Flagpole painter starts at the top, works way down

Warren Hinrichs' office has the best view in town.

It's 135 steps to the top of the Spokane County Courthouse's tower, 30 feet up rickety wooden ladders to a hatch in the pinnacle of the roof and another 50 feet up to where the 64-year-old Hinrichs perched on a wooden plank calmly painting the courthouse flagpole Tuesday and Wednesday

Hinrichs, a Spokane resident who paints flagpoles for a living, is continuing a family tradition of high-altitude painting. It started when his father needed work during the Great Depression.
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"My dad did this until he was 73," Hinrichs said before climbing the pole Wednesday.

"He said, 'This is the only job where you start at the top and work your way down.' "

As Hinrichs zigzags the country looking for weatherworn poles in need of fresh coats, his unique occupation attracts the attention of news outlets and passers-by.

"Folks look up to you," he said.

He's received so much press coverage on the job that he carries a three-inch binder filled with newspaper stories and photos from his 26 years in the business.

He doesn't wait for reporters to ask him questions – he tells a collection of one-line gags and anecdotes that compress his entire life into a 10-minute interview.

Yes, he's been struck by lightning, but only once.

"I was lucky to live through that the first time," he said.

He makes sure he goes to the bathroom before he gets up on the pole, and he worries more about stinging bees than birds pecking him.

"Everybody says, 'Have you ever fallen?' Well, I've only fallen once," he said.

Hinrichs said he was 8 years old the first time his father put him on a water tower, and he's never been afraid of heights.

He recalled one incident when his father, who theatrically wore gold-painted shoes while working, brought Henrichs – then a young man – to the top of the Space Needle's beacon in Seattle.

They were 40 feet above the roof and 607 feet above the ground.

"Dad had a helicopter and a photographer circle us, taking pictures of us as we stood there with our knees clamped around it, with a piece of conduit to hang on to – no safety belts, no guard rail," Hinrichs said. "I said, 'Dad, what if the helicopter blows us off here?' He said, 'Get down on your knees and hold on real tight.' And then he says, 'Get up on my shoulders – it'll make a better picture.' "

Hinrichs has a passion for Spokane's ornate Italian Renaissance-style courthouse, though it is much more difficult than his average job.

"This is one of the hardest but one of the most beautiful of the buildings. It's the most picturesque courthouse of all of them that I do," he said.

"I don't do many (flagpoles) up on top of buildings. What a view."

He charges $8 per foot for a single coat of silver paint and $10 per foot for a single coat of white paint, using a roller for the pole and cans of gold spray paint for the top ornaments. It usually takes 45 minutes to an hour to put one coat of paint on a flagpole. He raises the price for more precarious poles.

"This pole took two coats so it'll be $2,000. That was what I charged them five years ago, but I forgot how hard this one is. Next time it'll be $3,000," he said.

Hinrichs said the courthouse flagpole was overdue for a fresh coat of paint; he normally recommends getting poles painted once every three years.

The necessary equipment is simple, but time-tested, he said.

He carries a plain bucket of paint. His homemade seat of wood, ropes, cable and duct tape is virtually unchanged from the design his father taught him.

Most of the time he solicits for business.

Making the rounds through small- or mid-sized cities, he approaches building owners and over time has painted everything from water towers and radio beacons to fire escapes and bridges.

"I find them. I come into town, I shake the tree and if a nut falls out, I paint it," Hinrichs said with a grin.

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For The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wa