Tips for Winter Property Maintenance

Winter seemed to fly in faster than even imaginable this year. Because it flew in so fast, you may not have prepared your property adequately enough for the cold and icy weather. Here are some tips that you can use to help maintain the integrity of your properties during the freezing temperatures, this season.

What is a landlord’s worst nightmare call on a winter evening? “My water lines are frozen!” Well, this is just one of the worst nightmare calls that a landlord dreads. So why is it so bad when your water lines freeze? Frozen water lines can lead to massive expenses if your waterlines happen to burst because of being frozen. Not only will the repair cost a large sum of money, but there could be damages from the water ruining the tenant’s items, and it could cause further damage to your building if the water floods everywhere. And could you even imagine if your tenant happened to be out of town and you had no idea that this was happening? Big money lost.

Luckily, there are ways to prevent this from happening. Ensuring that your pipes are properly insulated will go miles in keeping your pipes flowing freely and not freezing up. Sealing up cracks will also help prevent cold air from coming in and trying to affect your pipes. Also, on below-zero nights, it’s been recommended to leave a small drip flowing through the tap to ensure that your water is not lying stagnant and susceptible to freezing up.

Another item you may want to address before wintertime hits, is your roof! It’s recommended to get up on the roof and check on the status of it to be sure that any damages or missing shingles need to be addressed. This is to prevent any leaks from happening when the snow does start to melt.

If you manage a large property, such as a commercial building or large apartment complex, you may want to look into hiring a snow removal company to maintain the parking lots. The last thing you want to happen if your tenants to not be able to get out of their parking spot. It’s all about making life convenient for the tenants and this makes a huge step whether you are renting out a commercial space or a complex.

Of course, scheduling a regular maintenance check up on any HVAC equipment at your properties is important so that you are sure that none of your tenants will be left without heat when they need it the most. Hiring a company to check on the status of the equipment will allow you to get one step ahead of solving any problems that may occur with the system.

Gutters are another item that you won’t want to skip up on. If they are not cleaned regularly, then they could get gunked up with plant matter or bird nests and not allow for proper drainage. If there is no proper drainage, then when the cold weather comes, water can get trapped in the clogged areas, which when combined with freezing temps, can cause an ice block to form. This can be detrimental to your building because most gutters are not meant to hold heavy loads of ice, and thus can cause the gutter to start falling off of the building. This not only is an additional cost that could have been prevented, but also poses a safety risk, if It were to fall on someone. To prevent this from happening, be sure to do an end-of-the-fall-season gutter clean-out to clear all debris and check for any necessary repairs.

Like the gutters, trees that have large dead branches could cause a safety risk as well, if the branch cannot hold the weight of a heavy snowfall. To prevent this, have your maintenance team assess the status of the trees that are around your buildings. Have them remove any large dead branches to prevent them from breaking off during a winter storm.

These are just a few items that are important to address before the winter weather comes to our doorsteps. Prevention is key when dealing with major expenses such as water lines, HVAC systems, and rooftops. Keeping your items in working condition will save you time and money later on!