You might be asking "What is an article about window washing doing in a roofing publication?" Good question; this article will not explore the proper and new technologies in window washing, but will look at the procedures used by window washers to access their required work areas. Many window washers use the roof as a staging and access platform. Herein lies the brunt of this article.

Window washers use many different types of apparatus to access their work areas. Devices such as mechanical platforms, beams with counterweights, and boatswain chairs hung from ropes are just a few ways washers hang from buildings to perform their trade. Many times the support, anchorage and movement of these devices causes irreparable and sometimes permanent damage to roofing materials, systems and components.

During our surveys of many types of roofing systems, we have observed the damage as gouges or holes in membrane or flashing materials, crushed insulation, or torn lead pipe flashings, bent or crushed metal edging or gutters and excessive wear to roof system surfacing. All of these can and do cause leaks in the building and water intrusion into the roof insulation layer. On a recent survey of a newer (less than 6 years) roof with a new very well constructed copper gutter, we observed that the window washer had bent and damaged the copper gutter beyond repair by throwing their boatswains chair support ropes over the copper gutter edge.

Some roof designs such as protected membrane roofs (PMR), are better suited to protect the roofing membrane and insulation from physical damage. In this roof configuration, the insulation and a paver or rock ballast is installed above the roof membrane. This protection is not without its drawbacks, repair difficulty, added weight and increased construction cost. However, any roofing system can be designed and constructed with added protection suitable to withstand anticipated window washing activities. Protection could include rope tie-off stanchions, so that they don't tie-off to soil pipes . . . yes, soil pipes . . . would you hang from a building knowing that your rope is tied-off to a 3" or 4" cast iron or plastic pipe?

Other protection measures include membrane and flashing protection layers, and support frames over edges so that ropes don't rest against gutters or metal edge components.

Now for our next dilemma, I have been involved with reroofing projects where many of these system enhancements were designed and installed into the system, only to find that the window washers either didn't use them, or went out of their way to circumvent them. So not only do the enhancements need to be installed, but the washers need to understand why they are there and how they are to set up their staging equipment to protect the roof system.

I suggest that the window washers be involved during the roof design stages to assist with the development of appropriate and working enhancement that will not only protect the roofing components, but also be something the window washers can live with.

So what price are we paying for clean windows? In some cases, I have seen roofs that severely leak with the primary cause of the leakage, and eventual roof failure, being damage caused by the washing operations. Roof enhancement can be designed and installed in roofing systems to provide adequate protection from physical damage anticipated by window washers. In many cases, the cost of these enhancements would be far less than the cost associated with roof leaks and premature roof failure. This will require a team approach with the designer understanding the window washer's requirements, the window washer understanding the limitations of the roofing components, and the owner's willingness to fund the enhancement that will increase roof longevity and minimize damage from the window washing operations.