[Spruce]

Hi

This year we have a clean which involves the internal cleaning of a large atruim. We also did the job last year and did all the high windows off a tower. I had a go at doing the lower sections from the ground using an applicator and standard squeegee. As I couldn't get to the the bottom of the windows, this section was done from the tower.

However this year I would like to be able to do more from the floor to speed the job up. I was thinking of a swivelling Unger squeegee (straight) which I'm sure would enable me to get to the bottom of the glass 'hidden' behind the frames.

But my son has said that we need to get a wagtail which he feels will do the job quicker and easier. I question whether we would be able to successfully flip the pad at that height, and would the scrubbing pad hold enough water to wet/clean the glass, especially in this warm weather.

The height of the artium is about 30'.

Your input/experience would be most welcome.

Thank you.

[CF Facilities]

Me and a mate tried to do a similar job last year. We tried a dragonfly off a tower but not much good so we attached dragonfly to a pole and did it from the ground. We had to keep lowering the pole to spray water on the pad but it seemed  a reasonable finish. I hope custie does not want em doing this year...! This post probably does not help but I thought i would post anyway.

[Spruce]

Me and a mate tried to do a similar job last year. We tried a dragonfly off a tower but not much good so we attached dragonfly to a pole and did it from the ground. We had to keep lowering the pole to spray water on the pad but it seemed  a reasonable finish. I hope custie does not want em doing this year...! This post probably does not help but I thought i would post anyway.

Hi

Thanks for your input. I would imagine that the small pad on the wagtail will probably be similar to your Dragonfly.

As it was, water retention on the applicator wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but then it was warm and the windows were very dirty, having not been cleaned for the previous three years.

[Darranvps]

Buy both and try them?

[robertphil]

at that height i would use 2 poles .  one for the applicator and 1 for the wagtail . make sure the t bar is a swivel,i prefer Unger 14 inch  Tbar  and wagtail 12 or 14 inch

 buy a wagtail angle arm while you are at it,this will allow the wag to crank over so you get the bottom o each pane easily

[dazmond]

i think you would need an angle adaptor on a trad pole to reach the bottom of the windows on the lower ones.could you not use an unger 30 ft teleplus trad pole with a vice versa on the end for the top windows and a fixiclamp for detailing?a bit tricky but would do away with the tower.

if you had 2 trad poles you could have one guy scrubbing the windows with an applicator and one guy with the other pole squeegeeing off with a blade with angle adaptor on if the windows are set back into the frame then you would need to bring one down and fix a fixiclamp with a cloth in for detailing.

regards


dazmond

[Spruce]

at that height i would use 2 poles .  one for the applicator and 1 for the wagtail . make sure the t bar is a swivel,i prefer Unger 14 inch  Tbar  and wagtail 12 or 14 inch

 buy a wagtail angle arm while you are at it,this will allow the wag to crank over so you get the bottom o each pane easily

Thanks. This year we were going to use 2 poles. That wag tail arm is a good suggestion.

All of our equipment is Unger. Would you know if the Wagtail handle fitting can be used with an unger pole adaptor/cone.
http://www.wintecs.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=398&osCsid=l4nmhknqsq7r1igpm6p2b5lp50

Thanks

[Spruce]

i think you would need an angle adaptor on a trad pole to reach the bottom of the windows on the lower ones.could you not use an unger 30 ft teleplus trad pole with a vice versa on the end for the top windows and a fixiclamp for detailing?a bit tricky but would do away with the tower.

if you had 2 trad poles you could have one guy scrubbing the windows with an applicator and one guy with the other pole squeegeeing off with a blade with angle adaptor on if the windows are set back into the frame then you would need to bring one down and fix a fixiclamp with a cloth in for detailing.

regards


dazmond

Thanks Dazmond

We have a Flixiclamp in each of the vans and also have a couple of Unger angle adaptors, all from the days when we started WFP using the Unger Teleplus pole
fitted with a Vikan 2 ton brush.

I did a reasonable job last year pulling the squeegee down from top to bottom, so we are 80% there already.

We hardly ever use our trad tools these days since we lost our Sainsbury's locals to the Nationals. Unfortunately, due to the design of the atrium and the supporting structure, we will probably still need the tower for the top row of windows in some sections.

Thanks for the advise so far.

[richard jagger]

I did one of these a time back the floors were tiled so I used WFP ( low flow rate) and got my mate to wet and dry vac as I cleaned.

[Smudger]

Hi Spruce,

We have done a 30 ft high atrium for a client ( with upper level glass balconies and glass lift )

I have used the dragonfly - total cr@p it just couldn't cope with the amount of crud built up on the glass

We then then tried 2 poles the applicator having various chemicals on it but blading off was hard and not perfect - each panel being 8 ft square and dried almost instantly.

Next time I' m taking in a tower to get up close and personal


Note the client runs a large fruit and veg warehouse and the whole building is air conditioned its also heavy plate glass so any one of these reactors may effect cleaning them with poles

Darran

[Spruce]

I did one of these a time back the floors were tiled so I used WFP ( low flow rate) and got my mate to wet and dry vac as I cleaned.

Thought about that last time but they have channels with heating radiators in them covered in a grill. That keeps condensation off the glass in winter - The previous handman did say that we couldn't use wfp inside because of the heating - we can't see what's behind the grills.

[robertphil]

at that height i would use 2 poles .  one for the applicator and 1 for the wagtail . make sure the t bar is a swivel,i prefer Unger 14 inch  Tbar  and wagtail 12 or 14 inch

 buy a wagtail angle arm while you are at it,this will allow the wag to crank over so you get the bottom o each pane easily

Thanks. This year we were going to use 2 poles. That wag tail arm is a good suggestion.

All of our equipment is Unger. Would you know if the Wagtail handle fitting can be used with an unger pole adaptor/cone.
http://www.wintecs.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=398&osCsid=l4nmhknqsq7r1igpm6p2b5lp50

Thanks

wagtail handle fits on Unger pole tip ok as it comes /  if you also want it to lock on you need to shave a tiny bit off the pole tip ,not much

[Spruce]

Hi Spruce,

We have done a 30 ft high atrium for a client ( with upper level glass balconies and glass lift )

I have used the dragonfly - total cr@p it just couldn't cope with the amount of crud built up on the glass

We then then tried 2 poles the applicator having various chemicals on it but blading off was hard and not perfect - each panel being 8 ft square and dried almost instantly.

Next time I' m taking in a tower to get up close and personal


Note the client runs a large fruit and veg warehouse and the whole building is air conditioned its also heavy plate glass so any one of these reactors may effect cleaning them with poles

Darran

Hi Darran
trouble with the tower is we can't get in as close as we want to due to the grills and inside support frame for the roof so its a real effort and a stretch - not what health and safety would look at too kindly. The other issue is that the tower has to be moved and setup by their maintenance staff, so when we have  completed a section, we have to wait our turn for the unit to be moved.

[Spruce]

at that height i would use 2 poles .  one for the applicator and 1 for the wagtail . make sure the t bar is a swivel,i prefer Unger 14 inch  Tbar  and wagtail 12 or 14 inch

 buy a wagtail angle arm while you are at it,this will allow the wag to crank over so you get the bottom o each pane easily

Thanks. This year we were going to use 2 poles. That wag tail arm is a good suggestion.

All of our equipment is Unger. Would you know if the Wagtail handle fitting can be used with an unger pole adaptor/cone.
http://www.wintecs.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=398&osCsid=l4nmhknqsq7r1igpm6p2b5lp50

Thanks

wagtail handle fits on Unger pole tip ok as it comes /  if you also want it to lock on you need to shave a tiny bit off the pole tip ,not much

Thanks

[stuart mc]

I would use the vice versa over the wagtail any day, the angle is better on the vice versa for this type of work

[Smudger]

Well hopefully if its a semi regular clean then working with the poles won't be a nightmare

If you go down the wagtail route let me know how it goes

Darran

[Alex Wingrove]

Hi Spruce,

We have done a 30 ft high atrium for a client ( with upper level glass balconies and glass lift )

I have used the dragonfly - total cr@p it just couldn't cope with the amount of crud built up on the glass

We then then tried 2 poles the applicator having various chemicals on it but blading off was hard and not perfect - each panel being 8 ft square and dried almost instantly.

Next time I' m taking in a tower to get up close and personal


Note the client runs a large fruit and veg warehouse and the whole building is air conditioned its also heavy plate glass so any one of these reactors may effect cleaning them with poles

Darran

Hi Darran
trouble with the tower is we can't get in as close as we want to due to the grills and inside support frame for the roof so its a real effort and a stretch - not what health and safety would look at too kindly. The other issue is that the tower has to be moved and setup by their maintenance staff, so when we have  completed a section, we have to wait our turn for the unit to be moved.

Have you not done a PASMA course?

I'm subcontracted to clean a large service station, and the best method to clean the glass is always at hand level,

Now we cant clean all of it from hand level so we use poles, but the result is never as good as I want, the management are happy, but until I get a PRO-10 I dont think I'll get the results I want

[Tony Edwards]

Spruce

Use this. I have one that i apply purewater to and another that i use for drying, also a couple of refill cloths in case they get too dirty.

I remove the first section off my clx and it pushes straight into my WFP

http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/large-microfibre-mop-240607