Tall Building Cleaning

Christopher

New Member
Hello Everyone, I was asked to give a bid to clean the dirty parts of a building that is 6 stories tall. The building has an exterior that has gravel in it and it comes off easily. The Maintenance Manager showed me a spot where they used Jomax and Bleach and it came clean so I might use the same or if someone knows of something better. The building has 3 "Bands" that stick out further than the rest of the building and are about 4' wide that go around the building. One "Band" is about 15' high up from the ground and the top one is at the top of the building and the middle one is below a 6' glass window that is below the top "Band". Originally I thought of a 100' or 120' Manlift to do the job but after talking to the Maintenance manager I found out that the top of the building is flat with a "Wall" of about 6" high. I was thinking that I can use my Yellow extension pole with my FloJet to apply the chems from the ground for the bottom "Band" but the middle and top I think I could use a fall protection harness and tie off so I only have enough rope to get at the edge of the building and stand at the edge and use probably a "Phelps" type wand that is long and flexible and do the 2 bands from the roof by lowering the pvc wand and spraying the surface. I think a good house wash and then some dwell then rinse with garden hose will not damage the surface. I cannot use a lot of pressure because the gravel and stones are in the surface and there are stones that will come out easily. The other options were a swing stage off the roof but I do not have experience with this and they do not rent them here. Has anyone done something like this? What chems? I can access the roof from the walk up hatch which is 4'x8' and I am thinking that I could take my AC powered FloJet and some hose and just plug it in at the hatch then run a garden hose from the top floor to rinse with. Thanks for any advice or suggestions. I will try to take a few pictures this weekend and post them.
 

DrWhipIt

New Member
I have done work identical to that. That 6ft high wall is a "parapet". As far as access, they're wonderful for using a wall jockey. The jockey has wheels and straddles the parapet and you use a bosuns chair to repel to the height you want then move side to side as far as long as the parapet is clear. It's way safer than a swing stage and a whole set-up (jockey, ropes, bosuns chair, fall protection, etc) is a great investment and would probably cost about as much as renting a 120ft boomlift for a day. As for your concerns regarding blasting out the gravel, try carrying various sized tips (#7, #10, #15) to get max performance/min damage.
 

DrWhipIt

New Member
You might try window cleaning suppliers. It's ususally listed as access equipment. The term "jockey" may not be the exact name. You could also use a "rolling look-out" which requires someone to push.
 

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