Commercial Property Checklist for Winter
The cold, dark, and damp winter season can cause damage to your commercial property in more ways than one. However, preparing it to withstand the harsh temperature outside can keep your property in excellent condition and ensure the health and safety of the people inside.
Let’s look at the nine things you need to ensure before the year’s first frost arrives:
Maintaining the HVAC System
Any property’s HVAC system performs all year and hence requires to be maintained throughout the year too. Pollen from summer and dust from fall winds can accumulate in the HVAC pipes, making them faulty. An HVAC system malfunctioning and breaking down in the middle of the winter can be a lot more challenging to repair than in other seasons. If the HVAC system breaks down and the property isn’t adequately heated, the people inside can get sick or experience hypothermia.
Therefore, it is essential to clean all the pipes of the HVAC system and ensure that it’s running smoothly before the weather shifts. Installing a thermostat and heat sensors can also help you increase the efficiency of the HVAC system.
Dusting Fireplaces
Most commercial properties have a fireplace at the reception. If there’s one at your property, clean off any dust it might have accumulated over a season of not being used. Don’t forget to wipe the inside of the chimney too. Wiping the chimney with a wet sponge cleans up any soot, cobwebs, or dust. Give it enough time to dry off before it using it again.
Checking Boiler
A functional boiler will be essential to provide hot water to those coming in or working at the commercial property and help regulate the temperature. If the boiler doesn’t work, the water in the pipelines can freeze, and those coming into or working at the commercial property will not have access to any water.
Drying or Installing Insulation
Insulation sheets, like other structural elements of a building, need regular maintenance. If your commercial property has been installed with insulation already, you need to ensure they are dry and intact for the upcoming winter. Summer rains can cause them to dampen or infest them with mold, making them lose their functionality and usefulness.
On the other hand, if there’s no insulation in your commercial property or parts of it aren’t insulated, you should look into installing insulation according to the predicted weather and the usability of your property.
Cleaning the Sewers
Any blockage in the sewer system can halt the water drainage, which can freeze in the cold weather and burst pipes as a result. Before the winter weather arrives, make sure all the lines are free of any blockages. Also, look for any cracks in the pipes or holes and repair them to avoid similar disastrous results.
Securing Doors and Windows
If the doors and windows of your commercial property are not secured, cold winds, snow, and rainwater can enter through them and affect the indoor ambiance and safety of the people. Check all the window and door frames for weather-stripping. Repair or replace things as needed. If winter storms are predicted for your area, don’t forget to stormproof all the windows and doors as well.
Preparing for Fire Safety
The winter season brings several holidays with it. While decorating for and celebrating all the holidays can be fun, it can also bring fire hazards. Maintaining heat sensors and smoke alarms and ensuring easy access to fire extinguishers can control this possibility. However, don’t forget to brief people on fire safety and inform them of escape routes either.
Preparing the Outdoors
Needless to say that a swimming pool or a garden in your commercial property will be useless for the entirety of winter. But it doesn’t mean that you don’t mean to prepare it for the cold weather. Preparing the outdoors will only make your job easier and cheaper when the weather changes again.
Drain the swimming pool or water fountain and cover the water outlets. You don’t want dust or insects filling these pipes when they’re not in use. If there’s a garden, gather the dead leaves from fall and trim the bushes and grass to as low as it can be before the weather changes.
The growth of the plants will stop in the cold weather, and the bigger the plant is, the more energy it will require for it to keep itself alive. Trimming it down will help the roots conserve the energy and keep it alive to bloom in the spring again.
If there are any planter pots outside, you can bring them inside so they can stay alive during the harsh weather.
Revisiting Property Insurance
Once you have prepared the property, it will benefit you to record all that progress in the insurance books. You can also see if your property insurance covers weather repairs to save up on some costs.
However, accidents can occur even if you take all precautions. If your property experiences an accident, call an emergency restoration service as soon as you can. Many restoration services, such as the 911 Restoration of Northwest Michigan, provide emergency restoration services and relief solutions and services in cases of unfortunate accidents.
