Maintaining the exterior of the building can feel like an overwhelming project. The process of painting the exterior of a multi unit or large apartment building takes a great deal of planning but it’s not something that should be forgotten. Regular maintenance is vital to ensuring any damage is repaired before it becomes catastrophic and the quality of life for the resident is maintained.this maintenance saves money over the lifespan of a building both with repairs and loss of income due to the space being inaccessible if a major repair is needed
Why should I maintain the exterior of my buildings?
Maintenance is the ideal way to maximize both comfort and cost. By ensuring the exterior of a building is properly maintained, residents feel more comfortable and safe and any safety issues can be addressed more quickly. Painting is a great way to find leaks, termite damage, and rot. Proper maintenance helps to ensure the building performs properly, environmental impacts are negated, and the life expectancy of the building is increased. A well-maintained building will rent for more which is a great reason to keep your building into tip top shape.
Savings
Property managers often find that scheduled maintenance like annual painting helps to reduce the cost of fixes. By finding fixes quickly you can repair them before the damage is too extensive. This maintenance also ensures that tenants and residents are comfortable in their space is properly maintained. Weather tightness is also a great reason to properly maintain a building, by performing annual painting you find issues with caulking, gapping and other issues that may cause the unit to not be as weathertight. A building with proper caulking and weatherstripping can be temperature controlled more effectively and at a lower cost. Finally, proper maintenance increases the value of the property.
Downtime
Proper maintenance of buildings is also vital to reducing downtime. Downtime because of a damaged unit or extensive cleaning and repair can cost a landlord money. When a building is maintained correctly there are the least amount of disruptions in operations and use. When a building has damage that is in need of immediate repair it can become very costly. Service calls for emergencies often come in at a much higher cost than scheduled maintenance. Additionally, it may be challenging to find a professional on short notice to perform repairs and could cause even more financial strain if a tenant needs to be placed in temporary housing during these repairs. The loss of rental income, the cost of emergency repairs, and any additional cost associated with displaced tenants can add up very quickly.
Preventive and Routine Maintenance
Preventive and routine maintenance are the keys to reducing costs, saving money, and increasing the value of your property. Preventive maintenance is maintenance that is done to service working items to ensure they continue to work properly. Preventive maintenance is often used for systems like furnaces and AC units. Routine maintenance relates to general wear and tear of a space, painting falls into this category. Routine maintenance is often small things like degreasing range hoods, painting doors, cleaning drain, replacing carpet and other tasks that need to be done on a regular basis but are not done to prevent a system from going down. Routine maintenance is an ideal way to save money when it comes to multi family units.
If you are a landlord or property manager that is looking for ways to improve profitability routine and preventative maintenance are the ticket. Painting is a great routine maintenance task because it allows you to inspect an entire building and can benefit the building in multiple ways. Weather tightness checks and repairs, inspection for rot and damage, and improved aesthetics are all benefits of painting the exterior of a multi family building.
