Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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772 RECORD AND GUIDE April 12, 1913 SIHIII il!""'- J.___.iaiiiilllilHIIIIBII BUILDING MANAGEMENT Conducted by Raymond P. Roberts, Building Manager for the American Real Estate Company. ■■MlMiillllllllilialB^^ ■■■■■■I ■■■■■■■■IM JANITOR'S WORK. Its Weil-Doing Essential to the Success of a Building. BY JOHN L. PARISH. ONE of the indispensable requisites of the successful management of an investment property of the apartment house order, is a good janitor. -And it may as well be recorded here as else¬ where, that a really good janitor is one of the rarest among the phenomena of human nature. If the building is big enough and the social and financial grade of the ten¬ antry seems to justify the distinction, the janitor is called "Superintendent." This often inspires a generally reluc¬ tant flame of personal pride and prompts the superintendent to dress the part a little better than if he were a plain janitor. But whether it has any effect upon the question of effici¬ ency and fidelity is still an undeter¬ mined issue. His Large Responsibility. From every point of observation the office is seen to be one of much respon¬ sibility and of unusual opportunity. The janitor (or superintendent) stands in a peculiarly intimate relation to both the landlord and his tenants. It is not too much to say that he has it within his power, in nearly every case, to make the property successful or unsuccessful as an investment. But, speaking generally, the janitor seldom appears to appreciate either his opportunity or his responsibility. Sel¬ dom does he appear to realize that there is any harmony of interest between him¬ self and his employer. Because of this the janitor has to be closely supervised by the owner, if the latter is to make the best out of his investment. For to the owner the proper manage¬ ment and upkeep of his property is vital to its financial success. And it appears to be fully demonstrated in practice that the degree of financial success is in ex¬ act proportion to the showing made by the janitor, or superintendent. And the scale of efficiency of these gentry ranges between conspicuous success and equally conspicuous failure. Uses Too Much Coal. Vp in the Bron.x there is a janitor who is burning two tons of furnace coal a day in the heating of two 50-foot 5- story flats. His furnace room is like a Turkish bath in temperature, but there is no excess of heat above the basement. And dirt and debris lie heaped in every corner. He is paid $60 a month for this and has his rent, fuel and light free. His opportunities for earning from the ten¬ ants are not so good as they are in the batter class of apartments, but they make a substantial addition to his sal¬ ary. He carries the odor of liquor on his breath nearly always and is untidy and slovenly in appearance, and offen¬ sive in his manner toward the tenants. He is so conspicuous a failure that the l.iuildings, though fully rented, are being carried through the winter months at a deficit. When asked why he kept this janitor tlic owner replied that he would "fire" him in a minute if he knew where to get a better one. In another instance a broker brought a prospective buyer to inspect a large apartment house situated in one of the better residential neighborhoods in Har¬ lem. The building was of better than average construction and finish, but its condition was beyond description for filthiness and neglect. .■\nd this was its appearance after the janitor had been notified by the owner that a possible customer was coming up for an inspection and he wanted the premises thoroughly cleaned up and made presentable. This janitor was a spruced up dandy of about 28, and un¬ married, and a famous favorite of most of the domestics in the vicinity. He neither knew nor cared the first thing about the care of property and when re¬ proached for his laziness and neglect, placidly advised his employer to get somebody else to take his place. Good Janitors are Rewarded. But there are good janitors in many of the better classes of apartment houses. Indeed, the good janitors soon or late all attain to the command of the b'utler positions, and these are, of course, found in the larger and finer buildings. Yet even in these buildings there are wide gradations in the quality of service obtainable from the superin¬ tendents. The price of satisfactory effi¬ ciency is eternal vigilance on the part of the owner. For there is no other school for the training of janitors and superintendents than the school of ex¬ perience. And the recruits for this sort of service are often of so poor quality that they cannot or will not learn even in that school. An owner whose properties show up so well that they are the subject of re¬ mark by all who have inspected them was asked how he managed to get such uniformly excellent service out of his superintendents. He said: "I never fail to visit and inspect thoroughly my properties at least twice a week, and often three or four times. It is an aw¬ ful nuisance, but it is the only way to keep up the efficiency of these men. I pay them good salaries and I feel then that I have the right to exact good ser¬ vice. No Drinking Men Employed. "I will not, for instance, have a drink¬ ing man in my employ in such a posi¬ tion. I have only recently made a change on that account. I detected the odor of liquor on the breath of a man, a young man who had his wife and two nice children living in the house, and who was otherwise attending to his work quite properly; I spoke to him about it, telling him I did not like it. Shortly after that he repeated the of¬ fence and then I warned him. On the third offense I fired him. Tenants of the class we cater to are entitled to prompt and efficient service from the house staff, and to decent appearance and courteous behavior also. And it means money in my pocket for me to see that they get it. So it pays to be constantly attentive to this branch of my service." Brokers whose business requires them to show properties of this class to their clients have often been embarrassed by defects in their appearance that could be cured by timely applications of soap and water, and have often wished that owners could realize how important it is to their own interest that their prop¬ erties should in every part, in the boil¬ er-room no less than in the entrance hall, make a favorable impression on first view. HELPFUL MANAGERIAL HINTS. How to Clean Battery Jars.—Keeping Doors in True. By the use of slender strain bars or wires, which are tightened at will, a large factory has practically done away with delays resulting from doors, screens and gates that drag. The bar runs from the outer lower corner to the inside upper corner of the door, and tightens by a double-threaded nut, or turn buck¬ le, exactly atfer the manner of the strain bar under a freight car. Cleaning Battery Jars. Wipe off the jars inside and out, with a piece of waste soaked in kero¬ sene. The oil softens the dirt and re¬ moves the saline deposits on the walls of the jars and leaves the jars with a greasy surface, which will not allow them to form again. Care should be taken to remove all superfluous oil, as it gathers dust; also be careful to keep oil from connecting joints, as this tends to destroy electric contact. QUESTIONS and ANSWERS Correcting Hot-Water Troubles. With reference to Mr. Joseph H. Booth's article "Correcting Hot-Water Troubles" in your issue of January 25th, would say, that I reside on the top floor of a five-story apartment. When a ten¬ ant on a lower floor draws the water, not a drop reaches me until he turns the water off. Perhaps you can suggest a remedy. .\nswer.—The trouble you complain of may be caused by insufficient pressure, especially if the water supply of the apartment house is taken from the street mains. Very often this pressure is not sufficient to raise the water to your apartments when anybody else draws it on a floor below. The remedy for this condition is the installation of a pressure tank in the cellar or a storage roof tank of sufficient capacity to supply the demand per hour in your building, which probably would not require extra pumping facilities. It very often hap¬ pens that the water pressure is lower in the day time than it is at night, and if such is the case the street pressure may be sufficient to fill the reserve tank over night so that an adequate supply of water can be obtained on every floor of the building simultaneously at any time. This change could be effected at slight cost.