Cooperator - Articles - Exterior

Through the Looking Glass

no@spam.com (Greg Olear) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:33:53 EDT

Doing a major window replacement or repair project in a building that’s home to hundreds of people isn’t easy. There are any number of scheduling and access considerations, and time is obviously of the essence, as it’s impractical and unsafe to leave a gaping hole in someone’s wall for any length of time.

Greener, Greater Buildings

no@spam.com (Nikola Hlady) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:37:08 EDT

Energy efficiency and green improvements to existing buildings have often received less public attention and political play than “sexier” green initiatives such as renewable energy generation with solar panels and windmills or LEED-certified green buildings. Even though improving a building’s energy efficiency offers real return on investments through decreased energy usage and is more practical, and in the short run, more achievable than the aforementioned initiatives, it maintains a lower public and political profile. That is no longer the case, at least not in New York City, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s Greener, Greater Buildings Plan.

Give it Up for Lint

no@spam.com (Gregg Laskoski) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:34:17 EDT

With the economy struggling and thousands of unemployed Americans looking high and low for work, you might wonder why anyone should care about something like dryer lint.

A Concrete Solution

no@spam.com (Jonathan Barnes) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:33:31 EDT

Concrete is the most prevalent building material in existence today, though most people probably don’t notice how widely used the material is until it begins to break up in front of their homes, or falls off of their buildings, roads and bridges. Despite the ubiquity of concrete, the questions of who has the expertise to do repairs on concrete structures and how such repairs should be properly done weren’t being fully addressed even a few decades ago.

Responding to Residents

no@spam.com (Mary K. Fons) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:32:54 EDT

We all have needs. Wants, too. In a co-op or condominium, the significant needs or wants of the shareholders and unit owners usually have to be routed through the board or management company.

Pardon Our Mess

no@spam.com (Raanan Geberer) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:32:05 EDT

Time was, when you had a big construction or renovation job, you hired a general contractor, and if the job was big enough, that contractor hired subcontractors.

Up in the Air

no@spam.com (Keith Loria) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:30:03 EDT

Walking on the sidewalks of New York can be tough; you need to maneuver through streams of pedestrians chatting away on their cell phones, many walking right at you from the opposite direction, and you need to be focused on what’s in front of you.

A Glass Act

no@spam.com (Lisa Iannucci) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:23:36 EDT

There was a time when the buildings being built in New York City were largely constructed of earthy materials—limestone, brownstone, brick, terra cotta—and glass really only figured into their design in the form of windows and skylights. As times and architectural fashions changed however, glass and steel gained a foothold among all the stone and marble, until gleaming glass facades became the norm rather than the exception—particularly in new residential development.

Exterior Artistry

no@spam.com (Brendan Flaherty) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:22:54 EDT

On almost any given block in New York City, it’s easy to see how things have changed in architecture and construction over the decades. Historic buildings like the New York Public Library or Grand Central Station are noted for their exterior artistry, and sometimes seem to be at aesthetic odds with brand-new glass and steel towers. The glass and steel buildings, though impressive, serve as reminders that today efficiency trumps artistry.

A Life in Exterior Maintenance

no@spam.com (Kathleen Blank) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:39:01 EDT

Wayne Bellet, of Manhattan-based exterior maintenance firm Bellet Construction, is getting a dose of his own medicine. At the time of this interview, it’s his own office that’s under construction, he explains over the racket of dueling hammers in the background. The commercial condo building that houses his company is currently experiencing gas line issues, and the repair efforts have made Bellet acutely aware of the inconvenience such work can impose on the tenants of the building, the majority of whom are medical professionals.