Rope access window cleaning with rigging 

How’d you get into it? I currently do residential and commercial window cleaning and have thought about High Rise window cleaning, I also live near Seattle if that helps

Martin selig real estate is hiring right now all our work is in downtown Seattle

Im going to start my team in manila. Big respect to you guys

I pretty much always listen to podcasts. Best way to pass the day.

@@BrodyYYC Fucking awesome hah

Lol

Do it man, I did it 2 years ago and hands down one of the best decisions I've made!

I know it was super annoying I dunno what that was. But I'm doing the building again tomorrow so hopefully its stopped!

It works great for small repositioning. Just don't go over like 6 feet between anchors. Also never use carpet as rope protection lol! This is an old video.

​ In my opinion, it is a nice idea and I initially assess it as safe I have to use it at work. Thank you for writing back. I like Your films ... PS I also use Unger Ninja :)

@@arbersky4074 Thanks :) ya Ninja's are nice. I like how durable they are and that you can change rubbers in the air without risking dropping a clip. But for just standard cleaning I love Sorbo! It's so much lighter. I actually really like using a Sorbo channel with a Ninja handle.

@@BrodyYYC @BrodyYYC Ninja works well for me .. Sorbo are also available in Poland, I saw them in stores but never used ... maybe someday ... I also work in rope access as a second job ... but I have been doing it for 30 years ... and I liked it very much since childhood, I wanted to do it, although I did not work at heights like You PS. I am sorry if I am not fully understood. Unfortunately I am writing with a translator ... unfortunately I do not know English.

Your knot you use to attach to your anchors also reduces also your rope strength by up to 50% 😉 no matter how many bites you have. Luckily I don't plan on taking any 11kN falls.

Hoi

After a bit of being dangled form the side you get used to it

I'm a new rope tech in a different area, but we use 11mm static, yes. For me it's pretty scary doing the edge negotiation as there's no tension on the ropes until you're already over the edge. Once you're over though you start feeling your harness against you and it's easier to trust your gear when you can feel the weight being held. There are some guys who have been doing it for a long time and are very comfortable with it and not scared at all, which some would argue is a bad thing lol.

I was lucky and inherited it from a retiring window cleaner. I've been using it 2 seasons now and its still going strong so I would recommend a hog hair brush for sure! I've used a few different ones over the years and noticed I like the bristles to be a bit more stiff. Softer hog hairs make it a little harder to scrub out the window because it wants to stick to the glass a bit more. You also don't need to use as much soap with a brush as you would for a t-bar which is nice. The brush most likely came from here: www.window-cleaning-supply.com/brush-hoghair-100-pure-china-boar-bristle-style-f-handheld-starting-at/

I would never use a carpet anymore. They aren't even that safe because the rope will just wear right through it. I looked that Towa up and it seems pretty cool. My buddy made something really similar. I just use regular flexible industrial rope protection now.

@@BrodyYYC here is a video I did on the Towa, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-78U5Mot_i3Y.html I like that it has guides to keep ropes from slipping off to an unprotected area and is light weight and cant wear.

No definitely not, I'm a rope access technician and work with some big boys! Some much faster than myself

@@441SKATE thanks! Be safe up there!

I've installed pipelines in a building, with a big belly you can't do that job, but no problem at window cleaning. A big person can also work a lifetime long as a RAT.

You can't see it well from up top but the area was closed off with signs.

I’ve been up in the air 28 years on swing stagings in Boston and no matter what barriers you put up it seems people will always walk through them. Caught up in their own world I suppose

Its an Unger Ninja. They're amazing I would never switch back to a brass channel. They don't have the little metal clips so if you're changing the rubber on your drop you can't lose parts. The channel is almost impossible to bend by accident.

I like windor cleaning job.

@@BrodyYYC is it a silicone squeegee? Would such work better/last longer? I want to get into this, and how does one even start? I looked up one school in NV USA thats about 3 grand for a 40 hour training course,level 1 sprat, the gear and training from a L 3

@@drchilapastrosodrlasmacas438 Silicone squeegees are for cleaning shower doors. You need rubber or you'll leave residue on the windows. $3000 for all that if it includes the harness backup, descender and podium sounds like a good deal but I guess that's American $. I don't have any formal training and it's not required to clean windows here but I would recommend getting it if you can. Especially if you want to use rope access for something other than window cleaning.

Ya it's a butterfly knot. Combining the 2 with it is fine as long as the anchors are less than 1.5 meters apart and the angle isn't greater than 120 degrees. If the anchors are close I'll rig with bunny ears as well. Or a y-hang if I need to. All are sufficiently strong enough. Also thid is a old video. Don't use carpet as rope protection!

Yep I never use screwgates.

It's a GoPro Hero 3+ so a few years old now but shoots some nice video. Nice, need any help in the winter? Too much snow here for rope work unless you're doing something crappy like ice removal haha.

Enoc Rivera hey, what country are you in?

BrodyYYC , I live in Washington DC USA

Hey who wants to give an Australian abseiler a job?!

Hi sir

Hi sir . I'm Mia . From Bangladesh . Sir you have any vacancies or company . Because I'm find the Rope access company . I have 8 year experience Rope access job . And I'm IRATA L3 . If you have any vacancies or company . Please let me know . This is my email address suraj85581982@gmail.com Thanks

Are you using a Petzl Avao? Because if so yes it totally rubs on my waste by my hip bone. At the start of the season it actually ends up rubbing till it bleeds and then I build up a callus. I've literally put duct tape on my hips to stop the rubbing which if you put a long enough strip on works good. I wish I had tried on some other harnesses before buying this one because I hear the Yates harnesses have a bit more room. The Petzl can be a little sketchy around the groin too. Some of the best advice I got when I started this is to wear briefs so you don't lose anything. I don't wanna be a total nerd to I wear them under my boxers lol.

Allister Towndrow yes it does hurt

I wear my Avao 2-3 hours(sometimes) without any problem, just loosen your belt until you don't feel any pressure on your body. Don't worry you will not fall out of your harness :)

It's just to set my lines exactly where I want. I can tie the butterfly to have my lines sit anywhere between the 2 anchors. It's usually time saving because you don't need a 3rd line to redirect your lines. Of course having a mid-line knot makes it the weak point but for window cleaning it's fine. The carabiner on it is overkill I just do that for peace of mind.

The alpine’s not just for positioning, it joins the two ropes together so that the load is shared between the two anchor points. Also if an anchor fails or one of your lines gets damaged/cut your backed up. Would be better practice to set the system up with Y-hangs though!

@@karlwright3552 ya it for sure would the problem is I suck at rigging y-hangs and even if I was better it would take more time. I agree though.

They're Helly Hansen work pants. They would be great for working in construction for sure and I thought they would be good for window cleaning. But a few issues. One is they're cotton and they're getting wet so they stay wet. The second is they have these weird pockets that actually hang over the belt line and would dig into my hips with the harness so I cut that part off. Also I eventually wore a hole in the crotch where the rope rubs. This season I've been using just a simple pair of synthetic pants from Walmart with an elastic waist. They're comfy, cheap and dry fast.

@@BrodyYYC ahh okay good to know. Thanks for the quick reply I'm a rope access / suspended scaffolding guy down in Tampa Bay and St Pete Florida

Ya I was and you're right I should have been using a t-bar for this to save my wrists. I just got so used to using it that summer. It works great but its better for really dirty stuff.

@@BrodyYYC I would recommend that you switch over to a cheap brass squeegee, I stepped on mine like a decade ago to lower the angle specifically for big frames like this, that would save your wrist more than using a t-bar. I never use anything but a brush on highrise, waste of time, just hold the brush in the middle, even at the front for small windows like this, no point in holding it on the end unless you are trying to reach. Also, always use a suction cup, get those little cheap rubber ones with finger holes. Even on frames like this I rely on my cup, don't use it to move around, use it as upper body support and use your legs to move around. Obviously its not a huge deal on something like this, but for me I know I'd be slower, especially near the bottom, without having the rhythm provided only with that suction cup. Also, if you are worried about your wrists, using that brick for support is going to cause more stress than a brush ever would, a suction cup lets you use your chest and shoulders for stability, here you are using your fingers and forearms, meaning your wrists are giving you stability. Ouch. This also minimizes the strain on you core, and you know as well as I do how many people complain about their backs, and its always because of poor work habits. Use your legs and your chest to move around, its like the old saying, lift with your legs, not your back. I would even recommend drilling an inverted spine in your brush, along with a hole or two for finger grips. It still is the heaviest thing you hold and removing even a little bit of weight is really noticeable after a long day plus a hole near the end for your fingers will make it much easier to grip, removing stress on your wrists. Taking off the edges to make a spine will make it harder to grip, but a half line down the middle wont be missed in the least, even makes a nice groove to keep your squeegee in place between windows. I also knew a guy who just drilled a series of holes all over to remove weight. Just be creative, do what you can. Even planning off a few grams of wood will make a difference, that would probably work best, but then you'd have to sand it down and refinish it. Brushes are just the way to go. T-bars mean you have to scrub hard, the only way its saving your wrist is if you are fine with leaving a layer of dirt on the window. Have someone do a drop next to you, one of you using a brush, you'll see when light hits that the windows are striped. You need to scrub like crazy with an 18, and a 22 is literally not able to scrub the dirt off property. USE A BRUSH. USE A SUCTION CUP. I'm sorry, but I miss the good ol days of teaching the new people what not to do. Everyone with a few years of experience has countless bad habits, and its especially detrimental on high rise, and nobody likes changing habits while hanging 80 feet in the air. Everyone thinks they are smarter than me because just I'm too dumb to know you can hold on to frames, in reality most people just don't know how to use a suction cup, which to me means they don't know how to clean high rise windows, and at best are going to be crippled and slow by the time they are 40. Also, pro tip, if you create an extra loop on your figure 8 you create a hitch that is stronger than a bowline but doesn't cinch at all. I've known people who spend hours after a season beating away at knots, with this, (we called it a figure 9) you could hang a firetruck off a building and still break the the tension with one hand. Also easy to inspect for errors, it has a very recognizable spine, and just feels very strong. They banned all knots in Canada, now we have to use eyelets, but if you are still using figure 8's, you'll save a lot of time tying that extra loop, you won't have to remove it until you need to, and when that time comes it will just pop off. One company I worked at spent hours at the end of the season beating at their knots because they knew we hung on ours all season long, but didn't know how we did it. Now you know. Hopefully you can implement that to save you a few minutes a day on rigging, also saves you from those inevitable pant shitting moments where you forget if you tied your knot properly lol. Obviously you did, but the pants are still soiled :)

@@davidjohnson8655 You're making more broad statements in this comment as well. I'm sorry man but they didn't ban knots in Canada. I would actually think you might be a little bit crazy if I didn't hear last week that they did ban knots in Ontario or something like that. But you have to understand again that just because they have some stupid rule somewhere doesn't mean the stupid rule applies everywhere. I've also NEVER forgot if I tied my knots properly. That's just not how my brain works and I've been doing this for 8 years now.

it's for positioning.

It takes about 1 to 2 hrs depending on the work you are doing, painting takes about 2 hrs

Ну так продемонстрируй , как ты работаешь?!

Greetings :) Really nice website! I work a lot of the time with my friend from Kaliningrad so not too far north of you :)

It's not to any rope access code for sure. It works but I honestly really don't do it anymore. I have however been told by a SPRAT instructor that it's perfectly fine. Do mean connect the deviation to the butterfly?

Thank you for your answer. Yes deviation to the butterfly

?

It positions the ropes exactly where I want which is the number 1 thing. A second benefit it that it load shares the anchors. Which in this case was completely unnecessary.

Depends where you live and what certification you're working under. Obviously each to 2 points is way overkill but it's better save than sorry I guess. It's how I rig now though, this video is like 5 years old.

@@BrodyYYC Yes, I think it's too exaggerated, but that's what it's about, right?

@@LOKOTOMI I'm curious where you got this from? It would make no sense to anchor at both ends, in high winds you may want to pile your ropes in such a way that they don't blow away, but it makes no sense to anchor at the bottom at all, there's no purpose of an anchor on the ground unless you are doing some insane redirect over a building. It's also not about being "too exaggerated", that's just what fools say to make up for the fact that they need to overcompensate for not knowing their trade. I use 2 work lines every time and I don't go over the edge without a rescue plan that I feel will lead to me being assisted within 20 minutes of a fall. None of that is exaggerated, its basic safety, 20 minutes hanging from your harness after a fall often means permanent damage. This came after we were forced to wear helmets, use eyelets, and a hundred other things, before we finally said fuck this, you want to know what safety is? We showed that doing everything right ultimately led to your fire department apologizing that your worker now has brain damage from a stroke. Don't believe me? Call your local FD, ask them how long it would take them to rescue someone off a building you work on after getting a call, and then realize that when you fall in your harness, you can't access your pocket to make a call. Now nobody is working on the edge of our buildings for more than 30 minutes without their partner alerting the manager of their safe status. After 30 minutes, a response is immediately formed, FD is notified that the manager has lost contact with a worker and they are put on ready. We also built personal connections with SWAT, leading to them assuring us that they were also available to be called, and that they were able to rescue much faster in case of an emergency. Am I overexaggerating, or is it everyone else, telling me I need to wear a helmet, despite never working above or below partners, despite not even being allowed to have a rescue plan that isn't "call 911". The "overexaggerating" everyone does is just the excuse they have for when someone they are responsible for dies. Here in Canada, our OHS is far more developed than OSHA could even dream of, and they still fall far short ESPECIALLY in our industry. Do your own due diligence, and don't blame OSHA when your workers die from your lack of diligence.

it's just a figure eight. I just tie them different than anybody else.

Привет, Good here, hope Russia avoids covid-19 ....

Calgary

Alberta does have a law but I think it starts at a certain weight. It probably needs to be re-written but I don't take any chances anyways. I don't even use a brass channel in case the handle opens up and the channel slips out.

@@BrodyYYC This is Canada?

amen :) That's why I couldn't do it without my podcasts. I used to use a bluetooth speaker attached to a carabiner but now I just got a phone case I can keep on the top of my harness and turn it up full volume. I would lose my mind from boredom if my phone died.

But they pay is decent, right?

@@drchilapastrosodrlasmacas438 yeah anywhere from 20-30 per hr.

@@richiel3507 Here it's more like 30-50 per hour or more but keep in mind that's Canadian dollars.

@@BrodyYYC 20-30 is the average for lvl 1s in vancouver bc. Wow! I may have to move there for a year haha. How do you guys wash windows in the negative temps? Here it rains for 8mnths of the year:/

Calgary

BrodyYYC really great job i think Respect from vancouver : )

Do you know Vitaly Burlaka? He owns a window washing company in Calgary. Good friend of mine

Let's see your rigging setup then! The only video you have is of your dog digging a rabbit hole....lmao

C & C Window Cleaning LLC. Aww are you butthurt cause someone criticised the rigging , just checked out your channel you’re not even properly qualified are you lol , I work to irata standards and as they are the leading trade association for international rope access I think I know a bit more than a novice , shut your noise and know what you’re talking about before you say things and make yourself look like an idiot

I’m with you on this Aaron, the rigging could be much better organised and it wouldn’t take any longer to set up. Especially important if you’re gonna be swinging around over that hard edge. Time for a bit of retraining and taking the industry a bit more seriously.

BFK.....LOOKS LIKE A FUCKING ALPINE TO ME. WTF Could have equalised it with the Alpine and then clipped into the loop of the alpine. Much better, also a better protection of the edge would have been a better choice also!! But for fuck sake, no lanyards.

@@1986trinder I think that hes pointing out rope access techs can get so full of themselves that they end up being the only person that can even be around them and that's why they drink :) Rope access window cleaners don't get killed or hurt at any kind of rate that is a concern so why not spend all your energy criticizing people working on a construction site or something? He was also pointing out how cowardly it is to criticize others when you have nothing to show for yourself. No matter who thinks they're the best at rigging. I would bet anything him and I are much happier in our lives outside work :) I don't even know him either.

Canada

thank u sir for a reply my coment , sir I have a good expirence in rope acess high risk window cleaning in dubai, and iam also work world highest tower burj kalifa in dubai. so can I apply for a working visa in canada? sir iam still now in qatar. I hope you reply my coment. thank u sir.

I wouldn't really call it high risk :P It's safer than ground work. That's pretty badass that you worked on buildings in Dubai though! I hope you took some pictures! I've known quite a few people that have come here on working visas for rope access work. All from commonwealth countries so I think it's easier? But I'm sure its still possible. It's worth trying.

thanks for information .

I think he means high risk as in the wind at that height would be insane every day. probably 30-50 km/hr just from coriolas effect

Do you mean where I brought the 2 ropes together with the butterfly knot? Because if so you're right it was a totally unnecessary mid line knot and just makes a weak point. If I did need to tie it I should have put a butterfly knot in my backup and then carabiner it to my main line. My thinking was that I wanted to center my line perfectly. Вы имеете в виду, когда я принес 2 веревки вместе с бабочка узел? Потому что если это так, вы правы это было совершенно ненужным средней линии узел и просто делает слабое место. Если бы не необходимость его я должен был положить бабочка Узел в моем резервное копирование, а затем карабин к моей главной линии. Мое мышление в том, что я хотел в центр моя линия прекрасно.

он хочет чтобы основная шла рядом со страховкой , у него протектор - коврик и при нагрузке основной линии она может слететь с него , ну и бонусом - это типа Y - навески , нагрузка на каждую точку поделится пополам при таком угле веревок ( если поднатянуть веревки до узла ). Я бы , кстати , наоборот привязал - основную по прямой , а страховку - на стене справа , а потом бы в узле перекинул так , чтобы страховка и асап был слева

Did you click the profile before asking that on a decade old video?

It's an alpine butterfly knot. It was totally unnecessary in that situation though. Shouldn't use a mid-line knot if you don't need to because it becomes the weak point. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n2aRj8dQPRQ.html

Gracias. Saludos desde chile, quedo atento a tus vídeos

En Ingles, Es Alpine Butterfly double.

It's illegal to water your grass too much in California ;)

I hear that a lot but what would be the benefit? Doing it by hand is cheaper, completely safe and does a way better job. Ton's of window cleaning robots exist. Nobody uses them because they suck compared to hand washing.

Yep that's for sure. This is a super old video, I would never do that now.

27 per hour sounds like a lot to me, im poor lol.

@@shintjee9860 lol if that sounds like a lot to you, you may want to explore your options in life, maybe some softskills and safety training to up your starting pay.

@@whoispriest entry lvl 1 is 27-30 an hours

are you from US? Thats a hell of a lot of money if you are

@@Shadow77999 no, canada. I found out in canada these jobs just sytarting out pay 28 to 34ph

I didn't wear one when I started and there is no law here that says you have to for window cleaning. But it looks more professional so whoever is hiring for the job usually likes it. I have snashed my head pretty hard getting through boiler rooms so it has helped plus I can mount my cam.

It's apparent to anybody that actually knows anything about rope access that you don't know what you're talking about. I would NEVER use scewgate carabiners. Why would I when I can use an much safer auto locking triple action carabiner? If you don't know anything about it and you go around commenting like you do then other people will also see your comments and it makes you look really dumb. Screw gate carabiners not only are dangerous because they're single action if they aren't locked but they can also come lose. Why add that risk by using improper gear? This isn't rock climbing and I don't use rock climbing gear.

Here you can learn something today ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8P1Lahtn-sU.html