A Day in the Life of a Maintenance Supervisor

My maintenance experience: 

For many years I ran my own joinery company. I joined the Hartford Care family in 2012 and worked at homes such as Tegfield House, Woodlands House, Bethel House and The Laurels & Pine Lodge. I was then promoted to maintenance supervisor for the whole group and I absolutely love my role.

My main responsibilities

I oversee two teams who assist me in maintaining our homes externally and internally. This is interesting work because our homes are all so different. I have overseen and been responsible for many improvements to our homes. These have included decorating exteriors to putting up ceilings, decorating communal areas, fitting and installing lifestyle kitchens at homes such as West Cliff Hall, to carrying out fire safety works and decorating from the top to bottom at Burnham Lodge.

There are times when I can also put my carpentry skills to good use such as making an internal gate for Newland House which matched the beautiful ironwork within the home. I also designed a ramp for Woodlands House that leads from reception into the dining room to ensure all our residents in wheelchairs have easy access.

A typical day

I work closely with Hartford Care’s Brand Director, Jo Gavin, who shares her vision for the homes with me. We discuss decorating ideas, styles and colour schemes. I then allocate roles within the project to the maintenance team with whom I am working.

One of the reasons I love working with Hartford Care is because we want all repairs and refurbishments to be carried out properly. This means that when I am starting on a new project, I walk around to see what needs fixing. I also have to pin down Jo to see what ideas she has for the space in which we are working to see what needs doing to accommodate the changes.

During the day, I can be doing anything from rubbing down woodwork and walls, giving advice to maintenance team members in the homes, fixing a toilet, cleaning gutters and clearing blocked pipes to decorating. There is always plenty of decorating required!  While working at a home, I love getting to know the residents who often want to chat to me. Occasionally, a resident will want to help us and we love it when that happens.

For me, it is all about making our homes safe, pleasant and comfortable for our residents. Recently, we finished refurbishing Burnham Lodge’s communal areas. It’s been great to see everyone’s reaction. Residents, families and staff have been thrilled with the results, which is so gratifying.