Welcome to my blog. My name is Deborah. About 15 years ago, I bought an old home. We worked with several contractors to rehabilitate it, but ultimately, the foundation simply wasn't stable enough, and we had to tear it down. After that, we worked with a construction crew to build a home from the ground up. The experience was exciting and challenging, and I learned a lot through that process. I want to share construction and contracting facts and information with others so I decided to start this blog. I hope that you like the results, and I thank you for reading. Enjoy!
When you own a commercial building, you not only need to screen your tenants carefully and make sure it looks nice from the outside, but you are also responsible for routine maintenance. Part of this means performing inspections and preventative maintenance so you can avoid problems before they occur. Here are some different areas of the building to keep up with when working on preventative maintenance tasks.
Roof
Start outside the building with the roof, which might have problems you don't even know exist until you inspect the surface. The type of maintenance requires depends largely on the roofing materials. With a commercial roof, you most likely have a flat or low slope, so this often means asphalt or metal panels. With an asphalt roof, look for cracks or holes in the asphalt, and also look for areas where the asphalt is starting to peel. You can even see on the ground around the perimeter of your building if you have asphalt issues, because you will see the black grains on the ground. With a metal roof, look for damage as well as signs of rust on the metal. Clean out the gutters and make sure the vents are open and in good condition when checking the roof.
Walls and Finishes
An area of the building that often gets forgotten during maintenance is the walls and finishes on the walls. This is important because issues with the exterior walls can lead to a wide range of issues. You want to make sure the exterior finish and siding is in good condition without peeling, warping, bubbling of paint, or severe damage. Fill in any cracks or holes you find, whether on the siding, trim work, or around windows or doors. Take a look at the joints to look for areas that need caulking and check for water damage that might indicate more repairs need to be done.
HVAC System
Your building likely has a commercial-grade HVC system to provide heating and air conditioning when you need it. The last thing you want to do is deal with an air conditioner that isn't working on the hottest day of summer. To avoid this from happening, perform some preventative maintenance. Check the exterior unit and make sure no debris is clogging the unit, removing any branches, twigs, leaves, or other debris you find there. Check that all vents are open, make sure the ducts are clean, and replace or clean the air filters. Also double-check that the thermostat is working properly, otherwise contact an HVAC professional for assistance.
Share