5 Tips To Help Prepare Your Strata For Winter

5 Quick Maintenance Tips to Prepare Your Strata for Winter

Snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures can strain every corner of a multi-unit building. Get ahead of the season with these practical, low-cost tasks that keep residents warm, systems running and repair bills under control.

1. Pinpoint Hard-to-Heat Zones

Walk the property and note suites, hallways or amenity rooms that never seem to warm up. Add weather-strip, upgrade insulation or balance HVAC dampers so these “cold pockets” don’t drive up energy use all winter long.

2. Seal the Building Envelope

Caulk gaps around window frames.
Replace brittle door weather-stripping.
Fill foundation or siding cracks with exterior sealant or expanding foam.
Install (or re-install) storm windows on single-pane glass.

Tightening the envelope cuts drafts, protects finishes and lowers utility costs—all before the first snowfall.

3. Identify Critical Heat & Power Loads

List equipment that must function during an outage: fire pumps, elevators, lobby lighting, garage doors, sump pumps. Verify emergency generators, transfer switches and battery back-ups are serviced and ready.

4. Protect Plumbing from Freezing

Insulate exposed pipes in parkades, crawl spaces and exterior walls.
Test heat-trace cables and sump pumps.
Winterize irrigation lines—shut the supply and blow out residual water by mid-November.
Keep sandbags handy and map drains in case meltwater threatens basements.

5. Safeguard Temperature-Sensitive Equipment

Refrigeration units, HVAC coils and rooftop make-up air fans can freeze or ice-up. Drain idle systems, clear condensate lines and, where feasible, heat small service rooms to at least 5 °C.

Bottom line – proactive checks now spare your strata costly repairs later. Seal, insulate, winterize and plan for outages so residents stay safe and comfortable no matter how harsh the season.

Not Legal Advice – The material on this site is for general information only and should not be relied on for legal or professional guidance. Always consult qualified experts before acting.