hey guys …
you think it would be ok/safe to put a ladder against this skylight? need to get nose to glass do to window not being cleaned in like 15 years. I tried on lower section with rag an got the dirt/debris off… also any recomendations on what scrubber/ rag/ pad and solution to get this job done as fast as possible? pole is not an option will not get job done… its about 12 ft high… thanks guys
I would go for an extension pole with an abrasive strip washer. You might also have to use a scraper. It all depends on what type of glass it is. I would be wary of leaning a ladder against it, especially as it is sloped which means your weight would be borne by the skylight as opposed to the ladder. Theres also the increased risk of the ladder slipping back for the same reason. For ladder work you want the highest percentage of your weight to be bearing down on the ladder and not the structure.
As its only 12’ high you will get good pressure and control from using an extension pole. Check out this thread on strip washers which may be helpful.
http://windowcleaner.com/vBulletin/residential-window-cleaning/9443-strip-washer.html
I’ve done glass like that. Make a note that the surrounding edges are bad with some staining. Very hard to get off. You could try a HW stain remover but I dont think it’s going to do much good. Safe restore might be a better option. As far as strip washers. I use a micro tiger most of the time but for a window like this I would go with an unger that has the green strip pad on the back. I know poleing is not an option but it’s really the only way I see to do this safely. Leaning a ladder on the glass is never a really good option. You dont know what is going on with the frame and structure. If you get on the ladder and anything gives out, you can end up through the glass and your new window cleaning company is out of business. The windows don’t look like they would be that hard to access with a pole and ettore pro.
Windows like that, which have tons of staining around the frames will come clean. But if the customer is expecting you to remove that stuff (in most cases they are, unless you told them about the issue) then you are in for one hell of a day. Again I have cleaned windows like that on a few military bases, even with 2 cleans and 3 attempts with a hw stain remover the staining was still visible. When you looked up at the glass from the inside they looked great, but from the outside you could still see the stain.
As the guys said leaning a ladder against it is just plain unsafe. I also agree w/ Ray that this is more than just cleaning. It’s a restoration job. Charge more and use OneRestore (SafeRestore) on a Pulex MicroTiger sleeve and a pole. Finish w/ a good clean w/ a wfp and you should have fabulous results.
yea but i tried a pole already… and i tried razor blade and microtiger. The only way i was able to get a corner clean was by nose to glass on the bottom section an using a dry towl an rubbing real hard.
That’s why the OneRestore. It’s an acid and will eat off anything except silica staining.
Haha Danny, we started around the same time in the same area, but you sure get some funky jobs lol
i have found by using an ANGLE ADAPTER on the end of the pole,with the angle set at more than 90degrees,as in bent right over forwards , allows a real force to be used on the scrubber . after a decent effort with wet scrubbing with a micro tiger sleeve,id most likely then take off the sleeve and wrap a SCRIMCLOTH around the scrubber and buff the glass that way .
yea tell me about it chris lol… i get all these pain in the *ss jobs lol haha
We’ve all had a few of those. I remember back in Scotland we were asked to price 20 skylights which had been painted over from the 2nd World War because of the blackout restrictions due to bombing raids. They hadn’t been touched in 50 years and had multiple coats of black paint on them. We deliberately over priced the job at 1000 pounds (Around $2000 US at that time) We got the job lol. It took at least 4 gallons of Nitromors paint stripper to get the paint off. The good thing was that the glass had been preserved from the effects of weathering underneath and came up just like new. It took us two full days to get it done but it was worth it. And to think we didn’t really want the job in the first place lol.
Could you clamp a board to the outer frame to keep the weight of the ladder off the glass? What about a plank between two ladders?
Dats dat hustle bro lol
only 12 feet high… is a stepladder not an option? You can rent a 12ft stepladder for just over $30 around here. Or just buy one so you’ve got it in the future, I paid $50 for ours.
