Self-storage managers are asked to be jacks or jills of all trades. They must be salespeople, marketing gurus, leasing agents, collections agents, office managers, security officers and, last but not least, maintenance directors. Whether or not the manager is the person out scrubbing doors and sweeping units (though many times, that's the case), he or she is responsible for making the facility appear in tip-top shape. The locks must work, the doors and gates must open and shut, and the grounds must be clean.

Most managers, meticulous by nature, take pride in keeping their facilities clean, and they're constantly looking for better ways to do it. Self-Storage Talk, the official online forum of Inside Self-Storage, is a perfect outlet for managers to ask for help with those pesky maintenance issues and share ideas. It's evident by the response to this recent thread, the latest in a string of maintenance topics. The thread-starter is looking for an alternative to power-washing her roll-up doors, which are extremely dirty (beyond the "just wipe them off" stage), but will be damaged by power-washing. Other managers were quick to offer suggestions.

One suggests a two-phases process: sweeping the dirt and dust and then using a scrub brush. Another reminds her that she can adjust the pressure on her power-washer so that it hopefully won't dent the doors. This poster, Autodoc, also shared that she can use trisodium phosphate to remove rust. Other members, who just happened to be reading the thread, thanked Autodoc for this tip, which is apparently working for them as well.

Another member added that the manager should get some cleaner designed for aluminum siding and rig together a broom-brush hybrid, with a handle long enough  for the contraption to reach the tops of the doors. Others suggests ways they can rig their facility golf carts or gators to hold tanks of cleaner fluid while they drive around and spray the doors. What cleaning creativity! The original poster thanked everyone for their ideas, and she's going to use a little bit of all of them to tackle the 445 doors she has to clean this week. (Sadly, reading the forum won't actually clean the facility for you.)

Turning to the forum helped put together a plan for how this manager could accomplish the task at hand. Does SST sound like a benefit to you or your managers? If so, feel free to jump in to the discussions. You must be a registered member to post, but registration is free and takes only a few minutes.