5 cleaning services to add to your annual maintenance plan.
With summer behind us and fall in full swing, it’s time to pull out your office deep cleaning checklist and make sure you’re on track. Preventative office building fall maintenance is one of the most important things we do for our clients! We’re always here for you, if an emergency pops up. But we know that so many expensive cleaning disasters can be avoided if your building has a proactive plan for annual and seasonal maintenance. Preventing problems before they start is one of the many ways we save our customers money on their commercial cleaning services!
Spring cleaning gets all the attention, but fall cleaning is just as important. Here are 5 key office building fall maintenance tasks to focus on.
#1: Autumn leaf clean-up
Visitors to Portland are often struck by the feeling of living in a city built directly into a forest. It’s stunningly gorgeous here in the fall. It’s also incredibly messy and causes endless headaches for facility managers! Now that we’re hitting peak fall color season here in the PNW, it’s time to make a plan for how to deal with all those leaves.
Leaves are much easier to collect and dispose of while they are still relatively dry and not decomposing. It’s important to stay on top of leaf removal and disposal because once the leaves get wet and start rotting, you’ll be dealing with a slippery mess on your parking lot and walkways. The last thing you want is to create slip hazards for employees and guests!
Do this now: Ask your cleaning service to add leaf removal to your annual maintenance plan. If they don’t offer that service, consider hiring a comprehensive commercial cleaner who can handle your daily janitorial needs AND your seasonal maintenance tasks as well. Learn more
#2: Pressure wash exterior surfaces
This is the perfect follow-up task after leaf removal! If the leaves on your property are already rotting, a leaf blower might not cut it. You’re going to need to schedule a pressure washing. Leaves collect in shady, damp areas and corners and start decomposing. What comes next? Dark stains and mildew appear. This is an aesthetic concern as well as a safety problem, due to the risk of someone falling on the slippery, leaf-covered pavement.
Pressure washing is also helpful for removing the moss that tends to collect in sidewalk cracks, roof overhangs and other shady, damp areas. And autumn often brings cool, rainy weather which is exactly what moss thrives on.
Do this now: Ask about adding pressure washing treatments to your cleaning plan to prevent leaf, moss and debris from collecting around your building’s exterior. Learn more
#3: Check your gutters & downspouts
You guessed it—the fall leaves are the culprit here too. However, leaves aren’t the only problem that can affect your building’s water drainage system. Gutters tend to collect all kinds of twigs, pine needles and other debris over the course of the year. You’ll probably never notice it during the dry season, but you definitely will once it starts raining again.
There are actually some less obvious causes of gutter and downspout clogs as well. Birds and squirrels have been known to take up residence in gutters, along with weeds and all the dirt that runs down off your roof. Whatever the cause, fall is a great time to inspect your gutters and make sure you’re ready for wet weather.
Do this now: Ask your cleaning company to add a gutter and downspout inspection to your office building fall maintenance plan. As a general rule, we recommend cleaning out your gutters twice a year (spring and fall). Your cleaning company should be able to recommend the right schedule for you, based on your building’s location. Need to schedule a cleaning consultation? Contact us
#4: Dust those skylights, corners & windowsills
Standard janitorial service typically doesn’t do the high, hard-to-reach dusting every day or even every week. In fact, if you’re paying to do this task all the time, you might be over cleaning your building. But it’s still an important task to include on your annual maintenance plan. In fact, it makes perfect sense to include it on your fall schedule because now is the time when spiders and cobwebs may try to take up residence in your facility.
Do this now: Check your current cleaning plan and find out how often you’re dusting those high-up corners in your building. If you’re not doing it at all, start now! If you’re doing it every week, you might be paying too much for your cleaning service and need to cut back.
Cleansolution customizes every customer’s cleaning plan so that they don’t end up overpaying for services they don’t need. Learn more
#5: Protect your flooring & prevent water damage
This might be the biggest fall cleaning challenge in Portland’s rainy climate! Wet weather means lots of water, mud and leaves getting tracked through your facility every day. Having an annual maintenance plan in place will ensure that your flooring is well-protected when fall rolls around, but there are some specific tasks you can add to your office building fall maintenance plan.
First and foremost: stop that water at the door with commercial-grade, outdoor and indoor floor mats. Placing high-quality mats outside your front door and through your entryway is the best way to prevent that water and mud from ever reaching your floors.
Secondly, stepping up the frequency of mopping, vacuuming and carpet cleanings will prevent the dirt and water from settling into your flooring and causing permanent damage.
Do this now: Ask your cleaning service if they can help you source commercial-grade mats for your exterior doors and entryways. A full-service cleaning company should be able to do this for you.
Need extra help keeping your lobby spotless this fall?
You may want to consider adding a day porter service. Day porters are cleaning staff who work in your building during business hours to stay on top of tasks like sweeping and mopping. Two of our clients, KEEN and CloudHQ have benefited greatly from our day porter program! If you have an especially busy building, you may find this service to be a life-saver. Learn more
Contact us today for a Cleansolution consultation!
We think your building deserves care and attention all year long! Schedule a consultation and ask how you can save 5% on your cleaning service with our annual maintenance plan!