Regular Maintenance Schedules for Historic Commerical Buildings | Wisconsin Historical Society

Guide or Instruction

Regular Maintenance Schedules for Historic Commerical Buildings

Regular Maintenance Schedules for Historic Commerical Buildings | Wisconsin Historical Society

You may be able to avoid a costly rehabilitation project on your historic commercial building by establishing good building maintenance practices. A maintenance schedule will help you to document what maintenance tasks are needed and when they should be performed. It is also a good idea to keep a maintenance journal for your building to provide you with an ongoing record of your observations and repairs you have made.

If your building has already gone through a rehabilitation project, you can use the specifications that were created during the project to guide your list of maintenance tasks and repairs. You can also use the following list as an example of an exterior and interior maintenance schedule.

Exterior Site Inspection

Tasks to Perform Every Spring and Fall

  • Check the masonry on your building. Look for failing mortar, cracks, or excessive moisture. Repair as needed. 
  • Inspect every window in your structure. Look for broken glass or failing glazing compound around the window sashes and rotting wood. Repair as needed.
  • Look for failing paint and determine why it is failing. Often a leaky gutter or roof can be the culprit. An area that was not prepared properly before paint was applied can also cause paint failure. Scrape loose paint and prepare the surface properly before you touch up the paint. Dark-colored paints can fade over time, so you may need to have the paint tinted to match.
  • Check the caulk around your building. Replace any caulk that has failed.
  • Check the gutters and downspouts. Look for water leaks, sagging gutters, gutters that are too small to handle the volume of water coming off your roof and missing downspouts. Repair as needed.
  • Look for signs that rodents have entered your building.
  • Clean all of the glass in the window sashes and storm windows. Do this on one side of your building each year.

Tasks to Perform Once a Year

  • Check your entire structure for rotting wood. Use binoculars to help you locate areas of rot. Repair rotting historic wood rather than replacing it. Use architectural epoxies and/or splice new wood to the old.
  • Look for potential problems with metal, stone or brick architectural features. Repair as needed.
  • Check your roof for flashings and other roof materials that are failing. Look for potential leaks around vent stacks, rooftop air conditioning compressor units and the flashings around parapets, chimneys, valleys and dormers. Repair as needed. 
  • Look for vine growth around your building. Destroy any vines that could attach themselves to your building.
  • Look at the trees surrounding your building. Prune or remove dead limbs and dying trees.
  • Check the grade around your building. If the ground around your foundation has settled, add new fill and create a minimum three-degree pitch away from your structure.
  • Observe all hard-surface sidewalks and parking areas around your building. Look for deteriorating, settling or cracking concrete and asphalt. Repair as needed.

Interior Site Inspection

Steam and Hot Water Boilers: Monthly

  • Look for water leaks in all the visible pipes in your building. Repair as needed.
  • Drain the sludge from steam boilers throughout the heating season as needed.
  • Bleed the air from cast-iron radiators through the bleeder valves at the end of the radiators. Do this monthly throughout the heating season.
  • Check for leaking radiator shut-off and bleeder valves. Repair as needed.
  • Check the water levels in all boilers.
  • Oil the hot water boiler’s circulating pumps as needed.

Steam and Hot Water Boilers: Every Spring and Fall

  • Check for failing flue pipes. Look for holes or rust. Repair as needed.
  • Hire a professional to service your steam or hot water boiler system at the beginning and end of each heating season.

Forced-Air Heat and Air Conditioning Systems: Monthly

  • Change the filters in your forced-air heating and air conditioning systems.  
  • Clean your humidifiers and dehumidifiers as needed.

Forced-Air Heat and Air Conditioning Systems: Every Spring and Fall

  • Check for failing flue pipes. Look for holes or rust. Repair as needed.
  • Hire a professional to service your forced-air heating and air conditioning systems at the beginning of the heating and cooling seasons.

Plumbing: Twice Per Year

  • Check all of your water supply pipes and drain lines for water leaks. Repair as needed.
  • Check all of your water fixtures and appliances for water leaks. Repair as needed.
  • Check your hot water heater for leaks and proper flue venting. Repair as needed.

Basement: Yearly

  • Look for water migrating into your basement from outside. Repair as needed.
  • Look for deterioration on your foundation walls. Repair as needed.
  • Look for any new structural issues or wood rot in your basement. Repair as needed.

Interior Finishes: Yearly

  • Inspect your flooring for wear and tear. Repair as needed.
  • Inspect your plaster walls and ceilings for deterioration. Repair as needed.
  • Inspect your woodwork finishes for deterioration. Repair as needed.
  • Inspect the finishes on your painted surfaces for deterioration. Repair as needed.
  • Check your doors for proper operation. Repair as needed.
  • Check your windows for broken glass, sash ropes and spring balances. Look for signs of condensation on your windows. Repair as needed.