The trees that grace the outdoor spaces at most community properties provide untold value. But have your lovely spring-flowering pear trees lost branches this winter? Are those once-trim blue spruces suddenly blocking the entryway signs…
The most common method of maintaining a landscape has typically been: “mow, apply a generous and regular supply of man-made fertilizers and pesticides to prevent weeds, water and repeat.” But just because it’s the most widespread doesn’t…
Few capital improvements bolster property values as effectively as landscaping upgrades. “It’s astonishing what redoing the landscape will do to the sales and turnaround time at a condominium,” reports landscape designer Thomas Wilhelm,…
Q A resident needs to have a chair rail installed so she can access her second floor apartment in our condo building, built in the 1950s. Who pays for the chair rail and the installation, the resident or the condo association? — …
Q A few years back, the prior board passed a motion to charge all future unit owners with dogs a $50 fee per month because of an existing dog that would occasionally defecate in the building. There was no analysis conducted to determin…
Ah, the return of spring and our feathered friends who make this season so special! Time to break out another bag of seed and fill up the bird feeder as the year-round bird population is joined by the returning migrants. Or is it? If y…
Everyone agrees that condominiums need to be painted regularly. But ask what color should be used, and you could get as many answers as there are people living in the building. Aesthetic continuity can be extremely important to…
Spring beckons, with the promise of all those blossoms bursting with color from early flowering bulbs. If only it were that simple. Spring beckons, all too often, with fungus on the lawns, desiccated yews, branches dangling fro…
The roof carries a lot of responsibility – it protects those living inside it, insulates them from the heat and colds and shelters them from harsh New England winters. And it’s because of these major responsibilities that it needs to be …
For many, having a home by the ocean is the embodiment of a dream come true. For condominium managers and board members, though, there is also the responsibility of caring for and protecting these homes from the added wear-and-tear cau…