Many factors impact the timing for this project. The job must be completed prior to June 1^st, the onset of Hurricane Season. Given our crippled economy, many of our members have expressed concern about funding the special assessment required to finance the project. To help alleviate the fiscal strain (especially for those on fixed incomes or carrying toxic mortgages), instead of unilaterally collecting the entire assessment, the Board thought it less egregious to structure payment of the assessment over several months. All funds must be fully collected by May, before the weather-mandated completion deadline.

While researching the initial “scope of work”, we contacted neighboring associations to discover their experiences with various contractors, engineers, manufacturers and distributors. Their methodologies ranged from random selection in the yellow pages to a well organized vetting process. The best strategies entailed recruiting authoritative guidance from an engineer, a paint manufacturer’s local representative and/or a paint products distributor.

Bob Nagle

We considered two viable options for a bidding format. Some associations paid their engineers to develop specifications, select contractors, send out bid invitations and assist in their review. Others took advantage of a free service provided by distributors in which they perform a building audit, solicit affiliated paint manufacturers to customize the required specifications, invite contractor bids and advise the Board and/or a committee during the subsequent bid review.

Ron Forment

Although exploiting this free service saves thousands of dollars, Ron Forment, Bob Nagle and I were concerned about its potential for abuse. In controlling every aspect of the process, a distributor faces several conflicts of interest. For example, instead of inviting their most reliable contractors, they could alternatively solicit their most lucrative accounts, rewarding them with a bidding opportunity. They could similarly advantage a favored contractor while advising the Board about performance adequacy, change orders that increase cost or the legitimacy & timeliness of payment requests.

After examining the advantages and disadvantages of the available options, we decided to create a hybrid that took advantage of each alternative’s strengths while offsetting its liabilities. First, we spent several weeks meeting with representatives of paint manufacturers (Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr - Home Depot’s proprietary house brand) and paint product distributors (Beach Hardware (Ace), Reliance Paints & Coatings, True Value, etc). Based on their extensive positive references, we elected to work with manufacturer Benjamin Moore and Reliance Paint, a local Benjamin Moore distributor.

Widely credited by neighboring associations for successfully managing their paint projects, Reliance proprietor Jack Findlan was charged with developing project specifications at no cost to the association. To deter any prospective impropriety or conflict, we met with SPEC Engineering’s John Evans, the engineer that supervised our deck waterproofing & resurfacing, garage concrete rehabilitation and the lower driveway well that cured 30 years of garage flooding - projects that all came in on time and budget.

Several years after the 1999 paint project, we suffered water infiltration through large areas on the east side of the building and the rooftop mechanical room. Despite contractor Aqua-Shield’s post-project acquisition, its corporate heir honored our warranty against water intrusion and repainted those sections of the building at no cost to the association. Although assorted coating materials with a variety of warranties were considered, only an elasteromeric paint product carries a warranty against water intrusion. Unfortunately, since no paint manufacturer makes an elasteromeric product to coat the balcony floors, no free manufacturer’s specifications were available for that aspect of the project.

Jack Findlan suggested that Evans draw up the waterproofing specs for untiled balcony floors and add them to his customized Benjamin Moore specs to adequately protect all exposed exterior surfaces. Evans recommended coating the balcony floors with a stained waterproof product while applying an acrylic paint to the balcony ceilings. This strategy would allow any water that penetrated the waterproof barrier to be expunged through the ceiling below, thereby avoiding potential vapor blisters.

An initial list of 13 paint contractors was almost doubled last December when recommendations were solicited from neighboring associations and our consultants. The contractors had to pass muster with consultant Jack Findlan, Engineer John Evans, all of Evans’ peers in SPEC engineering, managers and/or building officials in seven area associations that recently completed similar projects and finally, our Board members. By late January, seven surviving contractors were sent bid packages and invited to participate in a strict sealed bidding process. Of the four eligible bids date-stamped by the submission deadline, the Board selected H&H Painting.

You’ve probably noticed that the negotiated project costs are extremely reasonable, given the original painting budget projection of $250,000. This is due to a variety of factors. The economic downturn created an extremely favorable paint industry market window that intensified competitive bidding. We prevailed on the paint manufacturer to provide customized project specifications at no cost to the association, thereby limiting engineering costs to those required for protecting the balcony floors and general oversight. Savings were realized by vesting distributor Jack Findlan and a Benjamin Moore representative with onsite oversight responsibilities ordinarily performed by the engineer. We also eliminated assessment costs for incremental elective work benefitting specific unit owners, including the pre-construction removal of items that are private property.

We initially considered requiring that every unit owner remove any tiles covering their balconies prior to universally applying a waterproof coating. We considered a similar requirement for the removal of all non-compliant storm shutters. However, since the expense of removing and then reinstalling the tiles would intensify the financial burden during this difficult fiscal environment, we opted to leave that decision to each unit owner. For the same reason, the decision about if and which shutters should be removed will also reside with each unit owner. The financial responsibility for removing and reinstalling tiles and/or hurricane shutters falls outside the scope of this project. However, provisions were made that enable unit owners to make independent financial arrangements with the contractor for this incremental work.

Tiled Balcony

Responding to unit owners who’ve requested that we arrange a group rate for the removal of balcony tiles and/or non-compliant storm shutters, I met with proprietor Gary Hricko of H&H Painting to negotiate reasonable pricing formulas. H&H will charge unit owners $11 per square foot for the removal of balcony tiles. There is one caveat. During the 1970s, a few tile installers decided to use a largely experimental adhesive to set the tiles instead of the traditional thin-set cement; thereafter creating significant problems with their removal. Balconies discovered to be burdened with this drawback will be priced on a case by case basis. H&H Painting will contract directly with interested unit owners for these discounted services.

Hurricane Shutters

The contractor’s building audit revealed a diversity of non-compliant shutters installed in a wide variety of configurations. However, the vast majority of these fall into one of two main categories - the standard track and panel balcony shutters and the old crank-driven window shutters. The price of removing the balcony panel tracks will be $55 per set (Please Note: certain corner units have two sets). The cost for removing each crank-driven shutter installation will be $180 for each multi-window opening and $90 for each single window opening. These prices will also apply to minor configurational variations. Estimates for dismantling unusual, unique or complicated shutter installations will be made on a case by case basis. Again - H&H Painting will contract directly with unit owners that elect to use these discounted services.

Although these incremental services fall outside the scope of the project, association members seeking to take advantage of the negotiated tile and/or shutter removal discount prices must notify the office as soon as possible since they must be performed prior to the application of any coatings. Since the discounts derive from efficient utilization of labor and eliminating set-up costs, if the contractor isn’t notified of any unit owner’s interest in performing these services during the preconstruction preparation period, the cost will skyrocket.

To summarize the incremental elective services - unit owners desirous of the contractor removing their tiles must notify the office as soon as possible. Unit owners seeking removal of hurricane shutters must additionally indicate the number and location of those shutters - also as soon as possible. As a convenience, the information will be forwarded to the contractor who will elicit payment directly from the unit owner.

The project itself will approximate the dynamic used to recoat the balcony railings, moving about the building until completed. The first, and by far most important step of the project, will be preparation of the building’s exterior surface. After power washing the walls, cracks will be plugged with an elasteromeric patching material. Areas exhibiting rust and surface defects will be treated prior to patching. The exterior surfaces will then receive a primer followed by a final coat of elasteromeric paint. Since elasteromeric coatings aren’t available in very dark colors, if one of the selected colors is dark, an acrylic substitute will be applied. Application of a dark color will also require a second final coat at an additional charge, albeit small enough for coverage by the contingency cushion.

As the swing stage circumvents the building, the contractor will remove balcony tiles and non-compliant hurricane shutters only for those sites wherein the owners have contracted with H&H Painting for their removal. Exposed balcony floors will be coated with a stained waterproof material while balcony ceilings receive an acrylic coating as described earlier. Absent any damage threat from water infiltration, walls that do not protect an interior area, such as the perimeter walls, will receive a less expensive acrylic product.

The deck area below the swing stage will be coned off as a safety precaution. The construction committee will attend regular progress meetings throughout the project, generating comprehensive reports for the membership. Since working from the swing stage will be prohibited during moderate to high winds, the project is estimated to take about three months to complete. I would like to thank Ron Forment and Bob Nagle for their assistance with compiling and analyzing the accumulated data prior to its presentation.