The fall season is, arguably, the most beautiful time of year, but it does come with some added responsibilities for office and building managers. Keeping up with fall maintenance and ensuring that all of your bases are covered when preparing your property for winter weather can help you avoid costly issues in the future.
To that end, we’ve created the following guide that covers everything building managers need to take care of in the fall. Use it to make a checklist, then see that each item is taken care of, and you should make it through the colder months without a hitch.
1. Clean Out the Gutters
It’s easy to forget about your building’s gutters until they stop doing their job correctly, but you don’t want to wait that long, as clogged drains can cause many issues, some of which can be incredibly costly. To avoid these kinds of problems, keep all the falling leaves and other debris from autumn weather out of your building’s gutters.
2. Inspect Roofs
Leaves, tree debris, rain, and especially snowfall can all become major problems if your building’s roof is in poor condition. You’ll want to inspect the roof and make any necessary repairs as the season begins to turn.
During that time, you should also look around the property to see if any trees or branches run the risk of falling into your building and damaging the roof. You’ll want to trim those branches or remove the problematic trees altogether.
3. Test Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
With the weather cooling down, HVAC systems will begin heating things. However, that increases the risk of fires and gas leaks in your building, so you want to ensure you’re safeguarded against them with adequately working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Test all of them on your property and change batteries as necessary.
4. Take a Look at the HVAC System
Regarding your building’s HVAC system, you’ll want to ensure it’s in good working order before the weather gets cool enough to become a daily necessity. Having an HVAC technician give it an annual tune-up is always a good idea, but you can also simply look at the filters, valves, and coils yourself to ensure nothing needs replacing.
Keeping your building’s heating system well-maintained can reduce utility costs by allowing it to work more efficiently, and it can also help you avoid costly repairs and untimely breakdowns over the winter months.
5. Plan for Leaf and Snow Removal
The falling leaves are a big part of what makes autumn so beautiful, but they can become an unsightly nuisance and cause you plenty of trouble after enough time. With that said, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got a plan for keeping your property clear throughout the fall because — once the weather gets colder and snow starts falling — those leaves will only become more challenging.
Snow removal is crucial to plan for during the fall season as well. You may have some time before any frosty weather, but you never know when an early storm might roll in and leave you scrambling.
6. Do a Deep Clean
Next year’s spring cleaning won’t be half as much of a burden if you perform an autumn deep clean, too. Your building will not only be sparkling clean and look fantastic, but you can also go a long way toward preventing the spread of illnesses during the season when the flu and colds are most prevalent.
Like many others listed here, these cleaning tasks can be done in-house, but they may also be better suited to outsourcing. The cleaning products, tools, and techniques that a professional cleaning service employs can take your autumn deep clean a few steps beyond what you’re likely capable of on your own.
7. Prepare for Pests
As the weather gets colder, pests will begin to seek refuge wherever they can, so if your building is accessible, you’ll be dealing with them soon enough. Make sure you’ve sealed off any potential ways that they may be able to invade your building and have a pest management plan in place if they still do.
Enjoy the Fall, Avoid Headaches
Prepping your building for the colder months may feel overwhelming, but using the above guide as a checklist should help you organize and formulate an effective plan. We hope you found it helpful, and we hope you enjoy the beautiful season as well.
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