Whether a business is a restaurant, office, manufacturing plant, or school, having a building exterior remodel strategy can make a project very efficient and beneficial for a building owner. A plan should include incorporating low maintenance materials, safety elements, easy accessibility, and curb appeal to serve a business well into the future, as well as cut costs, and attract new customers.
Low maintenance material choices, such as fiber cement siding, EIFS, brick, Fullerton Panels or poured concrete, are durable, don’t require painting, or much up-keep in the future. By incorporating a number of these materials, an owner can reduce their maintenance budget and the inconvenience to staff or customers that maintenance crews can create. Additionally, changing to LED lighting and using a combination of uplighting and downlighting can showcase a building and make it more noticeable after hours and be less costly to operate. Even windows and doors are made to be much more efficient over the last decade or more, so depending on when an owner's windows or doors were installed, replacing them could save an owner a lot on energy costs. Choosing hearty perennial plants that can survive many different elements is a great option to keep costs down and elevate curb appeal. Heated sidewalks and heated air at entrances, may not be the most efficient cost wise, but can eliminate bugs entering your building, slips and falls, and less maintenance to keep up with snow removal and wet carpets.
If a business wants to gain more traffic at their building location and/or be inviting and accessible to all types of customers is helpful. Being ADA compliant with your parking lot and entrance is beneficial to gaining new customers if you haven’t had these elements before. Automatic doors, way finding signage, handicap parking near ramps and the building, are all barrier free changes to enhance your building. With changes presented by the pandemic, some businesses could benefit from implementing or enhancing their curbside pickup, too.
It is always good to strategize safety considerations that can help protect staff and clientele. Replacing tall shrubs near an entrance will prevent attackers from hiding and surprising unaware people entering or exiting a building. Installing cameras and again having ample LED lighting can deter attackers from hanging around a building to do unsavory things. And, finally, I’ll include that when guardrails or bollards are strategically placed around a building, as indicated by an architect, it will prevent cars from hazardously entering or hitting your building while protecting the people and materials inside.
Wolgast Corporation is an Employee-Owned Construction Group in Michigan that specializes in commercial construction. We can help you create a strategy and design that will improve your building exterior to be more efficient, long lasting, and attractive. Please contact Michael Shepard to discuss design, strategy, and construction options at 800-WOLGAST or mshepard@wolgast.com
