Whispering Woods Winter 2016

Important Dates for your Calendar

March 5, 2016 – Spring Board Meeting

April 23, 2016 – WW Work Day and Picnic

April 24, 2016 – WW Annual Meeting

Recent Accomplishments of the Property

Completion of the roof replacements for all buildings including installation of new attic fans with humidistats for moisture control.

Ivy removal, top soil delivery, sod installation and tree trimming along the 142nd Street property.

Repair and cleanup of the broken sewer line under building 405.

Contract awarded for cement repair in several courtyards, a few sidewalk areas, and the steps by the pool along 142nd Street.

2016 Budget

As owners were informed in November, the new budget of $176,680 was approved. The budget increase was considered necessary for help in re-building the reserve fund after several years of items being completed: fences, gates, roofs, etc., plus for future capital projects such as siding and parking lot replacement along 142nd Street. Capital Projects have to be considered as the property ages.

Whispering Woods Attic Fans

With the installation of our new roofs, the new city code for Ocean City requires that we meet standards for ventilation in the attic areas. This code also requires that we meet other installation situations. Increasing the ventilation also is a very important factor in guaranteeing that the roof shingles are protected with the warranty.

To accomplish this, it was first thought to run one new electric line for each building. As this could not be done without compromising the existing fire walls thus necessitating extensive corrections, six new lines needed to be pulled.

Therefore, the fans are running a humidistat which indicates the level that causes them to turn on. The space of our attics has high humidity levels especially when an upper unit is occupied (be it winter or summer). Also, higher humidity levels are more evident in the early AM when the dew level is high along the coast.

In adding to the roof installation we were required to install a better grade underlayment and shingle, and this does not allow for as much air escape as the older roofs allowed. Considering the exorbitant cost of running 6 separate electric lines in each building plus repairing the firewall, the better decision was made to attach each attic fan to each of the upper unit’s power. These attachments are made to one of the breakers in the meter box, For this reason, upper unit owners will see a slight increase in electrical use (and the breaker for this should NEVER be turned off).You will hear the fans running intermittently.

Resident Responsibilities

Thermostats are to be set at 55 degrees in order to protect water lines and pipes. In addition, water should be turned off and the breaker for your water heater should be off.

Smoke Detector Certification is to be completed yearly and forms sent to Paradise. Forms can be found on the WW web site. (https.whisperingwoodscondos.org)

Placement of large bulky items beside the dumpsters should be reported by the owner to OC Trash as the cost for such pickups is resident responsibility (not the condo association).

Upcoming Activities

Plans for the spring are being considered for deck and step re-staining and concrete wall cleaning.

Problems with gate keys and locks in cold and freezing temperatures can be helped by spraying the lock with a silicone spray to ease entry/exit.

Boardwalk – early AM – January 18,2016

Roof Renovation Pictures

Be sure that you contact Fred for any problems:

Door, Window, and Slider Information for new purchases

As more owners are now (after 30 plus years) replacing these items, the following information can be used in order to streamline the approval process for Exterior Alteration Applications (which can be found on the web site for WW.)

The following vendor/products are already pre-approved.

Storm Doors:

Anderson, 3000 series

Sliding doors:

Anderson 200 series

Great Lakes, Seabrook series

Sunview, Buckingham or Sunview series

Vytex

Windows:

VIWINCO, Cambridge series

Anderson 400 series

Vytex double hung and slider windows

As a reminder(1) doors and windows must be approved by the Town of Ocean City and a building permit obtained,(2) exterior color is to be bronze, (3) doors and windows must be flashed and caulked to prevent water entry, (4) damage to siding, sills, decks, etc. during removal is to be repaired at owner’s expense. For requests outside of this pre-approved list, remember to provide a full description (i.e. manufacturer, model number, color, picture, specifications, contractor, etc.) as part of your request.

On our website, both the exterior application and the form for smoke detector tests are listed under the section: Announcements.