Is your apartment or condominium property experiencing frequent leaks? You’re in good company: for multifamily communities across the country, leaks are becoming more and more common as decades-old plumbing and mechanical systems reach the end of their useful lives. When your piping infrastructure begins to show its age, it can be tempting to chase leaks, … Continued
By Wendy Matney
Your trusted service plumber or general contractor may be an excellent partner for everyday projects around your apartment or condo community. But when it’s time for a system-wide pipe replacement? Working with a specialty contractor—that is, a company dedicated exclusively to repiping—delivers advantages you simply can’t get from a non-specialist.
By Wendy Matney
In today’s unpredictable economic climate, multifamily owners/operators and condominium Boards are under more pressure than ever to make smart capital improvement decisions.
With tighter budgets, the temptation to focus on visible renovations with lower total costs—such as a remodeled lobby or other cosmetic upgrades—is strong. However, putting off a plumbing infrastructure replacement just because it’s “invisible” can lead to consequences that far outweigh any initial benefits or savings.
By Wendy Matney
When your community is dealing with deteriorating domestic piping, it makes sense to ask: how can we solve this problem with minimal impact to residents?
We hear all the time from apartment owners/operators and condominium Boards that they’re considering pipe lining—rather than pipe replacement—because they think it will be less disruptive to residents and simply less hassle overall.
By Wendy Matney
Pipe lining providers frequently promote lining your property’s domestic water piping systems with epoxy as a more cost-effective solution than pipe replacement. The reality is more complicated. Learn why lining pipes can end up being more costly than replacing them.
By Tom Finley
It’s a simple fact. Pipes can’t fix themselves. When you have a problem with them, someone needs to take care of it. For a leak here or there, your maintenance staff or a local service technician may do.
When you’re replacing lots of pipes because a plumbing, mechanical, or fire sprinkler system is failing, “maintenance” is like plugging a dam with your finger. For the good of your building and residents, you’ll need a contractor that has expertise in renovating these systems.
By Tom Finley
Our most “liked” blog post lists 10 questions you can use to select the right contractor for a capital improvement project. We’re glad people have found the post helpful, and today, we’re reissuing an updated set of questions to ensure you get the most complete information to help you make the decision that’s right for your community. When planning a large capital improvement project, it’s crucial to select the right contractor. You want to find the right mix of skills, price, process, credentials, and capabilities.
By Tom Finley
As summer winds down, we’re heading into what many of you with two-pipe hydronic HVAC systems in your buildings will face with some trepidation—the fall shoulder season.
You can already hear it: complaints by residents who feel—regardless of local ordinances—that it’s too warm to turn on the heat. Others will just bear it, throwing open windows and running fans to find relief. And your building engineers may be holding their breath, knowing that switching from cooling to heating can cause leaks and breakdowns—signs of systemic weaknesses in this older-style HVAC infrastructure.
By Tom Finley
The benefits of condo communities combining capital improvement projects into a single loan.
Let’s face it, the current economic climate is a bit chilly. Interest rates are higher than they have been in years, inflation is eating into our paychecks, and in the post-COVID world, everything seems to come with a price premium. So, what did mom always tell you to do when it was cold outside? Bundle Up. Of course, she meant a coat, warm hat, and mittens, but in today’s frigid economy, bundling your community’s capital improvement projects into a single loan may be equally good advice!
By Tom Finley
Shopping for a community-wide pipe replacement isn’t any fun. Deciding it was time to replace an entire piping system was already a complicated journey. You probably experienced leaks, resident complaints, insurance claims, damages, debates about when to proceed, and angst about how to pay for it.
Now you’ve made the decision to proceed with one of the most comprehensive capital improvement projects your community will ever undertake. Where do you begin?
Fortunately, there’s a way to make the project significantly less challenging: choose the right contractor to work with.
