Though mostly unseen, a building’s plumbing and piping network is one of its most important systems—as anyone who has ever had to endure a freezing February shower, or who has come home to a flooded floor, can attest. Plumbing includes not…
The rarely stated—but all too well understood—Murphy’s Law for Boilers— asserts that if your boiler quits working, it will do so on Christmas or New Year’s Eve, or at 4:45 p.m. on the coldest day of the year. With some planning, though, th…
From the outside, the structure of a condo, co-op or townhouse building may appear to be monolithic; just pieces of brick, steel, vinyl or wood, punctuated with some glass here and there. That's an oversimplification, however. A multifamil…
A small-scale project is pending, and the management company is considering proposals or bids from several local contractors. The job could be as basic as trimming shrubs, staining decks or wiring some new lighting, so it’s no wonder that …
If you’re on a board in a New England condo or HOA, now is the time that you should be talking about making any of the major improvements that you’ve discussed or considered over the past few years. Even if you have a plan in place to do a…
Nothing lasts forever, and though you can’t predict the moment a piece of building equipment will break down, you can prepare for it. Even the toughest boiler, HVAC unit, or elevator will eventually tucker out and need major repairs, or ju…
Air conditioning, climate control and proper handling of waste play a huge role in maintaining quality of life—not only in terms of comfort, but in terms of health as well. In a multifamily building with scores, or possibly hundreds,…
If phones can be “smart,” why not buildings? With the ever-expanding array of consumer technology available today, it should come as no surprise that residential buildings are incorporating more and more cutting-edge technology into the…
From the hills of northern Connecticut to the brownstones of Boston and New York, brickwork is everywhere across the northeast. Around since the early 1600s, the popular building material is commonly used not only because of its aesthe…
Warranties for products are simple to understand, most people might think. You go to the store, buy a computer or a DVD player or a TV, or even a larger appliance like a refrigerator, and you get a piece of paper describing a …