Building Maintenance For Winter

With cold weather coming, now is the time to get started on your building maintenance for winter. Freezing temperatures can reek havoc on a structure and lead to a loss in productivity, complete shutdowns and costly repairs.

Building Maintenance For Winter

Pipes, especially those used to transport water, are one of the things that should be checked during building maintenance for winter. Water increases its volume by around 9.05% and any water held in the pipes may lead to bursting of the pipes. Cold water pipes that run from the rooftop are often heated using an electric coil and a layer of insulation around the heat tracing that is plugged into a ground fault circuit interrupter. As part of the building maintenance the heat tracing needs to be checked to ensure it does not have any worn or missing insulation.

Buildings that have central chillers, fan coil units or heat pumps use cooling towers located on the rooftop to reduce the temperature of the condenser water that is circulating through the system. Most of these systems are shut down before winter. The supply valves are closed off and the drain valves are opened to enable the removal of any water that is leftover in the pipes to prevent them from bursting as a result of freezing.

Some of the cooling and heating systems operate all year round. In these systems, water present in the cooling tower must be prevented from freezing by the addition of antifreeze. This can also be done by using immersion coils that heat the water.

The boilers in the building should also be checked as part of building maintenance for winter by a heating contractor. This should be done frequently to help prevent any sudden shutdown of the boiler which could result in company-wide downtime from freezing temperatures. The things that should be checked include the boiler flue to make sure that it is clean and does not have any blockage. If combustion gases are not able to exit freely they may diffuse into the air of the building and create a potentially hazardous situation. Some of the products of partial combustion, such as carbon monoxide, are toxic to breathe. The insulation of the boiler piping should also be checked, replacing any areas that are worn out or missing.

Any cracks in the walls should be repaired during building maintenance before winter starts. If left unattended, water may penetrate these cracks during the winter and freeze, causing further damage or the wall to collapse.

Do you need help with preventive maintenance for your business? For more information on the services we provide for smart buildings, contact ACS at (913) 248-8828 today.