These were previously on a trad run and apparently the previous windy done the balconies no problem (according to the custies). I strained my neck and hurt my ribs trying to trad them as there's no room to get your arm in and around the glass panel. I will wfp the ground floor next clean but has anyone got an idea for the first and second floors?
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Awkward balcony windows?
- Thread starter Mabozzer
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Picture isn’t great but we put the brush through the railings and clean the glass you might not be able to get to 100% of it but generaly you can do the majority of it ok
It's actually a criss cross railing with a glass panel attached. Proper pita!
I tried to trad it by leaning over the railing and trying to catch what I could from underneath but it took me the same time as my guy cleaning the flats!
One Custy said you missed the bottom 3 inches! I nearly sacked him but instead explained that it shouldn't be getting done that way and said I'd look at another way. You'd need to be a slimey creature to get your arm in I said to another.
I tried to trad it by leaning over the railing and trying to catch what I could from underneath but it took me the same time as my guy cleaning the flats!
One Custy said you missed the bottom 3 inches! I nearly sacked him but instead explained that it shouldn't be getting done that way and said I'd look at another way. You'd need to be a slimey creature to get your arm in I said to another.
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Ah ok didn’t realise that , we would not take on a job like that or if we did we would only do the doable windows and not bother with that one
Get a moerman excalator and a short unger pole (approx one foot) blade with an 20 plus inch channel sideways for the bottom half if that makes sense..if it's otherwise inaccessible below the bar you'll be able to do it this way
For higher ones it's blast pure on the glass through bars if you can't get a a gooseneck that fits
RWCleaning
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Ladder & drill, take the railing off haha
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Either pass the job on or clean the top half as normal and rinse all the way down not much else you can I wouldn't have thought, I have a client who lives in an upper flat with patio doors and railings she decided to put diamond trellis across the bottom of the railings and grow climbing plants she now only gets 2/3's of the glass cleaned.
Poles Apart
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Explain to the Customer that it can't be done or just move on and replace the job there's only so much that can be done, never understood why Water Fed Polers get Ladders out I went WFP to stop using Ladders.
It's on a round I've bought, in the past I would have said top half only take it or leave it. I know a lot of people have there own ideas about ladders but I'm just trying to see if there's an option/solution out there. I have other work where I'll use a ladder for access but when it comes to actually cleaning a window from a ladder there might be an insurance issue.
Cleanco
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Sounds like the guy you bought it from has set a standard that the customers will now expect. Why don’t you carry on cleaning them as they did?
Quotes from above...
"I tried to trad it by leaning over the railing and trying to catch what I could from underneath but it took me the same time as my guy cleaning the flats!"
"You'd need to be a slimey creature to get your arm in I said to another."
As I've said people have their own ideas about ladders but to blade it from either side won't work as there's not enough room for my arm to fit through, so I'm tempted to buy a clx4 and wfp it from the ladder.
"I tried to trad it by leaning over the railing and trying to catch what I could from underneath but it took me the same time as my guy cleaning the flats!"
"You'd need to be a slimey creature to get your arm in I said to another."
As I've said people have their own ideas about ladders but to blade it from either side won't work as there's not enough room for my arm to fit through, so I'm tempted to buy a clx4 and wfp it from the ladder.
We had 2 blocks of apartments with those bars on the upstairs french doors. We were able to slip the brush head into the gaps from an angle. It was slow and my son did all the other windows and staircase windows in and out while I just did these doors.
You might be able to use one of Gardiner's swivels with a 90 degree brush socket to work. Position the brush head vertically, feed it between the bars and then rotate the pole with the brush on the glass.
We didn't have swivels in the days when we did that job so I never tried it out.
We have one house with a juliet balcony on the round now. The gap between the door and the bars is just wide enough to feed the pole and brush up. Problem is we need to stand slightly to the side or we get wet if we stand below it.
On those flats we did there was two bars that stood further away from the doors than the others did. In those days we used Unger Teleplus ali poles and Vikan brushes. The Vikan screw in brush thread was positioned differently to our current brushes and we could clean those couple of juliet balconies through the gap easily.
You might be able to use one of Gardiner's swivels with a 90 degree brush socket to work. Position the brush head vertically, feed it between the bars and then rotate the pole with the brush on the glass.
We didn't have swivels in the days when we did that job so I never tried it out.
We have one house with a juliet balcony on the round now. The gap between the door and the bars is just wide enough to feed the pole and brush up. Problem is we need to stand slightly to the side or we get wet if we stand below it.
On those flats we did there was two bars that stood further away from the doors than the others did. In those days we used Unger Teleplus ali poles and Vikan brushes. The Vikan screw in brush thread was positioned differently to our current brushes and we could clean those couple of juliet balconies through the gap easily.
Extreme brushes are the best I find either turned upside down for these of normal with a swivel Juliet balconies.We had 2 blocks of apartments with those bars on the upstairs french doors. We were able to slip the brush head into the gaps from an angle. It was slow and my son did all the other windows and staircase windows in and out while I just did these doors.
You might be able to use one of Gardiner's swivels with a 90 degree brush socket to work. Position the brush head vertically, feed it between the bars and then rotate the pole with the brush on the glass.
We didn't have swivels in the days when we did that job so I never tried it out.
We have one house with a juliet balcony on the round now. The gap between the door and the bars is just wide enough to feed the pole and brush up. Problem is we need to stand slightly to the side or we get wet if we stand below it.
On those flats we did there was two bars that stood further away from the doors than the others did. In those days we used Unger Teleplus ali poles and Vikan brushes. The Vikan screw in brush thread was positioned differently to our current brushes and we could clean those couple of juliet balconies through the gap easily.
View attachment 15939
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We don’t use swivels , and do some very similar to this we use supream brushes , and you can cover the whole window but it’s a bit slow going but doable
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