Fire alarm inspection is set for Wednesday, August 12th at 9am

Our annual fire alarm system inspection is scheduled for Wednesday, August 12 at 9am and it might take a coupe hours. 

Access to all units will be required. Occasional fire alarm siren will sound.

Special note for the owners who rent their units: 
Please make sure your tenants are subscribed to the condo blog and can receive these notifications.

Failure to provide access to the unit might result in a charge for an separate service company visit to complete the test.

Thank you

Abandoned key lockboxes at the main entrance

Please help us to find owners of seven lock-boxes chained to railings by the main entrance. 

The boxes are the type that is often used by real estate agents to access units that are for sale or rent. However, all units in our condo (except just one) are occupied.

If one of the lock boxes is yours please let us know why you need it or just remove it.

Please note, that we will consider the lock boxes without owners as abandoned and after January 15th they will be removed.

Thank you 

 

 

Make sure to sign up for National Grid Alerts

We are following up with you on yesterday's power outage when more than 2000 customers were affected.

Winter storms are around the corner, please make sure to sign up for Text Message Alerts from National Grid to be the first to know about outages, projected service restoration time and more.

	Text Message Alerts Text REG to 64743 (STORM)
	Manage MyAlerts To manage preferences, visit MyAlerts
	Outage Maps View our outage maps

Thank you

Recycling pizza boxes (answering your questions)

If you are wondering how to properly discard pizza boxes, here is the answer from RecycleSmartMA.org: put these items into recycling bins.

EMPTY pizza boxes can be recycled (with the exception of frozen pizza boxes). Grease is OK.

 

Remove all food, liners, and pizza savers (plastic tables) before putting the box in the recycling. Leftover pizza can be composted or put in the trash. Liners and pizza savers go in the trash.

 

Pro tip: Fold the box inside out before putting it in the recycling. This will ensure the box is completely empty so there are no surprises at the sorting facility.

 

What about grease?

Grease is OK! Paper recycling mills have assured us that it does not interfere with the paper-making process. For more information, check out this newsletter “No Matter How You Slice It.”

 

Please check the "Can I Recycle This?" page at Recyclopedia for any question you might have.

Thank you for recycling at Burns Manor Condo.

 

Fire alarm inspection is set for Monday, September 15 at 9am

Our annual fire alarm inspection is scheduled for Monday, September 15th at 9am. 

We got a new service company and their first inspection will take some extra time.
Access to all units will be required.

Occasional fire alarm siren might sound.

Thank you

Our Fire Alarm Service company did not show up for the Inspection

Unfortunately, the A&E Fire Protection company from Canton that we hired earlier this year as a service provider did not show up for their first inspection that was scheduled weeks ahead. 
We take reliability of our vendors very seriously and are working on resolving this issue to complete our annual test as soon as possible.

We will let you know the a new fire alarm inspection date soon.

Thank you

Reminder: fire alarm inspection is set for tomorrow, July 16th at 9am

Our fire alarm system inspection is set for tomorrow, July 16th at 9am. 

Access to all units will be required. 

Renters of units 14, 17 and 32 are not signed up for the blog updates as it is required by our Rules and Regulations, and owners are responsible to notify them and arrange access to these units.

Failure to provide access might result in a charge for an individual inspection of your unit.

Thank you

Fire Alarm Inspection is set for July 16th at 9am

Our annual fire alarm system inspection is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16th at 9am. 

We got a new service company and expect their first inspection will be thorough and might take extra time. 

Access to all units will be required. 

If you are a landlord and your tenants for some reason are not signed up to the blog updates (as it is required by our Rules and Regulations) you are going to be responsible to notify them and arrange access to your unit. Failure to provide access might result in a charge for an individual inspection of your unit.

If nobody can let the technicians in you can provide to the trustees the keys from your unit. If you provided the keys earlier, please make sure they work and the locks were not recently changed.

Thank you

Owner's meeting correction: there will be NO announcements

I made a mistake in the blog post that was sent earlier on Sunday.

We do NOT have any announcements (I just missed the part "not" during typing).

It will be a regular meeting where we plan to give updates and answer your questions.

Thank you
Alex

Annual owner's meeting is set for Tuesday, May 20th at 7pm

A reminder: our annual owner's meeting will take place Tuesday, May 20th at 7pm in the atrium.

We do have announcements to make and would be happy to give you updates on the restoration projects and answer your questions.

Thank you

Building Facade Waterproofing And Balconies Paining Project

We started the final stage of the building restoration project by Forde Masonry.
They will be doing masonry re-pointing of all building walls and resealing window frames. They will also be scraping the balconies from rust and painting them but it is not clear yet if they will be doing this along with masonry work or after.

The staging was installed next to the south wall of the building. The brick walls will be done first and the granite wall at our driveway will be done last using a lift. We will notify you if there will be any driveway restrictions once we get closer.

Please prepare your balconies for paint work and make sure that workers have full access to the decking above and to the railings.
We requested the company to use tarps and covers as much as possible but, still, please expect a lot of dust and debris from grinding of old paint and rust.

We expect this work to be completed by the end of June. This is a deadline set up by our bank who partially finances this project.

Thank you

All Water Heaters Eventually Leak

We would like to remind you that your water heater must have a pan and a sensor that triggers an alarm and turns off the incoming water to the water heater when leakage is detected. The pan should be piped to an adequate drain if it is available. If you do not have these safety measures, please consider scheduling a plumber visit to correct your installation as soon as possible.

Typical lifespan of an electric water heater in our building is 10-12 years but it can vary based on the temperature set-point and water usage. We recommend everybody whose water heater is approaching the 10 years age to schedule its replacement. Water heaters over 10 years must be replaced as soon as possible.

Owners are responsible for damages to the common areas and other units if their heater leaks. Water can cause damages to the walls, carpets, wiring and light fixtures, trigger a fire alarm resulting in a visit of firefighters, placing a service call to our fire alarm company and paying for a fire-watch. All this happened recently when a water heater located on the 4th floor leaked on Saturday in the middle of the night, flooded common areas on all floors and cost us hours of work and thousands of dollars for fixing the problem. To give you an idea about prices, just one call to a fire alarm company after hours on a weekend will cost you as much as a new water heater. Two shifts of wire-watch will cost as another water heater. Vacuuming water and building repair might be even more substantial.

If you have questions, please get in touch with the management and be prepared for our survey about your heater (its age, drain pan, drainage, leak sensor and automatic shut-off valve).

I hope you all have home insurance to cover liability if an accident happens.

Thank you

Owner's meeting Tuesday May 20th at 7pm

We tentatively scheduled our annual owner's meeting for Tuesday May 20th at 7pm.

At this point we do not plan to make any announcements and we would like to give you updates on the restoration projects status, answer your questions and listen to your suggestions.

We will confirm the day and time when we get closer to the date.

Thank you

Building water shutoff on Tuesday March 18 at 9am

The Quincy Water Department will be replacing our water meter in the laundry.

Water for the whole building will be shut off on Tuesday, March 18th at 9am. The project should take a few hours.

There is a big chance that a curb stop valve also would need to be replaced. If this is the case it will require street excavation in front of our main entrance.

Thank you

Street work in front of our building on Monday, October 14th

We got a short notice from the City Building department and our contractor about a street work in front of our building.
On Monday, October 14th (Columbus Holiday) they will be connecting our new drain system to the city storm line located under the street. Thomas Burgin Parkway is a busy street and the City would like to take advantage of a low traffic during the coming holiday.

During this day they will excavate the street diagonally from our driveway, connect our drain and patch the street with new asphalt. We expect all this work will be completed within one day.

Thank you for your patience.

Masonry repairs project starts on Thursday October 3rd

Our contractor gets ready with tools and materials and they should be starting on Thursday, October 3rd.
They will start from repairing retaining walls (re-pointing, drainage and cap stones) and we will know more about their plans on facade repair and balcony painting soon.

Our driveway will be busy but we do not expect access problems.

Thank you

Masonry repairs and building waterproofing project starts next week

We have one more restoration project scheduled for this year. It is for masonry repairs, building waterproofing and balconies painting.
It is tentatively scheduled to start on Monday or Tuesday next week (September 30th or October 1st).

As of today, we do not know where our contractor will start their work and how long it will take to compete the project. Hopefully, we will get that information soon after they begin.

We do not expect serious problems with building access but, on the days when the balconies above the garage gates will be painted, access to the driveway might be limited.

Please stay tuned for updates.
Thank you

Driveway will be open on Sunday morning

Our driveway will be fully open for foot and car traffic on Sunday early morning (September 15th).

Thank you

Paving is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 12th

It looks like the driveway paving is tentatively scheduled for Thursday this week.
If all goes as planned the asphalt would need 72 hours to cure (to harden) before we can start driving on it. During curing the driveway will not be accessible at all.
Please expect the driveway to be open on Sunday night (September 15th).

Also, there is a chance that the street/sidewalk part of our project will be done on Tuesday or Wednesday this week and before paving. It is for connecting our new drainage system to the city drain.

Please stay tuned for latest updates and do not forget to wipe your feet before entering the building from the garage because the floor gets dusty with fine soil flying in every time when the gates get open.

We are almost done.
Thank you for your patience

You can drive on the driveway at your own risk

The drainage system is installed but not connected to the city drain yet. This work will require excavating the street and sidewalk and it should be done some day next week. We do not have information when it is scheduled.
Our driveway is leveled, covered with gravel, compacted and it is ready for paving. It is about 3 inches below the level of garage floor and sidewalk and it has several manhole risers with sharp edges.
This weekend you can drive on the driveway at your own risk and condo cannot be responsible for damages of your car or tires.

Parking and walking on the driveway is not permitted.

Thank you