The monsoons are here and the next few months are the most dreaded months for your housekeeping team. Despite all the pre-monsoon preparations, there are still some leaks in your plan and you have to take some last minute measures. You would dread to welcome your customers with damp floors, soggy carpets, leaking ceilings and stinking odor.
Here we list out a comprehensive guides for every area of your business space to make them monsoon ready.

Floors

Carpets

Drainage

Washrooms

Management

Entrance&Parking Areas

Floor Cleaning

Floor maintenance becomes more critical in monsoon because floors are everywhere and they are the first and last points of contact for all your footfalls. Your visitors carry all the mud and wetness on their shoes, bags, umbrellas onto your floors.
Here are some floor maintenance tips to get you started-

• Mechanized floor cleaning is recommended. Single disc machine for floor scrubbing & buffing would be ideal for all floors. It is better to engage a professional floor cleaning vendor like McLean atleast on a weekly basis for better results.
• If cleaning the floors manually, perform manual scrubbing daily night or before office hours.
• Mats – They can save you a lot of headache by preventing all the mud and water from entering your space. Choose the right mat type like scraper mats or z-web mats which are both heavy duty and easy to maintain. Wash and dry them daily.
• Areas like entrance, reception, washrooms need more frequent and intense cleaning compared to internal areas. Mechanized cleaning is ideal for these areas, low footfall internal areas can be manually cleaned.
• Use proper signages to prevent any mishaps.

Carpet Cleaning

Carpets are victims of the monsoon onslaught. Carpeted floorings are common in businesses as they provide a premium aesthetic to the space and are soft & non slippery with a wide range to choose from. Carpets can become soaky during rains which will reduce their life in the long run and also result in bad odor for the entire space.
The following carpet cleaning measures would ensure health carpets during the rainy season –

• Have a strict vacuuming schedule – This may sound obvious but in organizations which do not have a full time housekeeping staff, it is often a neglected area. It is ideal to use professional equipment for this purpose and perform vacuuming atleast once every day.
• Extraction cleaning – This would require hiring a professional carpet cleaning company but this would extend your carpet’s life in the long run.
• During monsoons, many a time the air conditioning is turned off as the climate is cool enough. This results in moisture build up in the carpets which can cause unpleasant odor which is very difficult to remove.
• Use steam cleaning whenever possible which will prevent microbe build up and also dry quickly. Ensure there are enough exhaust fans and use air dryers.

Drainage & Plumbing System

Your building’s drainage & water lines are arterial to your premises. Any leakages or failures can mean a messy rainy season. These are best checked before your monsoon begins and in case you manage to overlook something, these are best addressed on a priority basis on a dry day, else everything else you do may end up going waste.
These are the most important things to check before the first shower –

• Clear the open drains of any debris and ensure there is no clogging. A clogged drain means waterlogging in the premises. Use high pressure water jets to clean all drains in advance to flush out any debris and blockages.
• Call a plumber to check there are no leaking pipes. Also check walls and terrace for cracks. If there are any cracks, hire a professional waterproofing company to resolve it immediately as this cannot be done properly once the rains begin.
• Desilt the sewage and drainage lines before monsoon

Waste Management

Waste management becomes all the more important during the rainy season. Any negligence would result in stench along with flies and mosquitoes. Though professionally managed buildings have full time housekeeping staff taking care of garbage management, smaller premises, offices and outlets often have their cleaning staff handling this task as well.
The following checklist would help them handle waste more efficiently –

• Ensure proper segregation of dry and wet wastes. This is a very basic measure but it goes a long way in preventing bad odor and insects.
• Clear garbage more frequently than in dry seasons. Make sure the bins are away from areas which receive a shower.

Washroom Cleaning

We cannot emphasize enough on maintaining hygienic washrooms, especially during monsoons. Toilets become dirty much faster during monsoons and extra effort is needed to keep them clean. They not only present an untidy picture but also act as breeding grounds for insects and microbes.
Washroom Maintenance Tips –

• Wet mop frequently and use heavy duty, double blade floor wipers for best effect.
• Use color coded micro-fiber mops for different areas like WC, washbasin, floor, etc.
• Ensure there are no leakages in taps or pipes before monsoons begin.
• Hiring a professional bathroom cleaning company like McLean would expedite things.

Entrance & parking lots

Entrance & parking lots are often neglected areas in a business. If you are part of a professionally maintained commercial building, there would most probably be a round the clock professional housekeeping team to take care of these areas. Otherwise this list is for you –

• Parking lots are home for stagnation as they are generally a level underground and water naturally collects there. Ensure there are no debris in the drainage system.
• Check the pumps are functioning properly, in case of waterlogging they would come handy.
• Make sure the parking ramps and parking areas don’t become slippery which may lead to mishaps.

Other handy tips

• Keep a track of the daily weather forecast, it may save you a lot of trouble.
• Earmark a zone for your staff to hang their raincoats, umbrellas and helmets. This would prevent dripping water entering into the work area.
• Keep some high speed fans at the reception/entrance area. Staff who enter drenched in the rain can dry themselves up properly.
• Keep these items handy for your housekeeping staff for an emergency – torch lights, umbrellas, rain coats, gum boots, wet floor signages.
• Buy anti slip mats for every entrance if you already don’t, 3M has a range to choose from.
• Get your space fumigated frequently to ensure zero pests.