Facilities management at your university or secondary school is undoubtedly a full-time job, but there are those key “breaks” during the year that allow for a higher level of maintenance, repair, cleaning, and renovation. Summer is the time to dial in your commercial dorm cleaning service and clean your rooms for the next class of students to enjoy. Keeping your dorms in tip-top shape has many benefits, and there are several services you can consider executing this summer to ensure that your students are supported as they study and live on your campus.

Benefits of Well-Maintained Dorms

First, let’s discuss the benefits your students, staff, and building enjoy when you keep your dorms in great shape.

For starters, there are the obvious benefits of keeping your facility well-maintained—when you repair and replace broken or faulty assets, it keeps your buildings functioning optimally. This means efficiencies in operations, savings on water and energy bills, and more. Leaks, cracks, drafty areas, and more can negatively impact the overall health of your buildings.

To take it a step further, dorms are places of inhabitance for your students. These are the rooms and suites that your students occupy and call their homes, at least for a period of time. They should certainly be functional, but also comfortable and bright to support healthy habits like focused study and solid nights of sleep. You want your students—and their parents—to feel as though the dorm rooms your educational facility offers are high-quality and reflect the price tag that comes with a secondary education.

Keeping spaces clean, tidy, and organized can promote mental well-being, and keep infectious illness at bay—a concern for educational institutions that can’t afford to see mass absences due to sickness. With so many occupants in one place, it’s easy for germs and bacteria to spread like wildfire, so you’ll want to get ahead of the game with detailed commercial cleaning services. And since college can be a tough transition for many students, keeping your dorms comfortable can help promote a sense of “home” away from home.

Inspection and Repair

Before we dive into the many commercial cleaning services offered for educational facilities, let’s talk through the most important element: repairing what’s broken. Indeed, flickering or burned-out lights, leaky faucets, broken plumbing systems, and walls, windows, and floors left in disrepair could mean a liability risk as students move into their new educational “homes.” That’s why you’ll want to start thoroughly inspecting your dorms as soon as the last students move out for the semester and summer begins. Don’t wait on this—especially since you may identify larger systemic issues that may require weeks or months to repair or replace.

Take note of electrical, water, security, and fire systems to ensure everything functions properly. Keep a punch list of anything that needs fixing, and prioritize these repairs based on schedule, cost, and staff resources. Check windows and doors to note any broken locks or latches, cracks in panes, or drafty spots. Finally, make sure internet connectivity is optimal, as these are the places from which your students will be completing their assignments and relying on a strong connection.

When it comes to flooring, do a thorough sweep of your dorm rooms, hallways, and bathrooms to check for any damaged flooring, buckled wood that could result in tripping hazards, or chipped or missing tiles. Look closely at your carpeting and note anything that is ripped, frayed, or stained. As you inspect your facilities, you may find that many repairs can be completed quickly on your own, while others may require a commercial service and a team of experts to complete.

Deep Clean and Disinfect Your Dorms

A specialty cleaning service, like the ones offered by The Budd Group, include a thorough cleaning job from a team of experts with the right dorm cleaning supplies. This could include many things covered under janitorial services, like sweeping, vacuuming, wet mopping, dusting, and bathroom cleaning.

A deep clean is a crucial part of flipping your facility’s dorms, but also consider what a more thorough disinfection service could do for your facility and its occupants. By removing harmful germs, allergens, and bacteria from surfaces and the air, you can give your students the best chance of success with their physical health.

Disinfection services could include using very specialized cleaning supplies for college dorm rooms like an antimicrobial barrier on high-touch areas to guard against virus­es, bac­te­ria, and mold for approx­i­mate­ly three months. The Budd Group even offers mist­ing and elec­tro­sta­t­ic spray disinfection, which uses cir­cu­lat­ing mist­ing and fog­ging devices to clean and pro­tect hard-to-reach, fre­quent­ly touched sur­faces with envi­ron­men­tal­ly safe dis­in­fect­ing spray. The Budd Group even offers its BreatheWell Air Quality Pro­gram, which monitors your indoor air quality (IAQ) and uses high-effi­cien­cy par­tic­u­late air (HEPA) puri­fiers that can cap­ture approx­i­mate­ly 99.7% of par­ti­cles that could be harmful to your students’ respiratory health.

Consider the “Extra” Services You May Want This Year

Maybe your tiles and grout are looking a little dingy—could you afford to hire a grout restoration service this summer? Are your floors in need of buffing and polishing or stripping and waxing? Caulking, paint touch-ups, installation of new shelving… the list of upgrades goes on. Consider what would make your students more comfortable and your dorms more utilitarian before the next cohort moves in. Do you have a recycling program in place? If not, this could go a long way in making your educational facility more “green” as well as instilling confidence in your students, staff, and parents that your school cares about the environment.

Landscaping services are another option to keep the exterior of your dorms looking just as beautiful as the interior. If you don’t have installations yet, consider putting these in place for the upcoming school year. If your flora is in need of replacement or your irrigation systems need an upgrade, these are some services you might consider moving forward with this summer.

Don’t Neglect the Aesthetics

Remember, you want your dorms to be safe and comfortable for your students. So take note of any areas that may need an aesthetic upgrade. Is your paint looking a bit chipped or faded? You might consider repainting your dorms this year to give them a fresher, more modern appearance. Is your furniture dated? Consider upgrading your beds, dressers, desks, and chairs by purchasing newer furnishings. Do blinds or window coverings need a facelift? Consider investing in new window treatments for a quick upgrade to your dorm rooms.

You don’t have to undergo an entire dorm renovation in order to make your rooms look more modern and well-kept. Pressure washing your interior or exterior walls can bump their shades up a few notches by removing dirt and grime, while also removing any mildew or mold. Even smaller aesthetic upgrades like new light fixtures, new area rugs, and new art on the walls can go a long way in keeping your dorms in tip-top shape.

Trust The Budd Group for Your Commercial Dorm Cleaning Services

The Budd Group positions itself to offer one-off services on an as-needed basis or an entire suite of comprehensive facility repairs on an ongoing basis. Perhaps you already have a well-equipped janitorial staff in place and simply need help with maintenance and repairs this summer. We can provide supplementary staff to help you complete projects in the short term. Or maybe your commercial cleaning services are sorely lacking and you’re looking to partner with a team that can carry you through year after year. Either way, The Budd Group is your one-stop shop for facility maintenance, both inside and out.

Our team of over 4,000 highly trained service associates is ready to tackle any challenge. Using industry-leading technology and equipment, we can provide everything you need in the way of cleaning, disinfection, air purification, facility repairs, trash removal services, landscaping, and more. We complete every job on time and on budget, resulting in your utmost satisfaction. Just ask our clients—many of whom are in the educational space—about our level of service. They’re thrilled with our ability to provide excellent service, maintain strong protocols, adhere to a schedule that serves their needs, and deliver quality results. In fact, we offer a “Make It Right Guarantee,” which means that if you’re not completely satisfied with the level of service you received, we promise to make it right!

The Budd Group has been providing exceptional services and solutions to facility managers throughout the Southeast United States across many verticals for 60 years. We use CDC-compliant and EPA-approved chemicals and cleaning solutions to keep your buildings and their occupants—as well as the environment—safe. Right now, we’re offering a spring cleaning discount, so you have the opportunity to save 10% when you book your spring or summer project. Don’t wait—contact us today to discuss your dorm cleaning and maintenance needs and how we can help.