Heavy Rain is Coming Soon - Time to Prepare is Now

Rain, and lots of it, is on the way. This is a good time to prepare. 

At the very least, TAJ maintenance workers should be making certain that rain gutters are clear of debris and in full working order. Blue-tarped roofs should be checked for integrity. Most of the damage to our buildings is due to water intrusion.

In the past, our maintenance has not done a good job of cleaning rain gutters. I pay attention to the gutters in my own and neighboring buildings, and I know that they are neglected. I have even documented rain gutter problems that persisted for years. Maybe this new BOD is different than the past. Maybe not. We will see. The rain doesn't listen to talk, doesn't wait for promises, and doesn't care about excuses. The rain just falls.

Rain Gutter Maintenance

One cause of building decay is water intrusion. In fact, it MIGHT be the single biggest problem that our buildings have.  To address that problem, some buildings have over-hanging eaves.  Some of the buildings without eaves have been fitted with rain gutters.  The problem with rain gutters is that they clog and need to be manually cleaned in order to be effective. A clogged rain gutter is no better than no gutter at all.  Even gutters with covers get clogged. The gutters on the back of my own unit need to be cleaned almost monthly or they clog to the point of being ineffective, in spite of having covers on them.

I would think that it would be a fairly simple, if mundane, task for the maintenance crew to clean the gutters from time to time.  They have a cherry picker that could easily reach.  I know there are gutter cleaning services in the community that we could hire to do the job.  I happen to know that there are young men in our TAJ community that are seeking summer employment -- maybe we should pay THEM to clean the gutters. Climbing up and down a 30' ladder and earning some money is good for a young man.

Whatever the case, ignoring the problem now because it is small and inconvenient means huge damage and expenses later.