Tag Archive for: school restrooms

Tips for Choosing New School Restroom Partitions

When it’s time to think about renovating your school’s restrooms, you’ve got a lot to think about. As a facility manager, you make the calls of what materials to use, how to replace the fixtures, and any layout changes that may make the restroom seem more spacious and inviting. This is also your chance to update your schools restroom partitions.

Here’s a few tips on getting new school restroom partitions that you can utilize when it’s time to start remodeling your school’s restrooms.

Improve Student Privacy

When using the restroom, there’s a certain degree of privacy that’s expected. However, depending on the partitions in your school’s restroom, privacy may not always be guaranteed. You’ll want to think about the open spaces from the partition to the floor, and even the top of the partition to the ceiling. A crucial, but often overlooked aspect is the sightlines with the door. The hinges sometimes create a slight gap, which may not seem like much, but to an occupant in the restroom, it’s enough to cause discomfort.

Use More Durable Materials

Using the right materials in your school’s restrooms are important. Not only will the doors be slammed shut periodically, but there are other factors, like moisture and humidity, that can contribute to early wear. Using highly durable materials can help you combat the elements and the hits that partitions can take.

Go for Low Maintenance

Regular maintenance is important when it comes to the restrooms in your school. However, to make your workload and life easier, choose partition materials that are low maintenance. A material that doesn’t require repainting, screw and hinge replacement, or rust removal is ideal for the restroom environment. By choosing a low-maintenance material for your partitions, you’ll save time and money, and you can focus your efforts elsewhere.

Think Long-Term & Sustainable

When you buy new toilet partitions, you’ll want to choose a material that can last. You may want to consider buying a sustainable material that not only can be recycled, but one that actually comes from recycled material. Inching towards sustainability can have a variety of benefits for your school and your budget.

Choose HDPE Solid Plastic Materials

One material that has been utilized in schools restrooms is HDPE solid plastic. This sustainable and recyclable material is highly durable. It’s resistant to impacts, cracks, and surface abrasions. This plastic also results in a softer noise when being closed, even forcibly. A major benefit to choosing HDPE over other materials is its ability to withstand the moisture and humidity in your restroom.

If you have a partition material with an inner core made from kraft paper or cardboard, it can become soaked and sprout mold over time. Since HDPE is a solid plastic, it can resist mold growth and put off a costly replacement. Choosing HDPE plastic is a wise investment because this plastic will last through the years and require very little maintenance.

In this post, you learned all about the important factors that you need to consider when choosing your school’s restroom partitions. You also learned that HDPE plastic is a great choice to install in the restrooms in your school. Want to learn more about the benefits of choosing HDPE plastic for your school’s toilet partitions? Check out this eBook, The Professional’s Guide to Commercial Bathroom Renovations and Remodels, from us at Scranton Products.

Issues Impacting School Administration: Issues & Solutions

There are a few issues to be expected throughout the school year that an administrator must act in order to find and implement the solution. These issues cover a variety of factors within the school, and as an administrator, you’ll need to do everything within your power to correct them. Some of these issues may be out of your control, but adapting and learning how to solve these problems can be beneficial to you and your school.

Creating a Safe Learning Environment

As the administrator of a school, it’s your job to make sure that you’re proving a safe and secure learning environment for the students. A student’s environment can affect the ability to learn and retain information. Take the time to transform the uninspiring hallways and classrooms into a location that a student can not only thrive in, but one they’ll look forward to attending every day. They’ll be excited and ready to learn.

Bracing for an Enrollment Boom

A sudden and noticeable increase in students can make any administrator nervous, but the important thing is to remain calm and simply keep your head high and roll with the punches. When budgets are cut and schools close down, students get transferred to the next closest school. If that happens to be your school, you’ll want to find ways of bracing for the congested hallways and crowded classrooms. This could include hiring more teachers and administrators, as well as investing for mobile classrooms.

Combatting Absenteeism

When the winter comes, so do the colds, flu, and other ailments that keep students from coming to school. You can help reduce absenteeism by including hand sanitizer stations throughout the school’s entryways to combat the spread of germs. Most germs are spread in bathroom, so you can help reduce the spread of germs by executing a disinfectant cleaning plan, and installing stronger materials like HDPE plastic partitions, which ward off mold and bacteria growth.

Dealing with Student Vandalism

When you walk down the halls and see instances of vandalism, it’s never fun, especially when there’s graffiti all over the walls and lockers. You can combat graffiti in a few ways. Utilizing HDPE plastic lockers and toilet partitions can help because this material doesn’t absorb paint. When there’s graffiti present, all it takes is a light cleaning to rid the locker of unwanted graffiti.

Facility Maintenance & Operations

Depending on how old your school building is, you may want to institute a maintenance plan of action. Check the HVAC systems before the weather becomes more severe, and inspect your water system to make sure the water pressure is suitable. Be sure that these systems are operating at their most efficient, so no major issues will occur throughout the school year.

Are you looking for more ways to combat the common issues facing your school? Check out this blog post, Where School Facilities Are Falling Behind: Improve Your Infrastructure Report Card, from your friends at Scranton Products.

Maintaining Your School Bathroom

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As a facility manager of a school, you’ve got a lot to keep up with in terms of maintenance. However, one of the most important areas to focus on are the bathrooms in your school. There are a variety of factors that can contribute to the drop in quality of your bathrooms, but there are a few ways that you can stay ahead of the elements and keep your bathroom in great shape.

Factors That Affect Your School’s Bathrooms

The bathrooms in your school may be the most visited areas of the entire building, which means that you’ll need to stay on top of cleaning and maintenance to ensure that everyone walks away with a pleasant experience. However, the first step towards keeping your bathroom in great shape is identifying the factors that affect your school’s bathrooms.

  • Unpleasant Odors. There are a few reasons why your bathroom has a distinct and unpleasant smell, but the first step is identifying where the smells are coming from before you initiate a plan to rid your restroom of these odors.
  • Dirty Floors & Vanities. No one likes to see excessive dirt and crud on the floor, especially in the bathroom. Countertops and bathroom vanities are also known to collect dirt, so executing a thorough cleaning plan is important.
  • Low Water Pressure. If your water pressure is low, it can add stress and aggravation to the bathroom experience. Be sure that the sink and toilet water pressure are up to your standards.
  • Mold Growth. Over time, your bathroom will begin to sprout mold because the humidity and moisture create an environment where fungus thrives, and foul smells are present.

Execute a Heavy-Duty Cleaning & Maintenance Strategy

Make a plan to clean your school’s restroom vigorously on a regular basis—and not just sweeping the floor and throwing away any paper towels that didn’t quite make it into the trash. You’ll want some anti-bacterial cleaning products to meticulously clean the restroom. This can help combat the smells and bacteria that are growing. You’ll also want to regularly check your facility’s water pressure to be sure that the water in the sink and the toilet flushing are up to par.

Stop Mold in Its Tracks

Earth Toned Bathroom interiorYou’ll be able to spot mold sprouting in the corners of your bathroom, but that’s not the only place it can grow. Often, mold begins to sprout inside toilet partitions that have an inner core. The kraft paper interior stays moist due to the humidity in the bathroom. Over time, the mold will begin to take over. Once mold has grown inside these partitions, it’s difficult to clean and salvage the partitions.

However, you can stay ahead of mold growth and put off on replacing your partitions repeatedly. Using HDPE plastic partitions can help ward off mold because this solid plastic doesn’t feature an inner core that can absorb moisture. Installing HDPE plastic partitions has a variety of benefits: they’re easy to clean, mold won’t grow, and they outlast most other materials.

Picking a Long-Lasting Solution

Having a solid plan to regularly maintain your bathrooms is important. You’ll want to take the necessary steps that you’re combatting the elements, preventing any mechanical issues, and warding off mold and bacteria. HDPE plastic partitions can aid you in a number of ways, from preventing mold growth within your stalls, reducing the foul odors, and having a material that can last a long time to stand up to the factors that affect your school’s restrooms.

Want to learn more about HDPE plastic partitions and how using the right materials can help you maintain your school’s bathrooms? Check out this eBook, Choosing Bathroom Materials, from your friends at Scranton Products.

Graffiti Resistant Material: Stop School Vandalism in Its Tracks

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It’s always important for a school to have an arts program. However, said arts should be designated on paper or canvas, not on the walls, stalls, or lockers. Graffiti and vandalism are a constant scourge in educational facilities all across the country, and keeping up with it can be a stressful and costly endeavor. The key is to find a graffiti resistant material to combat vandalism and graffiti in a way that’s cost efficient and beneficial to your school facility.

The Problem with Graffiti in Schools

While public art can have numerous benefits, such as a showcase of talent, or even a conversation starter, its best reserved outdoors and permitted by building owners and managers. In schools, graffiti can not only be destructive to property, but also to a member of the school like a student or teacher. As a facility manager, it’s your responsibility to take care of the mess, and it’s your job to prevent it

The most common way to cover up the graffiti is by painting over it. But while this seems like a simple fix, there are a few factors that may make you want to rethink your graffiti-removal strategy. The paint may not match the surface that the graffiti is on, so this little cosmetic imperfection can reduce the aesthetic value of your facility. Another byproduct of covering up the graffiti with paint is the VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions that’ll reduce your air quality and possibly lead to health issues with the students or faculty.

A Cost-Effective & Sustainable Way of Battling Graffiti

One of the best ways to combating vandalism and graffiti is by utilizing durable materials that can actually resist the paint or marker that’s being used. HDPE (high-density polyethylene) is a solid plastic that can stand up to graffiti. Due to its homogenous coloring, it doesn’t absorb the paint, and any graffiti can simply be wiped away without having to paint over it.

HDPE can be utilized as both lockers and bathroom partitions, the most common locations for unwanted graffiti to pop up. Bathroom partitions are far more commonplace for graffiti due to its concealment. But using HDPE materials in these locations has numerous benefits, the obvious being its impressive stance against graffiti.

Due to the solid construction, HDPE won’t endure any damage to its exterior. It’s impact resistant, and it won’t crack due to excessive hits. The material won’t even become infested with mold and mildew because it can stand up to the humidity and moisture that’s common in restrooms.

Making the Jump to HDPE

While replacing your traditional lockers and bathroom partitions can seem like a massive undertaking, so can keeping up with the removal of repetitive graffiti. HDPE lockers and partitions require very little maintenance, saving you a lot of time and money. And when graffiti does appear, simply wipe it away.

 

Want to learn more about using HDPE in your school? Download The Ultimate Guide to HDPE Plastic Lockers or Safe School Design: How Architecture Plays a Role in Creating Safe & Secure Educational Spaces today, courtesy of Scranton Products.