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Most office maintenance problems are avoidable if you have the proper planning in place. By following a few easy steps, office managers can make certain that they safeguard themselves and their property from the problems that arise from poor upkeep.

Check Things Regularly

A lot of maintenance problems are simple and safe to fix, but if not taken care of, they can slowly get worse over time.

Look for the Problems before they Become Bigger

If you find any maintenance issues, take care of them ASAP. Saving money now by deferring maintenance will cost you a lot more in repair and replacement in the future.

Don’t Do Office Maintenance if you Don’t Know How

A lot of people have too much confidence in their own ability to fix issues, and tackle things they aren’t qualified to address. This is dangerous and can lead to injury or even death; it can also be illegal. It’s always better to call a professional if there’s any doubt about a person’s capacity to perform the task at hand. If you try to handle electrical maintenance without a license, you’re going against the law and building code regulations. It’s best to stay safe and hire a licensed electrician for important electrical issues.

Want to know more about office maintenance? Call MaintenX today!

Modern office design trends are slowly taking over, and they’re helping keep employees happy, energized, and more productive than ever. Here’s a list of some great office design trends that will boost efficiency while keeping employees content at work.

New Take on an Old Space

Flexible office space design opens lots of possibilities. Office furniture can be moved from one place to another, desks are changeable, mobile impromptu meeting areas are always nearby. Flexible spaces let your workforce work in diverse and customizable areas that can be easily changed to suit the purpose needed at the time without the tedium of being stuck in cubicles for hours on end.

Peace with a Plan

If workers want a little solitude to really focus on a task that needs their full attention, they can easily move to a discreet corner or soundproof room so they can get their work done in peace. Offering employees the freedom to move around is great for their health and motivates them to work more efficiently.

Comfort is King

Making workers sit on painful, hard chairs and non-ergonomic workstations for hours at a time is unhealthy and can cause physical problems like sore necks and backs, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Do you workers and your company a favor and make your workplace a healthy and comfortable place to work.

Graffiti can be a serious problem for facilities of any size, anywhere in the world. This type of vandalism is not only unattractive and harmful to the reputation of your property, it can also cause recurring incidents – once graffiti appears on your property, vandals often come to view it as an easy target.

The first step in defending your facility from graffiti is to have it removed rapidly and skillfully, in order to prevent encouraging future delinquents from damaging your building. Graffiti removal processes can vary depending on what was used to make the graffiti.

When in doubt, speak with a professional painting contractor.

If your facility is a common target for trespassers, then you might want to think about applying exterior anti-graffiti paint. These types of paints stop spray paint from penetrating exteriors and allow quick removal – you can wash it off instead of painting over it.

The two main kinds of anti-graffiti paint are sacrificial coatings and long-lasting ones. Both are invisible when applied to any outdoor surface. This makes them perfect for painted and natural surfaces alike.

Permanent coatings typically never need to be reapplied. This type of paint forms a protective layer over the exterior paint which spray paint can’t bond to. Graffiti that is sprayed onto a permanent coating can then be easily removed with a solvent that will not cause harm to the protective coating, saving your facility’s precious property from expensive repair.

Want to know more about protecting your facility? Call MaintenX today!

Open floor plans are rapidly replacing the cubicle-lands of the corporate past. Sure, they’re currently fashionable, but open floor plans are not ideal for every office. Before rearranging your entire office into an open floor plan design just to be trendy, consider the pros and cons.

Make the Right Choice for Your Unique Office

In an open-office floor plan, your workstations are situated close together instead of spaced out in traditional private offices. In spite of being so trendy, open office floor plans can sometimes have more disadvantages than benefits.

Improved Communication with Colleagues

When there are no physical barriers in a workspace, workers feel freer to connect with one another and tend to work more cohesively as a team.

Open office floor plans are also a fantastic option for freelancers who would work from home without having a space. Renting a workspace in an open office lets self-employed people talk and network with others. This opportunity can be helpful for their businesses while getting them out of the house and connecting with other people in-person.

Get Rid of the Barriers between Workers

One main reason that more companies are selecting open floor plan offices is that they eliminate obstacles between workers and managers. An added bonus: there are no offices for administrators to hide from their employees in.

Advances in modern cleaning technologies are changing the way we clean today’s facilities. Good cleaning practices are still the foundation of facility restroom cleaning, however. Below you’ll find some tips for facility managers everywhere on how to keep their facility’s restrooms clean and sanitary.

Color Coding

Think about starting a color-coded cleaning system for your facility’s mops and rags. This will help your staff easily know which cleaning products are meant for which tasks in your facility.

Calibrate your Facility’s Bathroom’s Dispenser Systems

Occupants must have easy access to your facility’s product dispenser systems, so calibrate them correctly.

Make Sure to Dilute Cleaning Products

Cleaning products used throughout your facility should always be diluted. When diluting toxic chemicals, always make sure to use the correct equipment:

• Measuring cups
• Dispensing pumps
• Automated dilution equipment

Make sure that you know that adding extra cleaning product does not make a cleaning any easier or faster; it only wastes resources and can make cleaning jobs even more difficult.

If your facility has glass windows, think about cleaning restroom mirrors from top-to-bottom, and then cleaning all doors. Make sure to always clean glass surfaces with the correct materials.

Supply cleaning workers with the appropriate cleaning materials and make sure to properly train them on facility stocking procedures. This can lead to a substantial upsurge in efficiency.

Want to know more? Call MaintenX today!

Thinking about remodeling your company’s facility? If so, there are a lot of things to consider before you begin; everything from hiring contractors to crafting budgets should be considered and done deliberately.

Keep reading to learn tips that can help you come up with an ideal facility remodeling budget for your building.

Make sure to Get a Sensible Price Estimate

Before you shake hands and sign the facility remodeling contract, it’s important to know the finances at your disposal and what your real-world costs are. Consulting a dependable contractor is one way you can grow and build a sensible remodeling budget that can be tweaked to make up for unforeseen issues. Deciding on the right price range will help ensure that you always stay within your set budget and will always be able to effortlessly account for any price changes, big or small, if they pop up.

Funding the Building Project

If your facility can afford to pay for its remodeling costs, that’s great.  Unfortunately, not every company can afford to pay for huge and costly projects out of pocket. That’s why many companies have to find funding from outside investors, partners and banks. When borrowing money for your facility’s building project, think about how much lenders can give you and integrate monthly payments and interest rates into your project’s total budget.

If you want to save yourself serious some serious time and money on replacing your facility’s floors, read on for some summer tips to keep your facility’s floors going strong for years to come.

Control Indoor Humidity Levels

Regularly measuring the humidity levels inside your facility is very important in general, but especially in the sweltering summer months.

You can control the humidity levels inside your facility by:

• Properly maintaining your facility’s air conditioning system and components
• Watching out for any spills and leaks during scheduled maintenance checks
• Considering installing a dehumidifier to help mitigate the issue of mold and slips

Protect Your Facility’s Flooring from the Sun

Fading is an unwelcome consequence of your facility’s flooring being exposed to sunlight for long periods. Whenever you can, shield your floors from direct sunlight.

Maintain your Facility’s Floors

No matter what type of facility you run, people coming in and out are bringing a lot of unwelcome contaminants with them:

• Dirt
• Mud
• Outdoor allergens
• Other contaminants

Making sure that your facility’s floors are correctly maintained during the summertime is vital for your business. This will defend your floors from damage and stains while protecting your occupants from allergens and noxious, as well as improving overall occupant safety by preventing accidents.

Facility managers sometimes find it hard to decide whether to continue operating their facilities management services in-house or to outsource it to an external service company. Cost is often the number one factor, and outsourcing can save your company a lot of money. In fact, outsourcing facility services comes with a lot of benefits. If your facility is thinking about outsourcing its facilities services, keep reading.

Outsourcing Facilities Maintenance Makes for Much Better Responsiveness Overall

Traditional facilities management is slow and expensive. When facility maintenance problems are put off time and again, the dreaded deferred maintenance will rear its ugly (and costly) head. Outsourcing the needed facility maintenance and repair services can improve responsiveness and speed up service while saving on your facility maintenance budget.

Working with a Third Party for Facilities Maintenance Services Is Cost-Effective

Outsourcing facilities management services to an outside company, like MaintenX, is also profitable. This is because independent facility management companies come with the expertise, skills, and resources it takes to keep costs low and efficiency high.

Less Work for Internal Staff Saves Time and Money

Facility maintenance companies that you contract with can save you a lot of money while keeping your facility up and running and in top shape.

Want to know more about the benefits of outsourced maintenance? Call the experts at MaintenX today!

A facility maintenance checklist is an invaluable security tool to keep a building safe through periodical planning, checkups, and maintenance undertakings. It’s the facility manager’s job to oversee maintenance, and checklists ensure that all tasks get accomplished.  

Not following your daily facility maintenance checklist can let small problems develop into big ones over time, causing extreme and even life-threatening security and human health concerns. 

One dangerous example can be a power cut in a facility without a properly maintained backup generator, which jeopardizes resources in your facility that must be kept under exact temperatures. This can also cause a serious risk to the life and health of your facility’s occupants.

Construction Features

The walls and their underlying structures of your facility can wear out over time and should be checked at least one a month for any visible cracks, fissures, faulty or exposed wires. Building arches, eaves and canopies should be inspected carefully as they tend to ruin more often. Routine roofing and soffit check-ups must be conducted along with the rest of the inspection of the building exterior.

Allergic Symptoms from Mold

Mold is dangerous for your facility’s structure and assets, but it’s also a danger for your facility’s occupants. Common allergic reactions to mold include sneezing, sore eyes and a runny nose or nasal congestion.

But how do you know the warning signs of mold? Read on to find out.

Smelling Mold

When there’s mold in a facility, oftentimes a moldy smell is the only clue that it’s there. Do you self and your occupants a favor and don’t ignore mold odors if you can’t see any mold. You should thoroughly inspect the facility before mold problems get worse.

Seeing Signs of Mold Growth

Visible mold growth might look like a clear sign of mold in your facility. But that being said, many people don’t notice small amounts of mold. Sometimes people in your facility just ignore the smell.

If you can see mold growth in any part of your facility, even if a little, then you need to immediately act.

Know your Molds

Mold comes in many shapes and sizes. Some mold looks white and thread-like. Mold can be black, gray, brown, green, or white.

Signs of Water Problems

If you discover long-term moisture issues in your facility, it’s a safe bet mold isn’t far behind. So, if you know you’ve had water and moisture issues in your facility, then it’s a pretty good sign you could have mold.

Want to know more about mold and how to prevent it? Call MaintenX today!