Yearly Preventative Maintenance To Extend The Life Of Your New Steel Metal Building

Steel metal buildings are nearly maintenance-free, but they are not entirely free from maintenance. While you can completely ignore their maintenance needs for a long time, the metal buildings that last the longest are those that have had regular maintenance. 

To ensure your new metal building has the longest lifespan possible, it will need yearly, proactive care and maintenance.

A Yearly Cleaning

Metal buildings get a bath every time it rains, but rainwater alone isn't sufficient to clean them.

At least once each year your new metal building needs a good scrubbing or light pressure wash. This will remove all of the dead bugs, hard water staining, and bird droppings accumulated on the exterior of the structure.

The best thing you can use to clean the building is some liquid dish detergent dissolved in a bucket of warm water. Scrub the areas you can reach with a deck or RV brush and give the areas you can't a light pressure wash with your machine set on its lowest setting.

Yearly Inspections for Damage

On the days you wash the metal building, take some time and do a thorough inspection of the entire structure. By finding and fixing minor issues you can prevent them from becoming bigger problems down the road.

Things to look for during your inspection include:

• loose screws from weather-caused expansion and contraction
• mold, mildew, or fungal growth on the structure
• missing or displaced insulation moved by rodents or birds
• streaks indicating water intrusion through the roof or walls
• clogged rain gutters or water sitting in the drainage system

In addition, if your metal building has air conditioning, then you should check around the A/C unit to ensure there's no condensation forming along the exterior wall. 

Removing Strain the Metal Building's Walls 

To extend your metal building's life, you shouldn't strain its walls by leaning anything against them. Take the time during your annual inspections to:

• trim and maintain all landscaping away from the exterior walls
• remove ladders or other tools leaning against the interior or exterior walls
• remove stacked boxes or other items too close to the interior or exterior walls
• remove snow to keep it from leaning against the exterior walls and seeping water inside as it melts

Doing these simple things keeps stress off of the walls and keeps the structure healthy.

A Final Note

Finally, it is important to keep a maintenance log that details each inspection and any repairs made to the metal building. Whether you inspect your building or hire a metal building contractor, a maintenance log will go a long way if your building is ever damaged and you need to file an insurance claim. Without the log, the insurance company could claim a lower value for the structure.

For more information on metal buildings, contact a company near you.