Main Street in Fort Lee, New Jersey
Since inception, this property manager has been providing excellence in the affordable housing industry, managing properties throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. They currently manage approximately 50 properties consisting of 11,000 plus units of Section 8 Elderly, Section 8 Family, mixed-use 236, LIHTC, and a limited number of commercial spaces. They employ over 200 employees who share the goal of building strong, sustainable communities for residents and owners and have chosen AAWD for several of their replacement window projects as their contractor of choice.
AAWD took on a particularly demanding high-rise window and door replacement project for this property management company in 2022. The project, known as Malcolm Towers, is located on Main Street in Fort Lee, New Jersey. When the building was built in 1979, the building’s design created numerous differences in window placement within each floor of the exterior façade. When the new owners acquired the property in 2020, their financing package included capital improvement upgrades including kitchen and bathroom renovations in all units, installation of new patio doors and in-unit windows, as well as, new boilers, new hot water tanks and new roof-top exhaust fans for the building itself.
Architects were brought in to help with a detailed design and engineering plan for the renovation which meant dealing with the previous design and installation of existing windows. To account for the variations in current window placement, the new replacement window installation required 3D modeling to provide exact location and installation detail. With the help and support of Crystal Window & Doors Engineering and AAWD installation teams, a sample window was then manufactured, installed, and tested to confirm the design and installation intent. Under the watchful eyes of the owner’s representatives the window passed inspection and testing with flying colors.
The project was a go! After removal of the existing windows and doors, AAWD supplied and installed 1,041 Double Hung, Sliding and Casement windows, as well as 151 Sliding Patio & Terrace Doors. There were also several apartments requiring the windows and patio doors meet ADA requirements.
The property owner also had additional requirements for air and water infiltration tests to be sporadically performed as work progressed on the project to ensure this custom installation design’s exact fit, was also air & watertight and maintained throughout the installation cycle. This test requires a plastic tarp to be installed inside the apartment over the window to create an airtight and waterproof chamber of the window to the wall. A vacuum is then pulled inside this seal chamber. Once the vacuum inside the chamber reaches enough pressure to draw water and moisture in from outside of the building, water is sprayed on the outside of the window to simulate a soaking rainfall. This tests whether the window has a watertight seal. Meanwhile the testing agency is inspecting all the windows seals and caulking for leakage during the test. Each test takes approximately two to three hours to set-up and perform. Any air & water intrusion is an immediate failure of that window and its installation. In all, five tests were randomly performed on 20 windows on different floors of this 16-story high rise by an outside testing agency.
Frankly, this is the sort of testing that proves the quality of workmanship of any window & door installation company. Our installation design and the workmanship of our experienced team of professional installers stood up to passing every test during this project. In fact, not only did we meet the performance grade design criteria for the specified product, but our product and installation design performed beyond what was required from the testing lab.
