Winter Building Maintenance

With ice storms hammering Oklahoma the last few days, it might be a good idea to do a walk through on all of your district buildings. Ice is not only hard on trees and electrical infrastructure, it's also hard on roofs and other exposed surfaces. Here are a few items to check:

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1. Look for leaks as ice melts. This is going to be a process of looking for melt water, but it is important to get any leaks fixed as soon as possible. Pay attention to the ceiling tiles in your buildings. They will be the surest sign you have a leak.
   

2. While you have the opportunity, look at the loading and unloading areas your students use. With this much ice, you can easily spot the heavier areas of build up and make plans for de-icer applications during future storms.
   

3. Look at parking lots to determine where there are frozen build-up problem areas to prioritize for snow and ice removal during future storms. 
   

4. Check the gym floors. If you have water on the floor or in the light fixtures you might have a leak.
   

5. Look at the masonry to ensure that you don’t have areas that need to be caulked.
   

6. After the ice melts, check the roofs to see if you have standing water. This may be due to a clogged scupper or roof drain.  

Maintenance isn’t always fun, and it's sometimes hard to find the areas that may give you issues later in the winter. Prioritizing the areas that are issues now may save you time and a potential lawsuit later. It’s important to remember that clogged scuppers and drains on roofs can cause unusual issues and can take time to track down. The dry weather and high winds we have had over the past eight weeks can easily pack dust, leaves and other debris into a drain and cause it to not work correctly.

October storms caught us all before we could get our normal pre-winter maintenance completed. But it’s better to figure it out now while we still have mild weather in the forecast that will allow us to correct the issues than waiting until mid-winter when the weather may not cooperate with repairs and maintenance.