen one that tall. I would think doing something like that with a rope would be more trouble than a lift? what do the floors look like and can you cover them or protect the floors?
There is an “I-Beam” at the top of the wall, but not sure how to tie off to it. I don’t think I can wrap an anchor circumferrentially around it.
Thanks Sean, I am a shoe in because I am the only window cleaner they use, I just have to be in their price range. Otherwise they have the housekeeping department cleaning the windows…and we all know what that turns out like. Right? P.S. Sean-- Might need some extras on this one. You interested in coming to Denton for a day?
The only scissor lift that can go up that high using electric power will not fit through the doors. I have been slamming all the rental places in the DFW and no one has one that fits under the standard door.
My other option is to rent (or buy) a 60’ (3 section) Extension Ladder. We use these in the fire service, but man talk about slowing you down on time. But hey, it might be fast enough to hit the 38’-50’ range of windows. The rest I can pole with a ledger and a big ext-pole or smaller ladders I already have.
To me and I do things small time like this, I would say the ladder/pole option is your best bet just due to the floors. Can you rent those ladders in your area? Here is another curveball… What if you set up a tarp of some sort to catch the water funnel it to say a 3 inch garden drain hose and wfp the inside top panes? then pole the rest with a ledger? it prolly won’t work but bad ideas often help the good ones show up.
If the girl is to scale, it looks to be somewhere between 30-36 to that top window, so I would probably break out the 40 footer with stabilizer. The ledges look fairly deep that don’t have that crossbar in front of them, so plenty of room to get a good placement without touching the glass. That crossbar is perfect unless it is too far from the glass.
If you did need that 60 footer, that does suck, but atleast assistant 2 can wash some lowers while assistant 1 anchors the bottom for you, in between placements. Alot of manpower raising that beast.
If speed was of the utmost importance, the non-osha approved possibility would be to use a full body harness, with a screamer, attached to a miller webbing anchor (mine I think is close to 3 feet, it will wrap around big timbers). Anchor to the top beam, and walk the lower beam, I am assuming this would be similar to methods used in skyscraper construction, more than skyscraper cleaning. I would say the screamer is important because if you slipped you wouldn’t want to fall far, but you don’t want it to be a static fall either. If you had the 40(60)footer, some body(s) would be there to move the ladder to your rescue or to the next section. Somebody with experience around skyscrapers would probably know the osha approved way the construction guys do it.
Fans? At 50 ft, the only alternative to the scissor lift I could possibly think of would be maybe compressed air attached to pole from those balconies if they are close to the fans.
If you were using the 60 footer you might still want to have an anchor system setup for yourself, just in case:cool:
My first instinct is to use a 50 ft. genie lift. make sure you pad the outriggers with some carpet and you should be OK. The fit thru most any door, and they’re the only thing that will get the ceiling fans
I would only use the lifts in the entrance area - I bet they have slippy tiles there as well? Waterfed pole the inner brick area where the fans are, the brick will soak up most of the water & mop up after. You can wfp most from the gantry if you have a light pole & also reach the fans from there with the Unger fan cleaning attachment.
I’m afraid the pictures you provided is all I have to work with, but that’s what I’m getting from the ones you’ve posted.
standard doorway fixed. There called personnel lifts. Most of your rental places don’t have these types of lifts. They roll with the sizzor lifts. But if you call NES or another large national chain you might be able to find one. They also have ones that are manual crank up, never used one but would figure they might be cheaper then the voltage models.
Sure, Just give me a call if needed and let me know when. I’ll have 4 additional hands if needed too. Oh yea, and my other assistant, Mr. wfp. I doubt it will go as high as you’re going to need it, but it will definately help.
Looks like the perfect job for the Reach Master. An awesome lift, you may have seen it at the IWCA. I get it from Sunbelt Rental 1500 a day 3800 a week Will reach 95 ft and go through standard doorway
Yeah, I saw this online. Unfortunately the rental fee was more like $5,000/day or $10,000 per week. I thought it was a type “O”, but when I called Sunbelt, they confirmed the price. Nice lift though. It would be absolutely perfect for this job.
You may want to check into what kind of fire protection/smoke detectors they have. In these kinds of buildings it’s popular to have a smoke detector that uses a beam. When the beam is broken (supposedly by smoke) the sprinkers turn on. Lifts, poles, or anything else for that matter, can trigger those detectors by breaking that beam, causing a huge mess.
Make sure they turn the system off. It may be a good idea to have that included in the contract somewhere if they do in fact have these kinds of detectors.
Here’s an example of what one of those detectors look like, but there’s different variations.
See if any rentals carry a denka-lift. They’re pretty skinny and go high, we crammed one into a huge freight elevator for a hotel once and around some tight hallways…i was impressed with were it could go. Of course pad the outriggers so you don’t screw up the floor.
I’ll bump it also because it had me stumped. They could ladder the windows, if a 44 doesn’t work a 60 would, a guy could walk that top beam, but I can’t believe no scissor lift goes through that doors but I don’t know much about them. I knew some one that put a boom truck through doors by letting air out if it’s tires, but they weren’t standard doors.
And then there’s the Fans… I’m thinking scaffolding? This is tough.
I’ve done a similar wall (when I was an employee), I don’t think it was quite as high, we never used a 60’ ladder, but we did ladder the insides and walked the beams where we could. It was a scrap job, after construction cleaning but it still got done in a day by 3 of us. You can’t see it but it’s behind these trees. The Ebola virus is in this building, canadian gov. screwing around.
