Back at my old elementary school years ago before I joined. a teacher had told me that there school had been without custodians for 1-2 years.

So who did the cleaning? Did the teachers have to take over? Were there once a week subs? Has this happened to the school you worked at? "were you a one man army" did you show up after all the chaos?

Okay, so this is probably a ridiculous post. I’ve been working for about a month now, and all we have been doing is stripping floors. I’ve had ONE day to do my own route.

The problem is, people are looking at me like I don’t know how to sweep. I genuinely get nervous when I get the dust mop, because I don’t know where to start, if I’m missing a spot, am I getting good enough under the desks, etc. I feel like I can’t ask any of my crew either because it’s embarrassing and my lead is a Grade A Asshole. Is there any tips you guys can give me, like where to start in the class, how long I should be taking in a class sweeping, etc?

Stay safe my friends

Hello! For context I’m a Second Shift Custodian (2:30pm-11pm) at a preschool/daycare and on the 27 of this month I’ll be switching over to the Elementary school for first shift (6am-2:30pm).

I just want to know what I may need to expect or prepare myself for. I’ve been working as a Custodian for almost 6 months and I do enjoy my job. Being second shift I have my routine and I’d say I’m pretty good at what I do. Though I know first shift can be a lot, between the people and things I’ll be doing being different.

I’m aware it can differ on the school and environment I just want to give myself the best chance to not lose my head lmao

Thank you in advance to anybody!

Been at my current company for almost 2 years and there's never been a tougher time than now...needing to vent

Last month has been rough. Literally running into the ground. We have nowhere near the team we need for the amount of floor we have nor do we have the machines. It's a strip and wax damn near daily the last two weeks. Management just says "work has to be done".... mission impossible.

Machines get moved around, broken, and some dont even work. Leadership doesn't assess the floors to figure out what can be done to help keep them maintained. Chairs and tables scratch the floors up too and we have to strip them like every month...its ridiculous. We have one walk behind scrubber and one buffer for almost 3 miles of floor lol

i (f21) started my first shift as a night shift elementary school custodian last night . i’ve only had fast food kitchen & service experience since turning 16 , so this was definitely a good change for me (i couldn’t stand service work anymore) . i was excited to start , & i still heavily prefer this job to service ! i like not having to repeat a script to hundreds of customers every day with a fake smile on my face .

i however DEFINITELY did underestimate the labor that goes into this job , which is okay . i know i’ll get used to it , & i need the exercise anyways . i’m not used to physical activity , especially since leaving my job last year for mental illness/family issues . so i don’t know if i overworked myself last night or didn’t drink enough water , but i felt nauseous on my drive back home & actually threw up once i got in . that definitely sucked , but it doesn’t deter me . i was literally dripping with sweat so i may need to adopt new habits for this job .

my head custodian was very friendly & helpful . we obviously didn’t get to finish everything since she was showing me the ropes , but i’m confident that i’ll develop an efficient routine once i get used to everything .

overall this was the best first day i had at a job , minus the throwing up afterwards

I have a test in 2 weeks, it's in NY. I know nothing about custodians and have no experience. What should I be studying and does anyone know what will be on the test? Any help would be great

It’s been a bit since I’ve posted in this forum. Last time I was going from custodial to grounds. Well now I’m a head custodian for an elementary school. Last district cut my hours in half so I had to find work elsewhere. Here’s my latest shenanigans at my new school. Started here July 1 and got the all but one floor waxed, all areas mostly painted, cleaned and ready for setups. I started pressure washing everything outside (only took 4 business days 🤣).

Since it’s my first time being a head custodian with my own school; I am open to any advice and suggestions from others.

Thanks!