How to identify damage in a building

Winter is my favorite season of the year, but it can be hard on our wood buildings.

It’s important to quickly inspect your buildings in the spring so any little problems can be addressed before they become much more troublesome (and expensive).

A strategic bit of maintenance in good weather is quick, easy and cheap compared to the alternative – which can tragically balloon to be none of those things.

Historic buildings can handle a very wide temperature range, they don’t really care about warm or cold.

But they care a lot about water – in all its forms.

Vapors get absorbed and condense against cold surfaces, liquids run and wick into the tiniest crevices where they soak in, ice has an amazing power to break things and then disappear so you don’t know there is a problem unless you are looking for it.

We look mostly for water coming through the roof and running along the ground of buildings in our care, third concern is walls / windows / doors but should not be ignored.

So let’s take a quick tour of your building and see if its ready for the next wet & cold season.

If you find something that doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t and deserves closer investigation.

Look from both a far vantage point and up close.

Here’s a list of things I consider on my annual spring and early Summer walk-around:

Lorem ipsum supporting text. Lorem ipsum supporting text.Lorem ipsum supporting text.Lorem ipsum supporting text.Lorem ipsum supporting text.Lorem ipsum supporting text.Lorem ipsum supporting text.Lorem ipsum supporting text.Lorem ipsum supporting text.Lorem ipsum supporting text.

A little bit of annual love and attention will keep your buildings in good nick and prevent some costly repair bills in the future.

The fabric of our historic buildings is important unto itself and we don’t want it damaged as it is a record of craftspeople that came before us.
Part of our craft is taking care of that legacy and giving it a critical eye every year.

5 Things To Check For Building Damage From The Winter

1.From far away is the building leaning at all? (tie a string to something with some weight and use it as a quick plumb bob to judge this).

2. Is there anything loose or dangling or open that shouldn’t be (a corner of metal sheet or missing shingles or siding board that has come loose)

3. Do you see any sunlight spots coming through the roof or walls? Go inside on a sunny day and cover all the windows, turn off the lights.

4. Are there any sustained wet spots?

5. Is paint peeling or is there raw wood exposed to the elements?

Need Expert Support? Request a Free Consultation: