Lead With the Lobby

Late September is a good time to take a good look at the upholstered furniture in your lobby area to determine if it needs to be cleaned, repaired, or freshened for the winter. “More guests and residents will be waiting for transportation in your nice warm lobby or vestibule,” says Marilyn Sygrove, president and proprietor of Manhattan-based Sygrove Associates Design Group, and making the space as clean and attractive as possible reflects well on your building and the people who call it home. As with most things, you will need a bit of lead time if work needs to be completed before the first flakes fall, Sygrove notes, so “You may want to inquire about companies that come in and spray on Scotchgarde, before demand for their services goes up as the season draws closer.” 

Another item to check off before the first flakes fall is your bad weather mats, also known as rain runners. “Early Autumn is a good time to inspect them,”says Sygrove. “When lobby staff pull out the rain runners at the first serious storm, they are often a complete mess; they’re dirty, they have chewed-up edges, and they do nothing to enhance the lobby experience. Sadly, by that time it’s too late [to replace them or go without], so they’re left in place that way for months during the fall and winter seasons.”  

If your runners are in poor condition and need replacement, Sygrove offers some advice to consider when acquiring new ones. “Seek attractive textures to clean street dirt, snow and salt off your boots. Runners now come in a variety of colors to compliment your lobby interior, and a custom logo, such as your building's address, name or even crest, can be added to your mats if you’ve given the manufacturer enough lead time.”

Along with spruced up runners, adding a tasteful umbrella stand to your lobby or vestibule is another easy way to keep the slush outside where it belongs. “A functional yet attractive umbrella stand is a very elegant touch,” says Sygrove. “It may be modern to match the metal finishes and motifs in your lobby or ceramic for a more transitional or traditional look. And the color, logo, and even the condition of the umbrellas used by your doorman are themselves a visual cue that can say a lot about your building.” Umbrella sleeve dispensers (with extra refills) also help keep rugs dry and reduce slip-and-fall risks. 

Take Care of Your Staff

Early autumn is also a good time to assess your staff’s winter gear, including overcoats, hats and gloves. “Look at your staff’s winter wear to make sure it’s in good condition, fits properly, and whether it should be cleaned—which it probably should,” says Sygrove. “Also, having an easy access location for staff to store their warmer gear is both important and considerate of the services they provide.”

Along the same lines, if you use space heaters in your entry areas to keep building staff comfy and warm, now’s the time to get them out of storage and make sure they’re in good working order. Weather stripping on front and vestibule doors should also be checked as well, so that any necessary repairs can be made quickly. As Sygrove notes, “You don’t want to find out that the weather stripping is cracked and inefficient a few days before Thanksgiving.”

Stock Your Supplies

No matter who has winter sidewalk clearing and lobby cleaning duties at your building, they need the proper tools and supplies to get the job done. Sygrove advises taking a comprehensive inventory of floor care, ice management, and cold-weather janitorial supplies before they’re needed—things like eco-friendly, concrete-safe ice melt such as calcium chloride or magnesium chloride, as well as heavy-duty ergonomic snow shovels, broad snow pushers, and salt spreaders.

For indoor floors, a dedicated pH-neutral floor neutralizer is essential for breaking down tracked-in salt residue without stripping the floor finish—and it’s a good idea to have a few extra commercial mop heads and commercial-grade carpet extraction fluid on hand as well.

Completing an inventory of your winter supplies and taking stock of your anticipated needs now will help your manager and building staff be ready, no matter when the first big storm of the season arrives.