Designing for Building Maintainability - Effective Building Maintenance: Protection of Capital Assets - page 148

quality door hardware to reduce routine maintenance.
Design life for an interior finish is generally considered to be its
“wear” life. Floor and wall coverings have relatively short service life
(3-7 years) and, thus, represent a significant maintenance burden. To
reduce this burden, designers must consider wear when selecting mate-
rials, especially in areas of high use.
For wear, the best floor finishes are terrazzo, stone, tile, and oth-
er hard finish masonry materials. In the middle there is vinyl tile and
epoxy-coated concrete. The poorest wear finishes include carpet and
wood. Application of each of these types of materials must be based
on a careful evaluation of the wear load to be imposed and detailed
life-cycle cost analysis. Some areas are a no-brainer; if carpet is used in
elevators, corridors, lobbies, etc., then carpet squares imposed mark-
edly lower maintenance requirements. In wet areas, tile, epoxy-coated
concrete, etc. may be required.
Inappropriate wall finishes can create maintenance nightmares.
For example, in hot humid climates, vinyl wallcovering installed on
a exterior wall will act as a vapor barrier, trapping moisture migrat-
ing through the wall from outdoors and creating a breeding ground for
mold growth. However, in cold climates, failure to use oil-based paint
or vinyl wallcovering as the interior finish in kitchens, toilets, or other
humid areas may result in moisture entering exterior walls, freezing,
and damaging the wall construction.
PLUMBING
Two aspects of building design have major impacts on the main-
tainability of plumbing systems: (1) the types and quality of plumbing
fixtures, especially flushing fixtures, and (2) access for maintenance and,
ultimately, replacement of fixtures and other plumbing components.
The quality of flush valves (or, for residential occupancies, flush
tank assemblies) has a major impact on plumbing maintenance require-
ments. Cheap flush valves have high failure rates and short lives that
impose significant maintenance burdens (in addition to wasting signifi-
cant water).
The most common problem in plumbing systems is stoppages in
waste flows, either at the fixture or further in the piping systems. Clea-
nouts are critical and every design should include cleanouts at each