5 External Building Repairs to Complete Before Summer

With a busy summer right around the corner, spring is the perfect time to catch up with repairs. Sure, some repairs can be put off until later, but some should be handled immediately.

If you own a business with a brick-and-mortar location, here’s a list of 5 external building repairs to tackle before summer.

   1. Broken or cracked asphalt

Avoiding the potential for a personal injury lawsuit is the primary reason to fix broken or cracked asphalt. Business owners are generally responsible for all injuries that occur on their property with limited exceptions. 

The other reason to fix broken asphalt is to make your parking lot look good. The condition of your parking lot makes an impression on your customers. When your parking lot is in terrible shape, your customers might view your business as run-down. They might even avoid your business if the disrepair is extreme.

If you haven’t done so already, start fixing those cracks and potholes. In addition to patching or replacing broken asphalt, make sure to add sealcoat to protect your asphalt from the heat. This is especially important if you live in an area with hot summers. The more your asphalt cracks in the heat, the more water will seep through and start to destroy the asphalt throughout the rest of the year.

Just be sure to hire a reputable company with a verifiable portfolio. In 2019, the city of New Rochelle sued a contractor after a botched job. The city spent $890,000 to fix the damage after the contractor used “inferior materials, incorrect tools, improper machinery and/or an improper method” to repave local roads.

   2. Peeling and chipped paint 

Painting and repainting are tasks you’ll never escape. Heat and rain can damage paint and make it peel or crack and every year the damage will get worse. Neither cracked or peeling paint is a good look for your business. 

Spring is the perfect time to repaint your building. It’s getting warm and mostly dry outside. You might have some rain on the schedule, but nothing like Winter. It’s easy to schedule repainting for a dry and sunny day.

  3. Broken arches and torn canvas awnings

Do your customers walk through an arch or under an awning to enter your building? Is your awning or arch in good repair? If not, fixing it needs to be a priority. While it’s just an aesthetic fix, the look of your building matters more than you think. 

An online research survey conducted by the ROCKWOOL Group discovered that 85% of people are influenced by architecture and 81% are consciously aware of a building’s aesthetics. That means 81% of your customers are looking at your building’s architecture and design. That includes taking in the shape, but also the exterior design including the landscaping, paint, roof, and siding.

  4. Dead, aging, or broken signage

Do your electronic signs have a dead letter or symbol? Is the paint on your neon signs cracked? Are you missing letters from your billboard signage? Now is a great time to fix all of these signage issues before you start getting busy this summer.

Modern signage is a must

While it’s not uncommon for older buildings to have signage left over from the 1970s, those styles have not aged well. Unless your business is related to retro nostalgia, you really need modern signage.

If your signage – including street signs – is less than perfect, it’s time to fix (or replace) your signs. Your signage is what people see from the street and the way your signage looks is how people will think of your business. If your signage is dilapidated and out of date, you’ll leave people with a less-than-optimal impression.

   5. Peeling or cracked siding 

Peeling or cracked siding never makes a business look good. It tells customers you don’t care much about your building and can make some people question your business in general. 

Before you start patching your siding, consider the option of replacing your siding with a more durable, attractive option. For example, if your current siding is vinyl, you can keep painting it when it cracks, but vinyl siding never looks as good as stone veneer.  Vinyl is cheap and easy to repair, but there are more attractive siding options out there. 

Get it done before the crowds come 

The warmth of summer will bring more customers through your doors. Get all your repairs done now before the crowds come so you won’t need to close for repairs during a busy time.

Rylie Holt