Our maintenance team is the heart of our community. They work every day to maintain the building and to provide Living Excellence to our residents. I was fortunate enough to spend the entire day with our maintenance team to get the full experience of what life is like doing their job.

Taking the trash out to the curb with Julio

8:00 AM The day began with emptying the trash compactor. It sounds easy, but it requires skills. Julio and Ricardo taught me how to use the trash caddy and steer the large compactors to the end of the garage for the trash removal company to pick up. Making sure that the trash compactors are unclogged and clean is important to avoid smells and unwanted pests.

Adding an air purifier to the trash compactor room with Josue

9:00 AM The first major project of the day was working with the Maintenance Supervisor, Josue. An air purifier system was installed in one of the trash rooms to help keep the air smelling fresh. Previously, Jouse and the team built a wood stand for the machine and ran electrical for the machine to operate. My job today was to help hand tools to Jouse while he drilled into the compactor and installed a tube from the machine to the compactor. The result was lemony fresh air instead of stinky trash.

Cleaning the East Lobby with Juan

10:00 AM A large storm came through the area the night before, which led to excess water in the entrance of the east lobby. I and the guys used the wet vac and sucked up all the water in the lobby. We then brought in the dehumidifier to remove extra moisture from the room.

11:00 AM Next, I worked side by side with Assistant Maintenance Supervisor, Juan, on service tickets. We were able to fix broken towel bars, an ice maker, and a few other little things. Juan entered the apartments with great respect. I loved watching him explain what he did to fix things to the residents. Everyone loves Juan and responded to him with adoration.

2:00PM. After lunch, Juan and I continued with service tickets. This did not take long at all thanks to the mobile maintenance system. Mobile maintenance is an app that our team can access requests quickly, log the time spent on the request, attach photos and contact residents directly. This eliminates paper waste and saves time. 

Making an apartment ready for the next residents to move in!

3:00 PM We spent the next bit of time working on making an apartment ready. We re-caulked countertops, did touch up paint and checked everything in the apartment to make sure that it was 100% ready for the residents to move into. This apartment happened to be a beautiful top floor, corner unit with a fantastic view.

4:00PM At the end of the day, we returned everything to the maintenance shop. The shop is kept extremely organized. All parts are color coordinated based on category (plumbing, electrical, etc). We took the time to put everything used back in its rightful place. We even spent some time organizing the carts for the team to find what they need fast.

Thankful for my Camden maintenance family

5:00 PM By the end of the day, I was physically exhausted.  Maintenance is more than just fixing broken things. I am thankful that I got a chance to spend time with our team for an entire day.  I was able to get a small taste of what the maintenance field is like. Next time I hope to work on more requests, possibly some plumbing, power washing, and maybe even replace an appliance. One thing is for sure, Camden has the best maintenance teams!