At The McKnight Group, we always feel a great sense of accomplishment when we officially finish any church building design or renovation project. But we don’t “walk away” when the project is over—even though we might no longer be on site on a daily basis. In fact, we believe so strongly in the importance of ongoing church building care that we have a staff member whose primary job is to provide warranty and maintenance support for all of our clients.
Meet Mark Hall
Mark Hall is our warranty coordinator. He handles the warranties for the various elements of each church building project and ensures that service is rendered where needed. He takes the calls for any kind of problem our clients may have once the building is finished. This encompasses the entire building, inside and out, whether it’s a roof issue, an electrical problem, or anything else.
Why We Warranty for Church Building Design Issues
While we always intend to do a perfect job on every building, things happen. That’s why all our church building projects come with a one-year warranty. If something happens during that year, all you have to do is give Mark a call and he will investigate the problem. If it’s a warranty issue, he will coordinate with any necessary subcontractors and get the problem resolved as soon as possible. Even if you discover a problem after one year is up, if the work wasn’t done right, we’ll step up and take care of it.
Building Maintenance Issues
However, having a warranty is not a replacement for good maintenance. In fact, the typical maintenance suggestions that Mark makes apply to new and old church buildings alike. Here are some of his recommendations:
Inspect Metal Roofs. Mark notes that people are usually good about maintaining the interiors of their buildings, but the exteriors can be a different story, and roofs often don’t get noticed until there’s a problem. Manufacturers suggest building owners inspect their roofs once or twice a year, and after especially big snowstorms. When examining your roof, be sure to check the roof fasteners, any HVAC condensation lines, and whether there are any blockages or breaks in your downspouts and gutters.
Inspect Exterior Elements. Mark recommends regularly looking at the caulking around windows, doors, and control joints, for broken PVC pipe vents, and water intrusion because of a break in an HVAC unit condensate line. The latter can cause a vacuum effect that draws water back into the building.
Inspect the Interior too. Doors may need adjustment due to expansion and shrinkage with changing weather conditions. Mark says that interior HVAC care is very important too. Change your filters when needed, and check belts to make sure they’re not worn or cracked.
Check Lighting. Issues can develop with lighting ballasts, or there might be recalls of lighting products. If you’re not tracking how often light bulbs are being changed, you might not even realize anything’s wrong. So keep a maintenance log of everything that happens with your church building, and be on the lookout for any developing trends.
Create a Maintenance Schedule. Mark recommends creating a plan for when maintenance is performed. This is because church maintenance is often done by volunteers, and new people might not know what’s needed if there isn’t an established schedule in place. For example, new volunteers might not think of caulking windows until a problem arises—at which time it could be a very expensive one to fix.
If you need help creating a maintenance schedule, inspecting a roof or other maintenance inspection, Mark is here to help (even if The McKnight Group didn’t build your building). Give him a call. And for more great tips, we suggest that you sign up for our free i3 webinar series, where we offer much more information on church building design and construction projects. Simply visit our website to sign up and learn more.