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For many companies, outsourcing facility services is a good way to reduce prices, improve the occupant experience, and free up time to focus on business growth. Cost is a significant factor in the decision to outsource, but many businesses make the mistake of choosing a facility services provider based on cost alone. Doing that might seem to help your bottom line, but it can have serious downsides.

Getting Value from Your Facility Services Program

A quality-oriented facility services provider will deliver value through expertise, effectiveness, customer service, innovation, and smooth operation.

Expertise

Even though many facility services tasks are simple, when they’re delivered by an expert, it makes a difference.

Efficiency

The least costly option frequently ends up being the least efficient. Low-cost providers tend to cut corners on training, equipment, and safety procedures in order to squeeze a profit out of their low prices.

Customer Service

Your building occupants’ interactions with maintenance workers reflects directly on you.

Innovation

Every company wants to modernize. Working with a quality provider allows you to benefit from their tactical expertise.

Anytime you outsource a business function, you have to address administrative issues. Low-cost providers may not have established procedures to make administration as hassle-free as possible for you. Quality-oriented providers maintain established protocols for administration and quality control, making it easier to do business with them.

Want to know more? Call MaintenX today!

Walking into a public restroom with sparkling floors, streak-free mirrors, and fresh aromas is what every guest hopes for. However, even the cleanest restrooms can be a germ danger zone due to an often-overlooked restroom process: hand drying.

Most restrooms offer at least one of three hand-drying options: paper towels, air dryers, or jet dryers. When air or jet dryers are the only option, facility costs may be lower, but customers are often left with wet or damp hands after leaving the restroom if the air pressure is too low.

Facility managers should understand how different hand drying methods can impact cleanliness and health beyond the restroom.

Hot Air Problems

Hot air dryers remove water by evaporation and direct air movement mainly downwards. In contrast, jet air dryers remove water through forces in opposite directions and dispersion into the air, Jet dryers, due to their speed and construction, spread more viruses than the warm air dryer, and much more than paper towels.

The Benefits of Paper

Paper towels are popular among restroom guests. Given the choice, most people prefer paper towels to hot air dryers. By providing paper towels in public restrooms, facility managers give customers their desired hand drying method, and get a cleaner, healthier environment in return.

While it may sound like a myth, paper towels can be a sustainable and cost-friendly hand drying option.

No Longer a Debate

The choice of whether to provide paper towels or air dryers within restrooms is no longer an equal sided debate; research shows that paper towels take the hygiene crown. If you’re skeptical, it’s worth asking yourself where the air that the dryers blow actually comes from – inside the bathroom!

Unless you live in a big city, the extent to which facilities maintain their properties is usually obvious from the street. We may think it’s only for aesthetic appeal, but there are more unexpected reasons facility managers may choose to designate budget dollars to that purpose.

When greenery is replaced by buildings in urban areas, cities can’t absorb the chemicals from cars and buildings as effectively, and air quality suffers.

Trees and plants also have an incredible ability to cool down cities by fighting the urban heat island effect. They reflect sunlight and heat unlike pavement, which absorbs it. 

You may have noticed some facilities surround their buildings with trees. There’s a reason for that: the foliage blocks out a lot of noise. Sound bounces off hard surfaces, but is scattered and absorbed by plants. 

How Do Trees Benefit Your Facility?

• Improved air quality
• Improved water quality
• Improved wildlife habitats
• Cooled air temperatures

What Can You Do?

• Plant trees on your property. Plant about 20 feet away from your building on western exposures for optimum energy conservation.
• Plant at least one tree per car in your building to reduce your carbon footprint.
• Advocate for tree planting in public spaces in your community.
• Remember that all trees need to be maintained after they are planted.

For more information about planting trees, contact MaintenX today!

Can you envision the cleaning process in your office or facility? Do you see the team vacuuming, wiping glass doors, emptying the trash, and dusting?

We’ve rounded up a list of the places people often forget to clean:

Stairs

You’d think dirt, debris, and salt would only accumulate on the main path of the stairs. Surprisingly, buildup can happen just as quickly in the corners and edges, too; it’s easy for our shoes to kick particles into those areas.

Chairs

Upholstery and other office furniture easily attract dust. If your facility has a waiting room or lots of visitors coming and going in a seating area, odors and stains are unavoidable.

Drying Racks

Do people in your office wash their dishes after lunch? If so, it’s doubtful they also take the initiative to clean the drying rack once in a while. Many might think clean dishes are going on there, so how can it be dirty? But water accumulation can be a breeding ground for mildew.

Trash

The liners may be changed every day, but when was the last time the cans were given a good washing?

Break Room Fridge

It’s one of the most dreaded places to clean, but grime, dirt, mold, and dust can accumulate quickly there.

Want to know more? Call MaintenX today!

The advantages of smart landscape construction are many, varied, and long-lasting for both the land and its owner. Some of the most notable effects reflect upon your investment, your bills, and the environment.

Beautiful Landscapes Increase Property Value

Landscape construction doesn’t just bring beauty and shade to your property. It increases its value and curb appeal, drawing in buyers if or when you plan to put it on the market. We aren’t talking about pennies; quality landscaping can contribute to up to 28% of your home’s total value.

Good Landscaping Can Reduce Energy Costs

Strategic tree placement can impact your bills in a positive way. Natural shade reduces a building’s internal temperature, lessening the strain on your air conditioner and reducing your energy bill while giving you a reprieve from the Florida sun!

Landscaping Construction Provides Environmental Benefits

One of the most important advantages of hiring a professional to provide landscaping construction services is that we know what plants and trees are best for your property. Behind the aesthetics, trees recycle air into clean oxygen and capture runoff during Florida’s frequent storms. This impacts the health of your property and your air quality!

Give Your Landscape a Revolutionary Touch

If your landscape needs a refreshing change of scenery, give MaintenX a call today! We’ll be happy to answer any questions you have and schedule an appointment to give your land a new look.

The EPA recommends cleaning air ducts whenever there is a rodent/insect infestation, mold growth, or if the ducts are clogged with dust and debris.

Airborne particles can be released from dirty ducts and contaminate a HVAC system, or if moisture gets into the system mold can grow, and mold spores may be released into the air. In those situations, it’s crucial to have your facility’s ducts cleaned.

Dirty ducts can become a breeding ground for mold spores, bacteria and other particles, which can lead to poor indoor air quality.

If your facility is faced with a dirty duct problem and you have to hire an air duct cleaning service, what should you expect from the company?

The duct cleaning service provider should:

1. Open all ports and doors to ensure the entire system is thoroughly cleaned and inspected.
2. Be sure to inspect the system before cleaning to look for asbestos-containing materials. Materials should not be disturbed and should only be removed by contractors who are specially trained in asbestos removal.
3. Use a vacuum that will vent particles outside of the building.
4. Protect furnishings and carpeting throughout the cleaning procedure.
5. Brush duct surfaces as well as use contact vacuum cleaning to remove all dust and particles.
6. Protect the ductwork by sealing and re-insulating access holes and use soft-bristled brushes to clean fiberglass duct board or metal ducts lined with fiberglass.

Facility managers may also choose to use their own crews to handle air duct cleaning. Want to know more about this topic? Call MaintenX today!

Responsible buyers and facility managers should know where savings are coming from. If your due diligence isn’t uncovering optimization opportunities in management processes, then your savings may be more of a shell game than actual, realized cost savings.

Focus on production

With commercial janitorial services, production rate is the single most important factor in determining cost. A production rate is defined mathematically as output divided by input. In the case of cleaning, janitorial service production is the amount of square footage covered (in an hour) divided by the total hours worked.

Two things influence production rates: Human speed and mechanical speed.
Human speed is the rate at which janitors clean. A number of factors determine the rate at which professional cleaners move through the facility, including:

• Cleaning process
• Cleaning technique
• Cleaner’s motivation
• Building architecture and design
• Scope of work
• Management and supervision intervention

Take for example microfiber technology. Microfiber can offer significant production rate improvements by cutting out actions like “saturating a surface with chemical”. The labor required to remove the chemical is reduced, leading to gain in production. It is also much faster and more effective to wipe and remove chemical or soil from a surface than other products like paper or cotton towels.

Want to learn more? Call MaintenX today!

Window maintenance should be part of your regular building maintenance plan. Unfortunately, glass window maintenance is almost always put aside until a window breaks or is damaged. No matter how modern or stylish your windows are, lack of proper maintenance can affect their appearance and life span.

For business owners, your storefront windows can affect your customers’ first impression of your business. A dirty and grimy glass window signals that the interior will be similarly unclean, regardless of its actual state.

Why Window Maintenance is a Must

Neglecting window maintenance is too common. Electrical, mechanical, communication, and plumbing systems are usually maintained regularly, but window maintenance is frequently seen as a cosmetic issue, and therefore a discretionary expense.

Poor maintenance of glass windows can lead to hardware failure, leakage, and diminished natural light. Grime, smudges, and dirt can easily build up on your glass, and broken locks and mechanisms can compromise the safety and security of your building. The costs of potential consequences far outweigh the short-term benefits of deferring maintenance.

How Often Should You Have Your Windows Maintained and Cleaned?

There is no hard and fast rule on how often you should perform window maintenance and cleaning.

If your property is located in an area exposed to heavy rains and storms more than usual, leaves and debris can accumulate. This requires more frequent window cleaning and maintenance.

Spots. Spills. Stains. They’re often the first things visitors to your facility notice about your floor coverings. Left untreated, spots and stains on carpets have the potential to create a negative impression of your business, school or office building. However, early response can help reduce the incidence of permanent blemishes and keep your facility carpeting looking fresh and clean no matter what life throws at it.

Check for Spots and Stains Daily

Commercial carpeting is a big investment. You can help prolong its life and keep it looking attractive by treating and cleaning spots and stains as soon as they are noticed.

Prevention

Take precautions to prevent certain types of spots and stains before they happen, with exterior and interior matting or walk-off tiles to capture moisture, greasy slush, and street soil before it’s tracked onto your expensive carpeting.

Daily Vacuuming

Regular carpet vacuuming, especially in high traffic areas, removes dry soil and prevents it from grinding into fibers. A frequent spot check of all areas allows new spots to be treated quickly before they become permanent stains.

Interim Cleaning

Interim maintenance, such as low-moisture bonnet cleaning, will help your carpeting retain its like-new appearance longer and help improve performance. Interim cleaning is performed less frequently than daily, but should be planned often for high traffic areas. Triad works nicely for bonnet buffing, as well as a pre-spray spotter for high-traffic lanes.

Identify Your Stain 

Whenever possible, ID your spot or stain before attempting to remove it. Different stains require different chemicals and removal processes, so your success rate depends on an accurate identification of your stain.

Want to know more? Contact MaintenX today!

Hotel maintenance and repair teams are among the most critical employees in a hotel. Without them, many crucial services would stop working and guest frustration would surely lead to a substantial drop in bookings. But hotel maintenance can also produce large costs for property management. Key features in any solution to a well-organized maintenance department include:

Making sure tasks get to the right person for the job.

Vitally important to any successful maintenance job dispatch system is the capability to automatically direct and assign responsibilities to the proper workers. The most qualified employee should make sure that maintenance servicing is done rapidly without disturbing the work of others.

Getting the message to staff.

Another priority for any good hotel maintenance solution is the ability to alert your facility’s workers to any job the instant it is created. With lots of programs that can dispatch assignments to maintenance teams via email, those that take speed to the next level can transmit job information to mobile devices via an app. This capability guarantees that your facility’s workers are always up-to-date on the latest tasks are no matter what.

Efficient job tracking.

With maintenance departments usually flooded with maintenance job requests and tasks, it is vital for a platform to be in place that can alert each worker to the current status of every assignment in real time.

Want to know more? Call MaintenX today!