How to Properly Maintain Your Commercial Roof

Owning or leasing a commercial property is a lot of responsibility. The state of the property may determine the rent that you’ll be able for the place (if you’re a landlord) or the efficiency of your headquarters (if you’re a tenant). Now, property management can be divided into several crucial categories and one of the biggest issues on this list is definitely the importance of properly maintaining your commercial roof. Here are five tips to help you out with this particular task.

Roof insulation

The first thing you need to take into consideration is the fact that about 25 per cent of all the heat from the building leaves via the roof. Now, heating up a residential home and heating up a commercial property are not one and the same thing. The latter is far more expensive, which is why proper roof insulation may have a drastic impact on the cost of property maintenance and a utility bill, in general. While this is something that’s usually handled during the construction, it’s also something that can be vastly improved with proper maintenance.

Quick repairs

Damage on your roof can cause all sorts of property damage and even increase the hazard of spending time around the place. First of all, due to the fact that commercial property often contains a ton of expensive electrical appliances, a leak in the roof may increase the risk of electrocution or a fire hazard. It may also increase the risk of slip and fall, which is one of the major causes of workplace injuries. By having a crew that can resolve this issue on short notice, you can avert a major disaster long before it occurs. A timely small repair is far more cost-effective than a late major one.

Ventilation

Roof and attic ventilation are crucial for various reasons. First, it extends the life of your roof. Since this is an incredibly expensive project, properly handling your ventilation system can save you a small fortune. Second, it reduces the energy cost of owning the place (which is something that we’ve briefly discussed). Finally, it helps reduce indoor temperature extremes. With the help of experts like those behind Genesis Roofing, you can easily improve the state of both your mechanical and natural attic ventilation.

Cleaning gutters and keep drains clear

In order to have rainwater safely guided away from your property, you need a system that consists of two major elements. The first one is the guttering and downspout system and the second one is a drain. Keeping one’s gutters clean on a residential property is a relatively simple task. You need a long-sleeved shirt, some rubber gloves, some trash bags and a ladder. Cleaning gutters on a commercial property is A) more work and B) more dangerous (seeing as how it takes place on a great height). This is why this task often gets outsourced to professionals.

Regular inspections

Previously, we’ve talked a lot about repairs and maintenance, however, the bulk of these projects are situational. Sometimes, there’s really no need for you to go above and beyond in order to fix something that’s not broken. However, in order to know for sure, you need to have someone skilled, vigilant and unbiased to do the inspection. This is why it’s better that you outsource this task, as well. Think about it, when the repair is supposed to be covered from your own pocket, you might feel like overlooking some pretty obvious warning signs.

In conclusion

By abiding by these five tips, you’ll have a much easier job in generating value from your commercial property, regardless if you own or just have a lease on it. The best thing is that, when done regularly and proactively, none of the above-listed is particularly costly. So, make sure to have this in mind next time you decide to inspect the property in question, same as when you start making your commercial property maintenance budget.