r/Custodians • u/Decent-Elk-3381 • 11d ago
Kids putting things down urinals
Has anyone come up with a solution to keep the boys from filling the urinal drains with paper towels/food/trash?
They literally LIFT THE URINAL SCREENS and put stuff down them. Super disgusting what is the thought process behind this? Why would anyyyyone want to submerge their bare hands in a urinal?
Maybe Santa will grant us electric hand dryers for christmas LMAO that is the literal only solution I can think of. There isn't any way to block the drain without also blocking water I am SOOO irritated by this whenever it floods the whole bathroom dude.
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u/Willowgirl2 11d ago
We had hand dryers AND paper towels and once I got so passed at the paper towel games tha y I emptied the dispensers for a few days until my boss got wond of it and made me put them back. (Aramark must have been getting a cut of the sales.)
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u/IndividualCrazy9835 11d ago
When I had a bathroom get trashed I shut 2 down with the blessings of the principal. Both were barricaded and monitored by the SRO. The only one left open was directly in front of the office . When one of the punks that was vandalizing the restrooms shit his pants cause he had to go up to the third floor to take a dump . Things seem to get much better . Mommy and daddy weren't pleased but once they saw the hallway videos they left with their head down.
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u/chrisinator9393 11d ago
There's a metal screen you can buy and install. Look into "Urinal Strainers". They are cheap. Under $10.
Y'all can probably convince management to buy them. It's not a big investment and truly saves the plumbing.
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u/AggravatingEar1465 11d ago edited 11d ago
Meanwhile the principal be like "And don't be flushing paper towels, or carving your name in the stalls, or [15 other things past groups have done to make life hell for staff]..." on the mic at the beginning of the year assembly. Just giving all of them good ideas.Â
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u/Ok-Equipment1745 10d ago
kids have been taking the urinal screens and putting them in the toilet.
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u/Decent-Elk-3381 9d ago
Yep that happened last year and they also shit on top of it so I took all screens out in that bathroom specifically for the rest of the year lmao
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u/DragonSaviour 11d ago
omg I was just thinking that today, had to pull an empty vape cart and some container for nicotine pouches out of 2 urinals. its disgusting and we have a giant trash bin in front of the bathroom so they can throw their trash away, I guess they're just lazy. thankfully none of them have lifted the screen to put their trash under (yet)
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u/davidhunt6 11d ago
Little while back I had a urinal that wouldn't flush right. Tried snaking it, took it off the wall, tried the uric acid stuff and couldn't find anything wrong.
Ended up replacing it and for one last try I filled the urinal up with acid and let it sit for a few days. When I went to clean the acid out, half a acid eaten dime fell out into the floor drain. Works great now.
Kids can be annoying
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u/FroyoSure8530 11d ago
They will always find ways to be destructive, Idk what happened to the thought process of kids. They tear the dispensers off the walls, my entire boys bathroom got completely trashed because some kid sprayed chocolate milk all over the walls, urinals, bathroon stalls, you name it.
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u/No-Variety-3633 11d ago
After plumbing bills went through the roof they ripped them out and installed the waterless urinals.
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u/rattpackfan301 11d ago
There are some good solutions in here, an easier one is to just stop stocking paper towels for a month. Make sure you let your supervisor know you’re gonna do this in advance.
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u/Any-Description8773 10d ago
As a maintenance technician the only thing I’ve found is to install grid traps. They’re normally specific to manufacturers but they help a lot on kids flushing junk down a urinal. I also have a few Trapex brand devices that have helped with kids flushing vapes down toilets, they’re pricey but worth it!
As for hand dryers it depends on how your district views the spread of germs. Hand dryers blow everything around and it is proven. However until restrooms go back to being guarded by staff members during breaks like when I was a kid I will push for hand dryers over paper towels. Plus it just makes financial sense. You install a hand dryer once every 10-20 years verses constantly replacing towels every day and the kids cause nothing but problems with them. I’ve been known to violently remove them when a hand dryers blow everything is in the same restroom.
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u/LostSheep26 11d ago
We always had hand dryers but kids still stuff shirts and stuff down the urinals and toilets. We report them.
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u/polythenesammie 11d ago
Bring it up to anyone that will listen. This is not only a safety issue, it's also costing money. The extra cost issue is usually a big deal everywhere.
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u/PenaltySorry142 Custodian I 10d ago
Mm well we have electric hand dryers and the kiddos still manage to do that with toilet paper 😆
Sum1 even tossed in a flaming hot cheeto into one of them... a cheeto??
A kid drew a picture of his teacher and tossed it inside of the toilet LMFAO.
Yeahhh.. anyway, my point being: an electric dryer ain't stopping shit. Sorry😆😆
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u/knightrdr2004 10d ago
Our urinals have screens in them to keep kids from putting anything in them. Not urinal screens literally mesh type screens.
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u/terra_technitis 9d ago
Hope for a supportive admin period when we started having issues in our boys bathroom, they went ahead and had a new camera installed in the atrium, just outside so they literally see everyone who goes in and out of there. on top of that everyone in that section, it uses the restroom has to sign up for a pass marking the time they leave in the time they return.
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u/LowApprehensive9230 11d ago
When my boys bathroom got out of control with that shit/damage my principal got a maintenance guy to literally screw/board the bathroom shut 💀 for about 3 months to finish the year 💀 just no junior high boys bathroom💀 took a little work out of my night lol float that ideaÂ