For many, glass façades are the epitome of contemporary urban architecture and design. Sleek, clean, modern—sometimes super-modern—a glass exterior gives the impression of an Emerald City of the future, rising above the bricks and mortar of…
It takes a small army of professionals—everyone from on-site handymen to licensed professional tradespeople and engineers—to maintain multifamily buildings, both large and small. The question is, who does what, and when? Everyone likes to s…
A new report , Best Practices: Community Association Maintenance , is now available as a free download on the Foundation for Community Associations Research (FCAR) website. Authored by a consortium of legal, engineering, finance, and mana…
While few would argue that regular, thorough building inspections are important for the safety of both people and property, the increasing number - and rising cost - of mandatory inspections has co-op and condo boards looking for more affor…
As the old saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression—which is why the façade of your building should always look clean and in top shape, for both aesthetic and commercial reasons. Important as appearances are, however,…
Like the skin of the human body, a building’s façade is its largest organ (so to speak), offering structure and protection, as well as a first aesthetic impression. It also takes the brunt of extremely harsh conditions: weather, wind, water…
City life can be hard—especially on plants. You laugh? Well, think about it. There’s limited room to grow, all kinds of pollution, sun-blocked settings…it’s no wonder plant life has to be extra-hardy to make it in city environments. And tha…
Indoor plumbing is a minor miracle: clean water on demand, at the temperature one chooses, right out of the tap. What would have been the height of luxury just a couple of generations ago is now considered a bare necessity. Miraculous as it…
In early 2020, our firm was hired to prepare a reserve study for an unremarkable 136-unit, 12-story condominium in south Florida. It was the kind of association you could drive right by without noticing, not much different from all the othe…
When the mercury hits 95, the last thing most people have on their mind is a major snowstorm, and how it might affect their building’s entry vestibule, lobby, and other high-traffic common areas. Be as that may, summer is actually the time …