Navy Corpsman's Journey To Building Maintenance

After serving nine and a half years in the Navy as a hospital corpsman, I returned home to my place of record, Southern California, where I began looking for a new profession. That was 35 years ago. One day, I answered a phone call from my wife asking, “Don’t you know how to fix stuff?“ I thought since I fixed people, I could undoubtedly fix apartments. This question came after my wife was promoted from a leasing position to a property manager. The owners of this apartment community wanted to have a husband-wife team. This was quite common in my area because they provided an apartment to entice candidates to apply.

After talking to my wife, I learned that a position as a maintenance supervisor was open. Two maintenance technicians were already there, and the three of us would provide the property maintenance. I learned that this included the pool, spa, landscaping, and carpet cleaning and drying. I applied for this position, and now, many years later, I am writing an article about building maintenance.

One must be resourceful: Before the interview, I went to my local hardware store. Out front, they had how-to pamphlets, and I took over 75 of the tri-fold tip sheets.

I went to the interview, answered every question asked as if I had been doing this for a lifetime, and I was hired. 

Now, I had to use the skills I learned from the military—surround myself with people who know what to do, learn from them, and always give them credit for their training and knowledge. Our maintenance team painted the units, cleaned them, made all repairs, and provided either carpet cleaning or carpet dye.

One must adapt to change: Many things have changed in my career. Most communities now use vendors to paint the units; a company comes in and cleans them; the onsite maintenance person makes all the necessary repairs; and the floors are cleaned or replaced. The needs of the buildings, such as light checks, filter replacement, power washing, and carport cleaning, are now mostly completed by vendors. It seems that as time has changed, the apartment industry has changed, leaving behind a problem: few or no qualified maintenance personnel. Many apartment complexes may use vendors mostly, and there is less need for trained maintenance personnel. Someone needs to work, follow up on its completion and validate invoicing.

One must be inspired: With the construction of apartment buildings into the sky, I am enthusiastic that new candidates for maintenance will come forward and restore the basic tools needed to maintain our building for years to come. I am inspired daily by the possibilities that exist in the apartment industry. Apartment buildings are now being built to provide families with better and more forms of entertainment within walking distance, scheduled social experiences throughout the year. The one thing that hasn’t changed is a person will stay at your apartment complex longer, they will pay more IF the basic things are taken care of, and you maintain a safe environment to live.