The phrase we are all discussing is kind of like the word F*ck. When you use it, it all comes down to the context of the situation. Even if it is used as a complement, others can take it as an insult.
3 Likes
I truly have to disagree with this statement. You donât get 20 years under your belt if you arenât doing SOMETHING on the value side of things.
Is it as you or I would do? Doesnât matter, everyone is different, and just like the painter , the window cleaner, or the electrician - everyone has their own style and way of doing things. Your top to bottom is my side to side.
4 Likes
I understand what your trying to say. I would probably just present it a different way. To say that having 20 years experience is worthless when it comes to your opinion on an industrial matter would not be a wise statement. I would rather say that just having 20 years experience doesnât automatically make you right and you canât always hide behind that statement.
Again I get where your coming from. Some guys use it as some sort of easy button to win an argument. That said though there are times when itâs valid. For instance a guy asked about using steel wool on glass. Several guys said 000 would scratch. Well Iâve been using steel 000 steel wool on glass for 20 years without one scratch (which I stated to def nd my position). Thatâs allot of glass. How many pieces of glass do you have to use steel wool on without a scratch before we can conclude that it wonât scratch? So having 20 years of experience does add clout to my position.
The other valid reason to state your years of experience is to give anyone reading the advice confidence that the advice is proven over and over. They will have to determine for themselves whether itâs valid or not but it should be worth consideration and not a wuick dismissal.
So I get your point I would just add that there is still value in in someone stsing their experience even though some guys might over use it or act like a bully with it.
Besides Iâve been doing this for 20 years so my comments are valid.
2 Likes
When I can use OC to remove etching I always use 0000. I used to use it on post constructions when razors werenât getting everything off. Using it less now with all the new glass coatings. Magic erasers work just as well but takes a lot more elbow grease.
I have used both 0000 and 000 over the years. They both work better on different applications. Iâve tried the magic eraser but didnât like it so much. I agree that wool can scrach coatings so you have to know your glass. I mostly use wool for first time cleans. The dirt really clings to the glass here and gets baked on and requires wool to get it off. Hogs hair works decent but not as good as wool.
Consider the flip side as well - often newer guys are quick to ridicule âold schoolâ guys because we arenât as quick to embrace newer technology or equipment. Iâm only 45 but was trained old school by old school guys. I only just started using water fed poles, I donât use any commercial soaps - just dawn and ammonia. I have used the same sorbo channels and handles for the past 15 years. I donât liquidate nor do I wagtail. I donât intend to.
But, when we read some of the comments about various subjects, itâs easy to feel like we are being left with the dinosaurs. If you donât have a website or Facebook page - youâre a Bucket Bob (God, I hate that phrase too).
So the condescension goes both ways at times. Thatâs why I say donât worry about any of it. At the end of the day, Iâm only really concerned with how my family view me and what I do.
7 Likes
@Garry youre right maybe that comment was a bit harsh. Here is a prime example. Reanna and I are cleaning a commercial building the other week. It hasnt been cleaned in 10 years , so Im scrubbing really well taking my time on these really dirty windows. Keep in mind there is an awning that comes out about 6 feet below them and the roof is aluminum and at a really steep pitch. Im using a wfp. I hear behind me âhey 30 secs and move on to the nextâ. I think to myself o boy. So I asked if he actually cleaned windows and he said O yeah 17 years. And that I clearly did not know how to use a wfp because you are only suppose to clean a window for 30 sec and move on to the next. Now this is not why I posted this thread but its a prime example. That is more than horrible advice , I have been using a wfp for a little over a year and I know better than this magic 30 sec and move on technique. So I give him the benefit of the doubt and explained that the windows have not been cleaned in 10 plus years, He says it dont matter. Then told me how he was a maverick with trad tools and would just lay his ladder against the awing and to clean the windows or walk that steep roof. I know of this guy from a very popular yt video. So I really do believe that he has been in this trade for 17 years, but every single bit of information he had to offer was more than worthless or it was dangerous. And you know what he is still out cleaning windows.
I totally agree with you! Look my thing is TIME has nothing to do with how you or how well you perform a task. It bugs me when I hear somebody call another guy a bucket bob because they decided not to have an fb or website.
1 Like
I remember years ago I was a crew leader of the company I worked for, it was summer and we had a whole ton of schools and universities to clean. So boss man hires about 10 or so extra guys to smash them out.
He was really exited about 1 guy who had had his own window cleaning business and had 15 years experience, this guy comes to the site first thing he asks everyone is how long we have all being doing this for I was the longest at the time with 8 years to he to reply with âoh well Iâve been doing this 15 years⌠maybe I should be in chargeâ, I told him to settle down as it was his first day.
Since he claimed to be no rookie I decided to put him with 1 other new guy and have them work in an area and left them to it while I took the rest of the rookies to another building. After 2 hours I go check on the other 2, who should have completed the hallway of windows however in 2 hours they had only cleaned about 15 windows and the 15 year âvetâ had only cleaned 5 windows and the other guy with no experience had cleaned twice as many.
I was really annoyed asked them WTF they had been doing all this time, dude looked so suprised, he was like what do you mean, then I asked why the guy who had never cleaned windows before had cleaned more than he had, he told me he ran out of rags, that the 10 he had to start with were all wet already.
He was bad he refused to use the company gear and would only use his own gear, which was those lame ass pullex channels with the holes in it 12" no less and he didnât know how to fan so used 10 rags on 5 windows⌠but this dude wanted to be in charge as he was more experienced. Well he had started to clean windows 15 years ago but never really learned how to do it properly,this was before youtube and it looked like the guy had taught himself and never worked along side a real window cleaner. I attempted to show him what was expected and how he would be expected to clean windows, he was very much opposed to doing correctly and to be quite honest we didnât have the supply of rags he would require to clean anymore windows, so he was sent home never to return lol
5 Likes
It doesnât necessarily have anything to do with how well you do something. Take two and all things Bing equal who would you bet on to perform a task better? The guy who has been doing it 5 years or 20 years?
Time is a factor but it isnât necessarily a factor. You can clean windows for 20 years and still he a bum. Most likely though time has improved your skills.
yes and I would agree ⌠MOST likely . But not always. Read @Steve076 little story above. This is another great point. Look im not saying this is true across the board⌠just that it is not a valid auguring point.
HAHAHAâŚYea, just canât get past some folk. 
Absolutely itâs not always true. There are idiots out there and guys who claim more than what they are. I wouldnât say itâs never a valid argument. I would simply say it doesnât always add validity to an argument. Your over all point is absolutely valid.
Also the flip side is true that just because someone might be new to cleaning windows it doesnât always mean their ideas are fresh and that their perspective is always new. It might just be inexperienced and foolish and something that
has been tried and ooven being time again.
Anyone new to the industry would serve themselves well to be humble and slow to argue their point and offer at least initial respect to anyone who is an industrial ekder so to speak, that is until they prove that they should be respected otherwise.
I think every new generation tries to reinvent the wheel.
I use to laugh at old men standing on the corner complaining about the good ol days and kids these days and now I find myself on the corner with a friend complaining about the kids these days and the good ol days.
It use to really irritate me when our parents use to refer to my wife and me as âthe kidsâ. As if we didnât know our ass from our elbow. Now that Iâve got a few more years under my belt, semi retired, and can understand their point of view⌠Iâve come to relize that they were right. LOL
PS
We werenât totally clueless. We had just finished college. Compared to high school kids we were intellectually giants. LOL
3 Likes
It is a hoot yelling âget off my lawn!!!â Iâve waited years to be able to do thisâŚ
4 Likes
Window cleaning is very competitive. Weâre constantly competing for the customers dollar. No wonder why we always think weâre better than everyone else.
3 Likes
I guess I am always aware that in the end, all we do is clean glass. We donât save lives. We donât really do anything that really means anything to people - like say a mechanic. He fixes my truck so I can get to work and provide for my family. What we do is not rocket science, and itâs not terribly vital. Those of us that survived the recession know that. How quickly we became a luxury that many could no longer afford.
That said, there is still much to be learned. The videos are great for even an old dog. Sometimes a nugget jumps out. Bit I do tend to lean towards someone that has years of experience. That is why a forum is valuable, esp with open minded participants.
8 Likes
I have to disagree with you. Granted, most think of us as window monkeys working for beer money when we do store fronts or similar small jobs.When they see you cleaning and restoring 100 year old windows on an old mill building or mansion itâs a different story. Once they see you suited up in tyvek and wearing a full face respirator the âcan you clean the windows on my carâ comments go away. The knowledge and skill level for that type of work takes years to attain.
1 Like
Quick show of hands - how many of us do what you just described? Anyone? 1 in 10? 1 in 100? You are probably one of the few that contributes such a critical, historically relevant service to mankind. You are to be commended, even revered for your service. Perhaps they will name a saint after you someday. At the very least, a national holiday.
For the rest of us, we should all take pride in our work, tho obviously not near as much as you should. I think most of us enjoy what we do and are looking for the best way to put out a quality product and remain profitable at the same time. Like most in the service industry, this means being mindful of exactly what we contribute to our customers as well as our place in the financial food chain.
And in our heart of hearts, we can only hope to be as high up as this guy.
1 Like
