2010 Nov
2010 November Vol. 8, No.11
Focus on...Building Maintenance
Feeling the Heat
Even cavemen knew that fire was dangerous—and they lived in flame-proof caves. But here in the 21st century, people
blithely build roaring fires right in the middle of their furnished,
wood-filled, carpeted, upholstered and bookcase-jammed condominiums. And they
want someone to tell them it’s safe.
Read More
Looking for Leaks
Edgar Dworsky is the treasurer of a small condo complex in Somerville,
Massachusetts that was built back in 1987. He loves where he lives except for
one rather large problem. Water leaks have plagued the complex since it was
built. During driving rains, water comes in from around the windows and near
the chimney. The association has tried numerous solutions to fix the problem,
but nothing has worked very well.
Read More
Concrete Concerns
New York City is often called “the concrete jungle” thanks to the thousands of square miles of pavement of all descriptions that
cover the city, but New Jersey has its own acres and acres of concrete, and
caring for all that is a huge job—with condos and HOAs bearing much of the responsibility of keeping the pavement
outside their front doors in good shape.
Read More
Roof Repair
You may have a roof over your head—but if that roof isn’t doing its job, you may as well be living on the cold, wet street.
Read More
Preparing for That Rainy Day
It’s hard—if not impossible—to plan a budget for your association and stick to it, especially if maintenance
problems and structural crises are constantly taking you by surprise and
depleting your community’s bank account. Capital budgets are the long-term budgets that improve
conditions in buildings and surrounding grounds, and because the expenditures
are infrequent and unfamiliar, they require a different kind of planning than
regular operating budgets.
Read More
On-site or Outsourced?
As buildings age, small and large maintenance issues arise, and HOA boards are
called upon to address these situations. The questions frequently revolve
around whether to use in-house staff or to hire an outside company to fix the
problem. If the complex retains a management company—especially one that has its own maintenance division—the situation can become a bit more complicated.
Read More
Don't Keep it under Wraps
Do you have an elephant in the living room? That is a way to describe something
that everyone knows about, but nobody talks about because it is too awkward.
Community association budgets, and particularly reserve contributions and
disclosures, are such a thing. Although most of the governing documents for the over 300,000 associations throughout the
country and many of the 50 states require that community associations have
reserve studies, the reality is that most do not, or if they do they are not regularly updated,
and if they do, they are not properly funded.
Read More
Hazardous Caulk Poses Threat to Older Condos
Condominium associations and their property managers have shown that, like
owners of other types of buildings, they are eager to do their part to be good
stewards of the health of the planet, as well as the health of the occupants of
their buildings.
Read More
Q&A: Enforcing Noise Rules
I live in a three-floor, four-room,30-unit condo, mostly 50-plus, with the only family with children (ages two and three) living on the third floor above me. For the past year there has been an excessive amount of constant running; playing on tile floors with outside-type toys; screaming and crying from 7 a.m.until 8 p.m.; and playing in the bathroom. The sound from jumping off the sofa and onto the floor has become almost unbearable.In addition, the mother has very little control over the children and prefers to keep them in the house rather than taking them outdoors. Read More
