Dear Maintenance Men:
|
Dear Maintenance Men: |
By Jerry L'Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez
June 2001
Dear Maintenance Men:
Late one Friday afternoon I was replacing
a shower valve in one of my units. I turned off the
building water at the main shut-off valve at the front of my
building. When I went to turn the building water back on, the
valve handle spun and spun, but the water would not turn on.
Being close to five pm with a building full of tenants and no
water, I was desperate. I had to call a plumber who charged
overtime weekend rates. Ouch!! What can I do next time to
avoid this expense?
Dear Waterless:
Right off the bat, never start a job late on a Friday that requires you turn off any services to the residents. As you know, Murphy’s Law will always prevail! I will assume the valve on your building is a “Gate Valve”. This valve will have a bulbous body with a round circular handle. What causes this valve to fail is the stripping of the brass threads inside the valve that allow the gate to rise or fall depending on if you are closing or opening the water supply. When the valve is old, the threads slowly deteriorate & weaken. The pressure of closing the valve strips the threads and when you reopen the valve the gate stays in the closed position. This valve must be replaced and should be changed-out with a Ball Valve. Now to temporarily solve your after hours plumber problem: Turn off the water supply at the street or meter box. Then remove the round handle on the building’s Gate Valve and slowly try to turn the top half of the valve body from the bottom half. This will not be easy as the valve may be 10, 20 or 30 years old or more. Saturate the valve body with Liquid Wrench, using a pipe wrench firmly attempt to remove the valve stem housing. This will provide you with access to the internal gate assembly. Once the valve comes apart, remove the gate from inside the body; it will look like a round or oval brass plate. Reassemble the valve with the stem and turn the water back on. The building will have water and you can now schedule the replacement of this valve at a more reasonable time. And remember Murphy’s Law!
Dear Maintenance Men:
I have just bought a six unit building in
Fullerton and I am having trouble figuring out the lighting
inside of the units. Every now and then all the residents’
lights either get stuck on or off. For example; unit A’s
kitchen light is stuck on and will not turn off with the wall
switch and unit B’s bedroom is stuck off while their hallway
light is stuck on. Every unit has a different combination. I’m
pulling my hair out, what is going on?
Nearly Bald in Fullerton
Dear Bald:
You have what the late fifties builders considered “A Cutting Edge Building”. Your building has a 24 volt lighting system with “Touch Plate” light switches. The wall switches activate a solenoid relay switch that turns on your light. The Touch Plate system’s 24 volts are supplied by a central “transverter” usually located in the buildings electrical meter box. The “transverter” or solenoid relays rarely go bad. Typically what happens is a Touch Plate in one of the units is stuck, broken or a resident has replaced a Touch Plate with a standard light switch. All of which will cause the system to lock-up. Switches that have been painted will also tend to lock-up. The Touch Plate system works by touch as suggested by the system’s name. The switch momentarily touches a contact to turn on or off a light. Any prolonged contact will lock-up the system in either the on or off position. Because of the central “transverter”, one apartment unit with a stuck switch will affect all the units controlled by the “transverter”. Each Touch Plate switch in each unit must be looked at until the offending switch is found. Once the repair is made, the lights will work as normal.
Dear Maintenance Men:
I have a garage door that has a broken
spring. Should I change both springs or is it OK to just replace
the broken one.
Expensive Springs in Irvine
Dear Expensive:
Springs are cheap compared to lawsuits. Always replace both sets of springs. The one spring snapped because it was beyond its life expectancy. The other springs on that door are also close to failure. The garage door may also not work properly with worn springs on one side and new ones on the other. A well-balanced door will be safer, easer to open and will better tolerate the elements such as rain and wind. Always throw away used springs to stop the temptation of reusing them.
Bio:
Jerry L'Ecuyer is the owner
of JLE Property Management & Buffalo
Maintenance. He is currently on the Board of
Directors and First Vice President for the Apartment
Association of Orange County. Jerry has been
involved with apartments as a professional since 1988 and can be
reached at (714) 778-0480. Frank Alvarez is the Operations
Director for Buffalo Maintenance. He has been
involved with apartment maintenance for over 13 years. Frank can
be reach at (714) 956-8371 or visit the office at, 202 E.
Broadway in Anaheim, CA 92805. Please visit our web site at:
WWW.JLE1.COM