Bathroom Spring Cleaning Tips

Now's the time to get your spring cleaning done in the bathroom! Read these spring cleaning tips to make sure that your bathroom is in tip-top shape for summer:

• Grab all necessary supplies (basket, mop, hamper, trash container, disinfectant wipes, glass cleaner).
• Dust the ceiling and corners of the room.
• Dust all vents and fans.
• Take down draperies, curtains, or blinds to wash or have cleaned according to the directions.
• Scrub your shower and tub.
• Scrub down the toilet.
• Wash the inside and outside of the medicine cabinet and linen closets.
• Wash the sink and other bathroom fixtures.
• Shake out bathroom rugs.
• Sweep and mop the floor.
• Empty and wash out the trashcan.

These tips will prepare you for summer and leave your home looking and feeling cleaner. 

Tips provided by About.com.

ABOUT BATH PLANET®

Based in Palatine, IL, Bath Planet® was created by BCI® Acrylic Bath Systems founders Tom Barzantny and Scott Rosenbach. BCI® recognized a need for greater consistency between manufacturers and dealers in the tub and shower liner industry, and established their one-stop-shop company in 1999. Bath Planet® is backed by BCI®, a privately held, manufacturer of tub and shower-liner systems with a network of more than 550 independent dealers throughout the United States and Canada. Bath Planet® has earned the coveted Good Housekeeping Seal, recognizing the exceptional quality of its liner systems. For more information about Bath Planet®, visit our website at www.bathplanet.com.

Bath Planet Featured in Lynchburg News Advance

Bath Planet was recently featured in Lynchburg News Advance. The article talks about Bath Planet and what the brand will offer the community. The Q&A article showcases Randy Dinwiddie as a long-tern veteran in the remodeling industry, and includes information about why he chose to open Bath Planet. This was a great introduction of the business in Lynchburg!  

Tell us the basics: Who are you, what’s your company’s name, and how long have you been at this company?

I’ve been in the home remodeling industry for 25 years, and opened a Bath Planet business in the economy to create a steady revenue stream that provides more quality products/services to current and new customers. I feel this concept will fare well in Lynchburg because the age of the properties in the area are primed for this type of product/service, and the price point is attractive to the customers.

Describe your business — what do you do?

With Bath Planet, we do bath remodeling, specializing in tub to shower conversions to make bathrooms safer for the baby boomers. We offer a private label of acrylic bath and shower liners made available through BCI Acrylic Bath Systems, a national manufacturer and distributor and Bath Planet’s parent company. Bath Planet offers stylish, cost-effective, low-maintenance and long-term bath improvements to homeowners, commercial customers and consumers seeking aging-in-place solutions. The acrylic on the shower walls give the customer the best, easy to clean, most durable product available with a lifetime warranty. Also, Bath Planet has earned the coveted Good Housekeeping Seal, recognizing the exceptional quality of its liner systems, and even received a customer recommendation rating of 97 percent by an independent, third-party company.

How did you get into this business?

I used to do ceramic tile showers. When I found acrylic bath systems, I knew it would be a hit after listening to my wife fuss about having to scrub the grout lines, which were hard, time consuming and messy to handle. Now I think if I put tile in our shower, I think she would leave me. Just kidding, but with the style and colors of our acrylic bath lines, it was a no brainer for me to make the jump into this business.

What’s the market like for your business?

We are remodeling the baths of the growing baby boomer generation, and making the bathing area safer. We expect our business will continue to grow as many of these people will partner with us on remodeling their bath or shower to ensure they can enjoy their lifestyle freedom in their own home.

What’s a lesson you’ve learned during the recession?

It is a tough market out there, and we must give the customer the very best value and high-quality service for their dollar.

Is there a secret to your personal success? Perhaps a piece of advice you’ve always remembered?

In the service industry, you must treat people like you want to be treated and stand behind your work.

What’s coming up in the next year for you and your company? What about in the next five years?

Our goal is to continue to grow the business, provide more jobs, and to become the best-known bath remodeling company in the community.

What’s the part of your job you dread the most? : I dread the most when something goes wrong on a job beyond my control, and I can't do anything about it. An example is when something is lost or broken in shipment. Until I get the order, I have no control. I want happy customers so sometimes this can be a struggle.

What’s the part of your job that excites you the most, the thing that makes you want to hurry to work? : The thing that excites me the most is providing bathroom remodeling solutions that help people stay in their homes longer as opposed to an assisted living home. Also, I have a great team in place, which includes my lovely wife. My team is some of the best, most-dedicated employees my wife and I have employed over the years working in this industry.

If you weren’t in this career, what would you do for a living? :  If I wasn’t working in this business, I would have to spend my time with our sister company, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, which still helps people with their remodeling and home-based solutions.

Expert Tips for Spring Cleaning in your Bathroom

Spring is the perfect time to take hold of bathroom cleaning. America Now News recently featured a few expert tips to making sure your bathroom is in its best shape for the summer:

"Don't overdo it. Avoid using too many cleaners and dilute the products you do spray in the bathroom. The fumes in cleaning products can affect the lungs, Duberg explained. It's also important to open windows or turn on a fan while cleaning to avoid breathing in fumes. "These chemicals are carcinogenic, they can affect your endocrine and nervous system," she cautioned.

Don't let things go. If basic cleaning, such as removing visible dirt, occurs regularly, spring-cleaning to remove scum, mold and lime scale, which can breed bacteria, isn't as big a challenge.

Read directions. Read cleaning product labels carefully and be sure to follow the manufacturers' directions on how they should be used. "The label will have information on how long the sanitizer needs to stay on the surface and how to dilute the product," Duberg said.

Take extra precautions. When someone is sick, surface areas should be cleaned more frequently. Paper towels should be used to dry hands rather than a cloth towel to prevent the spread of germs. Toothbrushes should also be dried and put away. "If you leave it out in the bathroom, the aerosols from flushing the toilet with the lid up (there are approximately 3 million bacteria per square inch in most toilet bowls) will float over all the surfaces including your toothbrush," Duberg said. "It's time to break the cycle of infection."

Use bleach properly. Bleach is effective against germs, but it isn't safe for children or pets. When using a 10 percent bleach solution, wash the surfaces with hot, soapy water afterwards. Bleach solution must also be made fresh and used within 24 hours.

Try vinegar. Vinegar can be an effective surface cleaner. Mix one part white distilled vinegar with nine parts water to create a safe and inexpensive cleaning product. Undiluted white distilled vinegar mixed with baking soda can also be used to remove scum. "The fewer the cleaning products, the better," Duberg said. "Vinegar is inexpensive, is not harmful to kids and pets, and always leaves a shine."

Tips from America Now News.

Bath Planet in Business New Haven

Bath Planet was recently featured in an article in Business New Haven on February 26th, 2013 entitled “Rub-a-Dub-Dub: Bath Planet Cleans Up”.  The article was coordinated with Bath Planet Senior Vice President Rick Hirschhaut and Bath Planet Dealer Brad Pompilli and reporter Felicia Hunter.

The article talks about how Bath Planet grew during the recession and was prepared when the housing remodeling boom hit.  They talk about how Brad Pompilli’s Connecticut dealership is booming.  The article also gives information on how much certain services cost, and how much it costs to become a dealer.

"Most CEOs might consider that advice counterintuitive. But it's worked for Bath Planet Senior Vice President Rick Hirschhaut, who oversaw the opening of his company's first licensed dealership in Connecticut last year. More are welcome, he says. 'When the world took a turn in 2008 in the economy, when a lot of people went into their cocoon, we doubled the size of our manufacturing facility and added headcount (staff) instead of reducing headcount,' says Hirschhaut. The reason? 'We knew there was a wave coming and we wanted to be ready for that wave,' Hirschhaut expains. That wave swelled towards the remodeling industry, which has been a very lucrative business over the past few years, says Hirschhaut." 

Read the rest of the article here.

Bath Planet Featured in the Times of Northwest Indiana

Bath Planet was recently featured in the Times of Northwest Indiana in an article titled, "Bathroom safety design for aging generations includes grab bars and improved tubs".

The article includes several home improvement specialists in the area and talks about the rebound of the home remodeling industry.  Bath Planet Dealer Melvin Dixon mentions that his business is up 15 to 20% in 2012.  The article mentions that Dixon recently became a Bath Planet dealer and it’s helped his business since the aging population wants to live in a safer home.

Click HERE for the full article or begin reading below:

Bathroom safety design for aging generations includes grab bars and improved tubs

By: Philip Potempa 

Keeping people safe, in their homes and while out and about, is the career mission for Porter County Sheriff David Lain.

And no matter what age, education and awareness are a lifelong process, according to Lain, who has included new special programs for senior citizens.

His Porter County TRIAD, specializing in "senior citizen safety messages and programs," has been around since 2005.

Bath Planet in the Altoona Mirror

Bath Planet was recently featured in the Altoona Mirror.  The article includes several home improvement specialists in the area and talks about the rebound of the home remodeling industry. Bath Planet Dealer Melvin Dixon mentions that his business is up 15 to 20% in 2012. The article mentions that Dixon recently became a Bath Planet dealer and it has helped his business since the aging population wants to live in a safer home.

Click HERE for the full article, or begin reading below:

Remodeling firms expect robust year
By: Walt Frank

David McCloskey is not planning a vacation this summer, after going away last summer for the first time in 15 years.

"Last year was dead. I went to Maine. I always wanted to see the coastline," said McCloskey, owner of David E. McCloskey Remodeling and Building, Altoona.

This summer should be more back to normal for him, as all signs point to a strong rebound for home improvement activity, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

From Crash to Climb: the housing market recovers?

The one thing that hit family wealth the hardest in the past decade: the housing market crash. Not only did decreased home values force families to stay put, the impact reached far beyond a moving halt. Those who found themselves unemployed also found their job searches diminished due to the lack of mobility. Finding a job outside of a commutable range was simply out of the question.

But have we reached an end to the dark decline? Dare we say we have reached the bottom of the hill and are ready to start the slow and steady climb up? Consumption has begun to increase and values do seem to be recovering (roughly 5% greater than the previous year as of October), but with what do we measure a full recovery? Some, including The Big Picture at ritholtz.com, argue that 2012 could forever be known as the year the housing market recovered. We'll let you decide.

Begin reading the article below or click HERE.

Was 2012 the Year the Housing Market Recovered?

By: Daniel Carroll and Samuel Chapman 

On many occasions during the past few years, housing market conditions have been cited as a key factor contributing to the slow recovery. For a typical household, the largest component of wealth is house value. As house prices fell and sales were depressed, household wealth shrank. The decline in house values has been indicted as leading cause of restrained consumption, as households saved from current income to recoup the loss in housing wealth. The decline in house values has also been suggested as partly responsible for stubbornly high unemployment due to “lock-in,” where a household that is underwater on its mortgage limits its job search because it cannot afford to move.

Fortunately, over this past year there have been signs of modest, yet sustained, improvement in the housing market. According to the latest report, sales of single-family units, both of new and existing, have been up year-over-year from January to November. The latest month shows new and existing sales up by 15.3 and 12.4 percent, respectively, compared to their values in November 2011. Since April 2012, monthly sales of existing multifamily units have also been positive relative to the previous year, with the November data turning in a whopping 33 percent increase.