Winter storms have ravaged parts of the country in the recent weeks and months, causing extensive damage to various types of structures, and commercial properties are among the structures that have suffered extensive damage. Wet, heavy snow, high winds, and frigid temperatures combine to create conditions that are perfect recipe for structural damage.
If you’re a commercial property owner, understanding the type of damage that your building could experience as a result of winter storm can help you prepare before the impending stormy weather strikes.
Collapsed roofs
If your commercial building has a flat roof, there is an increased chance that it will collapse during a winter storm.
The buildup of ice and heavy snow on a flat roof can cause it to buckle under the excessive weight. A roof collapse can not only cause extensive and costly damage to your building, but there is also the potential for it to injure anyone who may be inside the building.
Leaky roofs
A collapse isn’t the only way that the roof of your commercial property can be damaged during a winter storm. Snow and ice can cause leaks to develop in the roof. These leaks are most often the result of ice dams. Ice dams form when a ridge of ice forms along the edge of a roof. This ice prevents the melting snow and ice from draining properly from the roof. As a result, the water has no place else to go but behind the ice dam, down through the roof until it finally exits through the ceiling of your property.
Leaking roofs can cause extensive damage to your property and can be very expensive to repair. They also have the potential to cause hazardous conditions inside your establishment, as your clients and employees could potentially slip on puddle water on the floor.
Frozen and burst pipes
When the temperature plummets to below freezing levels, there is an increased probability that the water pipes in your commercial building could freeze. Having frozen pipes is inconvenient enough; however, this problem could become more than inconvenient – it could become dangerous and very expensive.
When pipes freeze, the water held within them expands, and pipes can only expand so much. Eventually, the pressure of the frozen water in the pipes could cause them to burst. If the pipes burst, you’re looking at flooding, expensive damage and hazardous conditions within your business.
To make sure that your commercial property is protected by proper property business insurance coverage.
Speak with a bolt insurance business property insurance expert today to get a free customized commercial property quote.
