Keeping up on Roof Maintenance: Ontario Roofing Experts
April 8, 2013 Laura MacCormac
In the world of rooftop repairs and roof maintenance, Ontario is one of those places that covers the entire spectrum of challenges. Particularly for business owners, Ontario’s climate can offer a wide variety of obstacles, ranging from blustery winter storms to summertime heat waves comparable to those of the hottest southern states. For those in charge of commercial property management, the stakes are simply higher than for residential properties. Not only do commercial buildings generally require more upkeep due to their size, but they often have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars worth of inventory, machinery, and other business essentials.
Of course, shutting the doors of a business can have long-lasting repercussions in terms of consumer perception, loyalty, and the livelihoods of the business owners and employees.
With so much on the line, it is no wonder that experts in the field of small to medium sized businesses strongly recommend maintaining an ongoing plan for roof maintenance. Ontario businesses, due to the extreme variations in weather, are particularly susceptible to rooftop damage and are among those who stand to benefit most from regularly scheduled maintenance programs.
The good news for business owners is that regular inspections and maintenance have actually been shown to cost significantly less over the course of a rooftop’s lifespan than performing a single large emergency repair. By bringing in a team of qualified experts to remove excess debris left by stormy weather conditions, animals, and other factors from the surrounding environment, much of the wear and tear that causes premature expiration of a rooftop can easily be avoided.
Small permeations in the water proof membrane of the roof can also be located early on with regular roof maintenance. Ontario’s icy winters often mean that small cracks in a roof’s base layer will allow trace amounts of water to seep through into the building’s interior, causing damage that is nearly impossible to detect with the untrained eye until it is too late. Whether it is the presence of dangerous airborne molds, or the simple accumulation of water which will then freeze and expand in the coming winter (causing the building to become structurally unsound), simply having an expert team perform twice annual checks each fall and spring can easily save a business owner hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs and lost business.
It may seem like you’re saving a few dollars by skipping annual roof maintenance, but every single expert in commercial property management will tell you the same thing; when you play with water, you’re playing with fire.
Source: Flickr’s Andreas Solberg