I recall being in a parking lot last summer when one of those creaky Houston storms struck and I was standing there and the drip-drip of water dripping on an awning of the building. It was not dramatic, it was just a constant and irritating leakage which nobody appeared to hear. It got me to think about the extent to which we have a given roof. They are silently going about their job day in day out until one day they suddenly are not any more and they then become the topic of conversation that everyone can talk about.
One of my neighbors is an owner of a small office complex and he once informed me that there are never simple roof problems. They influence tenants, schedules, budgets, and even relations. When something is wrong up there it is felt all the way down. He picked up most of this simply by talking over the years with various commercial roofing contractors houston during some meeting, not in a salesy sense, but in those get-things-done, problem-solving meetings which occur when you are attempting to keep a building operational.
It warped in my mind the extent of experience in such a job. You do not see the problem at all times. At times it is about what happens to buildings in such a climate, how heat and rain gradually have their way with things. It reminded me of other aspects of life that the most significant work remains largely unseen until it does not.
I believe that is the reason why maintenance is a neglected issue. The things that look all right can be put off without much trouble. But it is comforting to know that somebody has gone through things and reported to you that you are okay at the moment. It is a silent form of tranquility.
It is something that I have been increasingly aware of lately, not only in relation to buildings, but routines, habits, and relationships. It makes me think how much an easier time we could have had in case we had taken into consideration the little signs much earlier and taken them seriously even when nothing appears to be urgent.
Top comments (0)