Melting snow can do a lot of damage to your business before you even know what has hit you. Any given year can present a new host of woes to business owners who don’t take preventative measures to avoid the damage melting ice and snow leave behind. These are a few things you should consider for your business in order to avoid big problems ahead – all related to the worst weather winter has to throw your way.
Keep Snow and Snow Drifts away from Your Home’s Foundation
Use your snow shovel and move it away from the foundation of your business if you have to. Otherwise, water will creep in through foundation cracks and other pathways to cause damage to your business structure as well as your business inventory.
While you’re in the process of moving the snow away from your home, don’t forget to check downspouts to make sure they’re not frozen solid, that they are directing melting ice and snow away from your business (and not posing liability risks in the process), and that they aren’t blocked by debris or mountains of snow and ice themselves.
Remove Ice Dams
Ice dams can cost a great deal of damage to your business. The costs of repairs to remove water damage left behind by these ice dams can be substantial. That’s why it’s important to consider hiring a service to come in and remove them quickly when storms arrive. Look for services that use safe and natural means, such as high pressure steam, to remove the ice dams and don’t forget to check for damage and make repairs quickly to keep the damage from worsening throughout the winter.
Purchase Flood Insurance
Most business owners only think of flood insurance as a necessity when operating businesses by bodies of water like lakes, oceans, and rivers. The truth of the matter is that flooding can happen anywhere (and often does as a result of melting snow and ice or even heavy rains) and your standard business owner’s policy or commercial insurance coverage doesn’t deal with flood. You need a separate policy to cover floods, one issued by the National Flood Insurance Program, NFIP.
Remove Heavy Snow from Roofs Quickly
Collapsing roofs are another major problem when heavy snows occur. Even in areas that anticipate larger amounts of snowfall in winter, like Minnesota, roof collapses happen when the snow amounts are excessive, like the Metrodome collapse in 2010 and the Detroit-area Winstar Dome collapse in 2015. The heavy snowfalls of 2015 led to the roof collapses of several buildings, including a high end music store housing a piano once owned by Liberace. Removing snow can help prevent these types of collapses.
Don’t overlook the importance of having an adequate amount of commercial property insurance coverage. While it won’t prevent the damage from happening, it can help you get your business back on your feet when melting snow and ice put a big chill on your business plans for the coming year.
