Living in the Neighborhood

SPINN 2008 Volunteers Needed — Now!

For the last five years, the neighborhood has celebrated SPINN (Spring Party in New Neighborhood) in Faulkner Square. This is an annually budgeted event supported by the Neighborhood Association. However, it does require organization and communication in order to occur and be a success. The event has been traditionally held in late-May or early-June.

It may seem too early to be planning a June event. After all, we are having bitterly cold weather and have already gotten more snow than all of last year. However, now is the time to plan.

Adria & Woody Appleby (St. Alban’s Lane) chaired the event in 2007 and did an outstanding job. They have agreed to help again this year, but we need one or two volunteers to work as chairpersons for 2008. As always, this is not a one person (or one couple) job. It takes a lot of good volunteers to make a successful team. Lots of notes and boxes of supplies are available from past years to jump-start the planning process. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Dave Smith (704.987.1472) or any other member of the Council of Stewards.

This is a great way to celebrate New Neighborhood each spring and to meet both old and new neighbors. We are expecting the biggest party yet in 2008!

Townhomes Experience Frozen Pipes

Temperatures have plummeted well into the low teens on two different occasions so far this winter and with the bitterly cold weather, some townhome residents have complained of frozen pipes. Not everyone has experienced trouble, but the problem does appear to be common. In general, the problem seems to exist with hot water heater lines that rise through the outside garage wall and re-enter the house after going through the garage attic area. Some residents had previously wrapped and insulated lines that were on the outside wall of the garage. This year, however, the main problem appears to be exposed piping in the garage attic, particularly near the soffit where ventilation strips allow cold air to be blown directly on the water lines.

Residents in older townhomes on St. Alban’s Lane, Caldwell Lane, Twain Avenue, and some of South Faulkner Way have not experienced quite the same issue since their water heaters are installed in the attic storage area over the main house. Because of the potential for much more damage in the event of failure of the hot water heater, these tanks were installed in all other townhomes in the garage area. This was not a code requirement, but rather a good building practice. However, garage location makes longer pipe runs and there is a greater potential for freeze-up in the winter.

At this point, the Association is not aware of this problem among residents with casitas. In these townhomes, the lines run in the space between the casita and the garage. It is unlikely that this area would ever drop below freezing if the casita is kept heated. It is possible that lines not well insulated in the attic space above the master bedroom could create a problem, but this is not as common since the bedroom itself does give off some heat to this space.

Another important observation is that there have been no reports of broken or split pipes as a result of the freezing. In most cases, the lines thaw during the day and water use returns to normal. All townhome units were plumbed with PVC piping resistant to freeze breakage. This is not a guarantee and good insulation is still a wise solution.

During the week of January 20, so many residents experienced this problem that numerous calls were made to both The Cunnane Group and to Sam Coleman, COS representative on the Building Maintenance Committee. Sam e-mailed Lance Cunnane (New Neighborhood builder) to inquire about possible solutions.

It is important to understand that this problem, although widespread, falls outside of the warranty timeframe of the builder and does not violate any building or construction code requirements. However, as Lance has done so often in the past, he agreed to send a crew from The Cunnane Group to insulate and wrap pipes in those units that experienced frozen lines. Generally, this work included insulation of the soffit areas closest to the water lines and wrapping all pipes across the garage attic (and into the master bedroom attic, in some cases).

So far, during the week of January 28, approximately sixteen townhomes have had pipes wrapped. The majority of reports came from units on Harper Lee Street. If you have had problems with frozen pipes this year, please call Sam Coleman at 704.896.8177 (e-mail at scoleman2@roadrunner.com). Please do not call The Cunnane Group or Lance Cunnane directly as the Association wants to be fair to Cunnane and address the problem in an orderly manner. Sam has been the primary communication link with Lance in the past two weeks.

Again, it is important to note that The Cunnane Group is doing this work as a good faith effort and in keeping with the quality of work that they want to be recognized for. Cunnane has previously addressed portico problems on all Charleston homes and satisfactorily repaired patio problems on townhomes on Caldwell Lane. The Cunnane Group also provided spray washing to all townhomes following the completion of the four years of construction. We owe a great deal of thanks to Lance Cunnane and his company for their quick response and cooperation. If you experienced problems and had work done by the Cunnane crew, please express thanks to Lance Cunnane at lcunnane@cunnanegroup.com. His willingness to help in this situation is far beyond his responsibility and is greatly appreciated.

It is hoped that future newsletters will also provide other tips on solutions to gaining quick hot water from tanks in the garage and to helping eliminate potential freezing of pipes. The “old reliable” method is to trickle water flow through one or two faucets during extremely cold weather. The key to this method is to know your layout and to create water flow where it will keep movement in lines subject to cold.

Many neighbors installed a hot water circulation system two or three years ago. This unit actually pumps a small amount of hot water all the time from the hot water heater and returns to the tank via the cold water fill line. The big advantage here is that such an installation takes care of most concerns about freezing lines due to recirculation and provides nearly instant hot water to all locations. Residents with hot water tanks in the garage are well aware that the biggest problem with that location is the initial long wait for water to get to faucets being used. The recirculation system eliminates this concern. It is easy to install and relatively inexpensive.

Information has also been received from Heather Faulkner (member of the Building Maintenance Committee) in regard to tankless water heaters by Rinnai (www.rinnai.us/products/water_heaters.aspx). Again, the main advantages are in hot water response time and the ability to locate the unit closer to usage points (i.e.: a warmer part of the home). The website also claims a savings in energy. This is a more expensive option, but is one that many people investigate, particularly the first time the water heater fails or requires repair.

Yard-of-the-Month Judges Needed

If the ground hog sees his shadow on February 2, there will be six more weeks of winter. However, spring is just around the corner and it won’t be long until we start looking at winners for Yard-of-the-Month. Assuming that Mecklenburg County does not go to the next level of water restrictions, judging will begin in May.

In the past, the judges have been interested volunteers or members of the Landscaping and Grounds Committee. Judy McLean, chairperson of that committee, is looking for volunteers to help with the judging this year. If interested, please contact Judy at 704.895.0940 (e-mail at judy@mcleanmarketing.net). Please consider putting your “green thumb talents” to work.

Parking Safety Problems

During the holidays and other times when parties and events require parking of guests, the neighborhood continues to have a problem with street congestion due to parked vehicles. This is especially true on Conroy Avenue, Wolfe Street, and Fairview Lane where parking is not restricted to one side of the street. There have been several incidents recently when cars were parked on both sides, making passage of large vehicles difficult and emergency vehicles impossible.

If you are hosting an event, please ask guests to keep this situation in mind. If possible, park on one side of the street. Fairview Lane and Wolfe Street both provide main access to the entire neighborhood. Emergency vehicles will make every effort to respond to an emergency and damage to parked cars is not a primary concern. When making plans please consider parking and alert guests in advance. Utilize spaces at the parks and the church if possible.

Consideration of others in this matter may save someone’s house and even a life! Thank you for your help and cooperation.

Newsletter Delivery Volunteers

Many thanks are due our newsletter delivery team. Our January “cold weather” crew included Adria & Woody Appleby, Barbara & Tom Doster, Tom Fischer, Norman Richards, Dave Smith, and John & Marcia Williamson. We were also pleased to welcome Paula Bell to our dedicated group of delivery volunteers. Thank you all!

If you wish to volunteer, please call Dave Smith at 704.987.1472
(e-mail at davidbsmith@bellsouth.net).

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