How Fluctuating Temperatures Impact Buildings and Construction Projects
Building owners, contractors, and other stakeholders must face many challenges as the temperatures change.
Homeowners must often prepare themselves for the challenges and hazards that winter’s harsh weather will bring. Protecting homes and taking great care to ensure safety while driving, walking, and living in the cold weather requires a great deal of forethought. Still, managing seasonal changes for larger structures like high-rises and skyscrapers can be considerably more difficult. Building owners, contractors, and other stakeholders must face many challenges as the temperatures change. This week, we explore some of the common complications that property owners face as temperatures fall.
Heat and Cold Exposure Wreak Havoc on Completed Structures
Keeping sidewalks clear and winterizing plumbing systems aren’t the only tasks for a property owner’s to-do list. Freezing temperatures and severe storms can cause power failure, which often snowballs into a lack of heating in a building, frozen pipes, and water damage due to floods. In the summer, property owners may struggle to manage mold growth and other problems due to increased humidity indoors. Effective weather barriers and well-informed design are crucial, and property owners and their employees should address potential damage as soon as possible to prevent its spread. Backup power sources, adequate insulation, and routine plumbing maintenance can help property owners minimize some of the risks of severe property damage in the winter.
Cold Weather Presents Significant Safety Challenges for Construction Workers
Construction workers in mild climates have it relatively easy; professionals in the mid-Atlantic states must consider how humidity and temperature fluctuations can impact different building materials and safety systems. Concrete, asphalt, and other materials may not perform well or cure correctly outside of specific temperature and humidity parameters. Construction experts must consider these variables when planning projects that require temperature-sensitive materials. Worker safety is just as important. Metal, plastic, and other building materials experience stress in different situations, but construction workers feel stress, too. Cold stress and heat stroke can present severe health risks for workers. Construction professionals can keep themselves and their coworkers safe in the cold by bundling up, not touching metal with bare skin, consuming warm liquids, and scheduling winter work during warmer parts of the day. Likewise, scheduling summer work during cooler parts of the day, postponing work during exceptionally warm periods, keeping cool liquids on standby, and taking regular breaks can help workers stay safe in the heat.
Revitalize Your Business with G&M Services
G&M Services is proud of our employees and the dedication they have for safety in the workplace. We reward our employees for displaying positive safety practices. We incorporate weekly and monthly discussions and meetings to ensure that all involved know how to handle equipment and potentially risky situations during a project. We offer services in the way of concrete drilling and sawing, concrete scanning, and Firestop. To get started with us, call today at 410-787-8828 or visit our contact page. Follow the official company page today on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
