- Important Dates to Remember
- Updates at Hales Property Management
- How To: How To: Deal With Leaks
- Best of the Hales Blog
- Maintenance Tip: Using Wall Anchors
- From the Desk of Keith Hales
| March 1 – 26: | Orchid Show at the Botanic Gardens |
| March 4: | Chicago Beer Festival |
| March 5: | Polar Plunge |
| March 11: | St. Patrick’s Day Parade |
| March 12: | South Side Irish Parade |
| March 12 – 15: | Hales NCAA Bracket Challenge Sign Up |
Updates at Hales Property Management
How To: Deal With Leaks
With the below-freezing temperatures of Chicago winter, hot water tanks and HVAC units have been working overtime to keep residents warm.
As a part of regular maintenance, residents or their dedicated property manager should regularly check their hot water tanks for leaks and HVAC condensate drains for build-up. While these issues may seem relatively minor, these leaks can grow and cause significant and costly damage to the property.
If you encounter a puddle by your hot water tank, act immediately because the size of the leak could quickly increase.
First, shut off the supply of gas to let the hot water tank cool down and to prevent scalding yourself with hot water. Turning off the water supply to the tank will sometimes stop the leak, especially if your turn the faucets on to drain the whole tank.
If the leak hole is small and in a flat place, a piece of duct tape can stop the leaking until a professional service person arrives. If the hole is in a hard to reach spot, or the whole area is rusted through, there won’t be much that can be done until a service person arrives.
Remember, leaks are often dismissed as “just a little water”, but are some of the biggest culprits when it comes to easily preventable damage to your residence. Stay mindful, and get in touch with us when in doubt!
Q & A
Q: Why do buildings have pet policies?
A: Pet policies have to ride the fine line between being accommodating enough for the owners and tenants while also keeping down wear and tear on the building and discouraging residents from keeping so many animals that they’ll become a nuisance to others in the building. It’s important to remember that these policies tend to reflect the view of the majority of owners, but can be voted on to be amended if a majority of HOA members comes to feels differently about the issue.
Maintenance Tip: Using Wall Anchors
Anytime you’re hanging something heavier than a pound or two, it’s a best practice to use a wall anchor to ensure the object is solidly hung and won’t fall. Here’s an easy tutorial on how to use wall anchors:
From the Desk of Keith Hales I’m sure the lack of snow and overall good weather for the past several weeks has been welcomed by most Chicago residents. However, when it comes to snow removal charges, most residents will still see an expense for that service since most of the contractors will charge a price for the entire season instead of “per push.” Seasonal pricing has a couple of benefits with the largest one being that it will ensure that costs are in line with an Association’s budget. Fortunately, we also wrote language into the contracts this year requiring the contractors to credit back a percentage of money owed if it snows under a certain number of times throughout the season. If this lack of snow fall continues for the rest of the season, Association’s should see a credit back on their snow removal charges. We are also working on adopting a new system for electronic signatures to assist our Boards with approving documents electronically. This will help to reduce the time and follow-up with finalizing tasks and projects requiring signatures. Don’t forget to continue to submit requests and/or inquiries through your Association’s web portal. That way, we’ll be able to quickly address it with your Board and you’ll be able to track the ongoing progress. As always, your opinion matters to me. Please let me know how we can improve our services by sending an email or contacting me directly at 312.757.4651 with any suggestions. Keith J. Hales | President | CAM | Managing Broker |
