Every condo building, shopping center, or other large structure requires special periodic maintenance, and it's important to have the right equipment for it. Here's an article that will tell you about the activities to plan for both daily and periodic maintenance, as well as the products, accessories, and equipment to prioritize.
Daily maintenance
No matter what type of building you have to clean, it's very likely that you have an elevator that goes there. So depending on the traffic in your building, you will have to judge how often you will have to clean high-touch points. A simple all-purpose cleaner will suffice, or a 5th generation disinfectant. Promote cleaning with a quality microfiber cloth. For example, you could use the Vileda MicroTuff or PVA Micro cloth. Here are some points to clean regularly:
- All interior and exterior action buttons
- The interior ramp
- Also check the doors and door glass. People tend to put their hands on the doors, door frames, and the wall around the action buttons.
- Also, some buildings install carpets in front of elevators. Be sure to vacuum the carpets at least once a day.
- Floor maintenance must also be done daily in the elevator.
Periodic maintenance of the elevator
The elevator walls and floor coverings, carpets, and ceiling will require regular cleaning. This can vary from monthly to annual, depending on the building's traffic.
Indoor parking
Now let's move on to maintaining the indoor parking lot. First, the more traffic there is in the parking lot, the more important it will be to go around the space to check that there is no debris on the ground. It must not be allowed to accumulate. Just like graffiti, because the next day, there may be 2 graffiti pieces, and the day after that, 3 or 4 graffiti pieces will have been added.
3-season maintenance
In spring, summer and fall, maintenance will be easier, you can wash the floors every 3 to 4 weeks. Some even do it every 3 or 6 months, but dust accumulates much more. A light degreaser, pH 8-9 would be more than enough. I strongly suggest you sweep your floor beforehand. You can use a street sweeper or even a garage broom. Sprinkle sweeping powder (green powder) beforehand, this will keep the dust on the ground, and prevent it from lifting and creating a large cloud of dust.
Winter floor maintenance
Winter maintenance for parking spaces and garages isn't easy. You'll need to adjust your washing frequency to about every two weeks. Of course, this frequency depends on the number of cars that pass through your space. Make sure you use a cleaner removes calcium for washing floors, otherwise your cleaning will not be effective. I sometimes see that there are large whitish-gray calcium stains on the floor. For these stains, you could spray the calcium remover cleaner, a good 10 minutes to let the product work before proceeding with your cleaning.
Washing Equipment
Small building
This isn't an easy question to answer, as it depends on the size of your garage. Let's say you have a small to medium-sized garage on one level; a simple 28- to 34-inch scrubber might be enough. It's best to use a cylindrical scrubber, as this type of scrubber will pick up small debris, as there's a container next to the brush, into which the dirt from the brush will be deposited.
You also have the option of pressure washing. One of the pieces of equipment I highly appreciate in pressure washing is the Mosmatic brand. This equipment below has multiple possibilities, and I'll be back with an article on it in the coming weeks. I even predict that there will be a new training course launching at CF Salubrité in spring 2023: Pressure washing, you'll love it!
This equipment can clean even the most disgusting floors! It can even decontaminate walls! I'll let you experience the power of this equipment until my next blog post on the subject.
Larger building
Walk-behind scrubbers don't have the capacity of a ride-on scrubber. As soon as your building has more than one story, or more than a hundred cars, let's say, you'll need a larger piece of equipment such as a ride-on scrubber. Here are four manufacturers that make this type of specialized equipment:
- Nilfisk Advance SC6000 Ride-on Scrubber Dryer
- Tennant T7 Ride-on Scrubber Dryer
- Clarke's Focus II
- As well as the Swingo 5000 scrubber dryer from Taski
- There are probably other excellent floor scrubbers that I don't know about.
Please note, I strongly suggest you have your parking space assessed before making such a purchase. We're talking about a purchase of more than $10,000 to $50,000, depending on your needs, so this isn't a purchase you should rush into. There are several factors to consider when making your purchase:
- Choose a ride-on scrubber dryer with a cylindrical brush
- There are scrubber dryers that sweep and wash.
- The size of this will depend on the space to be cleaned, the elevation to be raised and lowered.
So, I hope this article will provide you with enough information to maintain your parking lot. If not, don't hesitate to contact CF Salubrité to help you make your parking lot a pleasant space.
