Winter storms and plunging temperatures present special challenges to restaurants and retailers. To keep customers and employees comfortable until spring, operators should act now to winterize their properties and perform preventive maintenance before a crisis occurs.
“When you know that winter is coming, it’s always better to be proactive than reactive,” says Michael Garcia, regional service manager in the Dallas office of Colt Facility Maintenance, a maintenance service provider.
Winterization should begin before the cold sets in and while there is still time to address vulnerabilities discovered in buildings or grounds. The most common threat to facilities in winter is frozen water lines, so Garcia advises store and restaurant operators to begin winterization with a plumbing inspection.
“As the winter months are coming along, having a certified plumber go through your store is the best-case scenario,” Garcia says. “They will see any exposed pipes, outdoor fixtures, etc. that might need to be sealed off or insulated to prevent freezing.”
Either the plumber or an experienced maintenance provider should examine building exteriors for openings, sealing any gaps or cracks that could admit cold air and potentially freeze pipes in walls or interior spaces. This is especially important in historically temperate climates like the Sun Belt states, where some commercial buildings lack proper insulation in walls and around pipes.
“A lot of construction teams cut costs and don’t exactly insulate pipes as well as they should,” Garcia says. “We run into that pretty often, especially when a freeze hits. That’s usually when people realize that their pipes haven’t been insulated.”
Water and Freeze Resistance Measures
Restaurants using water circulation systems should point them out for inspection during the walkthrough. Circulation pumps keep water moving through a building’s lines so there is always hot water ready at the tap, and circulating water is less vulnerable to freezing temperatures. However, restaurant operators may not notice when a circulating pump has stopped working.
“When circulation pumps aren’t working, the temperature drops overnight and that water’s not moving inside those pipes,” Garcia says. “Next thing you know, the employees arrive in the morning, and they’ve had a pipe break. Now they’ve got a flood inside their store and outside their store it’s icing over and creating a hazard for everybody involved.”
Preventive maintenance for water heaters and circulation pumps can remove sediment and restore circulation, improving freeze resistance in the process.
“Especially in states prone to periodic freezes, like Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado, making sure those circulation pumps are working properly is going to help you prevent a lot of line breaks throughout the winter months,” Garcia says.
Relying on reactive maintenance for winter breakdowns can be a costly strategy. In the event of a freeze-related plumbing failure, owners incur the cost of not only plumbing repairs but frequently require remodeling to repair ceilings, walls or floors marred by water damage.
“The worst thing you can do is try to be reactive,” Garcia says. “Once the pipes freeze, there’s really no way for us to thaw them out. You’re just going to shut the water off, wait until the ice thaws out inside the pipes, and then you can make repairs. But at that point, it’s already far gone. The last thing you need is the water being shut down to your location.”
Think Outside the Box
Winterization is equally important outside the building and should be included in a store or restaurant’s pre-winter walkthrough. Check storm grates and drains, inspect rooftops for debris and ensure gutters drain properly. Clogged gutters can hold water and freeze, breaking the gutters or creating other issues.
The maintenance team should disconnect outside hoses and hose reels and clear them of any residual water with compressed air. Ensure outdoor hose bibs and faucets are protected with insulation or insulated covers. A vacuum breaker attached to hose bibs is an added precaution to prevent breakage in a freeze. If a hose will be used again before spring, for example, to water plants in a garden center, then train staff to repeat the winterization procedure after each use.
Irrigation systems pose a freezing hazard and should be turned off and drained.
“Freezes happen out of nowhere, and irrigation lines can burst because the owners haven’t drained them properly or they still have their irrigation systems turned on,” Garcia cautions. “When there is freezing weather and their irrigation system turns on, it can create a number of issues, from solenoids breaking to pipes bursting and flooding the property.”
Electrical, Plumbing and Building System Expertise
Winterization isn’t all about plumbing. In regions that receive snow, owners should make arrangements to clear snowy walks and parking areas and stock up on rock salt, sand or de-icing material.
Garcia suggests including an electrician in pre-winter prep to ensure electrical conduit lines entering the building are correctly sealed, since cold air passing through the lines can generate condensation and oxidation, as well as a risk of short circuits.
The electrician’s visit is a good opportunity to review exterior lighting and signage illumination. Many older lighting systems tend to malfunction or are unable to reach full brightness in extreme cold, so Garcia encourages clients to upgrade to LED fixtures, which are less susceptible to temperature changes and can reduce energy costs.
It’s also a good idea to service furnaces before the first cold snap. This ensures they will be ready when needed and gives technicians an opportunity to clean ductwork and heating coils. If left untouched, dust accumulated on heating elements during months of disuse can create a burning smell, potentially alarming employees or customers.
Effective winterization is a multidisciplinary endeavor, but a qualified maintenance provider can give restaurant and retail owners access to the electrical, plumbing and building system expertise they need to prepare their facilities for the cold months. For operators with several stores, working with a single provider can increase efficiency, since an issue at one location helps technicians anticipate and prevent similar challenges from occurring at the remaining stores.
A maintenance provider also gives store operators the convenience of a one-stop shop for both preventive maintenance and incident response.
“When something happens, clients just call us and we respond,” Garcia says. “They know that whatever their need, we’re going to address it.”
— By Matt Hudgins. Colt is a content partner of Retail & Restaurant Facility Business. For more articles from and news about Colt, click here.