The countdown to Christmas is on and as many employers are seeing this year, employees are taking advantage of an unusual holiday schedule to take much-needed time off. “Unusual in what way?” you may ask. Well if you haven’t looked ahead at the calendar, then here you go — both fall on Sundays this year! You may be tempted to think that this happens every seven years, but this fails to account for leap years, so the next time Christmas and New Years will fall on a Sunday is actually in 2033.
What does this have to do with managing your facilities? Let me tell you!
When major holidays fall on weekends, the majority of employers will give employees “observed holiday” time off. For example, many offices will be closed on Monday the 26th for “Christmas Day (Observed).” The week between Christmas and New Years is already one of the most popular times for employees to cash in their vacation days, so you can only imagine how popular this will be on a year when the work week is already being cut to four days.
This window of opportunity is the perfect time to schedule annual floor work that requires large areas of your facilities to be off-limits to foot traffic.
Two types of floor work that are best scheduled during off-season at your facility include hot water extraction for carpets and stripping/waxing for VCT.
While in a pinch, carpets are walkable following hot water extraction, it is best to avoid all foot traffic until the floor has thoroughly dried. The amount of drying time will depend on the material of the carpet fiber and the carpet pile height. How does hot water extraction work? First, a Sonlight Cleaning Services team member will spot treat any stains. Then we use a specialty deep-cleaning machine that pumps streams of hot water into the carpet fibers, loosening and lifting dirt from each individual fiber. Because steam is produced in the process, some people mistakenly believe this is the same process as steam cleaning, but hot water extraction is actually a much more thorough cleaning method than steam cleaning, which does not penetrate the fibers entirely to lift out stubbornly-situated dirt particles.
The other type of floor care we recommend scheduling during your facility’s off-season is VCT stripping and waxing. During this process — which could fill an entire article to fully explain! — floors cannot be traversed and alternate walking routes for employees and visitors must be available. Because this can cause a headache for facilities managers, we highly recommend scheduling this floor care well in advance to take advantage of the best window of opportunity for your business.
If you’re expecting a lull the normal rhythm of your foot traffic this holiday season, give Sonlight Cleaning Services a call to schedule your carpet hot water extraction and hard floor surface care. Our team members can help you determine the perfect timing to ensure these necessary tasks can be accomplished with the least interference in the running of your organization!
by Laura Pulliam
