As a business owner, you have numerous responsibilities, including taking care of a building during the winter. This may seem complicated, but if you maintain a written schedule for the maintenance tasks along with focusing on caring for the building after severe weather, then you are more likely to avoid having any expensive repairs. Here are four areas of your business’s building that you should inspect frequently throughout the winter.
The roof on your business may incur damage during the winter
It is a good idea to inspect a building’s roof during the winter so that you can find damage in the earliest stages. A few missing shingles or a broken rain gutter may not seem important, but if these things are damaged, then moisture will enter the underlying materials to cause additional problems. If you notice a problem with a commercial property’s roof, then you should call a knowledgeable roofer right away.
Check the plumbing and the plumbing fixtures
Winter is the most common time to have plumbing issues, so this is one aspect of a commercial building that you must check when the temperature declines. You should have a schematic of your building so that you understand where the water pipes are located, and you should also inspect the bathroom or kitchen plumbing fixtures. Don’t forget to look outside your building to see if any pipes have burst along with verifying that the sewer lines aren’t backing up.
Inspect your commercial building’s boiler systems
You must verify that your commercial building’s boiler system is working optimally so that you can continue to have heat and hot water. If this equipment isn’t producing enough heat, then you should contact a technician for professional burner service. A technician understands how to check the boiler to troubleshoot its problems before performing an efficient repair so that a building will have hot water and heat.
Walk around the building to check its foundation
After a blizzard or a snowstorm, you should check your building’s foundation for issues that can lead to moisture damage inside the building. Melting snow or torrential rain can also enter the foundation to damage a building’s materials that are at a lower level. When a commercial building’s foundation is damaged, you may notice holes or cracks on the item, so you should have these issues fixed quickly.
Last, make sure that the exterior bricks or the siding on a commercial building are still in the best condition so that the underlying insulation and electrical wires aren’t ruined by moisture.
Guest post courtesy of Rachelle Wilber