Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ed]

has anyone ever had a job washing office building and apartment building windows? ; swinging from a rope with a squeegee?

we live on the ninth floor of an apartment building and the windows are absolutely filthy which completely ruins the beautiful view.

my wife asked about getting the windows clean and the manager said it
would cost 30,000 dollars american to clean all the windows of our building so it will never happen.


now I'm thinking if I could get that much to clean one building then this is a job I want.

[diver]

It's not as crazy as it sounds. If you really know how to do that stuff (rigging the lines and such) get your wife to look into it. Why not?

We saw a Korean couple on TV that makes a bundle going around and cleaning storefront signs for businesses.

You know, even the married F2 visa holders still basically teach. While us F2 holders have more freedom than E2 holders, we're still chasing the same won. It seems that very few people with F2s (and the opportunity that comes with the F2) venture far from teaching or opening bars. A more successful idea might be to find a skill that you have that is different from most other foreigners here and move into that market (eg: diving, window cleaning etc).

I say go for it and good luck.

[djsmnc]

Having been in this business once years back, I can tell you, if you are able to see very high places as still technically being part of the ground, then you are good to go. If you visit a tall building (ie. Taipei 101), imagine the observatory window as being nonexistent and suddenly have a moment of shock/fright, then it's going to require some serious conditioning.

The other issue is that you suspend from a rope and literally put your life on a line. I worked with some Hispanic men who chose to stick with residential and small commercial work because they had seen their friends/coworkers come to an abrupt retirement 6 feet under.

On the other hand, if you're willing to invest in the equipment and whatever safety licensure is necessary, then hire some people, you can finish a high paying job in a matter of a few days. It will be hard to compete with the already established Korean companies, I imagine. Bet you could find some cheap labor from other Asian countries, though, and either save money by hiring them or be charitable by offering them higher salaries than they could ever make elsewhere.

[diver]

I don't know what the laws here are, but if you want to hire people, you'd better look into insurance - is it required and how much is it?

[djsmnc]

BTW, depending on how high up you are (in meters, not just by floors), you could possibly find companies that have ladders and extension poles to scrub (only) your windows from the ground. We used to do work like that in the US where I lived for about $200 USD for a row of about 5 windows. I haven't seen it done here, however, and you'd have issues because of parked cars and other obstructions.