Keep Your Building Safe Before the First Freeze
Understanding the Risks of Winter Weather for Businesses
Falls Church is a vibrant city with a rich history and is in close proximity to the nation’s capital. While winter in Falls Church is often mild, it can also bring cold temperatures, ice, and heavy snow. These harsh conditions can have adverse effects on commercial properties, like frozen pipes, roof leaks, and other common winter issues.
Creating a winter-proofing checklist can prepare businesses for the cold weather and may even prevent disastrous outcomes. Pipe insulation, for example, can play a key role in avoiding costly water leaks and, in some cases, flooding.
Inspecting and Protecting Your Plumbing
It’s common for areas of a commercial building to have poor insulation, allowing outdoor air to come inside. This can lead to frozen and expanding pipes, creating fractures in the pipe walls. When the pipe thaws, the water will rush out of the damaged sections. Not only can a burst pipe potentially cause extensive water damage, but it can also require professional water damage restoration services to preserve your business operations. Using preventative measures helps protect commercial buildings from exposed pipes. This includes:
- Installing pipe insulation to protect exposed pipes, boiler rooms, and sprinkler systems.
- Sealing construction gaps in the building envelope to prevent cold air intrusion.
- Scheduling regular professional plumbing maintenance and building inspections to identify potential weak points.
Safeguarding the Roof, Gutters, and Exterior
Roof drainage systems are designed to direct rain and meltwater away from a building’s foundation. Without gutters or downspouts, water will fall off the roof and pool around the structure, often leading to foundation leaks and flooding that requires emergency cleanup. Businesses should invest in roof and gutter maintenance, especially near loading docks and parking lots.
Ice dams are when heat rises in the winter to melt snow on the rooftop. The meltwater then falls and refreezes on the edges, creating a ridge and trapping water on the roof. This pooling water can leak in and cause water damage through the shingles.
Managing Interior Temperatures and Airflow
Indoor heating is one of the main defenses against the freezing outside weather. To avoid frozen pipes, businesses should maintain a consistent indoor temperature to prevent freezing. 55°F or more is the recommended temperature to keep in every area of a building. Thermostats should also be set up in a place that accurately reflects the average temperature indoors.
Furthermore, the HVAC system is an important part of indoor air flow. However, HVAC systems that aren’t working properly can cause temperature imbalances, poor air quality, and business disruption. Regular HVAC inspections will ensure that all your systems are working as they should year-round. Inspections may also reveal areas of a commercial building that are exposed to outside temperatures and where pipe insulation could be useful.
Preparing for Heavy Rain and Snowmelt
In Fairfax County, heavy rainfall can cause stormwater runoff to overwhelm municipal drainage systems, increasing the risk of water intrusion on commercial properties. Stormwater management is vital to help control runoff water and reduce pooling during rainy weather.
Stormwater management techniques like gutters, downspouts, and proper yard grading can direct rainwater away from your building foundation. Sump pumps, on the other hand, remove water that leaks into the basement or lower levels. Businesses should make sure sump pumps are regularly inspected and tested, especially before the winter season.
We also recommend floodproofing your commercial building. Floodproofing is the process of adding any combination of structural or non-structural modifications to reduce the risk of flood damage. In particular, floodproofing the windows and doors can help protect vulnerable areas like the storage areas and server rooms.
Creating a Winter Emergency Response Plan
Whether it’s pipes bursting, power outages, or flooding, every business should prepare an emergency response plan for different disasters that could arise. An effective plan should include staff communication procedures, damage assessment, utility shut-off locations, pre-approved emergency contacts, documentation requirements for insurance, and so on.
For example, during a burst pipe, one of the first actions should be to shut off the main water valve to prevent further damage. From there, a clear checklist should guide the next steps, like extracting standing water and drying the area.
With any disaster, every second counts. Delayed responses can create even more problems. Mold growth, for instance, can begin developing in less than 48 hours and requires immediate action to prevent it from spreading.
Scheduling Professional Inspections and Maintenance
The best time to prepare for a potential disaster is before it actually happens. Routine maintenance and inspections help businesses stay one step ahead of unpredictable emergencies. Local contractors can provide pre-winter facility inspections, pipe insulation, and other proactive measures. Investing in prevention now can save your business a lot of money compared to extensive post-damage restoration costs. It also helps protect your business from potentially irreparable losses.
Be Prepared Before Winter Hits Hard
The worst damage often happens when businesses aren’t prepared. Professionals at ServiceMaster by Elevate are ready to help you plan ahead and restore your property if a disaster happens. Call today to schedule pipe insulation, inspections, and other proactive solutions to potential winter emergencies.
