80 East Avenue

80 East Avenue — Window & Door Replacement in an Occupied NJ Multifamily Property

Window and door replacements were carried out by AAWD Inc. at 80 East Avenue. This particular project is among the many occupied renovation jobs performed by AAWD in the tri-state region of New Jersey. At AAWD Inc., window and door replacements are undertaken in occupied residential buildings whereby the tenants stay in their residences during the renovation work. The occupied space renovation process, which has been developed over 30 years and has been applied in many other NJ renovation projects, was adopted for the project at 80 East Avenue.

The 80 East Avenue Project Context: AAWD’s Occupied Multifamily Renovation Practice

The 80 East Avenue Project is an example of the sort of job that AAWD has been doing for 30 years in the tri-state area – window replacement in an occupied multifamily residential building. Occupied building window replacement involves doing window replacements in an occupied residential building, whereby people are still occupying the building during the time of the replacement process.
Occupied building window replacement is a practice that seems simple from the outside. You remove old windows. Then you install new windows. And you make the building look better as well as perform much better than it used to before. But the reality is that the occupied building window replacement involves far more than what the practice seems to entail – and all the intricacies are related to people who inhabit those units during the replacement process.
Every multifamily building has units which are someone’s home. The bedroom where the window replacement occurs is where that person’s family sleeps. The living room in which the installation team is working on for one day is where that resident lives and reads, watches TV, and enjoys their own privacy. Removal of the window entails some disturbances for the people in the unit such as noise, chilly air, and dust as well as strangers who have access to that unit of the building.
What has made AAWD known for its excellence in this specific field for the past 30 years is the fact that they understand that the quality of their installation is not the only important thing – the other equally important aspect is how the occupants of the unit perceive the installation process and if the team treats the place as if it was their own.

Pre-Project Coordination

Before a single window is removed at any AAWD multifamily project, the team will coordinate with building management on installation order, daily schedule, and resident communication process. Residents of 80 East Avenue got advance notification of their individual installation date, allowing them sufficient preparation for the team’s arrival without the stress of realizing on the day of the installation that it’s their turn.

This advance communication is not a formality. This is one of the most critical aspects in terms of residents’ satisfaction during occupied renovations. The informed resident is a cooperative resident. A cooperative resident makes the job of installation crew easier and results more efficient for all parties involved.

Field Measurement Before Fabrication

In the multifamily buildings with long history of construction, nominal window dimensions and actual opening dimensions do not necessarily match. Settling of the building, previous renovation and cumulative tolerances of the construction process require specifying each replacement product using field measurements of the actual dimensions of the openings – not drawings, not nominal dimensions, not even an assumption based on similarity of units.
AAWD field measurement procedure – measuring all the openings before ordering the replacement products – ensures that each replacement window or door is made exactly for the dimensions of the specific opening. Window that needs adjustment after installation because the dimensions of the rough opening did not match the specification becomes a problem for the installation schedule, for the crew and, most importantly, for the resident who has to live with his window removed until the problem is solved.

Daily Unit-by-Unit Installation Sequence

The daily unit-by-unit installation sequence used by AAWD crew at 80 East Avenue includes the following steps:
1. Pre-installation protection: protecting interior surfaces and furnishings from dust and debris prior to window removal;
2. Existing window removal: careful removal of the existing window without damaging the wall, frame or finishes;
3. Rough opening inspection: inspection of every opening during the removal process for any possible conditions, such as sill deterioration, waterproofing breach or unexpected framing that needs addressing prior to installation of the new window;
4. Installation: setting and adjusting the new window or door to AAWD quality standards;
5. Perimeter sealing: applying sealants and performing air-sealing on the perimeter of every installed window;
6. Hardware adjustment: ensuring proper adjustment of operable sashes and proper operation of locks;
7. Cleanup: leaving each unit in clean condition – with no debris, no dust on the surfaces, no signs of work except the new window in the frame.

The Standard that Defines AAWD’s Reputation

That last step – cleanup – is not incidental. For the resident who scheduled the day around installation crew’s visit and returned home to see the new windows installed, the condition of his home upon arrival tells him all he needs to know about crew’s attitude towards work in his space.
Clean unit tells him: We respected your home. Dirty unit – with dust on the furniture, with packing materials lying on the floor, with a smear on the wall left by the equipment the crew used – tells him exactly the opposite, irrespective of the quality of installation work.

AAWD crew adheres to the cleanup standard on each unit and in every project. It is the tangible evidence of the care and respect the company reputation is built on.