Snow Drifts!

Well, it is that time of the year, when one day it is a crisp morning and the next day you are shoveling snow from your roof. For those of you that love to play in the snow, I am happy for you. For those of us that would rather be boating at the lake on a warm day in July, our time is coming! The reality is that during winter there is snow. Snow can be fun, but it can also cause damage to your facility. I tend to get a little nervous when I see all of the drifted snow lying on a roof! Many times serious problems are just around the corner. So I wanted to share some helpful tips on the safest ways to remove the excess snow from your roof and protect your roof members.

• Visually inspect your roof system to identify any unusual deflections of beams or joists. If areas are found, start removing the snow at about one third of the depth at a time as to not cause an unbalanced loading condition on the roof members.

• The shoveling pattern should progress from each side of the building towards the center. On larger roofs, it is recommended that additional people work from the center of the building to the ends.

• Never use metal shovels to “scrape” the roof down to the surface. Remember, the objective is to relieve the excess loading condition due to the weight of the snow, not to completely clear the roof panel of all snow and ice. Attempting to scrape the roof may result in broken fasteners, tearing, fractures or holes which could create roof leaks. 

• Keep gutters, downspouts and roof drains open and free flowing to prevent water back-up and ice build-up on the roof.

• Always be watching for extreme deflections of the roof members and listen for unusual noises. When snow and ice build-up on your roof, it’s always a good idea to listen and to watch. Your building will speak to you!

Snow can be fun, but it can also be the cause of structural failures and water leaks. Give us a call; we can help in identifying unsafe conditions at your facility.

Utilizing Consultants

The title of this week’s e-bits is pretty straight forward. For the most part, everyone knows what a consultant is, but not everyone knows how to utilize one properly. We at PDMi consider ourselves a consulting firm and we consult on many things from building design to project management to building code studies to master planning. We consider ourselves quite good at many things, that’s why you hire us! However, there are times when we need to bring in more specialized consultants to assist in the design process.   

We are currently working with a manufacturing client in the Ft. Wayne area that is looking to add 10,000 s.f. of woodworking shop area to their existing facility that is well over 70,000 s.f. They hired us in the fall of 2024 to produce state submittal documents for the addition. What we found after a few weeks of working with them on the planning portion (planning is very important) is that they really need to have the addition open to the rest of the building due to product flow issues within the woodworking shop. This posed a problem, as the code requires a fire separation wall between the new addition and the existing facility. PDMi has a great working knowledge of the building codes, but this particular situation brought up a much larger issue relating to filing for a variance with the State of Indiana. We referred the client to a consultant that specializes in the area of building code variances and had them work with the consultant to obtain a variance for the fire separation. Once that got resolved, we were able to finish up our state submittal documents so that the building owner could proceed this spring with getting his building addition started.       

Many times specialized consultants are not needed, but it sure is nice to have them when you need them. PDMi has the relationships and knowledge to take your project from planning to completion using all the tools at our disposal. If you run into a situation where you need added guidance from a consultant, give us a call and we can get you connected with the right people to keep your project on schedule.

Restrooms

When working with clients on designing their new facilities, building additions and/or interior renovation projects one topic always seems to come up: Restrooms. The questions about restrooms range from; How many do I need? Can they be unisex? Where should they be located? And the biggie; Do all of them need to be Handicapped Accessible?

A while back, we were working with a client on a renovation and addition to his office building. There was only one existing unisex restroom in the building, and it was very small. In fact, as my grandfather used to say “It was so small, you’d have to step outside to change your mind!” During the planning process, we told him that due to the specific conditions of his building, the building code would not require him to change, enlarge or relocate his restroom. That was good news to him.

The most frequently asked questions we get about restrooms seem to be about required handicapped accessibility. They include…

• Do all restrooms need to be handicapped accessible?

• Do I need to upgrade my existing restrooms to meet today’s ADA requirements?

• Why do the accessible restrooms need to be so big!

The answers to each of these questions are not always the same, as they are based on the specific conditions of the building. Give us a call and we will be glad to answer your restroom questions.

One last final thought: It is true that all restrooms must comply with the current building codes, but remember those requirements are the minimum and what your final restroom layout looks like in your facility must support your business. That is a successful design!