“We tend to draw quite a crowd when we're out there doing it because it is a fairly new business and not that many folks in Grand Rapids have seen it yet.”
Clear Edge Exteriors founder Tim George shows off his drone-powered window washing and façade cleaning equipment – a nearly five-foot industrial hexacopter tethered by hoses to a specialized van.
By keeping workers safely on the ground, the company eliminates expensive scaffolding setups, lift rentals, and high-altitude insurance, passing those savings to building owners.
“We're quite a bit cheaper. We found usually about 45% cheaper than traditional methods.”
And faster: a multi-story cleaning project that previously took two weeks can be done in
two days – moving scaffolding alone can take 20 minutes per section.
“If you need to move to the next set of windows, say left or right on a particular building, you have to go all the way back up to the top. You have to move that scaffolding over and put it back down to get those windows. That takes me about five seconds using a drone.”
He says the service is ideal for buildings 3-6 stories like hotels, university buildings, apartments or hospitals as it ensures privacy for residents or patients inside and municipal structures like water towers as well.
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