Whatever an organization’s new or emerging reality, pulling the trigger on a move, whether to a shared building or a stand-alone (new or used) facility, is a process that requires due diligence. Moving is not a decision to make lightly, The cost financially and the disruption to business can be major and needs to be planned carefully, but if your space is not being cared for properly, if you are not in the right location for your clients, a move might be well justified. Whether it is build-to-suit or an existing facility, making sure your new building is move-in ready is critical to minimizing downtime and lost productivity, and maintaining employee enthusiasm, collaboration and morale. Following are tips to getting your new building ready for move-in day:
Minimize Clutter
Take a minute to look around your office and ask yourself, “If this were someone else’s office, would I think it’s messy?” If you answer, “Yes” you are overwhelmed with too much clutter. An efficient move starts with getting rid of unnecessary supplies, equipment, files and a host of other materials that tend to accumulate over time. If possible, set a designated time for everyone to “clean house” together.. You will need, large trashcans, colored folders, pencil and marker, paper towels, Windex and cardboard boxes. Encourage employees to clean out desks and areas in and around their current workstations so less clutter finds its way to the new space.
Clean
Chances are, the previous tenants of your new facility will not completely clean the office space. or if you are moving to a new facility it may contain layers of drywall dust, stray carpet fibers and trash left behind by construction workers. Doing a thorough cleaning prior to getting all the furniture and equipment moved in will save a lot of time. Areas to consider include:
- Vacuum all carpets and mats
- Vacuum all hard floors
- Dust all horizontal surfaces of desks, chairs, tables and other furniture
- Damp wipe all horizontal surfaces with disinfectant
- Mop all hard floors with disinfectant
- Remove cobwebs from front entry and immediate surrounding areas
- Remove fingerprints and marks from around light switches and door frames
- Clean automatic glass doors inside and out
- Wipe all internal glass
- Polish all brass and bright work on doors and cabinets
- Spot clean walls and painted surface
- Bathroom-sanitize fixtures, stalls and tile grout
- Replace stained celing tiles and dust ceiling
- Dust blinds
- Shampoo any upholstered furniture
Deep Clean Carpets
Businesses and commercial facilities everywhere depend on creating a positive impression on customers and prospective clients who enter their buildings, and nothing ruins a good impression faster than dirty, yellowing, or stained carpeting. Coffee spills, asphalt yellowing, food stains, cooking oils, grease, and tracked-in dirt can significantly diminish carpet’s appearance. Traffic patterns in carpet become glaringly obvious once desks are removed and there’s a clean line of sight across an expansive room. Hire a professional commercial carpet cleaner to ensure cleanliness and even improve the air quality, and then get on a regular rotation for carpet cleaning to extend the life of your carpet. If your facility has hard surface flooring, you’ll want to make sure it is spic and span as well.
Touch Up Walls and Woodwork and Minor Repairs
Obtain some paste wax and steel wool. If your woodwork has small scratches, you can touch them up using paste wax, which is sometimes sold as “finishing wax.” The wax is best applied using No. 0000 steel wool. When touching up walls, realize that the paint will wick at a different rate than the original top coat. Reproducing the exact wicking rates each time you paint is virtually impossible, but you can try to influence it. Diluting paint adds moisture, which slows the wicking rate and increases the time needed for the paint to set up. Dilute the paint by 5 to 10 percent with water for latex-based paint or mineral spirits for oil-based paint. Now’s the time to do minor repairs, too. Replace burned out light bulbs, install new door handles, repair broken window blinds, patch holes in walls, etc.
High Ceiling Needs
Piles of dust and dirt can become breeding grounds for mites, mold, bacteria, viruses, and other pollutants. Some dusts can become a fire hazard when built up on high surface areas. Numerous explosions have occurred when built up dust created an explosive dust cloud. Industrial facilities and warehouses,can be several stories tall. Interior rafters, beams, fans and vents in these spaces present a cleaning challenge for the average business. You’ll want these areas to be as clean as possible before moving in, especially if settling dust and debris from overhead poses a contamination risk to your production.
Bring in the Pros
Offices are full of furnishings, expensive machines, and critical IT systems that must be properly packed, transported, and unpacked. Moving ranks as one of the most stressful events in a person’s life, and the same can be true for moving a business. Hiring a professional to make sure your new facility is move-in ready will remove some of that stress and help you and your employees focus on getting back to work and serving your customers as quickly as possible.
First Green Commercial Cleaning can help you with the cleaning of your Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky commercial office or industrial facility. We offer superior customer service and strive to build long term business relationships with our clients.
Contact us (859-292‐8556) today for a free consultation!
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Why First Green Cleaning Services?
Why First Green Cleaning Services?- Customized Cleaning Plans – What sets First Green Building Services apart is our attention to detail. We understand that different businesses have different needs. For years, First Green Building Services has been providing janitorial services for educational facilities, schools, and colleges. Over the years we have provided K-12 Public School Cleaning, K-12 Private School Cleaning, Technical School Cleaning, and College Cleaning
- Owned and Operated Locally – With direct owner involvement, we provide immediate response time to any situation you might incur. Even after business hours, First Green Building Services has a 24-hour customer service number to resolve any cleaning issue.
- Quality Control – First Green Building Services has a low cleaner to supervisor ratio which allows us to make sure your facility gets the attention and detailed cleaning that it deserves.