Coping with snow, ice, cold.

Area vendors are not finding it easy to go about their business in a seemingly endless supply of snow and ice. Aside from clearing the obvious hazard of an icy walkway, vendors had other tips for owners and managing agents.

Louis Romano, senior vice president of Castle Oil Corp. of Harrison, said their number one priority is to make sure everyone has heat. To expedite and ensure oil deliveries, he advised, the ice and snow must be removed.

"We're getting to so many buildings where we can't get to the fill area because it's plowed in under ice and snow," he bemoaned.

And when the driver can't make the delivery in a prompt fashion, sometimes it means the truck has to diverted to someone else's building and then scheduled to go back to yours.

While there is plenty of oil, its the weather that is slowing the trucks' travel time.

Another problem arises, Romano said, for those that have oil as a back up for what are known as "gas interruptible" buildings.

According to Con Ed spokesperson, Richard Mulieri, those buildings are getting a discounted rate for gas but are not supposed to use it when the temperature outside drops. Either a Con Ed representative calls and gives the property management six hours notice to get off the system, or for another service class, a switch automatically starts up the oil burner when the temperature drops to degrees below a pre-determined temperature - which is 14 degrees this winter.

If the building continues to use gas, or bypasses the automatic switch, the penalty is twice the monthly gas bill. On the other hand, a building without heat is subject to tenant complaints and fines from the city.

When the temperature drops, those buildings are cut off and they want oil immediately, said Romano. But that, of course, presents scheduling difficulties for the oil companies. Romano's advice for those buildings. "Make sure going into a cold spell that the tank is full. The owners don't want to put the money in the ground but the alternative is to pay a fine, pay penalties or have no heat."

The suspension of alternate side of the street parking presents a problem for Trans Boro Container Service Inc. of Brooklyn because the drivers need a lot of space on the street for the containers. Vice President Michael Marmo suggested that owners or their superintendents try to park two cars that can be readily moved to make way for the dumpster.

His drivers, too, are hampered by ice and snow, and a full dumpster pull-out can be difficult when cars are parked too close to the containers or when truck tires spin because traction is terrible in slushy city streets. Unfortunately, if there is a delay in removal, the bins tend to become overfilled and overflowing, neighbors complain, and owners end up with summonses.

His company notifies building staff when to expect the truck arrival and needs someone outside to sign for the dumpster and hopefully, to move some cars out of the way.

"We're service company and we'll do what we can to service them," Marmo said. "The drivers know their job and how to deal with the ice and snow. Overall, most of our clientele is very accommodating and have people on their toes."

Snow and ice on the roof and terraces can be particularly harmful to buildings. With one gallon of water weighing eight pounds, you can end up with leaks or even a collapsed roof. But most often in this weather, the water turns to ice, expands behind seams in roofing materials, and causes indoors floods when the ice thaws. One culprit is the snow that banks up against roof walls and terrace walls.

"The melting snow can go behind the flashing system," explains Steve Katz, president of Kay Waterproofing Corp. "We have been getting many calls that water is going behind flashing and into the apartment below." While things appear fine when its cold, the water comes inside when there is a thaw.

Katz said owners can call the company anytime there is a problem, but they are not doing much work in this weather.

Warren Heit of S&W Painting, a company that also does waterproofing, agreed that certain repair work should not be done in this weather, not only for the comfort of the workers, but because materials may not set properly due the extreme cold. They are continuing with their interior work, but like everyone else, are running into snowy streets, parking problems and icy access.

Ken Schwartz, president of Lockman Inc. of Flushing, said his men have to work in this weather, installing new doors, locks and other equipment. "We literally brought in 200 heaters," he said, to keep the men at some level of comfort.

Since his work may involve tying up entrances, in this weather he'd like owners to clear a path to an alternative door so residents can come and go without stumbling over his men.

Katz suggested that when the weather breaks, owners should do a physical check of the building itself to check for cracks, bulging bricks and holes. If there are small cracks or holes now, Katz warned, "They don't stay the same, they get worse in this kind of cold weather with freezing and thawing. The damage is more severe."

Meanwhile, building owners and tenants should not encourage birds to roost on roofs because droppings not only carry diseases that can be harmful to humans, but clog those all important downspouts and roof drains.

Believe it or not, Joe Kennedy, vice president of Arrow Exterminating Company, says this is the best time of year to trap unwanted birds because there is not a lot of natural food for them to eat. They are more prone to take food from baited traps and voila, Arrow staffers can remove the feathered frolickers to a place far, far away.

Since the staff also removes droppings and birds from roofs, Marmo said they have particular problems trying not to slip off under icy conditions. One man fell last week, but luckily was not hurt badly. Clearing ice and snow from roofs, walks and driveways would certainly help his men, as well as the building's roof.

Hospitals are particularly plagued because Kennedy says they have large flat roofs with operating air conditioners. "The birds like to sit underneath to keep warm," he explained, so feathers and other bird detritus get sucked in through the intakes.

As for other critters, rats are busy keeping warn inside chewing on alarm wires and other indoor items. Arrow has several auto dealerships as customers and they have found the rats have a propensity for auto wiring.

Roaches, however, are warmth lovers so an apartment far from wintery winds will be more affected than a corner unit. "You're going to get more roaches on the top of your buildings than the bottom because heat rises," he added.

Because of this thermal effect, basement water pipes are particularly prone to breakage. Lichtenberger Plumbing's Robert Lichtenberger, the fourth generation firm's president, said to facilitate their work they need access. "We need keys to the basement and keys to apartment," he noted, so owners should be sure a superintendent is available to open those doors.

To prevent little leaks from becoming catastrophic, Lichtenberger advises that those staff on the premises should have a working knowledge of where the water main shut offs are located.

Last week, Lichtenberger's men responded to a call on Greene Street where a sprinkler line had frozen, broken and thawed. When his men arrived on the scene, the Fire Dept. was already breaking down doors to locate the shut off. "They didn't have keys to a couple of rooms," he said. "We got there and knew where to go." Meanwhile, ten stories of sprinkler water was draining out into the building.

Lichtenberger advised those who own townhouses or buildings to turn up the heat to compensate for the extreme cold. "Make sure that boiler rooms or where main water comes in are heated in some way with heat type or electrical heaters," he suggested. A heat tape gives just enough heat to keep the pipe from becoming frozen, and is safe if it becomes wet.

Because new boilers are so efficient, they do not heat up the room they are in and in this sub-zero weather the boiler pipes are breaking, particularly in the middle of the night. "I've had more water mains and water meters freeze and break," he noted. While water metered owners may not want to hear this, Lichtenberger advises letting a faucet run a little to prevent a freeze up and more expensive repairs. "If a kitchen sink froze once, this time it will probably break," he said.

As for the breaks in city water mains, the main problem is that the frost line is going down so far, the ground is turning into a solid piece of ice. When a truck rolls over, Lichtenberger explained, the ice block has no "give" and crushes the pipe. So the muddied home-owners of Caroll Gardens may be only the first group of many wet and cold residents, all around town.