BY STEVE WOLFSON

We have survived another winter. Snow, sleet, freezing rain and our buildings made it through the winter with the most snow in five years. Now with spring here it is time to begin our annual cleanup. It is interesting how during the winter many things go unnoticed. Look at the awning on your building. Unless it is marble it is showing the effects of winter. Cleaning your awning should be a top priority on your spring cleanup list. The first thing your tenants see as they approach their building is the awning. Granted the value of their apartment is not going to be reduced by a dirty awning, but impression is important.
Safety should always come first! In a home, clothes dryer lint should be cleaned often, preferably every time the dryer is used. It is hard to understand why some building maintenance schedules do not include cleaning the dryer vents in their laundry room on a daily basis. The lint build-up that comes from clothes dryers is a serious fire hazard.
Spring is a good time to alert residents to change the batteries in their smoke detectors. Since batteries should be changed twice a year, a good idea is to coordinate battery changing with daylight savings time in April and October. If you don't have a service taking care of your building's fire extinguishers, have building personnel check to make sure they are in good working order.
One of the most overlooked items at the end of a harsh winter is carpeting. Since last October salt and de-icing chemicals have been tracked in from the streets through the lobbies into the hallways and apartments. A good steam cleaning that removes these chemicals will add to the life and luster of carpets.
It is also time to get rid of any graffiti, even if it is only minor. Once graffiti is noticed it becomes a magnet for more to follow.
Compactors should be checked thoroughly by a professional service to make sure they are operating safely and at peak performance. The machine and chute should also be internally cleaned, deodorized and disinfected. Bacteria hungry enzymes should be applied. (For a more detailed explanation of complete compactor maintenance can be found at: http://www.nyarm.org/march01/comp.html)

The other naturals for spring cleaning are refreshing any plants or planters. April and May are the perfect planting season.

Steve Wolfson is the President of Environmental Cleaning Systems, Inc. (ECS) provides a variety of indoor environmental services such as cleaning trash/lined chutes, heating/air ducts, bathroom, kitchen and exhaust vent. ECS use state-of-the-art equipment and patented processes to maintain environmental standards in structures from single family homes through and including towering high-rise buildings. Under a separate division ECS installs and maintains compactors, chutes and hopper doors. Steam America is another division of ECS that cleans carpets, upholstery and does graffiti removal. Their National Headquarters is in Valley Stream, New York with offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Their telephone number is 1-888-Clearair (1-888 253-2724) or www.ecsclearair.com.

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