Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Common House range

[Chris Poch (chris]

While I am part of a community in the early stages of forming so I don't
have a direct cohousing answer to this question, I've been the project
manager on office construction projects several times and think I've had a
few relevant experiences. I think you have a couple of options depending on
what your preferences are.

If you want a true commercial stove, I believe most common houses are
technically classified as commercial buildings for zoning and occupancy
purposes (although this distinction probably varies by local rules - my
experience is largely in the Washington, DC metro area). Your issue may be
in part how you refer to yourselves and the stove's location. If the
building is legally considered commercial, I would point it out to the
service company when placing a call. Your community is also likely
incorporated, so you may also get farther referring to yourselves that way.
Many of these firms are licensed only to do business with other businesses,
so if you make it clear that you meet the legal definition of a business,
they shouldn't have any issues servicing your existing stove or selling you
a new commercial one. I've run into this experience with suppliers before
and everything usually changes once they're certain you're a business. It's
amazing how big a difference I've had between introducing myself as "Chris"
versus "the project manager from XYZ Inc" when in comes to these kinds of
things - you have to speak their language.

On the other hand, if you want a residential stove or two, you should be
able to buy them with full warranty. Every office I've ever constructed has
been equipped with a kitchenette. None of the appliances were commercial.
Because of meeting ADA regulations in particular concerning countertop
heights, we were more limited in appliance selection, but we ended up with
appliances that are sold to homeowners in every project. All of our
appliances were purchased through a firm that handles commercial sales as
opposed to walking into a big box store and trying to buy an appliance.
Depending on if you still have a relationship with the contractor who built
your common house, you may want to reach out to them for an appliance
dealer recommendation. All of my appliances were bought at construction
time through the general contractor, including a full manufacturer's
warranty. I believe you're in the Raleigh/Durham area, so it's possible the
dealer I used may be able to handle something in your area - I can look up
contact information tonight if you're interested. If nothing else, they may
be able to refer you to someone local. The last project didn't include a
stove or I'd share pricing on that as well.

A third possibility if you decide to go with residential appliances is to
go with something from a big box store and not worry about the warranty too
much. Appliance prices have fallen a lot in recent years, so you can get a
great freestanding range for under $1000 regular price and you can get
something decent for half that on a fairly regular basis, especially this
time of year. The last appliances that I've bought new (dishwasher and wall
oven for my house) both came with one year warranties. You will almost
certainly get a better price from a big box store, especially if your
community can pick it up and install yourselves, so it may be a better
investment to forget about the warranty, especially given the short length
that is typical for residential appliances, get the better price, and use
the savings towards a repair or replacement if it needs it in the next few
years. If you really want a warranty, you may also be able to get one
through the insurer who you have your common house policy through.

On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 7:10 AM Solterra <milagrosdesolterra [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

>
> Hello,
>
> We are having difficulty replacing our ancient commercial stove in our
> common house.  Many service techs will not service a commercial stove in
> our common house, as they say we are residential.  Many companies will not
> sell us a residential stove under warranty, because they say we are
> commercial.  Anyone else have this dilemma?  If so, solutions?  Thanks so
> much,
>
> Maggie
>
> Let the beauty we love, be what we do.
>                             --- Rumi
>
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