Whether it is modern myth, legend or fact, it is said that as soon as
painters finish painting the Forth Bridge in Scotland, they have to
start again. Sometimes it feels like that with cleaning windows – as
soon as you’ve done it, they seem to need cleaning all over again.
Well imagine how long that might take if your whole building was made of
glass. We’re not talking about people who live in Greenhouses here, but
the massive modern facades of contemporary office spaces, their faces
glistening and bright. And while people in glass houses shouldn’t throw
stones, they should also think about how they’re going to clean the
buggers too.
But if that’s not enough, these modern, gleaming edifices can cause even
bigger problems – repair and maintenance. Think about it – in the time
you live in your house there’s a chance you will replace the windows,
maybe more than once. You very rarely need to replace the bricks. So for
those buildings that are predominantly glass this can be a massive
undertaking. While they look pretty flashy, they can be cause of a huge
amount of commercial glazing maintenance. Glazing repairs have to be
handled by professional outfits and if you thought changing your glass
was a pain, imagine doing it thousands of feet up. Commercial glazing
maintenance is not only about replacement but also needs to take into
account the upgrading of thermal and drainage performance, replacement
of handles, hinges, locks, installation of seals and relevant safety and
privacy films as well as upgrades to meet current health and safety
regulations. And once all the glazing repairs have been done there’s
still a fair bit of cleaning left to do.
So next time you’re moaning about cleaning your windows, just remember it could be a whole lot worse.
A Pain in the Glass
