We already have a list of cleaning and maintenance tasks that members take care of weekly or monthly. But, as in any house, there comes a time when you need to deep clean and perform minor touch-up repairs, like spackling and repainting.
The workday was planned and masterminded by the building maintenance circle. The maintenance circle members walked through the building a few days before and noted areas that needed special attention, like wiping down the rails in the stairwells and washing the insides of the hallway windows and sills.
Then they drew up a list of tasks to be performed by building area (lobby, common kitchen, each floor's hallway, and so on), assembled the cleaning fluids and washing tools, and asked for volunteers to sign up for the tasks they wanted to do.
We allotted about 4 hours on a Saturday to get all the work done, and were mostly finished well before then. (Some folks who were traveling did their chores in advance of the workday.) Since this was the first time we'd done this exercise, there were lots of lessons learned that will help us do it better next time. At this point, we're considering doing a deep clean twice a year.
The day began with coffee and pastries as we got our marching orders from Maria, and the day ended with a homemade pizza party to celebrate a good day's work. In between, we all worked together solving problems, made our home look better, and simply spent time together in ways that neighbors don't ordinarily do. We've discovered there's great value in that -- and we get a clean and sparkly place to live in the bargain.
The day started with coffee, treats, and a pep talk from Maria on how the day was going to roll.
Kate cleaning the windows and wiping down the sills. The sills are a place you literally don't think about cleaning until you have to. While the window exteriors will be cleaned by professionals, the workday focused on tasks ordinary people could do but that required more time and coordinated effort.
Dina and David wiping down the exterior windows of the lobby lounge. It's not as easy as it looks.
Christine and Dan brushed pollen off the metal panels surrounding our parking podium. This is the kind of work you ONLY want to do once a year.
David and Judie attacking those hard-to-get-to places inside the lobby.
Jackie and David became pizza impresarios for the evening as we celebrated a good day's work done.
Jackie prepped the personal-sized pies, each one customized to the specific specifications of its specific eater.
Tools of the trade.
David expertly loads and turns the pie in the very hot oven, which cooked each pizza within about 3 minutes.
David helps Christine as best he can.
The proof is in the pizza. A perfect way to end the day!