Two weeks of the thermometer flirting with 0 degrees centigrade has left many managers thinking about their Cold Weather services for Snow Removal and De-icing this winter. The most critical issue of discussion with your provider is what triggers a service, when you select Automatic versus On Call.
Advance Gutter Cleaning Option (NEW)
Gutter cleaning is not a one time event. As a result, ServiceMaster Clean Property Services created the Gutter Maintenance Programs, which enabled buildings to deal with the health of their gutter systems over a twelve month period.
If you have a building on our de-icing service plan, you might notice a subtle difference in our service in the coming weeks. Traditional ice melt product can have environmental effects.This is largely due to the presence of chloride ions in salt, which is effective at breaking down frozen water, but is also highly corrosive to other substances it comes into contact with. Concrete and tile will slowly discolor after prolonged exposure. Organic compounds, such as carpet fiber and plants are also damaged over time. Even pets paws can suffer damage, as the chloride dries the skin and creates cracks. A better solution is out there.
Services such as gutter cleaning, dryer-vent cleaning and window washing often require workers to perform some kind of work-at-height. Working at heights over 10 feet is considered high-risk by Canadian health and safety authorities and with good reason. Approximately one-third of workplace lost-time injuries and deaths are related to falls from height.
When it comes to our workers, ServiceMaster believes the only acceptable solution is the safest and best solution. In many cases, companies would rather cut corners by requiring their staff to work off of ladders and rooftops when there are safer and better alternatives. This is not only socially irresponsible, but in many cases may actually incur additional liabilities on both the service company and the property owner.
We are happy to announce our new power vacuum cleaning service.
This power vacuum consists of two rotating brushes that agitate, lift and clean both sides of the carpet nap allowing us to be able to remove between 50-60 % more soil sitting on the carpets in just one pass, two vacuum motors which deliver higher air flow for deep carpet cleaning. Our technicians will be able to power vacuum 3,000 square feet per hour.
This service will help us to deliver a cleaner carpet during our hot water extractions, and maintenance cleanings. You can expect to see this in our proposals from now on.
The biggest misconception behind dryer vent cleaning is actually the reason why most people think its necessary. Its not because of the fire risk: they are exceedingly rare occurrences, and usually occur due to the lint trap in the dryer itself not being properly cleaned. Rather, the real risk emerges from blocked vents that condense moisture from the dryer. This, over time, pools, and can cause thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars in damage. The trick, if it can be called that, is early diagnosis of the problem. The first signs of a blockage may seem relatively benign: excessive humidity and steaming in the residence as the air “blows back” from the vent. Clothes may take longer to dry.
Once condensation occurs and the water starts to pool, the next step is to observe direct signs of damage. Frequently the water find a seam in the vent, which allows it to spill out into the surrounding area. Within the affected region, this will quickly look like any other water leak, including discolouration of the affected material.
If any of these signs seem familiar to you, let us know… we’ll look at the situation together and determine the best course of action.
I am sure we could all trade stories of our customers and how they expressed their concerns to us. Unfortunately its the few negative interactions that overshadow the vast majority of positive ones. The most common issue we face this time of year is when a window gets missed during a building cleaning, which then gets blown out of proportion. One of the more humorous (and frustrating) examples is receiving a call on the first day of a two-week project that their window was missed.
So to avoid these issues, we’ve put together a point-by-point checklist of lessons learned over the past 25 years.
HOW WE HANDLE COMPLAINTS (CASES) FOR STRATA’S
Try and stop the complaints before they happen:
• The first step is clearly setting expectations before we start. Building notices are often our main way to communicate to residents: we try to be absolutely clear what we will do and not do, as well as what we need the residents to do.
• Have a dispute resolution process, including where and how to communicate issues. This leads us to….