building inspection

https://www/westernspecialtycontractors_225/public.youtube.com/watch?v=9s0shhDpg2o&feature=youtu.be

by Keegan Tune | Senior Branch Manager | Saint Louis Roofing Branch

In this webinar lesson, you’ll discover a way you can stay proactive in commercial building envelope maintenance.

About Tom Brooks

Tom Brooks is the Chief Operating Officer for Western, the largest specialty contractor in building envelope and parking garage restoration in the United States. He leads a team of 1,250+ employees and oversees all aspects of the day-to-day operations for Western’s 30 branch locations across the country.

by Keegan Tune | Senior Branch Manager | Saint Louis Roofing Branch

In 1968, the London Underground rapid transit system faced a severe problem.

Generally, people don’t consider traveling on the subway dangerous. And yet, tons of passengers were getting injured while boarding their trains.

How does someone get hurt when getting on the subway?

Well, there’s this little space between the edge of the station platform and the train car — an unsafe gap. And people who weren’t paying attention kept getting their feet caught in it and tripping.

People were tripping when their feet got stuck between the platform and train car.

The problem for the London Underground was that people were tripping so frequently that it became impractical for drivers and station attendants to warn passengers. Too many were tripping, and there weren’t enough people to remind them.

The London Underground found a creative solution. They’d use a digital recording to warn people. But data storage capacity was expensive. The message had to be short.

And so, the famous phrase “Mind the gap,” was born.

“Mind the gap”

You can find it painted along the edges of platforms. And you can hear it every time a train arrives at a station.

In subway stations, the space or “gap” between two different components (the platform and the train car) causes lots of issues. On buildings and parking garages, gaps between two various parts also cause lots of stressful problems.

In our last blog post, we covered how buildings and garages are made up of many different systems and components. And just like a subway station, there’s a small gap between different components.

The critical gaps on your building you need to be aware of

Think: Where a window meets the surrounding wall, there’s a gap. Where a roof meets a building’s wall, there’s a gap. Where window glass meets the metal frame, there’s a gap.

These gaps are usually filled with caulking or sealant to keep water from damaging interior spaces.

Still, it seems impossible for a person to keep track of all the different components and make sure they’re working correctly. But it’s not nearly as difficult or time-consuming as you may think.

And here’s the most important thing to understand for cost-effective exterior property maintenance.

The caulking, sealant, or whatever’s being used to fill these gaps are your building and parking garage’s weakest link. And they’re each only as strong as their weakest link.

The most important exterior property maintenance principle to know

On a typical building or garage, these gaps will only account for 1 percent of the total surface area. But they’re responsible for 90 percent of all the water intrusion problems!

Here’s what that means for you. If you can keep this 1 percent of your building’s surface area functioning correctly, you’ll prevent 90 percent of all future water intrusion issues.

90 percent isn’t a number we pulled out of a hat. It’s not a guess.

It refers to the most crucial exterior property maintenance principle coined by Michael Kubal: The 90 Percent / 1 Percent Principle.

About Tom Brooks

Tom Brooks is the Chief Operating Officer for Western, the largest specialty contractor in building envelope and parking garage restoration in the United States. He leads a team of 1,250+ employees and oversees all aspects of the day-to-day operations for Western’s 30 branch locations across the country.

by Keegan Tune | Senior Branch Manager | Saint Louis Roofing Branch

Imagine your favorite football team.

They have the ball on the five-yard line. It’s fourth down. They’re down by six points. And there are seven seconds left in the game.

The quarterback drops back to pass. The wide receiver breaks left. He’s wide open in the end zone. You’re going to win. He catches the ball, and the game is over. But something unexpected happens.

Just as the quarterback is about to throw, a defender sneaks past an offensive lineman and sacks the QB. Game over. You lose. Four out of the five linemen blocked perfectly. But it was the fifth one who let the defender get past him.

So let me ask you a question. How much do you care about those four linemen who blocked perfectly?

Only as strong as the weakest link.

You don’t care at all. The quarterback got sacked. Your team lost. It doesn’t matter how well the four linemen blocked if the last one gave up a sack. In football, the offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link.

The “strong as the weakest link” concept undoubtedly resonates with people who haven’t played a down of football in their life. And it’s crucial to embrace this mindset for exterior property maintenance.

Buildings and parking garages are made up of tons of different systems and components. A building has walls, windows, doors, floors, and a roof. Parking garages have columns, beams, decks, stairs, etc.

Building exteriors and parking garages work like an offensive line.

Much like an offensive line, all these different parts need to function correctly to avoid unnecessary problems, damage, and costs. It doesn’t matter if your building has the most waterproof walls on the planet if the roof is leaking.

Let me be clear. Each of these systems and components doesn’t need to function correctly. They just need to not fail completely.

Still, it seems impossible for a person to keep track of all the different components and make sure they’re working correctly. But it’s not nearly as difficult or time-consuming as you may think.

About Tom Brooks

Tom Brooks is the Chief Operating Officer for Western, the largest specialty contractor in building envelope and parking garage restoration in the United States. He leads a team of 1,250+ employees and oversees all aspects of the day-to-day operations for Western’s 30 branch locations across the country.

Maintaining multi-million-dollar parking garages can be a daunting task for building owners and their facility managers.

All types of parking structures – the three most common types being Double Tee Precast, Conventional and Post-Tensioned – are subject to deterioration from environmental stressors, wear-and-tear and deicers tracked in during the winter months.

An ineffective maintenance routine on a parking structure can quickly lead to costly repairs and restorations that can be disruptive to tenants and cause unexpected costs and safety concerns.

The damaging and compounding cycle of water infiltration and wear-and-tear to a parking structure never improves on its own, and the longer that warning signs are ignored, the more serious and costlier the repairs can become.

Introducing Western’s new resource to help you improve parking garage maintenance

Identifying and tracking problem areas within parking structures has just become easier with Western Specialty Contractors’ new online Visual Guide & Checklist for parking garage inspections.

Facility managers now have a visual reference for easily identifying and tracking damage to a parking structure’s main components, including the:

• Concrete slabs and beams
• Support columns
• Walls
• Drainage
• Expansion and control joints

This easy-to-use guide takes the guesswork out of identifying damage and hazards within parking structures so that a routine maintenance program can be established, and the structure can be kept in a safe condition for users.

The guide includes a list of simple questions and checkboxes to help facility managers identify damage to each component of a parking structure and includes detailed photos of damage such as rust and water stains, exposed rebar, efflorescence, and spalling and cracking so facility managers know exactly what to look for.

by Keegan Tune | Senior Branch Manager | Saint Louis Roofing Branch

As you spend more time reading the Western blog, you may notice something about caulking (or sealants).

Namely, that we mention the importance of them constantly.

What’s so special about caulking?

For starters, caulking is the first line of defense against water getting into your building … and failed caulking is the number one cause of water issues in all types of buildings.

The good news is that there’s a straightforward way to avoid those issues.

Our best tip for making your maintenance program more cost-effective

If you want one tip that will give you the most significant results in the shortest time, it’s this:

Make sure to inspect your caulk joints once a year to determine their condition.

All you need to do is have you or someone on your team go outside and take a look at them to see if there are any signs of deterioration.

The caulking on the left is completely toasted. It doesn’t matter what kind of condition the rest of the building components are in … water is going to get into the building through these deteriorated joints.

That will undoubtedly make the tenants mad, but there’s also the possibility of costly interior damage.

So that’s one thing you can do today – inspect the condition of your caulk joints.

Why caulking is the most important thing you need to think about for exterior building maintenance

The book Construction Waterproofing Handbook, by Michael T. Kubal does a great job of illustrating why caulking is so crucial. (He refers to it as sealants, but for this lesson, we’re using the terms interchangeably.)

You could read the whole thing (and your maintenance would improve as a result), but I’m going to share the highlights about the importance of caulking.

The main thing you need to know is that your building is made up of a bunch of different components, and those components all need to work correctly for your building to be watertight.

If one component fails, it doesn’t matter what kind of shape the others are in – water is going to get into your building.

It’s like the offensive line in football. Four of the five guys can execute their block flawlessly. But if that fifth guy misses his block, the quarterback is getting sacked. It doesn’t matter how well those four guys blocked … the unit still failed to its one job.

The only way your multiple building components can work is if each one is properly transitioned into the other parts. That “transition” we’re talking about is usually the caulking.

Why so many building managers frequently deal with water issues

Kubal sums up what we’re talking about here perfectly.

All individual envelope systems must be adequately transitioned into other components … Often the tradesworkers completing this work are not aware of, trained in, or supervised in enveloping the building properly. And this is the number one cause of water infiltration in all types of structures.

It makes sense why caulking is so often overlooked by building managers. Its size and cost seem relatively small compared to other parts of your building. But what’s staggering is how often contractors overlook this crucial component.

So, don’t make the mistake of dismissing the importance of caulking. And don’t just trust any contractor to take care of this component that’s so crucial to your success.

If there’s one thing you should take away from this lesson, it’s this last excerpt from Kubal’s book.

Since sealants are a minor portion of overall construction scope, they receive an equal amount of effort in their design and installation. Yet because they are the first line of defense against water infiltration, sealant failures can cause an unequal proportion of problems and resulting damage.

Just by understanding that and acting accordingly, your maintenance program will be miles ahead of the industry standard.

About Tom Brooks

Tom Brooks is the Chief Operating Officer for Western, the largest specialty contractor in building envelope and parking garage restoration in the United States. He leads a team of 1,250+ employees and oversees all aspects of the day-to-day operations for Western’s 30 branch locations across the country.

If you want to reduce maintenance costs, there are a lot of advantages to doing property inspections.

To begin with, they give you valuable information that makes the stressful maintenance decision-making process much easier and straightforward.

But we all know that proper inspections involve more than just walking around a property looking for potential issues. There are tons of property inspections that don’t do much to help the manager and owner. And there are a few successful standouts.

Here’s how to put your property inspection into the second category.

#1: Start with standardized methods

Successful inspection programs are built on a foundation of excellent standardized methods. They help improve consistency from inspection to inspection over time. That way, you can reliably compare results from a current inspection to past ones. Our recommendations include:

• Taking several pictures of each component’s condition — don’t try to rely on notes from inspectors exclusively
• Using a condition rating scale — keep ratings as simple as possible

Sometimes folks are tempted to start doing inspections first, then figuring out how to record the data later. That’s a recipe for expensive mistakes and a less-than-awesome inspection.

#2: Instructions matter

Successful inspections leverage greatly written guidelines.

Starting with standardized methods will get you a good way down this road, but if your team needs some more help, make sure to provide them with written instructions they can review.

Even if your inspection is set up correctly, it only makes it harder to get the traction if your staff isn’t sure what to do. It’s not about dumbing it down — it’s about taking the guesswork out of the equation.

#3: Create checklists (or know where to get them)

Successful inspections have rock-solid processes. If you’re new to exterior maintenance, creating checklists can be a fun and exciting way to get better.

But if you want to do a great inspection, you need to pay your dues and learn how to make excellent inspection checklists. If that isn’t you yet, you can shortcut this by asking a contractor to help you.

You might supply the vision and property knowledge, and they bring their years of experience and expertise.