building maintenance-2

Seasonal Maintenance Planning: How to Budget for Year-Round Building Care

Posted on by anthony@the-robinson-agency.com

Ensuring your building remains in top condition throughout the year requires a strategic approach to maintenance. Seasonal maintenance helps you prepare your property for the next season while removing remnants of the previous season. This article will help you plan and budget for effective seasonal maintenance, ensuring your property remains safe, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing all year round.

Getting the Most out of Seasonal Maintenance

Seasons bring both challenges and opportunities. For example, it’s advantageous for a university or school to do all significant projects during the summer while most students are off campus. Planning for seasonal maintenance helps to avoid operational disruptions for occupants and workers. Budgeting for seasonal maintenance ensures your building’s safety, functionality, and aesthetic appeal. With the right strategy, you can successfully address the needs of each season to keep your property in prime condition and avoid the pitfalls of deferred maintenance.

Spring Maintenance Tasks

Spring is critical for building maintenance as it addresses winter damage and prepares the building for summer heat. It’s also one of the most active seasons for property maintenance activities, such as performing inspections and building assessments. For this reason, property managers should begin planning in early winter to secure services and negotiate contracts. 

Key Focus Areas for Spring Maintenance 

  • Implement a spring cleaning regimen to enhance the building’s appearance.
  • Pressure wash walkways to wash away salt or residue from winter or heavy pollen buildup. 
  • Ensure the building envelope is ready to stand up to spring and summer showers.
  • Evaluate property to ensure safety and compliance. 

Budgeting Tips for Spring 

  • Allocate funds based on need from the building condition report to help address issues while they are small and manageable. 
  • Plan for 2-4 window washing sessions throughout the year to maintain a clean and professional appearance.

Summer Maintenance Tasks

Summer is the peak season for building restoration, maintenance projects, and hurricanes. In most cases, the weather cooperates, but resources are in high demand. While it’s an ideal time for schools that are out of session, it’s in the best interest of vacation properties and stadiums to schedule around this busy season to avoid impacting customers.

Key Focus Areas for Summer Maintenance

  • Protect your building from moisture damage by applying sealants and protective coatings. 
  • Remove stains and inspect window seals to ensure aesthetic appeal and energy efficiency. 
  • Clean, seal, and repair parking garage surfaces.
  • Clean and inspect property and building facade.

Budgeting Tips for Summer

  • Schedule exterior facade cleaning to remove any pollen or pest remnants from the spring.
  • Plan for next year’s property budget, typically due at the end of August.
  • Identify and plan for anticipated non-routine maintenance needs. 

Fall Maintenance Tasks

Autumn is your chance to take advantage of the few remaining months of nice weather to prepare your building for the winter. It’s also an ideal time to review your maintenance budget to ensure it’s spent and spent wisely. 

Key Focus Areas for Fall

  • Clearing leaves from sidewalks quickly reduces the chances of staining, mold and mildew buildup, and slip hazards. 
  • Repair cracking and spalling concrete before winter to avoid water penetration, expansion, and further damage. 
  • Conduct fall protection inspections to mitigate fall hazards and ensure compliance and safety.

Budgeting Tips for Fall

  • Schedule a rooftop assessment to evaluate your compliance status and assist with budgeting.
  • Include costs for sealant replacement to prevent water infiltration during winter.
  • If you don’t use your end-year budget, you may lose it. Identify small projects to improve your property and use the remaining budget dollars or risk seeing it cut the following year. 

Winter Maintenance Tasks

Winter is a great time for interior maintenance and evaluating your budget to plan for next year. As the holidays approach, you can prep your property for events and decorations with additional window cleaning. 

Key Focus Areas for Winter

  • Interior maintenance such as high-dusting and handrail repair and replacement.
  • Last chance to allocate your remaining budget dollars 
  • Snow and ice removal
  • Decorating for holidays

Budgeting Tips for Winter Maintenance

  • Assess budget performance, OSHA compliance, and building maintenance, repair, and cleaning needs. 
  • Secure service contracts for the following year to stay on your maintenance schedule. 

Year-round Maintenance Services from Valcourt

Tending to your building’s needs requires a vigilant approach to year-round preventative maintenance. At Valcourt, our teams provide a wide array of building services to help you stay ahead of avoidable and often costly repair projects. 

Here are some of our seasonal maintenance services and tools, along with the best time to carry them out: 

Annually:

Year Round:

Spring and Summer:

Spring, Summer, & Fall:

Proper planning and execution of seasonal maintenance ensures you spend your budget effectively. This approach helps address problems while they are small and manageable, prevents liability issues, and upholds your property’s value. 

Partnering with Valcourt for Expert Seasonal Maintenance Planning & Solutions

Cleaning up what the last season left behind and preparing for what the next season may bring delivers the most cost-effective and proactive approach to protecting your investment. 

Valcourt’s wide array of building services helps you take advantage of what each season offers and provides you with the best opportunity for year-round property care. Contact us today so we can partner with you to deliver you peace of mind and safety while maximizing your annual building and property budget. 

 

deferred maintenance

The Hidden Costs of Deferred Maintenance: Why It’s Essential to Budget for Annual Upkeep

Posted on by a1_admin

As a property manager or building owner, it’s tempting to prioritize immediate cost savings by deferring maintenance, but that’s a gamble that rarely pays off. Deferred maintenance often leads to costlier problems down the line, draining finances through expensive restoration projects while compromising safety and efficiency. 

This article highlights the hidden costs of deferring maintenance and how preventative maintenance helps avoid significant repair costs to ensure smooth operations and maximize property value.

Saving Pennies Now Can Cost Dollars Later

Currently, commercial property owners feel the pinch of rising energy costs, which have jumped nearly 30% since 2020. Sticking to budgets and managing expenses with these financial pressures isn’t easy. However, cutting corners by deferring maintenance will eventually come back to bite you. For example, imagine skipping a roof inspection and missing a small water leak. If you don’t catch it early, that leak could turn into extensive water damage, forcing a complete roof replacement and throwing your building’s operations into chaos. 

Consider the General Services Administration (GSA) a cautionary tale. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), in 2022, the GSA faces a staggering $3.1 billion backlog in deferred maintenance and repairs, including persistent issues like water leaks and outdated safety systems. While explaining the challenge during a House hearing, the GSA stated it is “suffering from the consequences of significant deferred maintenance, driven by inadequate investment.” 

In a similar story, the Kansas State University board found it cheaper to demolish buildings than tackle years of neglect by deferring maintenance. Meanwhile, the state of Louisiana faces a $2 billion backlog of deferred maintenance projects, which causes compliance issues, leaky buildings, and “a lengthy list of crumbling infrastructure on state college and university campuses.” When you defer maintenance, the problem doesn’t go away; it compounds financially and restoratively. 

Weighing the Risk and Reward of Deferred Maintenance

Whether “a stitch in time saves nine” or “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” there are countless words of wisdom advising against deferring maintenance. Despite these best practices, ballooning deferred maintenance costs are all too typical, and the results are equally predictable. 

  • Deferring Maintenance Increases Repair Costs: Minor repairs neglected over time can escalate into major repairs, demanding extensive work and resources. For example, on a recent project, we discovered that the property manager had put off minor repairs and routine maintenance. The expense ballooned three short years later, costing the property three times what preventative maintenance had called for. 
  • Decreased Property Value: Neglecting maintenance can significantly reduce property value. For instance, failing to stay on top of facade maintenance in a challenging market can negatively impact occupancy rate and rent. 
  • Higher Energy Bills: Poorly maintained properties and building envelopes quickly become less efficient, compounding the impact of increasing energy costs. For instance, pressure washing white roofs helps maintain cooling efficiency. 
  • Minimizing Disruptions: Preventive maintenance, such as window cleaning, requires minimal to no disruption to tenants. When you neglect window cleaning for an extended period, deep cleaning, glass restoration, or complete replacement may be the only option to return them to their original condition. Not to mention missing out on opportunities to identify issues while they are small, like damaged mullions or damaged sealants. 
  • Health and Safety Risks: As a building owner, you are responsible for keeping tenants and those who work on your property safe. Preventative maintenance is critical in maintaining air quality and negating slip hazards and other safety issues. Maintaining fall-protection systems is among OSHA’s most frequently cited standards, requiring routine inspections and certifications. Failure to comply puts workers at risk and comes with steep penalties and other liabilities. 

The deferred maintenance trap puts tenants, workers, and your investment at risk. The key to building longevity is preventative maintenance. It puts you and your building in the best position to prevent the avoidable and tackle the unavoidable early on while keeping the cost low and manageable. 

Smart Budgeting for Year-Round Maintenance

A well-structured budget that allows for annual upkeep and maintenance of your property is your best ally to avoid the deferred maintenance trap. Over time, this strategy will save money by proactively addressing issues while they are small, extending the life of components and systems, ensuring safety, and avoiding fines. The long-term implications of deferring maintenance aren’t worth the risk of an unmanageable backlog.

Here are some key tips to remember for your annual maintenance plan. 

  • Windows & Glass: Clean exterior windows and glass 2-4 times each year. 
  • Building Facade: Pressure wash your building’s facade every 3-5 years and add a sealant for protection. 
  • Inspecting Waterproofing Membranes: Routine inspections and reapplying per the manufacturer’s recommendations ensure your waterproofing investment pays off. Our Waterproofing & Building Facade Preventative Maintenance Guide highlights how a proactive approach to waterproofing helps avoid repair costs and provides long-term protection for your asset. 

These are just a few of your property’s many needs. You can make the most of your annual building maintenance budget by staying ahead of potential issues to keep your property value up while keeping costs down. 

Partnering with A1 for Expert Maintenance Solutions

Don’t sacrifice tomorrow for a quick win today. Sticking to a preventative maintenance plan tailored to your building and property needs pays off in the long run. At A1, we can help you with budget planning to avoid costly repairs. While it’s easy to underestimate the implications of deferred maintenance, we’ve seen the costs accumulate and accelerate over time, leaving decision-makers wishing they had acted sooner. 

We encourage you to contact us today to establish a preventative maintenance program uniquely designed to drive value, improve safety, and maximize your budget dollars for years to come. 

Façade Safety Repairs

Why Façade Safety Repairs are Crucial for Building Integrity

Posted on by a1_admin

Fissures and cracks are whispers from your building’s façade, warning you it’s time to take action. Those whispers can quickly turn into roars if not addressed appropriately. What is your building’s façade telling you? Early detection and mediation of façade safety repairs can save hundreds of thousands in future repair costs and help you avoid potential liabilities. This article will guide you through why routine maintenance and quick remediation of façade safety repairs are the not-so-secret ingredients in preserving your building’s structural integrity.

Is Your Building’s Façade Unsafe?

Unlike your car, your building doesn’t come with a check-engine light. For this reason, to quickly identify façade safety issues, we recommend routine inspections and assessments. Many cities mandate façade safety inspections. The building’s height, age, and construction types all factor into the requirements.

More importantly, passing an inspection doesn’t remove liability from the building owner should part of the façade fail. For this reason, we suggest inspecting your façade at least 2-3 times per year. Emergency façade safety repairs are safety concerns on the exterior of the building that need to be fixed ASAP. Examples include a window mullion dangling off the side of the building or loose stone/stucco/EIFS or architectural elements on the building walls. Items will eventually fall off the building or permeate into other structural elements that jeopardize the entire building’s structural integrity.

For example, despite passing inspections in 2022, a building in Willmington, North Carolina, suffered a façade collapse, causing damage to cars and awnings and minor injuries to one individual.

Three years after initial reports of façade failures, a building partially collapsed. Despite safety concerns, no further inspections occurred, and repairs were never completed, citing COVID for the delay. This reinforces the need to address façade failures when they occur and develop a proactive approach to maintaining a safe façade.

Why Façade Safety Repairs Are Not Just Cosmetic

Your façade is critical to upholding your property’s value, but the benefits extend beyond aesthetics. A well-maintained façade provides energy efficiency, promotes safety, and is your first defense against the elements.

Recognizing the Signs of Facade Deterioration

Many factors determine what to look for, including façade material, building design, façade access, and environmental conditions. For these reasons, the more you understand your building’s unique needs, the faster you can spot building façade safety issues and how to remedy them.

  • Concrete: Cracking and spalling, stains, peeling, cracking, blistering, or pinholes.
  • Brick, Masonry, & Stone: Cracking and spalling, stains, rusting, loose mortar, or biological growth.
  • Balconies & Decks: Standing water, cracks, rusting, damaged coating, loose railings, rot.
  • EIFS and Stucco: Blisters, bulging, staining, loose stucco, or surface damage.
  • Curtain Wall: Loose or missing gaskets or mullions.

These are the more obvious warning signs your building façade needs emergency attention. Without immediate repairs, façade damage poses a risk to public safety from falling items that could lead to injuries or worse. In addition, neglect will drive more extensive measures for repairs and can result in violations or fines.

The A1 Approach to Façade Safety

At A1, we recognize that the façade of your building plays a crucial role in its overall safety and structural integrity. With decades of industry experience, our approach to façade safety centers on prevention, maintenance, and stringent inspections. These skills allow our expert teams to identify early signs of deterioration, such as cracking, spalling, or other structural weaknesses. With A1, you have a partner you can count on to maintain façade safety.

Emergency Façade Repair in Action

Quick action by the property manager at The Water’s Edge at Rahway allowed for rapid balcony restoration, sealant replacement, and EIFS repair. Our sister company, Valcourt’s, ProXpress team began with a full assessment to investigate the damage. The work involved removing portions of the damaged façade and replacing the railing. The result? A return to manufacturer’s standards and appealing aesthetics with minimal disruption to residents.

When an apartment complex in Philadelphia began experiencing leaks, they called on the ProXpress team for rapid leak detection and repair. The team quickly identified the cause of the leak and began carefully removing layers of brick and debris to replace the membrane and flashing. Next, they took preventative measures to divert water before replacing the brick to match the building’s exterior.

A1 is committed to maintaining the highest standards of façade safety. We provide comprehensive solutions that fix existing problems and take proactive measures to enhance your building’s resistance against future façade damage.

Comprehensive Façade Safety Repairs

Regarding façade safety repairs, it pays to act fast. Minor façade issues grow in scope, cost, and risk when left untreated.

We offer peace of mind, knowing that your property is in expert hands and protected against current and future challenges. Contact us today and see how we can collaborate to address all your façade safety repair needs.

 

two men inspecting commercial building facade preventative maintenance