Building Maintenance Schedules

6 min read

Building Maintenance Schedules

A building that isn’t maintained is a building that’s slowly dying. In a post-collapse world without hardware stores, insurance, or contractors, preventive maintenance is the difference between a 50-year building and a 5-year building. Every hour of maintenance prevents ten hours of emergency repair.

This guide provides a systematic approach to building maintenance for the construction types used in your settlement: straw-bale-construction, earthbag-building, underground-earth-sheltered, timber frame, and stone buildings.

The Core Principle: Water Is the Enemy

90% of building failures trace back to water:

  • Water rots wood
  • Water dissolves earth plaster
  • Water erodes foundations
  • Water freezes and expands, cracking stone and masonry
  • Water creates conditions for mold and insect infestation

Almost all maintenance is about keeping water out and ensuring it drains away when it gets in.

Spring Inspection (After Snow Melt / Rainy Season)

Spring is damage assessment time. Winter reveals every weakness.

Roof:

  • Walk around each building and look up. Any visible damage? Missing thatch, lifted metal sheets, sagging areas?
  • Check interior ceilings for water stains (they show where leaks occurred even if the roof has dried)
  • Clear debris from roof surfaces and gutters/drainage channels
  • For thatch roofs: check ridge cap condition, look for thinning areas (daylight visible from inside = too thin)
  • For metal roofs: check for rust, lifted fasteners, gaps at flashing points
  • For earth roofs: check for erosion, bare spots, standing water (indicates poor drainage slope)

Walls:

  • Walk the perimeter of every building. Look for cracks, spalling (flaking plaster), erosion at the base, rodent holes
  • Check plaster for cracks—any crack wider than 3mm or running vertically needs repair. Small hairline cracks in earth plaster are normal and can be filled with a thin slip coat
  • For straw bale buildings: probe the wall base with a long screwdriver or moisture meter. Any soft, damp areas indicate moisture intrusion that needs immediate attention
  • Check that the ground slopes away from all buildings (2% minimum). Settle or grade as needed

Foundation:

  • Check French drains—are they flowing freely? Clear any blockages
  • Check the stem wall for cracking, settlement, or erosion
  • Look for standing water near foundations—a sign of drainage failure

Water systems:

  • Inspect all gravity-fed-plumbing connections, tanks, and pipes for freeze damage
  • Flush the water system (open all taps, clear sediment)
  • Check spring boxes or intake points for debris and contamination

Summer Tasks (Repair Season)

Summer is when you fix what spring inspection revealed. Dry, warm weather is essential for:

Plaster repair:

  1. Clean out cracks—remove loose material with a pointed tool
  2. Wet the crack edges
  3. Pack with fresh plaster mix (earth plaster for interiors, lime plaster for exteriors)
  4. For large cracks or missing sections, apply in layers: scratch coat first, let cure, then finish coat
  5. Lime plaster needs to cure slowly—keep moist by misting for several days

Re-plastering: If more than 20% of a wall’s plaster is damaged, consider re-plastering the entire face rather than patching. Patchwork plaster never looks or performs as well as a unified coat.

Wood treatment:

  • Sand and re-oil any exposed wood (linseed oil is the standard preservative)
  • Replace any rotted door frames, window frames, or sills
  • Check roof timbers from inside for insect damage (look for bore holes, sawdust piles)

Roof repair:

  • Replace missing or damaged thatch sections
  • Tighten or replace loose metal roof fasteners
  • Re-seal any flashing (chimney penetrations, ridge caps, wall junctions)
  • Add thatch to any thin areas—minimum thatch depth is 30cm for adequate water shedding

Autumn Preparation (Before Cold/Wet Season)

Weatherproofing:

  • Seal all wall cracks (even small ones—water enters, freezes, and makes them bigger)
  • Check all window and door seals. Pack gaps with wool, moss, or caulk
  • Ensure all drainage systems are clear before heavy rains begin
  • Stack firewood under cover, away from buildings (10m minimum)
  • Clean chimneys—creosote buildup from last year’s fires is a chimney fire waiting to happen

Chimney cleaning:

  1. From the roof, lower a weighted brush (a bundle of thorny branches, a chain, or a proper chimney brush) down the flue
  2. Scrub the full length, pulling and pushing to dislodge creosote
  3. Collect fallen debris from the cleanout or firebox below
  4. Inspect the chimney from below for cracks (light from a fire or lamp should not be visible through the chimney walls)

Storm preparation:

  • Secure any loose roofing material
  • Check tie-downs and strapping on straw bale buildings
  • Clear any dead trees that could fall on buildings in wind
  • Stock emergency repair materials: tarps, extra roofing, nails/fasteners, rope

Mid-Winter Checks

Quick monthly inspections during winter:

  • Check for ice dams on roofs (ice buildup at eaves that forces meltwater under roofing)
  • Clear heavy snow loads from roofs if accumulation exceeds 60cm (especially on flat or low-slope roofs)
  • Check for condensation inside buildings (indicates ventilation problems)
  • Ensure ventilation openings aren’t blocked by snow or ice
  • Check that fire exits remain functional and unblocked

Community Maintenance Rotation

Maintenance is a community responsibility. No individual family can maintain their own building, contribute to settlement infrastructure maintenance, AND do their other work.

Organize maintenance crews:

  • Weekly rotation: 2-3 people assigned to “building duty” each week
  • Tasks: Walk every building, note issues on a communal maintenance log (a board in the gathering hall), perform minor fixes immediately
  • Seasonal work parties: Schedule 2-3 community work days per season for larger maintenance tasks
  • Skill matching: Complex tasks (re-plastering, roof repair, chimney work) assigned to people with relevant skills. Simpler tasks (drainage clearing, debris removal) rotated among all able adults

The maintenance log: Keep a physical log (book or board in the gathering hall) with:

  • Date of inspection
  • Building inspected
  • Issues found (with severity: urgent / plan for summer / monitor)
  • Repairs completed (with date)
  • Materials used

This creates institutional memory. When the person who built a building is no longer available, the maintenance log tells the next generation what to watch for.

Emergency Repairs

Sometimes damage can’t wait for the repair season:

Roof leak (active rain):

  1. Place containers under the leak inside
  2. If safe, from outside: cover the leak area with a tarp weighted down with stones or logs
  3. Do NOT attempt permanent roof repair in wet conditions
  4. Mark the leak location for proper repair in dry weather

Wall breach (storm, impact, or animal damage):

  1. Cover the opening with plywood, boards, or a heavy tarp immediately (weather protection + predator/pest exclusion)
  2. Check for structural instability—if the wall is leaning or cracking further, evacuate and brace from outside with timber shores
  3. Plan permanent repair for dry weather

Foundation erosion (water flowing under building):

  1. Divert the water flow immediately—dig a temporary ditch upstream of the building
  2. Once flow is controlled, assess damage
  3. Pack eroded areas with gravel and soil
  4. Fix the drainage system that should have prevented this