Shutdown - toilets?

[Frank Cox]

I was just thinking about stuff that I should deal with if I'm in for a prolonged shutdown and it occurs to me that the lobby toilets might need some attention.

Do any of you know what the best way to "store" an inactive toilet would be, if it's not going to be used or flushed for a long period of time? Should I shut the water off and try to drain and dry the tank? In other words, would the seals stay in shape better kept wet or kept dry? Is there anything else that I should do with them?

[Gordon McLeod]

If you are keeping the building heated then do nothing other than once a week come in and flush them and run the taps so the gas trap stays full of liquid

[Frank Cox]

I live in the theatre so I'm right here to do anything that's needed, so that's a simple enough maintenance routine.

Thanks!

[Marcel Birgelen]

I agree with Gordon. Keep the building reasonably heated (if you need active heating depends on your climate and isolation obviously), you don't need to heat to operation temperature, anything around 15 deg. C / 60 deg. F should be fine. Flush all the toilets and let the tap running for a minute once a week and you should generally be fine. Letting your toilets and sinks dry out is a bad idea, it's bad for the seals and once the traps run dry, it will start to smell horribly.

Maybe combine the whole procedure with a solo "night at the movies", together with someone close to you? That will also keep your cinema equipment "oiled".

[Mike Blakesley]

That last bit is something my wife and I plan to do. Watch a BluRay at the theatre whenever we get bored at home. Along with a bunch of other long neglected projects. I just need to get myself in the mood to do stuff.

[Frank Cox]

I figure that this is a good opportunity to do some stuff that I normally can't do.

I have a ramp from the lobby up to the auditorium floor level and that ramp has a switchback in it at the halfway point. Forever since I made the theatre I've always thought that I should have lined that wall at the switchback with something other than just drywall. Wheelchairs always seem to bash into it going around the corner and they dig holes into the drywall, so over the course of years I've patched that wall many times but it never looks good for long before it gets another hole bashed into it.

I just bought a sheet of plywood that I'm going to mount on the wall at that corner, then paint it to match the rest of the wall and that should make it a lot better. At least if they bash the wall they'll just scratch it or something instead of digging a hole into it.

I was at the hardware store this afternoon buying the paint and the guy who runs it told me that he's been selling vast quantities of paint for the past two days. It seems that everyone who's laid off or suddenly at home has decided that this is a good opportunity to paint stuff.

Well, me too I guess...

[Harold Hallikainen]

Back on toilets... My wife and i were watching the TV show "Kim's Convenience." Kim is helping a kid fix a toilet. They get done and Kim says, "OK, now we need to test it." The kid replies "But I don't have to pee right now!"

It is important to test thoroughly!

Harold

[Randy Stankey]

I figure that this is a good opportunity to do some stuff that I normally can't do.

I was going to ask whether people were thinking about using this down time to do cleaning and chores that they haven't been able to do while the theaters are open.

Yes, the budget is a concern because it's hard to pay people to work while there isn't any business to generate income but it could be an opportunity for some of your "blue chip" employees to pick up a little extra work and clean out the cobwebs in the corners and the oily dust from behind the popcorn poppers.

Even though it's an expense in labor, it would help keep at least a few people working. Besides, when theaters finally do open again, you would be putting your best foot forward when customers come back and can see a nice, clean theater.