It's a common enough story: the condominium was relatively new, but from the start its board of directors was stingy with maintenance and repair dollars. Then the recession struck, and a large percentage of unpaid maintenance fees spik…
Category: Maintenance
Land in Florida, especially South Florida, is comprised of loose, sandy soil, and low water tables. That, plus the area’s proximity to the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean have always made it a difficult place to build on. That’s why almost all …
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. Florida’s…
Few things are as important to our health and well-being as the air we breathe, especially inside our own homes. That is why it is so important for individual homeowners as well as management to stay up-to-date on issues of indoor air …
As we go about our busy lives, we often forget about the plain facts of life here on this spinning globe: gravity creates an unceasing tension in the materials we assemble into buildings and other structures. Whether or not we are payi…
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…
Southern Florida's homeowner associations may not have to deal with much in the way of snow and ice when it comes to protecting and repairing their concrete and stucco surfaces, but they certainly aren't off the hook just because blizz…
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 one-year …
Stretching south from Orlando, the Everglades are vital to sustaining Florida’s sensitive ecosystem. To this end, proper water management is critical to maintaining equilibrium for residents, vegetation and wildlife. In a climate like s…
Noise is a key quality-of-life problem for almost anyone living in a densely-packed urban environment. It's the bane of many a condo-dweller’s existence, and over the years engineers, architects, and designers have tried any number of w…