As both a writer about and resident of high-rise residential buildings, I followed the June 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium with a hawk’s eye. I read about the people who perished and the loved ones left to carry on;…
The recent flash flooding resulting from Hurricane Ida and other torrential summer storms around the nation has come as something of a wake-up call for homeowners and local governments alike. The real-world effects of climate change are upo…
After the devastating and deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers condo in Surfside, Florida, high-rise dwellers throughout the country are wondering how their cities’ building and inspection codes will prevent such a tragedy where they liv…
Cities reshape and reinvent themselves regularly and organically. Old buildings become obsolete for a variety of reasons, and new buildings replace them. Many a four- or five-story tenement has been knocked down to make way for a shiny, new…
Whether in a single-family home or an apartment building, every homeowner has experienced that moment: he or she turns on the kitchen light in the middle of the night to see a huge water bug scurry across the counter, or hear the sound of t…
'Light and air' are the two things pretty much everybody looks for in a home - and windows deliver both, so it's crucial that your building's windows be functional, efficient, and well-maintained. In this clip, a window pro tells about the …
Every municipality has its own schedule and criteria for exterior building inspections and upkeep - but in between official visits, boards, managers, and association staff can and should keep an eye out for some of the telltale signs of str…
Having an elevator to spare you from trudging up a dozen flights of steps is a valuable amenity - but what happens if you've only got one, and it needs a major repair, or even needs to be replaced entirely? How will upper-floor residents - …
According to a recent press release, the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) reports that more than half (53%) of multifamily developers polled for the third edition of the organization’s COVID-19 Construction Survey reported constr…
The COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing it necessitates have compelled the managing agents and boards of condo and co-op properties to adapt to a “new normal,” changing the way many ordinary tasks are executed, from package delivery to …