Maintenance

Maintenance is important in so many aspects of construction. People buy buildings or have buildings built and think that is the end of everything to do with the building. Wrong. There may not be much that needs to be done besides maintenance at the beginning, but over the course of time, more needs to be done. They need to think of it like a car or even bathing. Both are maintenance. The oil needs to be changed, the tires need to be rotated or changed, the fluids need to be changed, etc. If you don't do it then you will have problems with your car. It is the same with bathing. I mean, who wants to work or stand near someone that thinks bathing is unneccessary?

I looked at a job today that is in need of being maintained. The water comes in when it rains. The caulk joints failed. I use the term failed loosely. It is not that they have failed because of being a bad product. They failed because they have been in too long, past the normal life of the caulk. There had been patches to cover the problem but they did not work. I was telling the contractor that just because the caulk is failing, it does not mean the building is failing. The building just needs to be maintained. He now has to sell that idea to the owner, but I am sure the owner will complain about the cost because it probably has only been done once or twice in 40 years. There were some other problems with it that could become structural problems because of the water and some may be structural. However, not doing anything is cheaper right now, but in a few years it won't be. There will be cost in replacing the whole project, which in and of itself is expensive. The maintenance issue is much cheaper and less expensive than replacing the whole structure. After all, when is the last time you were able to buy it cheaper a few years down the road?