These night owls ramp up floor care efforts campuswide

Once students, faculty, and staff depart the Blacksburg campus for the day and begin their evening routines, a group of hardworking employees arrive to maintain high cleanliness standards across academic and general use buildings. 

Members of the third shift of the Division of Facilities’ Custodial Services performs intensive carpet and floor care campuswide throughout the late-night hours and into the morning — from 8 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. — to provide a clean, safe, and welcoming interior environment.

“I often compare our third shift crew to Walt Disney World,” said Justin Hurt, custodial services quality control manager. “The university goes to sleep, but we are still working. It’s where the magic happens.” 

The mighty team of four tackles an array of enhancement projects during lulls in campus foot traffic. Each night, the team works hard to care for entryways, hallways, lobbies, stairwells, and landings. 

Custodial Services’ third shift has a special team dynamic that begins with Hunter Fleeman, floor care working supervisor. 

“Hunter not only leads the third shift group, but helps boost productivity and efficiency working alongside the team each night. The entire team is passionate about the success of each project and it shows in the quality of work,” said Greg Canaday, director of custodial services.

The crew has performed floor care inside almost every general use building on the Blacksburg campus, from waxing inside Burchard Hall to tile restoration inside Saunders Hall. Team members have become experts on the different building layouts, and some even have unwritten lists of their favorite spots to take breaks. 

“The personalities are practically night and day but somehow it works,” said Hurt. “All four have different interests and personalities and are different age ranges, but they are a well-oiled machine.”  

Third shift has been involved in many large floor and carpet projects to ensure Hokies experience attractive interior spaces. 

The crew recently completed a total floor transformation for the lower level of Burchard Hall. Over several weeks, the team moved out old butcher block tables, cleaned, waxed, and buffed, and finally moved in new furniture. 

“This was an area that we we’re looking at together and thinking, ‘Wow, we could really enhance this space for the students,’” Canaday said. “It’s an instructional and high-traffic area that the students use around the clock. Once the project wrapped up the space popped.”

Third shift also plays a large role in preparing academic and general use spaces for a variety of events. 

New Classroom Building is utilized by the university as a space for high priority activities such as Ut Prosim Society events and Virginia Tech Board of Visitors' sessions. The third and second shift crews work in tandem to prep floors and carpet in the building, welcoming guests into the different spaces. 

“This particular crew looks at every single project as something magnified for the university,” said Hurt. “Whether they are preparing for an event or starting on routine floor work, they understand how important each project is.” 

The third shift custodial services team takes proactive measures to ensure that people who may be burning the midnight oil experience minimal impacts from the day-to-day floor care operations. This includes displaying signage and tape to reinforce safety awareness around work areas.

“Our team sends out repair notices to the campus community to notify them about work coming up in their spaces,” said Brad Lambert, assistant manager of second and third shift operations. “However, the communication continues onsite by the third shift to ensure individuals occupying the building are aware of when and where the work is occurring.”