So… I’m actually going back to a customer to finish up (still ridiculously slow).
Yesterday, I tried to Fan the windows of a storefront. I was really getting frustrated with the dumb straight pull. I keep leaving water at all the edges, and sometimes the water drips down so fast that my squeegee can’t keep up, and the water gets onto the cleaned area! (yes, I am angling my squeegee).
After I think 3 tries with the fanning, I started to get it. I didn’t really see any streaks… any mess up I could just… go get it on my way down. I looked on the sides… no water. didn’t have to wipe water off the edges of the window. (still wiped the sill).
and… I looked at that window, and looked at the windows I straight pulled… Those windows I straight pulled I’m going back to re-do because there is smears and… smudges… and streaks down the edges. looks horrible.
The only thing I’m nervous about is the possibility that the windows I fanned maybe just didn’t have time to settle so I could see the atrocities i committed to the fanned windows… lol.
Or should I be able to see my results right away? When i was a kid I would wash my parents car. 20 minutes later, I’d see that I did a horrible job. Is it the same with Window cleaning or should you be able to tell right away?
Lastly, I officially hate straight pulls… Is there ever a time where it is better to use?(french panes is all I’ve seen so far) I heard of people doing straight pulls with 36’’ channels. Why couldn’t I just fan with like… a 28’’??? or even a 36’’. lol.
The only time I do straight pulls is on French panes, and trust me, there was a time I took a tiny squeegee and tried to fan one just to make absolutely sure it wasn’t better to fan it, too.
I straight pull smaller residentials windows mostly because I can two-pull a window faster than fanning. Larger windows . . . fanning is much quicker, better results, and less detail work. I’ve never liked using anything bigger than a 22", but that’s a personal preference.
Fanning is much better in my opinion but on occasion you’ll find out on some windows, the straight pull will be a little easier to do. On French panes I’ve learned using the z-method (I think that’s what ive heard it called) works best for me. Well congrats on learning how to fan, you’ll get better and faster with time and experience.
You still need to master the straight pull. If you can fan, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to make a clean straight pull. The principals are the same, and there are times when a straight pull makes more sense.
If you’re having trouble with something, you should slow down and figure out exactly what is going wrong. You need to think about what [B]should be[/B] going on (IE “the rubber should stay completely in contact with the glass at all times, removing all of the water”) and if it’s not, figure out what is happening that is preventing this.
For example, if you are leaving water for 1/2" all along the window gasket, your squeegee may be riding the gasket instead of staying completely on the glass. If that is what’s happening, then slow your squeegee pull down and keep the rubber completely on the glass and don’t allow it to drift over the gasket.
If you stick with it, thinking and paying attention while you work, you will become the squeegee’s master and it will do exactly what you want it to.
