I HATE It When They Paint MY Windows!!!

 This is what I used to say before I discovered the perfect paint.  Now I look for ways to convince people they need to paint their windows.  Because when they do I will make money by selling them the paint, and scraping it off.  Which is really easy to do without creating a mess!  No mess because the paint does not break up into small pieces and blow away in the wind.  I just scrape it off SO easy and put it into a hand held large paint cup.  In fact with Glass Smart paint the images will not bubble up and end up looking really bad when it rains.  They will stay perfect looking even when I clean the windows with my wand and squeegee.  The chemistry of the paint is perfectly balanced.  No rain damage, easy to clean the window without damage, messless paint removal when needed, and a very smooth application.  Take a look at some videos and pictures I have taken.

These two pictures were taken of some paint work done by an artist NOT using a Glass Smart paint.  You can see how rain has seriously bubbled the image by softening and getting under the paint.  This type of paint will also break up into small pieces that cannot be controlled and make a big mess.  They have to be swept up with a broom and dustpan.  Another problem happens when the paint just dissolves with your solution turning your applicator whatever color the paint was.  It then gets all over the window sill and the sidewalk!  What a royal horrible mess.  I am SO annoyed by these painters!  But now I am actually looking for them to paint the windows on my little route.  Here is why.

These three videos show Glass Smart paint can be very easily scraped off in large sections using soapy water.  No choppy pieces.  And NO RUNNY paint.  The applicator/wand stays perfectly clean!  When peeled off by hand it can actually be stretched out.  I can scrape a five by five foot window in 1 to 2 minutes.  Also by charging ten bux per plate I can make well over 200 bux an hour for my time.  But I control the process because I can sell the Glass Smart paint to the artist who makes the application.  So I make money off the paint sales and the service of paint removal.  That is a big win win for me!

If you want to know more just send me an email.

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com 

Why Glass is Like a Cake

Why Glass is Like a Cake-Understanding the science behind the surface--Glass Genius

Discover how float glass is made-and why every stage from glazier to restorer plays a part in keeping glass flawless.  Learn why glass is like a cake, and why respecting its surface matters.

To read the entire article just go to https://www.glassgenius.co.nz/why-glass-is-like-a-cake

Written by Nick Evans of Glass Genius

glassgenius.co.nz

The Absolute Best Aftermarket Hydrophobic Sealant

Repcon was likely the very first hydrophobic sealant for glass developed in 1971.  It was created specifically for aircraft.  Rain X came out the next year in 1972.  This was 54 years ago.  Since that time there have been many different chemistries that were developed to accomplish a similar effect.  It would not surprise me if there has not been well over a hundred different products put out on the open market.  Most of which have claimed to be the very best.  Many of these have been tested by accredited testing companies for things like hardness, rain repellancy, contact angle, scratch resistance, protection against hard water spots, longevity, ease of application, self assembling monolayer formation, and so on.  With all of this confusion I don't think anyone could ever know the real truth about which one is indeed the absolute best.  So I am not going to even attempt to answer that.  But I will do something much better.

We can set up our own tests to determine which product we want to use.  I have been doing this since 1985.  Along the way I have discovered some fascinating truths.  Which you can follow if you want to take the time.

The very first one that I would like to write about in this post is longevity.  Using what I call field application testing.  First find a single window that has full sun exposure.  Meaning every square inch has the same sun exposure for the entire day.  Then using a random oscillating polisher and a felt pad with some cerium, polish the window.  Do a full polish and clean.  Test to make sure pure water evenly sheets over the entire window.  Meaning it is completely hydrophylic (water loving).  Next apply the product you are testing to the entire window.  Then tape some cardboard to half of the window.  Give it a full month to bake in the sun.  Now remove the cardboard.  On a cool overcast day fog the entire window.  This can be done with an cold ultrasonic fogger.  Then take a handheld lighted microscope at 40X and look at the microdroplets on the fogged surface.  The product protected under the cardboard should nut have been affected by the UVC of the sunlight at all.  Those microdrops should be the same exact size they were a month ago.  But if the side that was exposed to the burning sun had been degraded then those microdrops will be larger.  The contact angle and hence the hydrophobic property will have changed.  It should be quite apparent.

Using microdrops and a handheld lighted microscope is actually one of the most basic and very simple ways for testing other interesting properties of hydrophobic sealants/products.  Solar UVC radiation is not the only means of hydrophobic degradation.  Another is concrete deposits.  As concrete cures it goes through a hightened pH at the glass concrete interface.  Which can go as high as 9.5.  At that number the sealant can completely break down leaving the phylic glass surface unprotected and exposed to attack by other construction chemistries.  Hard water drops can also accomplish the same effect as they increase their pH as they evaporate and leave behind hard water spots.  Using a light cerium oxide to remove secondary hard water spots will also degrade a phobic sealant/product.  It should also be true that certain chemicals could also degrade phobic sealants.  

But again the test is yours.  You can even compare different products one to another to another over time for other properties.  There really is no need to try to understand what certain test companies have discovered.  We are the scientists.  We are the technologists.  We are the window cleaners.  And it is our reputation that is on line.  We must stand behind our work.  Also we must demand top dollar for what we do.  That takes confidence.  Which also takes complete trust through private individual testing which we develop!

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Glass Smart Products for The Window Cleaning Professional

I will be writing more this winter about Glass Smart products which I will be selling directly and as an affiliate marketer.  These are products that will be used specifically for glass restoration, maintenance, and preservation/protection.  My hope is to develop and get out to the window cleaning industry as many different products as possible.  Also to make known and explain other products that are already on the market.  This is my third attempt at direct sales, and my first as an affiliate. 

There is a dire need within our industry for safe performance chemical and abrasive products.  Especially for coated glass.  I think this is partly because this type of product requires an understanding that is different from that of mechanical systems.  If you look at the mechanical tools we all use you will find most of them were directly developed by window cleaners.  Some people like Henry Unger developed large manufacturing businesses that have spanned the globe.  Whereas others designed products like the Super System, and then sold the patent to a manufacturer as Rod Woodward did to get the money to start the American Window Cleaner Newsletter.  Manufacturers have attempted to develop such chemical products over the decades but they have for the most part lacked an understanding of what they were creating.

In later years it seems that most of the new products we have were developed by window cleaners.  Especially the Water Fed Pole.  The name that comes to mind immediately is Phil Alexander.  He is an old guy like me, and a hard working window cleaner.  Having talked with him many times over the years I have gained much respect for his creativity.  He is the inventor and marketer of the Simpole. 

Of course there are many others which I will be mentioning in these posts.  I would really love to start a podcast on this subject alone.  My only concern is the time element.  Already I am maxed out.  Just writing this blog has taken much time.  But it has no scheduled timing, no deadlines.  Also I can write a four paragraph post like this one or a much longer one such as the last post I just wrote on the Ghost Particle.  So it works well with my lifestyle.  I think that is why I have been cleaning windows for 45 years!  But right now I really really must make a paradigm shift.

Henry

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Don't Let Coated Glass Destroy Your Company!

Glass Coatings have become the driving force behind the float glass manufacturing industry.  There are hundreds of different types based on many different chemistries and materials.  Unfortunately almost all window cleaners have no clue how to maintain them.  Or even detect when they are in contact with one. The reason for that is just because coatings are becoming more difficult to see.  Here is a company that sells a simple and inexpensive tool for quickly identifying coated glass.  It even tells you what surface the coating is on.

EDTM Inspector Tools

First we all MUST know that we should never use a metal razor on a coated surface.  Razors will scratch and leave abrasion marks.  Which are usually invisible except in the bright sun.  Another problem is it is very difficult to identify exactly what the coating is because of proprietary knowledge of the coating.  Knowledge such as the actual name of the coating including a knowledge of what metals have been used are usually hidden.  So you can't know what chemicals will do damage and which are perfectly safe.  Typically I would sway anyone away from a high or low pH.  So no alkalies or acids.  Further it is difficult to know which superabrasive based products are safe.  These are questions that will only waste your time.

Your greatest aid will be in identifying that there IS a coating that you are in contact with.  It could have any number of deposits that would make you reach for your razor.  But don't do it.  If the owner wants the window cleared then they will need to sign a waiver giving you the absolute choice of doing whatever you need to in finding an answer to the problem.  On the first window.  With that freedom please call me and we can walk it through.  If you find an answer then get a second waiver signed that will give you the right to do the entire building.  Get payment for your time to locate an answer to the problem on the first window.  Then a second payment for the first half of the building.  Then a last payment for the rest of the job.  These three payments should be defined in the first waiver.  Which can be your contract.

If you need a legal waiver it would be a smart move to go to a lawyer to get  one written up.  Then get it signed and dated before you begin.  

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

A Much Closer Look at the Ghost Particles Motley Family!

Take a look at this company.  https://www.glass-ts.com/sectors/architecture-glazing/  Here is a copy/paste of what this company does.

A centre for glass research and development Glass Technology Services Ltd (GTS) is an independent glass laboratory and consultancy, accredited to ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 quality standards and unrivalled in the UK for its glass expertise. The specialist team provide a range of services to analyse defects, resolve issues, conduct research and verify international quality standards for glass, coatings and glass products. Expert analysis and assessment is conducted by a dedicated team of scientists, who have expertise in glass manufacture, processing, material sciences, chemistry, physics and engineering disciplines and together hold over 380 years collective glass experience. Services provided include: - Fracture analysis - determination of the cause of failure of glass articles; - Analysis of the chemical composition of glass; - Investigation of inclusions in glass – solid stones, bubbles and cord (in-homogeneity); - Microscopy and analysis of surface deposits, and other surface damage on glass; - Development of novel glass compositions; - Small scale manufacture of glass; - Mechanical properties measurements; - Fitness for purpose testing of glass articles; - Environmental monitoring; - Consultancy of recycling and other environmental issues; - Consultancy on all aspects of glass manufacture; - Research, development and innovation of glass and glass products.

Did you notice the sentence highlighted in red?  Solid stones, bubbles, and cord are all surface inclusions.  Which are also called "defects".  Granted this company is on the other side of the pond.  But they work with Penn State in PA.  They are very deep into the science of the chemistry and physics of architectural/flat/float glass.  The kind we clean.  How many different types of scratches and especially sounds do you get when you drag a metal razor across a defective surface?  Many right?!  Well friends there is a REAL SIMPLE answer to the question why.  Because there are many different types of defects.  GTS only mentions stones, bubbles, and cord here.  The full truth is that there are well over fifty different types.  The Ghost Particle has a VERY LARGE MOTLEY family!  Here is another question.  Who in their right mind would think that they could pull out an electron microscope and start taking micrographs of unknown defects on vertical glass.  Not me!  This is the core reason why the Glass Committee in my honest opinion couldn't get too far.  It was like someone held out a handfull of all sorts of coins and said take that coin.

Another thing.  I found a company that specializes in some very powerful unique light microscopes.  I called them and explained what I was looking for.  I was even going to meet with their salesman where I lived to see a demonstration. I figured I would get a free picture of one of the Ghost Particles family that I could feature in this blog.  I guessed I wouldn't even need an electron microscope because the Ghost Particles family are anywhere from 2 to 100 microns in size.  According to GTS.  That is an easy thing to do with a light microscope.  But it was not possible.  Not even remotely possible.  For one reason I could not find a microscope I could mount to a vertical plate of glass. For another microscopes are built for very small samples of glass.  Like two by two inches not feet.  Most inclusions are found on tempered glass.  So even if I had a sample from the trash at a glass company I couldn't cut it down to the size I needed. Tempered glass dices when cut.  Also, what I really wanted was a microscope I could take into the field with me to look at windows already installed in a building.  NOT an easy thing to do!

But I do have a handheld lighted microscope I can hold up to vertical glass and take pictures and even videos that I can send to my phone over the net with a free app that I have downloaded.  Mine operates at around 40X and is great for average scratches, point impact fractures, and chips.  Further there are handhelds you can get that work up to 100X magnification.  So I will continue with my handhelds.  But they will not show particle defects.  At least I have not been able to do this yet.  If I do capture one my IGSA and NEGSA members who read this blog will be the first to know.   You will be more than welcome to print it off and draw a smiley face on it.

This is the most revealing post on the subject that I have written to date.  There will be more coming.  So stay with me.  But know this.  Giving everything that we know so far it is not going to change how we approach the problem at hand.  The only thing it will do is force us to be more aware of what type of surface we are dealing with.  Be observant!  Also if we come up against special problems like silicone or silane based concrete sealant overspray on tempered glass with negative deflection imperfections and defective scratch sensitive surfaces;...we will have to find a safe but effective answer to removing the overspray.  Otherwise walk away.  But before you walk away send me an email so we can talk.

Henry Grover Jr.

Glass Smart Consulting

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Stop Scraping Negative Deflection Tempered Glass with Surface Inclusions

Door glass is required by ANSI protocol to be safety.  It is usually tempered.  As such it usually has defective surfaces that sound like sandpaper when scraped.  They have surface inclusions.  This is the correct technical name.  When a razor blade is used scratches will result.

Now if the IGUs are concave or have negative deflection, your razor blade will not nake adequate contact.  Which will force you to bear down on the glass to scrape off whatever needs to be removed.  This will just cause you to leave even more scratches.

It is truly amazing how many windows out there share negative deflection and surface inclusions.  So many brand new windows have IGUs with these problems.  You know that glass and window manufacturers don't care about surface inclusions because they don't cause windows to break or obstruct vision.  Seal failure on the other hand does obstruct vision.  Not at the very beginning of the problem.  But over time.  Also negative deflection can cause implosion.  Especially when the window is struck by a sharp rock from a lawnmower, or some other means.  This can cause a point impact fracture with legs.

Simply put glass should be inspected on a frequent basis.  Especially from day one!  Which is what the window cleaner does.  

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

6034989474

Now on Whatsapp

Join NEGSA if you work in New England

 I have just started another blog to promote my consulting/onsite inspection work.  The link is https://glassinspectionservices.blogspot.com/  This new blog is intended for you to use for promoting your own window cleaning business.  It already has several posts that are embedded with pictures and videos to help you educate your potential and current customers.  Right from your phone.  If there is anything you would like me to write about just let me know.  The Glass Smart blog which you are reading right now, is intended for the education of window cleaners.  Of course you can show your customers any of the pictures or videos from either the Glass Smart blog or the Inspection Services blog.  You choose.  The intent is always to educate.

My intention is to continue to build this association of companies here at home making the products I have and will be developing available to anyone who wants to join NEGSA.  Education will be made available through the blog and onsite hands on seminars.  Free samples of products will be made available to anyone that shows up at the Glass Smart/NEGSA seminars.  These will be made available along with many others at a very reasonable rate.  I will have to ask 75 dollars for each attendee.  I am NOT looking to make a profit on any of the products.  But products are critical to clean, maintain, restore, and preserve window surfaces.  Products will give us the leading edge over every other non NEGSA member. 

If you are interested please let me know as I am in the process of setting up the very first NEGSA Seminar someplace in New England.  You can email, text, or call.

I am looking forward to talking with you VERY soon!

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

6034989474

The Ghost Particle Further Revealed

Since Penn State University was hired by the IWCA over nine years ago to help identify the reason why some soda lime window glass scratches so easily and why other glass surfaces are extremely smooth and are quite resistant to scratches;...not much has been happening.  At least not to my knowledge.  However a fantastic amount of research was performed by Penn State at that time.  Which went on for several years before Paul West left the Glass Committee.  At the very end of his time there I remember one of the last white papers which listed the results of a spectrographic analysis of what we have been calling fabrication debris for many years.  More specifically we have also been calling this feature glass fines.  But the truth is that we really have not known exactly what we were talking about.  The idea has been that the particles are either dust/dirt in the air or from the rollers on the float line, or microscopic pieces of glass released at the end of the line when the ribbon is scored and broken into plates.  If indeed this is true then the elements, and how much of each, should match that of the glass ribbon.  Which should be easy to prove with a simple spectrographic analysis.  But there was no perfect match.  In fact it actually showed a much greater amount of aluminum than what is typically in glass.  So simply put, what's up with that?! 

If you go back to the post I wrote in this blog nine years ago you will discover some rather fascinating information.  The post is called A Glimpse of the Ghost Particle?  As I have written certain authorities have explained that microscopic glass inclusions, which occur just below or above the glass surface, are in fact a very common occurrence.  They are NOT called defects by the glass manufacturers.  However the properties of the tin bath and atmospheres in the factory are VERY closely monitored and controlled.  Testing is a regular part of the manufacturing process.  Also there are over 50 different types of inclusions that have been conclusively identified.  Almost all of these are not considered a problem or a default by the glass manufacturer.

So you tell me.  Are we talking about a ghost here that cannot be seen, and cannot be identified?  There are many pictures of this particle zoo.  Many tests have been done and much information has been written.  We even have books on the subject. What I personally find fascinating at this juncture is that our experience in the field matches perfectly the information we have uncovered here.

The most interesting discovery is the variance.  The surface defects can be very small and there are millions of microscopic particles.  Or they can be somewhat larger with not so many.  Or even larger yet but very few.  I have also learned that the very small particles seem to scratch easier than the larger ones.  Some of the large particles don't scratch at all!

I advise anyone reading this post to go back to the first one I wrote and study it.  I will be researching the references made in that one and will be writing about what I learn there.

I do not believe that we will ever be able to get through the secrecy surrounding this science.  The glass industry is not going to completely draw back the curtains on this matter.  But I think we have already come a long way.  And have enough to use in the field.  It will always be a subject for my inspection and consulting work.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Defective Glass Inspections

For thirty years now window cleaning professionals have blamed such defective glass surfaces on what they have called glass fines.  In other words the glass dust that is routinely released at the end of the float line when plate after plate of glass is scored and broken.  The float line almost never stops!  It has become routine to let it go for many months and sometimes years before the line is stopped for cleaning.  Because of this dust and other contaminants every plate of glass must be properly washed before it is heated again for tempering.  It also must be scored and cut again to the correct size before tempering.  Tempered glass cannot be cut.  The idea has always been that when float glass is heated again, any glass dust (fines) would fuse to the surface and be driven into it by the tempering rollers, if the glass were not hung vertically but rather passed horizontally on ceramic rollers.  All very logical.  Right?  But.

If such "glass fines" were from the glass plates, then shouldn't they have the same exact elements in the same exact proportion as the glass they came from?  It is my understanding that a spectrographic analysis was performed and a readout of the atomic elements was produced.  Which did NOT match glass at the factory where the fines came from.  In fact there was a very high level of aluminum that made absolutely no sense if you were to accept the first theory explained at the beginning of this post. You see window glass only has a very small amount of aluminum present anyhow.  So how do we figure out exactly what such roughness or particles are?  Where do we go from here?  

As a famous physicist once said you simply have to look at the animal!  I try to look at things as much as I can.  And ask questions that to me seem obvious.  We must get the questions right of course.  Because getting the question right is at least half of the solution.  Nonetheless our first encounter with a defective/scratch sensitive surface is not sight;... but sound.  In fact none of us has likely ever really seen a particle.  We have all heard them however.  As we drag our razor blades over them in soapy water.  What we learn from the sound is that each defective glass surface is different.  But since the process of scoring and breaking is always the same, why would the dust be made of different sized particles and in different amounts?  The sound is always quite characteristic/different.  Telling us that the particles can be large, small, or even microscopic.  Also telling us that there can be millions or only hundreds spread out over the glass.  

The closest we have ever really got is to look at the scratches that result from dragging a razor over the glass.  The goal here would be to look at such scratches using a quality handheld lighted microscope.  I have had good success so far with a handheld lighted 40X magnification microscope.  If nothing else these scratches will tell us the size of the particles in question.  Once we know that we could focus our microscopes on the particles.  Here I would ask questions like what is the shape of each?  Do they show a different colored reflection?  Are they in some fashion lodged in the glass surface?  Also there are likely more interesting questions we could ask.  But above everything else by actually LOOKING at the animal we should come up with some very pertinent conclusions.  Also we should come up with some truly fascinating questions that will take us deeper down and guide us in discovering greater truths about the real answers to just what these mysterious "ghost particles" really are.

So stay with me here as I dig deeper down in revealing some truths which we can use in our quest for more reasonable answers.  Of course even if we know exactly what the ghost particle really is, it is not going to just vanish. They will still be out there in abundance on almost every building.  They will continue to be created and end up on new glass.  Further we will have to work with this problem or walk away from windows that have them.  The glass industry is of course much larger than the window cleaning industry measured by the dollar bill.  So this problem will never go away.  It is here to stay.  We will just have to contend with it as is. 

Written by Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

PRE--Construction Window Cleaning

Yes!  That is BEFORE the windows are even put into storage and BEFORE they are installed in the building under construction.  Why?  Many reasons.  First they can be inspected months in advanced before the deadline of completion.  So that if there is any reason they need to be swapped out for replacements there will be plenty of time for this.  There are many defects which can be easily identified at this early stage.  Scratches for one can be seen.  Scratches that happened when the windows were manufactured or in transit to the job site.  If these scratches were discovered just before the deadline it would be difficult to determine exactly who was responsible including the window cleaner.  And impossible to remedy by replacing the windows before completion of the building.

Further if the surfaces were defective/scratch sensitive this could be known early and dealt with.  Possibly by shielding such surfaces with thick protective self cling plastic film.  Then if the windows collected a spray concrete/brickwork sealant, silicone caulk, concrete splatter, paint, wood stain, or anything else they would be protected.  Scratches can result from other trades too.  Which would be protected by this kind of film.  There are other ways to protect glass or low e surfaces from damage if done at this time BEFORE the windows are installed in the building.  If you would like to see a demonstration of this just ask a member of NEGSA.

There are other defects too that can be identified early.  Such as negative deflection, no low e coatings, in gassing of IG units, poorly cleaned surfaces in between IG units from the window manufacturer, delaminating of the PVB film, and more.  So much can be learned at this time.  

Advanced microscopes and other inspection tools are available for making sure all things are as they should be.  More window manufacturers are using protection self cling films these days.  This is a great device!  When it comes time to clean the windows it is so much easier.  All you have to do is peal off the vinyl.  Just be careful you don't get shocked by the static charge.  Wipe the edges and you are good.

Henry 

General Contractors Protect Yourself From Glass/Window Defects

Ask any professional window cleaner about newly installed windows and they will tell you all kinds of horror stories.  Things like scratches on every window, negative deflective IG units, etched glass, hard water stains from concrete efflorescence, delaminated edges, inside gassing of units, missing low e films, etc.  The list just goes on.  Not every window cleaner is able to identify these defects.  Which is why you need to hire a professional consultant.

The unfortunate thing is that window cleaners many times will actually cause these defects.  Take scratched glass as an example.  Float glass many times will come straight from the factory covered with microscopic defects.  Especially tempered glass. If this is not discovered and a metal razor is used or some other scraper, scratches will result.  If windows are installed with this type of surface defect anyone can created millions of micro scratches without even knowing it.  Especially on cloudy days.  But when the bright sun comes out the next day such scratches will become way too visible.

The type of damage done or discovered can easily go into the millions.  The trained eye however can literally save you a tremendous amount of grief!  Do you know that a single temp/lami railing plate only 3 by 4 feet can cost 1700 to replace.  Scratched, etched, cracked, delaminated, or something else will require replacement.

Windows can go for many years with defects.  The owners simply just don't care.  But new owners can be ruthless.  If the glass is new you will not get it past them.  Unfortunately much of the damage done or defects cannot be detected until the windows are properly cleaned.  But the window cleaning is ALWAYS left until the very end of the job.  Which is the very worst thing to do for brand new construction.  Replacement might be easy.  But getting the replacement window in from the manufacturer and getting it installed, before the deadline for site completion is quite another matter.  

If you look at these two pictures of scratches on glass below you will notice they are very different.  The top one was done with a blunt metal object.  The lower one was done with a rock. Characterizing scratches with a microscope helps to identify the cause of each.  Inspection technology is a detailed science that uses very special tools.  Sometimes not so special.  But it always requires an educated mind that comes from experience and experiments.  This is what Glass Smart has to offer.

Glass Smart also owns NEGSA the New England Glass Smart Association of window cleaning professionals who know how to clean windows without doing damage to the windows.  They do not use acids for stain removal that etch.  Also they do not use abrasive based products that scratch.  Likewise NEGSA members are very familiar with locating defective scratch sensitive surfaces, so will never use metal razors where they should not be used.

If you have a new building going up, you should hire a member of NEGSA.  Every time!  Just give me a call and we can get someone in to help you out.  Further if I need to come to the job for a quick inspection before the cleaning this can be arranged.  The best time to inspect is actually when the windows arrive on site or are put in storage.

          Henry Grover Jr.      603-498-9474           henrygrover222@gmail.com

Inspect Tech Products

 Essentially the idea is to improvise with crossover technologies to "see" different surfaces in different ways.  Ever hear of a Sound Spectrum Analyzer?  It gives you a running profile of multiple frequencies of any sound in real time.  You can download it to your phone as I have free and profile any sound.  In theory I should be able to join this to a stethoscope and record the sound created by moving different materials such as a penny over glass surfaces.  So now I will be "seeing" glass surfaces with sound.  The beginning of a new way to understand defective scratch sensitive surfaces.  Just bought a four pound chunk of ultrapure silicon.  NOT glass.  Silicon.  

It is rather brittle.  So a single strike with a hammer will break it.  I have learned that a small piece with a sharp point is very effective at "feeling" a glass surface.  Now I just have to get a quality stethoscope and connect it to the SSA app on my phone.  The scope can be placed on the glass while running a piece of silicon over the glass.  The sound that is created moves through the glass and into the stethoscope.  Which I can connect to my phone that has the SSA app.

Phones have many apps that can be downloaded that allow for some very interesting Inspect Tech products.  Such as handheld lighted microscopes for viewing blemishes, point impact fractures (PIFs), and scratches on glass.  As pictures and videos.  I have a couple of other posts in this blog with pictures I have taken.  The images are transmitted by the app and the net to my phone.  Then I can send them to my computer and include them in the posts that I write here.  What I have already discovered is I can create a homogenous scratch sensitive surface with cerium oxide and make specific scratches with different implements like different metals, rocks/minerals, etc.  Scratches actually have identities characteristic to what caused them.  So by categorizing them I can figure out what most likely caused scratches in the field.  Can't date them yet.  But I am advancing.

Another tool I am working on is one that will tell the degree of negative deflection over a certain distance and area.  I know there are tools that can do this using lasers.  So I will look there first.  But currently I have had much success with a simple six inch Triumph razor.  Move it in one direction then another at 90 degrees of the first and take pictures of the results.  The greater the amount of soapy water left behind the more concave the negative deflection.

Then another is to use a light fog to show contamination of the micro-surface.  Usually I just use my own breath on a day with the right dew point.  But it is possible to quickly fog out an entire plate of glass using a cold sound generated fogging machine.  Then what if I were to use more than pure water?  Will different solutions create different effects and show different results?  These results are all measurable by using the hand held lighted microscope I mentioned earlier.  Because fog that condenses on glass forms little micro-drops.  Which differ in size and can be seen in the microscope.  The size depends on what chemical is on the glass.

There is actually no limit to the inspect tech tools or products that are already out there and that can be developed.  The only limit is our imagination.

My goal is to have a couple suitcases with these tools so when I arrive on site at the building I am consulting on I can open it up and get some real data!

Again if you have some buildings you would like some help with just send me an email.  Especially if you are in the New England area.  And the first talk is always free.

Henry Grover Jr.

Glass Smart Consulting

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Glass Smart Products for New England USA

 

The New England Glass Smart Association is a subgroup of IGSA.  My focus here includes industries other than window cleaning companies.  As I have operated as a consultant in New England over the years, it has always been the window cleaner who has called me into an association with general contractors, building maintenance professionals, real estate brokers, insurance companies, lawyers, and more. Sometimes the Window Cleaning company will pay me for my time, but usually it is the associate company that does this.  I think the furthest south I have traveled has been DC, west would be Ohio, and north was Halifax.  Sometimes I drive, and sometimes I go by plane.  These days I would rather drive.

The point here is when consulting on an international level I focus on the window cleaner who is just trying to do things right, get out of a damaged glass lawsuit, or insulate themselves better from any damage they might do by using the wrong products or tools.  But when working as an independent consultant on a relatively local level, I almost always end up working with an associate.  Which is the subject and focus of this post.

There are SO many associates within a couple hundred miles circumference of where I live here in NH, that I could make an easy living, in my now old age, just operating through them.  So could any other window cleaner in their area.  If they wanted to spend the time acquiring the hands on knowledge of glass and products that I have. 

My goal is to continue adding these associates to my list when I am out on the run.  Especially now that the warmer weather is with us.  The products I have discovered and developed are a great adjunct to this business.  Because such associates always have specific buildings with specific problems that must be addressed in one way or another.  In the case of staining problems my goal is to identify the cause, the solution, and the prevention in a single visit.  Demonstrations of the repair always include proprietary products and tools.  As do inspections of scratched glass or first surface low e windows.  Or many other situations.  I think etched glass problems are the most interesting. I do not sell these products directly but can make sure you get samples and are able to buy what you need from the provider.  I am an independent consultant NOT including sales.  Never wanted to do this, and I never should.  But I can put anyone in contact with some amazing companies out there with some amazing products.  Or even amazing ingredients so you can blend or make your own proprietary products to enhance the services or products your company offers.  Window manufacturers might need a long lasting hydrophobe/oleophobe for their glass.  Whereas a window cleaner might want the same, or a scratch/blemish remover, or stain remover.  PRODUCTS (the best) will drive your company.  Whether that company is service oriented or product oriented.  Unfortunately product manufacturers usually have absolutely NO CLUE about the technology of how to use the products they sell.  Or that they should NOT even be selling them!  Only because they have no experience using them.  Also they are NOT consultants.

So the bottom line here is very simply I don't care who you are out there, just send me an email.  I will get in contact with you asap.  Then we can talk.  The first consult is always free.  Just tell me about your situation and I will do my very best to help.

Henry Grover Jr.

Glass Smart Consulting

henrygrover222@gmail.com

Searching for Consultants to Lead Our Industry

International Glass Smart Association

Over the last 45 years the surface of windows has become VERY scratch sensitive. It is defective.  What has happened is totally needless.  Many surfaces are also NOT even glass, but are very thin metallic coatings applied when the glass is still on the float bath.  We are NOT working with that old smooth glass of yesteryear.  

Coupled with these technical challenges is the fact that most people in every other related industry have NO clue about this.  General Contractors don't know anything about defective scratch sensitive glass surfaces.  Painters know nothing about this too.  Power washers don't know how quickly even pure water can leach minerals from certain building exteriors and create water spots in as little as thirty minutes.  Property maintenance managers have no clue that sprinkler systems can literally destroy millions in low level windows.  Lawyers are completely ignorant as to how quickly a 1 to 2 percent solution of HF acid will ripple out dark glass and cloud out clear glass.  Also and especially window cleaners have no clue how quickly so called restoration products based on "super-abrasives" can create thousands and millions in permanently damaged glass.  It is unfortunate that the window cleaning industry now includes very large corporate franchises that span the country from sea to sea.  Having given a seminar for one of them telephonically on this technology we discovered something at the end during the Q and A that is really counterproductive.  It surprises me that I even encouraged it at that time.  We learned that if a problem surface was revealed during the analysis of a potentially new job, the best and most safe thing to do would be to walk away.  So that the franchise would not incur a lawsuit of course.  But really that is NOT a foolproof method.  Owing to damage that could be revealed after a simple routing cleaning.  Which damage had been left by the previous window cleaner, or another professional during the construction of the building.

All of this explains why our industry NEEDS more consultants.  I have run into them out there.  They are not your average window cleaner.  Kind of like a family spread out around the world.  Some of these have companies of ten to twenty employees.  Others work alone.  All of them have learned by experience.  When I tell them I learned everything I know by wasting brand new glass, and reading books on chemistry and physics, they understand.  It is fascinating!  Just to name a couple.  I met Marc Tanner on FB one late night many years ago.  That was a two hour messenger conversation.  Nick Evans contacted me by phone from New Zealand.  We have done messenger, and Zoom.  He developed his own tech FB Group local to NZ and AU.  Both of these men are totally unbelievable.  I could mention others as well.  Simply said I have had a great deal of joy meeting them and exchanging ideas and knowledge.

Our industry needs people like this.  Which is what I would really like to do.  Find them and introduce them to you by means of this IGSA and this blog.  Also if the AWC is on board with this idea I would like to work with it too.

Please check out the latest July issue of the American Window Cleaner.  It is a fantastic issue of the past.  Many leaders have come and gone.  What we need now more than anything are consultants.  Send me an email so we can talk.

Henry Grover Jr.

henrygrover222@gmail.com

https://awcmag.com/