Change Your Roofs Oil

It’s a weird title, but it makes a lot of sense. Many building owners are starting to understand why they need to be doing maintenance on their roofing systems. Just like your car if you don’t pay attention to key areas something will break down and end up costing a lot more than if you just would have done maintenance. So what do you do as a building owner?

Use life cycle costing to maximize your roofs life. Be pro-active about maintenance. (Have a roof maintenance program). Have your roof inspected twice a year. Fall and spring is the time when the most stress is put on your roofing system. Also have your roofing system checked out after storms for damage.Budget $ .05 /sq ft per year for roof inspections and maintenance and at least $ .25 /sq ft for more extensive work. Start this budgeting from day one! Have a log of who has been on your roof, when and why. By doing this you can track to see if your leaks are being caused by people working on the roof. Track your costs to do interior work or replacement of damaged items because of roof leaks. Show management how the past collateral damage costs exceed the cost of implementing a roof maintenance/ management program. Last but this could save you the most money. Choose your contractor wisely. The cheapest prices may turn out to be the most costly if they don’t do quality work by costing you years of interior repairs, lost rent and more.

The next step is to hire a KNOWLEDGEABLE contractor or a roof consultant to do the yearly inspections. The reason I stress knowledgeable so much is because there are a lot of people out there that would like to think they know what they are looking for but don’t. So how do you find that person? Talking to others, interviewing people, finding certified consultants, etc. To close, as much as no one wants to spend money on roof maintenance the fact is roof maintenance will save you thousands of dollars by extending the life of your roof.