PROPERTY MAINTENANCE

Maintaining your home will save you money in the long run.  The HOA Architectural Review Committee conducts regular audits of home maintenance.  If your house was cited with a major or repeated violation you will be receiving a notice from your ARC.  Failure to comply can lead to fines and other penalties.  See the "Modifications" page of this website for more details. 

Most maintenance issues are addressed in Article VI ("Maintenance"), Article VII ("Use Restrictions") and Article VII-a of the Covenants. 

Here are some common maintenance issues the ARC has recently observed.  Avoid problems and save money by taking care of these now. 

Many houses have damaged vinyl siding either in the back of the house or on the sides of the houses above the roofs on the walls that separate our houses. Loose, hanging or missing vinyl siding can lead to severe water problems for you and your adjoining neighbor. Water seeping down the adjoining side wall can cause significant structure damage if left unchecked. We strongly urge those affected by this problem to seek repair or remedy as soon as possible. Nor’easters with heavy rain and winter winds let alone snow will likely rip loose vinyl siding from your house and leave you and your neighbors exposed.

Please take the time to inspect your vinyl siding by walking out back and out front away from the house to get a full view of the roof and vinyl siding. While there, check your rain gutters and downspouts. Protruding nails along the gutter can easy pop out during freezing and thawing cycles this winter leading to a gutter falling down during snow and ice accumulation. Water damage can be caused by faulty or failing gutters.

As our community reaches 20 years old many roofs need to be replaced in their entirety. Keep in mind when replacing your roof that the shingles must be as the original. Any variation in shingle shade or materials needs to be approved before the work begins. While inspecting your vinyl siding check your roof shingles. Are they loose or bowed, which will make them susceptible to be blown off during heavy winds. It is easier to have them repaired now rather then when the weather is January freezing, there is ice and snow on your roof and the plywood is exposed due to blown away shingles and tar paper.

Paint – All exterior colors on doors, bay windows, shutters and trim must remain as original colors.

Ladders – Many neighbors are storing their ladders out back. This is against our covenants but even more important it is very dangerous. Thieves and burglars can use those ladders to more easily gain access to your and / or your neighbors’ decks and then gain quick entrance into your house to rob or hurt you. Since there are not as many “eyes” on the back of our houses or as much traffic as in front, breaking in through the rear French doors is much easier and just what thieves are looking for.

Decks – again as our houses age the decks need to be maintained. Any stains used must be neutral. Actually, what is best and most cost effective is to apply a “clear” preservative as opposed to a stain on new wood or freshly powered-washed wood. The original color of the decks is the only approved color for the decks. There are a couple of red wood stained decks, but they have not been approved.

Many houses are missing outside light front and back light globes. Some neighbors have added unapproved light fixtures to awnings, decks and porches.

Privacy Fences – Many many privacy fences are down, falling or in some state of disrepair. There is now an easy and inexpensive fix for this. Home Depot and Lowe’s sell a set (2) of steal spikes that have a 3 ½” by 3 ½ “ square holder ($15). All you need to do is to hammer the spike in the ground in the appropriate places, place the two end poles of the fence into the 3 ½” square holders, screw the wood nuts (included) into the posts to secure the posts to the squares and voila, your fence is back up and straight.

It may not be quite that easy if you need to replace rotted end posts that were in ground contact. In that case you will need to purchase two 4” x 4” end posts (actual measurement is 3 ½” x 3 ½”) at a lumber yard or hardware store. You will have to have them cut to the right height (current height of your end posts less what was in the ground). Lay the fence on the ground, remove the old end posts and replace them with the new end post. Stand the fence up and place in the square holders.

Bluepoly (plastic) external water pipes. Many of us have already had to have the  bluepoly pipes replaced because of leaks. This is the type of pipe that was installed by the builder from the water main / meter in front of our houses to the connection at the wall in our houses (near the main water turnoff). This pipe was approved and in accordance to the county code at the time of construction. For some unknown reason, a few houses were constructed using copper pipes. As I understand there is no real way to know without digging down 3+ feet and physically inspecting your pipes. If you do this, be very careful that you do not dig into or hit the plastic pipe.

Apparently there is no average life expectancy for this type of pipe but it has been failing nationally since the mid 1990’s (installed since the late 1970’s) when it was then forbidden for use by county codes. Most plumbers will tell that it is not if your bluepoly pipes will fail, but only when they will fail. There was a national class action lawsuit against the manufacturers of the pipes but the statue of limitations for claims ran out in 2006. Expect to pay about $2500 or more depending on the complexity of the job to have yours replaced if you do it alone. Due to a very thoughtful neighbor on Kathsway Court, many of the neighbors from Kathsway and Forest Valley got together and had theirs all replaced at the same time at a substantial savings. The ARC is not suggesting that you take any action, just know that at some point in the future the odds are very high that you will have to have your outdoor blue poly plumbing replaced.

By the way, there is no acceptable repair to the blue poly pipes and county code forbids plumbers from simply repairing the pipes. It is also our understanding that many home inspections now include inspecting for bluepoly piping and recommend that the buyer have the seller replace it prior to sale or contract. Just something else to consider as you think about your overall house maintenance and future budget.

HVAC (Heat Pumps) – The average life expectancies for our originally installed Trane (XL 800 & XL 1000 (newer houses on 4000 block of FV) heat pumps is 12 to 14 years. Therefore, all of us still using original equipment are on borrowed time. By visual inspection, all most all (95%) of the original outside units (RUUD, I think) on Tigreff, Roger Valley and Forest Valley prior to the sharp curve have been replaced. Outside units on FV after the sharp curve and Kathsway are still about 65% original Trane equipment and 35% new equipment. You can check date of manufacture on the outside (compressor) and inside (air handler) equipment. The date is clearly stamped on a metal tag about the size of an index card. This well help you verify the age of your system.

Heretofore, programmable thermostats have not been available or recommended for heat pump use. Read the fine print from BGE mailers or notice that they have not been available at Home Depot, Lowe’s etc. There are now digital programmable thermostats that are compatible with new heat pumps. Check with your HVAC service company about compatibility with older equipment. Digital programmable thermostats cost about $150 to $250 depending on the features and options.

One way to make our houses feel warmer is too have a humidifier installed. This can be done independent of having a new heat pump installed. Simply put, 68 degrees with moist air feels warmer then 68 degree dry air, plus no shocks. Having a premium, humidifier installed is roughly $500 to $600.

Many manufactures and dealers are currently offering a number of lucrative incentives. Apparently, the slow economy is having an impact on inventory levels, etc. Some are offering small rebates, 10 year warranties on parts, compressor ($$$) and LABOR, some are including a humidifier and programmable thermostat, 6months same as cash, 0% financing and some are including all the above or some combination thereof. You can expect to pay about $5500 / $6000 for a complete system including programmable thermostat, humidifier and a better then average outside unit (15 SEER) and air handler (inside unit).

A word of caution. Beware of HVAC sales people who claim that your new unit will pay for itself in 3 or 4 years. Assuming that our average CS townhouse uses about 15,000 kwh / per year and our average BGE bill is $200 / month and 50% of that is for heating and A/C ($100). At a 30% savings ($30 /month, $360 / year) on the heating and A/C portion, which would be substantial, it would take more then 15 years to pay for itself. That being stated, a new HVAC system in conjunction w/ a programmable thermostat and humidifier may still make sense for you depending on the age of your current system and personal comfort.

Other Maintenance Issues

Regulations about lawns, trees, animals, trash, property maintenance and disruptive neighbors:

Lawn:

As a resident of Cromwell station, your lawn must be cared for.  Grass must be kept less than three inches long and your property must be free from debris.  You may keep equipment for maintaining your yard or family oriented equipment outside. 

A contractor cuts the grass in community open space.  We cannot afford an extensive program without increasing the monthly HOA fees.  Therefore, the care the open spaces receives is the best we can afford at this time. 

Trees:

You are responsible for trees on your property.  Trees that hang over the public sidewalk in front of your house must be kept trimmed to a height of seven feet above the walk.  If a tree on your property hangs over onto a neighbor's property, that neighbor may trim it back.

Animals and Animal Waste:

All pets in the community are to be registered with the Board of Directors.  You may request a registration form by contacting the Homeowners Association representative, RCM Property Management.  There is no fee to register your pet.  You may register your pet online by clicking on the "Pet Registry" link on the left.

All animals in the community are to be leashed at all times in accordance with Baltimore County law. 

The association cannot assist you in animal attacks that take place on private property.  Our ability to assist you with matters taking place on community controlled property is limited by our ability to have you as a witness.  Keep in mind that we do not own the areas where garbage cans are placed, the sidewalks (in most cases) and the grassy area between the sidewalks and the street.  We also do not own or control the parking pads and streets.  These areas are all controlled by Baltimore County and are under the jurisdiction of the county's Animal Control Department.

Residents must clean up after their animals.  If you observe a pet owner continually violating this Baltimore County law, keep a list of the dates and times, contact Animal Control and request the owner be fined. 

Unkempt Properties:

Your property is to be kept neat and free from garbage, trash and animal waste.  No vehicles (such as motorcycles or ATV's) may be stored on the yard or driven on the yard or across the open space.

Garbage issues are to be reported to the Community Hygiene Division of the Baltimore County Health Department. 

Noisy and Disruptive Neighbors:

Issues with neighbors are to be addressed through the Baltimore County Police Department or the Baltimore County Department of Social Services.  Contact information can be found by clicking on the "Useful Info" link on the left.