How To Clean Common Areas In An Apartment Complex

There are a lot of critical common areas that need to be kept clean in an apartment building, condo, or other types of multi-family residential complex. This includes areas like the front entry, lobby, foyer, public bathrooms, commissary, and any other shared resident areas. A building that also has a pool or outdoor grounds for residents also needs to be closely attended to and cleaned to maintain strict health & safety standards.

Of course, a lot of these residential complexes have common areas, including hallways and elevators that also see a lot of traffic over a week’s time. So, it is certainly important to stay on top of all these cleaning needs to ensure that your multi-family property continues to look its best. This proper treatment will pay off in the quality of tenants your property attracts, as well as the amount of rent you can ask for each until. Not to mention protecting your investment and its long-term profitability for many years to come.

Areas That Need to be Cleaned in a Residential Apartment Complex

There are a lot of areas that need to be cleaned in an apartment building or multi-family residential complex. Though not all of them need to be cleaned with the same frequency, many areas have their own special cleaning needs that must be taken into account when it comes to health and safety standards.

Cleaning Lobby Area Floors

All floors in an apartment complex see a lot of foot traffic, though some see more than others. A lot of apartment complexes have hard surface flooring in the lobby and front common areas. These should be dry mopped often and then wet mopped as needed, or at least once a week.

Hard floors will also need more attention during wet and snowy times of the year. Scheduling more cleaning time for these surfaces is necessary and will go a long way toward preventing slips and falls and always provide an attractive appearance to this space.

During the winter months, a lot of lobby entryways have long mats, rugs, or carpets to help catch snowmelt, water, and ice before it reaches the main floors. These rugs need to be picked up and replaced by fresh ones from the carpet company. You might also want to periodically schedule a carpet shampooing. Though these rugs should be vacuumed, and spot cleaned promptly. Consider every day or even more than once a day, if needed.

Cleaning the Lobby Desk

The lobby desk is a high point of contact for tenants, guests, and even things like delivery boxes, equipment, and food deliveries. It is also the place that apartment owners and tenants will approach, often expecting a clean and organized appearance. This makes good sanitizing practices critical. It also means that the desk needs to be cleaned on a daily basis. Cleaning this area will also involve keeping the space dusted and free of any debris.

Vacuuming Hallways

Hallways are another place that sees a lot of foot traffic in an apartment complex. Not only do the carpets need to be properly vacuumed, but any stray debris needs to be picked up.

When vacuuming, you want to use a multi-layer sealed HEPA filtration system. This will trap 99.7% of the dust, pollen, and fine particulate matter, without dispersing it into the air like a lot of outdated traditional vacuum cleaners do.

Restroom Cleaning, Sanitizing & Restocking

Many apartment complexes and condos have restroom areas in the lobby. Apartment complexes with pools and saunas will also have bathrooms and changing rooms for residents to use.

These lavatories and changing areas need to be kept clean, sanitized, and well-stocked frequently. Depending on the number of people that pass through these facilities, they might need to be cleaned multiple times per week or perhaps even on a daily basis.

An infrequently used restroom might only need a quick cleaning and emptying of the trash bin with a little daily touch-up cleaning. Then you can schedule a full comprehensive cleaning at the end of each week to keep bacteria from thriving on floors and other high touch surfaces.

Elevators & Stairwell Cleaning

Apartment complexes with multiple floors typically have elevators and stairwells that also see a lot of foot traffic. Unfortunately, they can sometimes turn into impromptu trash bins for more careless tenants. Yet with the high frequency of people using elevators and stairwells, it’s still vitally important to keep them clean and free of refuse.

This starts with spot-checking the elevators and stairwells at least once, if not multiple times per day to make sure there isn’t any incidental debris or unaddressed spills.

Elevators should also be spot-checked at least once a day. In the evening or mid afternoon when foot traffic is low you should consider things like mirror polishing, and door and handle sanitizing, as well as picking up debris. You could also wipe down the elevator buttons with a sanitizing cleaner. Just make sure it is specifically rated to be safe for use around electronics, so it doesn’t damage the internal elevator controls.

Cleaning Common Area Furniture

Furniture in the apartment complex’s lobby and other common areas also needs to be cleaned often. This includes wiping down chairs and sofas with high-quality surface cleaners. It’s important to treat new stains as soon as possible to keep them from setting in. The longer a potential stain is left untreated, the more difficult it will be to remove later.

Any chrome areas or high-touch metal surfaces should be polished and free of fingerprints. Tables also need to be wiped down and dusted daily. Especially if they have a high sheen finish.

Cleaning Apartment Complex Windows & Doors

Windows and doors in apartment complex common areas will easily show fingerprints and grime regardless of if it is wet or dry outside. Comprehensive cleaning of these glass surfaces should be done each week. This should also include the window frames as well as the door handles, and threshold areas that might accumulate dirt and mud.