While the media checked out outdoor terraces at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center yesterday, Terri Ziros and Linda Williams were doing the really hard labor below them.

They were cleaning the covers to the dozens of vaults that hold electrical and water outlets in the exhibit halls of the convention center in preparation for the G-20 economic summit Sept. 24 and 25. Today they start power washing.

"We were hand-washing them, but my muscles are too sore for that," Ms. Ziros said.

With less than a month to spare before the summit, the convention center, which will be the site of the G-20 meetings, is getting a once-over that would rival anything seen on TLC's "Clean Sweep."

That was evident yesterday as roughly 250 journalists, broadcasters and media representatives toured the convention center and discussed the logistics of summit coverage in an off-the-record briefing with State Department officials.

Outside, workers used pressure washers to blast soot, grime and insects off the building's white aluminum panels. Along a third floor terrace, crews removed rust spots and repainted sections of an overhang.

"It's something we've been planning to do all along. You can see [the rust] clearly from the fourth floor so it's a little unsightly," said Mark Leahy, convention center general manager.

Inside the building, Ms. Ziros and Ms. Williams cleaned grates in the 236,900-square-foot exhibit area that will play host to the summit sessions and a press room. Other laborers dusted overhead light fixtures in meeting rooms or changed light bulbs elsewhere.

"It's been organized chaos getting this work done," Mr. Leahy said.

The city-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority, which owns the convention center, will spend about $54,000 just to wash windows. In all, it will cost about $254,000 to get the building spick-and-span for the G-20. The agency will spend another $180,000 to plant flowers and trees on a hillside on the east side of the building near 11th Street.

To SEA Executive Director Mary Conturo, it's a small price to pay for the exposure.

"It's a major event in the building. We want to show off the building to the world in its best condition. So we're trying to time all these items so we're looking our best for the G-20 event," she said.

Ms. Conturo said much of the work involves routine maintenance that would have been done at some point; the G-20 simply accelerated the timetable. She said the SEA is hoping to cover most of the costs through building earnings generated during the summit.

Some of the expenses are unavoidable given the design of the building, with its glass and white panels, Mr. Leahy said.

"I had a guy tell me good luck keeping a white, glass building in an urban area clean," he said.

Earlier this summer, with an eye to the G-20, the SEA awarded a three-year contract to Smart City of Las Vegas to provide all wired and wireless Internet service and land-line phone and data service for the convention center.

It also gave AT&T a short-term lease to install a cell phone antenna at the center to boost service during the summit.

The convention center has the capability of handling up to 2,000 phone lines. Early projections indicated that the center may need 400 to 500 for the summit.

During yesterday's walk-through, members of the local, national and international media were able to visit the convention center's rooftop terrace, view possible locations for live shots and examine work space plans relating to the summit.

The White House is expecting more than 3,000 journalists from around the world to converge on Pittsburgh for the event. The gathering also is expected to attracts thousands of delegates and protesters.