Even though summer has only just ended, for many business owners and landlords, now is the prime time to start making winter maintenance preparations. The cold weather brings a set of unique challenges for many business and building owners, meaning that preparing the building ready for the winter months is vital.
If buildings aren’t prepared for sudden cold spells, then this can cause untold damage and create expensive repairs. It’s important to maintain your commercial property throughout the year to avoid these one-off costly repairs, but also to keep your property looking its best. Here are some tips you can use to help prepare your property for the winter months.
Avoid Costly Heating Damages
During the summer months, when your building heating systems are unlikely to be being used, you’re very unlikely to run into any issues. But then, when the cold weather starts and people start looking to turn the heating on, you are putting the building at risk of some potentially costly damages.
It’s important to regularly check on and inspect your property’s heating systems, even during the summer months and have a professional come to clean and service the heating system if needed. Ensure that every business in your building has fully working and serviced carbon monoxide detectors and regularly check all heating and cooling appliances and thermostats located in your property for damage or wear and tear.
Use Quality Entrance Mats
If your building houses numerous different businesses and has quite a high footfall in the mornings then during the winter, when the weather is wet and cold and shoes become dirty and muddy, think of all the dirt that will be being tracked through your building. Not only that, but the risk of trips and slips increases massively, putting your tenants and their employees at risk of falling and hurting themselves.
A study found that, during the winter months, around 80{10869d906370ac92246a45117153392add26ddaaa5395511b5ae6e0b554d28dd} of dirt found in commercial buildings and shared offices came through on people’s shoes. Investing in large, good quality entrance mats is a quick and easy way to deal with this problem. Look for ones that are rubberised and have some grip on the material. This is so that, when people walk into the building, dirt, mud and water gets trapped onto the mat and stops it from being tracked through the building.
Examine Roof and Gutters
Many property owners don’t give much thought to the ongoing condition of their roof until something drastic (and usually very expensive) happens. Before winter sets in, be sure to either get up on the roof and take a look, or hire the services of a professional. Look for any loose tiles and slates. Remove and clear dirt and debris from the drains. Check your roof cavity to ensure that there is proper insulation and no visible holes.
If you are hiring the help of professionals that use high rise equipment, then consider investing in other building maintenance services that can be carried out at the same time and will keep your building in top condition, even during the winter months.
DOFF cleaning is a specialist service that gently removes the top layer of dirt and grime using superheated water and, if your building exterior is covered in moss, algae or weeds, this can help protect your building from frost damage. If you have birds that regularly roost or visit your building and you have bird guano on the exterior of your property, look at pigeon guano removal services to disinfect and clean the area thoroughly. Whilst this isn’t an issue that will cause issues during the winter months, it’s worth investing in for the improvement it will make to your building appearance.