Keep Up the Upkeep

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Like any large structure skyscrapers need lots of maintenance. Not only keeping the floors and offices clean and the elevators running but the outsides also need upkeep. Keeping the windows clean is especially tough.

In the old days men would strap themselves into leather harnesses and hang outside the windows hundreds of feet above street level (the people down there look like ants!) to clean the windows with a squeegee. But after about 1950 builders began installing windows that were sealed shut and the cleaners had to somehow do the job from the outside. To solve the problem special chairs platforms or carriages are anchored to the side of the building which carry the window cleaners up and down and across to access all the windows.

The pay for a skyscraper window cleaner is better than for someone who washes floors or windows in a low-rise. In Toronto for example workers earn $15 to $25 per hour. In New York the top window men and women can reach $29 to $35 per hour.

But it’s not for everyone. First each applicant has to pass a three-day training program focusing on safety as they may be working in strong winds rain and cold. Then one in ten job applicants discover they can’t deal with the heights. And there is reason to be afraid. On November 13 2014 two window cleaners had to be rescued when their platform came loose near the 70th floor of One World Trade Center.