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How do I remove graffiti?

How can we prevent doors and windows from sticking during hot, humid days?

How can we keep our garbage area tidier?

We are looking for a cleaning service. How should we go about this?

What should we look for in a snowblower?

With winter on the way, do you have any tips for keeping our hallways clean?

On average how much would a typical cleaning service charge to clean the common area of 3 floor 12 unit building, and what services should I expect? Also what kind of insurance if any should they carry?

For the best results with the least effort, remove graffiti as soon as possible.

• Try using regular household products to wash away the graffiti. If dish or laundry detergent doesn't help, some experts recommend using eucalyptus oil or mineral turpentine. You can also try specialized products such as New Dimensions Disappear. Of course, use powerful cleaning products with caution--some of them may contain ingredients that are harmful to humans or animals.
• If the graffiti is on a porous surface, such as cement or brick, power washing will often work. You can rent power washers at places like Home Depot.
• On painted surfaces, often the easiest way to get rid of graffiti is to paint over it with a primer and then with the desired color.

If nothing else works, hire a professional cleaning service with experience in graffiti removal.

There are many ways to make windows glide and doors open more easily when humidity causes them to stick:

• Run paraffin wax or an old candle along the surfaces that stick
• Spray a light coating of furniture polish on the areas that stick
• Rub sticky surfaces with a bar of soap
• Apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly to the sticky surfaces

These tips also work on sliding doors and bureau drawers.

In a building without staff, trustees and other owners take responsibility for keeping the building clean. Even if you have someone take care of your garbage on a regular basis, you might find the need to set up some rules. For instance,

• All garbage should be put in sealed plastic bags before putting it into a garbage can
• Make sure garbage cans are tightly sealed at all times.
• Unit owners are responsible for disposing of large items, such as furniture and appliances.
• Unit owners are responsible for disposing of hazardous waste. (Check with your sanitation department or company to find out if your community has rules for disposing of paints, chemicals, batteries, and so on.)

In addition to rules, your association may want to keep some basic cleaning supplies handy to make it easier for people to clean up spills and sweep up debris.

Although the most important part of a cleaning service is its ability to do a good job cleaning and to keep to an agreed upon schedule, there are other factors you should consider.

A larger cleaning service company is more likely than a small one (or individual) to:

• Provide high-end cleaning tools (such as backpack vacuums and polishing equipment).
• Train staff in cleaning techniques.
• Bond and insure its cleaning staff.
• Handle all tax and payroll issues.
• Provide backups when the cleaning person is ill or on vacation.
• Include cleaning supplies in the price.
• Conduct a thorough background check of its staff.

At any rate, don’t take anything for granted. Ask about insurance, background checks, what’s included in the price, whether they will have the same person clean your building each visit, and so on.

A smaller cleaning service company (or an individual) is more likely than a larger service to:

• Work with your schedule.
• Accept modified duties from time to time.
• Have the same person come to your premises each week.
• Have less turnover of employees than a larger service company.
• Customize cleaning supplies to meet your requirements, such as to use only environmentally friendly products or products without perfumes.
• Want to build good relationships in the hope of getting jobs from individual unit owners and tenants.

A smaller service is usually found through personal contacts. Perhaps someone in your building or a neighbor uses a regular cleaning person. If the person works on their own, you may want to check with your accountant so that you don’t run into any tax issues. This could happen if the IRS perceives the cleaning person as an employee of the condo association, rather than an independent contractor. Further, you will want to check with your insurance broker to make sure you have the necessary coverage. In addition to standard liability coverage, you may want to investigate the cost of insurance against theft and intentional damage.

First of all, you may be thinking: do we even want a snowblower? We've got a service that comes whenever it snows ...

To answer that question, you might want to think about how much you pay for your current service, how reliable it is, how long you typically have to wait to get cleared. If you think it's time to invest in a snowblower, you also have to decide who -- one of your owners or trustees, or a super, if you have one -- is going to use the snowblower when the first storm comes. But if it sounds like something your association could use, here are some thoughts:

The larger the area and the heavier the snowfall, the more you need a powerful snowblower. But, be careful here. If you have a big snowblower, and it stalls at the end your driveway, will you be able to move it? For example, a two-stage Toro snowblower can weigh about 250 pounds, while a good single stage one weighs only 115 lbs. (Two-stage snowblowers are generally more powerful than single-stage ones.) The heavier one can cut through deeper and harder snow and can also make a wider path, but if it gets stuck, you might be stuck too. Also, large snowblowers make more noise than smaller ones.

On one website, a person from Syracuse, New York, which gets upwards of 200" of snow some years, said his 8 hp snowblower is adequate. It's probably cost effective to buy a snowblower that does the job for most storms and to hire a snow clearing service for that rare blizzard (in most areas) that dumps 2 feet or more of snow. Whether you buy Toro or not, you may want to use their snowblower selector program to get some idea of what kind of snowblower is right for you.

You will also want to consider the width of the snowblower. A wider snowblower makes it easier to create a wider path, which is necessary for driveways and busy sidewalks. However, before buying that 28" wide snowblower, make sure you have a convenient place to store it. You probably won't want to carry down to the basement.

The best time to buy a snowblower is either before or after the winter. If you go out and buy one right after the big blizzard hits, you probably won't find any sales and you may not find a good selection of snowblowers.

There's no avoiding snow, mud, and grit during winter. The fact is, pets, kids, and adults all end up stepping in dirty snow in their rush to get out of the cold and inside. People won't wipe their feet as much as they should, no matter how many notices you put up. There are few things that can help:

• If your floors have not been properly cleaned, clean them now. If you see any bare or damaged spots repair them or at least cover them so that water and grit can't cause more damage.
• If you have the space, put down at least two indoor mats; for instance, one on each side of an interior door. These mats will catch some of the dirt before it's carried through the entire building. (Office buildings often lay down 20 or more feet of mats in bad weather.)
• Have the hallways cleaned more frequently in the winter to reduce damage from salt and ice. If you use a professional cleaning service, ask them to use a salt-neutralizing solution.
• If you're in the market for a new vacuum for your building, consider buying a wet-dry one, which can be handy for cleaning up wet dirt that might accumulate in the entrance areas.
• Consider putting a trash can, mop, and some rags in a visible area. Some people will use these tools if they track in a big piece of ice or spot a spill on a staircase.

In general, winter snow makes it a challenge to keep common areas clean. But, if you rise to the challenge, not only are you making your building more pleasant, you're protecting common areas from damage and reducing the likelihood that someone will trip on a wet surface.

The cost varies depending on region, the amount of common space that needs cleaning, the services you require, and the frequency of service. Generally, you would want them to carry liability insurance and the condo association will carry worker’s compensation insurance, but we’d encourage you to get an opinion from your building insurance broker.

You also might want to look at our insurance FAQ:

http://www.condopedia.com/FAQs/insurance

We recommend you ask three cleaning services to give bids, and explain in detail what you want them to do. Don’t simply tell them you want them to clean the common space, specify if you want them to clean under the radiators, to wash down the front door, to dust between the balusters on the staircase, etc.