Hotel Property Maintenance and Work Orders

Executive Q&A

"Small Properties are Poised to Perform Despite Covid," says Select Registry Interim CEO Mark Reichle.

By Nathan Gawlik
Nathan Gawlik's experience includes being a General Manager of a Hampton Inn and other front line roles such as a Banquet Captain, Front Desk Agent, Housekeeper, Catering Event Manager, and Director of Sales.

Keeping up with your property is a daily task. Doing preventative maintenance can save you money down the road and keep guests happy.

Schedule

The best way to ensure items don't pile up is to create a maintenance schedule. Set a time to dedicate to going beyond just cleaning your inn – Think about improving it. For example, if you are a high traffic property then property walks should be done daily to ensure trash is picked up and everything is in place. Look for watermarks on the building that might be a sign of a larger concern. Is greenery presentable for the time of year? Does gravel or mulch need to be brought in? Are their cracks or flaking in the concrete that need to be addressed before they become a more expensive issue? Does the parking lot need to be painted or sealed?

Ms. O'Neill owner of The Carriage Way Inn of St.Augustine, FL says she has a checklist for everything. From the moment she walks through the door until she leaves for the day, checklists keep her organized and make sure she doesn't miss anything.

She regularly keeps up with maintenance and enhancement projects, in fact the Carriage Way has had at least one significant enhancement each off season 6 out of the last 7 years. This has allowed her to increase the number of rooms she offers from 10 to 14 and provide unique individual on-suite baths.

Work Order Tracker

Another suggestion is to keep track of all of your work orders. If the guest mentions that a toilet is running, write it down. Then two months later when there is an additional complaint, you can determine if it came from the same toilet pointing to a larger issue. Spreadsheets like the example shown here, don't provide a ton of value short term, but they are invaluable over time.

Imagine providing detailed records of every little maintenance item and replaced equipment in one place when you go to sell the property. This would be very valuable to a prospective buyer.

Track your work orders to identify trends in a form like this one.

Hazardous Chemicals, Bloodborne Pathogens, Lockout Tagout

The safety of your staff is one of the key responsibilities of every Chief Engineer. If you are too small to have a Chief Engineer, then this is one of your many hats. In particular, it is important to take special care with chemicals, human waste, and equipment. If you don't have these training materials or safety instructions in your hotel, call the following to get more information.

Hazardous chemicals: call OSHA or your chemical vendor
Bloodborne pathogens: call your first-aid supplies vendor
Lockout Tagout: call OSHA

Cleaning the Exterior of The Property (Dryvit)

Dryvit, a manufacturer of exterior and interior building materials, are commonly used on hotels and commercial buildings. Overlooking small maintenance items can lead to costly repairs. Dryvit products are manufactured and designed to require minimal maintenance and last over time. Dryvit has a variety of options that have a look of stucco, limestone, granite, metal or brick veneer. A small investment in the care and maintenance of your Dryvit system and other components of your building exterior helps ensure long-term integrity, preventing small problems from turning into larger, costly ones.

Although Dryvit uses specially developed polymers in its finishes to maximize resistance to dirt pickup, the fact is that all building exteriors eventually get dirty. Fortunately, Dryvit finish is easy to clean.

Removing Dirt
The best and safest way to clean your building is a liquid spray used at the lowest pressure possible to remove the surface soils. Because repeated high-pressure cleaning can be harmful to the finish, it is strongly recommended to keep the pressure under 600 psi. It is important to note that if a power washing contractor is hired to clean your building, particular attention must be paid to the pressure of the water used to clean the building. A high-pressure cleaning method (over 600 psi) could, over time, seriously damage the finish of your building.

We recommend that your building exterior be cleaned as needed. If certain environmental conditions exist, such as being close to the highway or other sources of high levels of dirt, mold, algae, or pollutants, it will affect the frequency that cleaning will be needed.

A clean building is also the best way to make the building attractive to your guests. I used to hear a former hotel regional manager say, "if the property doesn't take care of its exterior they don't take care of their interior." Guests know this and a dirty exterior will negatively impact their first impressions of your property.

Replacing Sealant Around Openings
Maintaining a weather-tight seal around all openings in the exterior cladding and all interfaces with dissimilar building materials is an important element of building performance.

All materials, including sealant, have a useful lifespan and will wear with age. Cracked or dried-out sealant must be replaced in a timely fashion to ensure that water does not enter the building envelope and cause damage. Sealants are a frequent culprit for moisture intrusion.

To ensure optimal sealant performance, Dryvit recommends that you have the sealant inspected annually by a professional contractor.

Repainting or Recoating
Dryvit recommends that your exterior finish be inspected annually for evidence of cracks (often caused by natural building settlement), holes or penetrations in the finish or any other deficiencies that may be evident.

Any compromise of the exterior can result in moisture buildup. Ongoing moisture intrusion can lead to other more serious problems. It is important that any compromise of the building envelope be repaired as soon as possible to minimize potential damage to the structure. If repairs to the exterior are needed, Dryvit recommends they be performed by a contractor that has completed a training seminar offered by Dryvit for the system installed on the building.

Before repainting, the surface must be thoroughly cleaned to remove all dirt and mildew. Dryvit offers a line of coatings designed to meet any application need. For example Demand®, a 100 percent acrylic coating, is specially formulated to work effectively over your existing Dryvit finish. Weatherlastic SmoothTM is an elastomeric, weather resistant coating. Oil-based paints should never be used. A contractor experienced in the application of high-build coatings is recommended.

What to Do If You Discover a Problem
It is important that you visually inspect your building to see if any problems are developing. Your visual inspections should not replace the recommended schedule of inspections by a qualified professional. Contract a professional cleaning firm to remedy dirty wall surfaces, algae or mold growth and discoloration consistent with Dryvit specifications.

Be observant to avoid potentially larger problems. We recommend that you contact a professional contractor familiar with the inspection and repairing of Dryvit products. The qualified inspector will be able to determine where the root of the problem lies. While assessing your property look for the following:

Efflorescence (whitish discoloration on the finish)
Impact damage (holes or dents in walls, etc.)
Spalling (breaking up into chips or fragments) or loose finish
Cracks in EIFS surface
Water leaks visible on the interior
Leaks through window frame
Loose or deteriorated sealant
Loose, deteriorated or leaking flashing
Substrate deterioration
Bulges, wrinkles or other conditions that may require patching
Framing or other structural deterioration
Evidence of damage due to condensation within the wall

A qualified Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) inspector should be retained and a professional contractor experienced with EIFS product application should be hired to perform any required repairs. Dryvit offers a wide range of products manufactured specifically for EIFS recoating, patching and repair.

For the small amount of money it takes to maintain a regular maintenance schedule, you can prevent the often larger costs associated with ignoring problems when they are small. For more information, call Dryvit Technical Service at 888-275-3629 or 401-882-4100 or you can visit www.dryvitcare.com

Cleaning the Exterior of The Property (Brick Masonry)

The final appearance of a brick masonry wall depends primarily on the attention given to masonry surfaces during construction and the cleaning process. Many of the problems of brick masonry brought to the attention of the Brick Institute of America over the past years have resulted from improper cleaning methods. Some walls have been irreparably damaged as a result of a lack of attention to cleaning details and procedures.

Cleaning failures generally fall into one of three categories according to AboutTheHouse.com:

Before the actual cleaning of a project begins, the Brick Institute of America recommends all cleaning procedures and solutions should be applied to a sample test area of approximately 20 square feet. The effectiveness of the cleaning agent should be judged by inspection of the sample test area after a period of not less than one week after application. The size of the test area may be larger, depending upon the cleaning procedure. The indiscriminate use of muriatic acid or the wrong compound can cause unsightly, difficult-to-remove stains. Reactions of brick and cleaning solutions are not always predictable and thus it is safer to use a trial-and-error method on a small test area before committing the entire project to a set procedure.

Minute quantities of certain minerals found in some fired clay masonry units and materials, such as manganese, added to color brick may react with some solutions and cause staining.

For a full list of instructions on how to clean your brick exterior head to GoBrick.com

Interior Marble

Mincey Marble's is an industry leader in design and manufacturing of high quality marble. Their products are handcrafted and custom made. They excel in durability and stain resistance. Mincey Marble is a trusted name for hotels like Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt brands. With proper care, Mincey Marble will remain as beautiful and elegant as the day it was installed. This information refers to all surfaces—vertical, horizontal and bowls.

Cultured Marble and Granite Cleaning Instructions

These surfaces are non-porous so they easily wipe clean. Always clean with a soft cloth or paper towel. Use soapy water or an ammonia-based cleaner such as Windex™, Glass Plus™, Lysol™, or Dow Scrubbing Bubbles™. For watermarks, wipe with a damp cloth and towel dry. Cultured marble is a sanitary surface and does not require disinfecting.

Removing Cigarette Burns and Tough Stains

For more information on cleaning stains and watermarks, contact Mincey Marble. Mincey Marble also provides repair kits for chipped surfaces. Contact them at 1-800-533-1806 or online at www.minceymarble.com

Another great source for all things interior is cabinetscounters.com. This site can help you decide on which counts, cabinets, and floors will be right for your property. They are also a great source for care instructions.

Industry West is a commercial provider of luxury furniture and lighting. Industrywest.com designs are often minimalist and modern. If that is the esthetic you are looking for, their furnishings might be a great option for you.

Miscellaneous Maintenance AreasMore than a membership

Out Of Order Rooms
When a maintenance repair is not completed in a guestroom, this room cannot be sold. This information is communicated to the front desk and the room is placed out of order in the computer system. Make sure to consult the General Manager before placing a room out of order. This allows the GM to decide what actions should be taken as a result of a room not being available for sale. Likewise, some Property Management Systems allow you to place the room out of service, which means the inventory is still available online. If your software allows for this feature seek clarify from your manager on what destination the room should have.

Swimming Pool
The maintenance program for swimming pools are influenced by two primary factors:

The local health department
The needs of your guests

Before establishing your pool maintenance program, call your health department. Depending on the requirements of your local health department you may be required to keep written record of the pool chemical levels every two hours and maintain a cleaning schedule.

Property Van
Transporting guests to the airport and other locations near the property is a service many hotels offer. If your property has a van, it is important to keep it well maintained so your guests can have a safe and comfortable ride.

Consider having the following available in your van in case of an emergency:

fire extinguisher
jumper cables
first-aid kit

Summary

This has been a general overview of common maintenance tasks one might need to perform regularly at your property. Maintaining the real estate value in your B&B or hotel is a critical task that is often overlooked when running an operation. The maintenance in itself is not revenue generating but a well maintained property can pay dividends once sold.

Resources

Specific to this chapter on Property Maintenance we have two resources available to you for free: The Ultimate Hotel Maintenance Checklist provided courteous of Amadeus Hospitality. This over 1700 item checklist includes everything you could ever need to ensure your property is in tip-top shape. Secondly, we will provide you with a free copy of our Work Order Tracker Spreadsheet discussed in this chapter. Both of these documents are completely customizable to your property. These tools are provided to you for free because we know just how difficult it can be starting your own business. Feel free to email info@suiteexchange.com if you are interested in these resources.

Sources

Dryvit | Home and Business Exterior Care
AboutTheHouse | Exterior Brick Care
Go Brick
Mincey Marble
Cabinets & Counters | Granite & Marble
Industry West | Product Care