# Scouring Pad for Cleaing Windows



## WNYcarpenter (Mar 2, 2007)

I wanted to post this on the crazy stories thread, but I'm looking more for input or suggestions....

This just happened Friday Morning:

One of our 4 crews is finishing a 6 mo.+ full remodel. They're punching out, cleaning, moving out supplies etc. We always wash all the windows even before our cleaning crew comes along. The foreman for this particular project is the most anal about clean windows. He always rants about streaked windows.

Well, he had his laborer wash all the windows, seemingly easy. The laborer used a green scouring pad to clean them all before anyone noticed. Every window is completely scratched....some 30 new Pella windows. It's not that obvious, but in certain lighting it's bad.

I'm not directly involved, but I know the P.M. has been in touch with Pella trying to find a solution. Word travels fast within our company and everyone but the PM, foreman, and the laborer are having a good laugh..... I'm not familiar with the coatings applied to windows, so I'm wondering if every sash has to replaced, or if there could be a method to buff out the glass?


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

That is a terrible story. Not my department, but if they are slight scratches it seems that they may be able to be buffed out.


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

Seen it before. They either live with it or replace the glass. Sometimes a monetary settlement will help. All that college didn't help the PM. This lesson is from the school of hard knox.


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

I was cleaning some paint off of an interior french door and my razor blade had a mind of it's own----tempered glass scratches! i could not accept that it was a scratch so I ran the blade over a wider area to prove it again.

A few years ago after finishing a bay window we were leaving the job and noticed a small drop of paint on the window. For some reason we left without correcting it (deserve a kick in the butt for doing so). We got a call a day or so later that the seal was broken. Upon inspection, the HO used a sos pad to clean up our paint drop---we got them a new pane of glass at no charge to them.


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

Even new safety blades have nicks on the edge. Best to test if first. My wife was helping me wash my black truck, I caught her just before she took the scouring sponge to the paint. 
:no:


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## wasdifferent (Dec 18, 2004)

skyhook said:


> ...All that college didn't help the PM...


LOL. College? He should have gotten that in grade school. Glass has a mohs hardness of around 6 or so. Some abrasives are over 9. 

He's not smart enough to be a PM. They should get rid of him before he gets someone hurt.


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

mikesewell said:


> LOL. College? He should have gotten that in grade school. Glass has a mohs hardness of around 6 or so. Some abrasives are over 9.
> 
> He's not smart enough to be a PM. They should get rid of him before he gets someone hurt.


Maybe he could get a job washing windows.


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## wasdifferent (Dec 18, 2004)

As long as he's supervised.


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## WNYcarpenter (Mar 2, 2007)

mikesewell said:


> LOL. College? He should have gotten that in grade school. Glass has a mohs hardness of around 6 or so. Some abrasives are over 9.
> 
> He's not smart enough to be a PM. They should get rid of him before he gets someone hurt.


 The PM didn't have anything to do with the window cleaning, he's the one that has to find the solution! Perhaps explaining the problem to the HO. You can't even blame the foreman....who would think someone would use an abrasive to clean glass!


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## wasdifferent (Dec 18, 2004)

WNYcarpenter said:


> ...The laborer used a green scouring pad to clean them all before anyone noticed. Every window is completely scratched...



Oh, he cleaned them all before anyone noticed the SCOURING PAD. I thought that you meant that he cleaned them all before anyone noticed the SCRATCHES.

If you hire people who don't know anything, then you have to be willing to spend the time and money that it takes to babysit them.


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

He did 30 windows and the PM didn't notice ?


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## WNYcarpenter (Mar 2, 2007)

I guess I've been confused about the different ways PM is defined here.

We have a laborer for most jobs, carpenters, then foreman/lead carpenter who's always on sight directing subs, the crew etc... then a project supervisor/project manager who oversees anywhere from two to four projects works in the office, deals with clients, and checks in once a day. Our foremen deal with day to day scheduling, ordering, and supervision of a particular project....

I'm a foreman myself and I find it amazing that no-one observed this window cleaning method sooner! Anyone, anyone seeing this being done should have had the presence of mind to stop it. Fortunately, I'm not directly involved so I don't have a decent explaination. 

All fingerpointing set aside, we still have scratched windows...is there a fix? I'm guessing all the sashes have to be replaced, re-painted etc... No offense taken here, personally I find this mildly amusing! That's the wrong attitude, I know, but every problem solved is a solution learned and a trick to dilute an otherwise serious problem. 

Just in case I find myself in a similar situation, I'd like to have a plan for damage control!


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## wasdifferent (Dec 18, 2004)

You'll probably end up replacing the glass, but you could check with someone who repairs windshields.

You might take a look around to see if the laborer has cleaned any of the plumbing fixtures or countertops on any of the jobs that he has been on...


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## Dustball (Jul 7, 2006)

WNYcarpenter said:


> No offense taken here, personally I find this mildly amusing! That's the wrong attitude, I know, but every problem solved is a solution learned and a trick to dilute an otherwise serious problem.


That's a good state of mind to have when something like this occurs. It does no one any good when you're in a ranting and pissed off mood when a mishap happens. Good for you :thumbsup:


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## painterman (Feb 5, 2005)

you might try jewelers rouge on a polishing/buffing wheel. You really have nothing to loose.


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## wasdifferent (Dec 18, 2004)

Jeweler's rouge is aluminum oxide (ruby), it has a hardness of 9. I will "flow polish" glass, but it's a slow process. If the scratches are deep, then you are going to have to use an awfully course grit to get to the bottom of them, and then use progressively finer grits to polish the windows out. If you don't have much experience with flow polishing, it would probably take you several days. Having the right pressure, the right surface temperature to make the glass flow, and the right surface speed on the wheel are key factors. In practice, it's more of an art than a science. It takes some time to develop a feel for it. If flow polishing is done right, it works like magic, but unless you've got some training or experience, you aren't likely to get good results. Broad flat surfaces are tough to deal with, and glass is tough to work with compared to metal. Metal flows a lot easier.


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

painterman said:


> you might try jewelers rouge on a polishing/buffing wheel. You really have nothing to loose.


That might work on a flat table, If you push through, it could cause serious injury.


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

Check with the window company to see how much they will sell you new sashes for. Asking the HO to live with a crappy finished product is one way to not to promote your company.


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## wasdifferent (Dec 18, 2004)

skyhook said:


> ...If you push through, it could cause serious injury...


Yes, polishing or grinding glass is a very dangerous game. I've never gotten hurt, but I've had some close calls.


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## brownie77 (Jan 3, 2007)

Not much you can do to repair this issue. Unfortunately, I've had this conversation with more than a few contractors. It usually takes a call to the responsible partys insurance company. 

I've seen a cleaning company ruin a whole house load of glass, including fixed units. Not only did they have to pay to have the fixed panels replace, but 50% of the interior trim paint had to be repainted. It ended up being a 80k insurance loss.

A masons non-english speaking "illegal" $7 an hour worker cleaned the mortar off a front of a large new house with a dirty sponge. That cost him 11k. I'm sure it made him re-think his help. He was almost in tears when I told him there was not a "fix" to the situation.


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