Why do many vacant buildings have whitewashed windows? I recently saw a newly-vacated business in a strip mall that had the windows whitewashed with little circular patterns. I have seen this many times before, but could never figure out why this is done. It doesn’t obscure curious window shoppers; I could easily see into the interior. What is this whitewash anyway? soap? paint?
Whitewash is a mixture of either gypsum or lime and water. In a construction site where I once worked, an insurance representative showed up and raised hell because the windows weren’t taped up. Apparently, it’s easy for workers in a partially finished structure to get used to openings without glass and may be caught off guard when these openings suddenly have glass in them. I suspect whitewash is a similar safety thingy. Why it’s done in buildings that are just plain old vacant, I don’t know.
A few dollars worth of whitewash or tape is cheaper than a thousand dollar sheet of glass.
Guess: Maybe it’s to prevent them from flying into the big reflection of the sky in the now empty and drapeless windows.
Also, your expensive toolbox and power tools will less likely be stolen when unattended if passersby can’t glance through the windows.
The missing drapes idea makes me think it might just be to prevent greenhouse effect. Whitewashing the windows is certainly the cheapest most durable drapery.
WAG’s:
1 Protect the glass from construction dust
2 protect passers by from having to look at construction workers’ cracks (or to see the unsightly inside of the vacant building)
3 protect opal from having to look at construction workers’ cracks
4 bird warnings
5 person warning (hey there’s glass here - don’t walk through)
6 easier to see if the glass is broken