Category: Maintenance

 A beautiful amenity space just footsteps away from one’s morning coffee is a luxury most residents would love to consider when deciding  which property to call home. A well-maintained swimming pool can captivate  potential homebuyers but …

 Most co-op and condo buildings in the city have a laundry room for residents to  use that is more than just an amenity; it’s practically a necessity. Nearly all of these co-op/condo laundry rooms are  maintained by laundry contractors who…

 On July 1st, about 10,000 New York City buildings must start phasing out their  use of high-polluting fuel oil. Under the city's “Clean Heat” mandate (a part of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s Greener, Greater Buildings Plan New York initiat…

 New York City is not exactly known for year round sunshine and palm trees. At  first glance greenery, lawns and lawn care, may seem a non–issue for many New Yorkers, but like most Americans, New Yorkers have a  long-running love affair wi…

 There are a few things that New Yorkers just take for granted as part of life in  Gotham: Traffic is one. Noise—whether from the street outside or the neighbors upstairs—is another.    And so are swarming, fluttering, cooing, pecki…

 While recent reports point to signs of economic recovery, many co-ops and condos  are still feeling the financial burden that has accumulated over the last few  years due to increased operating costs, residents in arrears, defaults, and n…

 Residential buildings are constantly under attack—not by barbarians or marauding bandits, but by a force far more subtle and  insidious. The most tenacious enemy of a residential building is not fire or  structural collapse—though a build…

 It’s true that a building is as only as strong as its foundation—and while New Yorkers don't have as much active concern about the foundations of  their buildings as residents of an earthquake-prone area like California might  have, it's …

 After the four walls of a given structure, the roof is sometimes referred to as  the “fifth plane”—and just like the walls that hold it up, the roof is an all-important structure  that can make or break a building’s performance. The tri-s…

 While residents may breathe a sigh of relief when winter and its piles of snow,  slushy puddles and blasts of arctic air finally exits the scene, co-op and  condo buildings can’t always shake off the ravages of the season so easily.   …