Cool Stuff: Renovating? DOBAlerts.com has your back

If you're renovating your apartment, you may want to let your contractor know about a handy new service called DOBalerts.com.    For $9.95 a month, DOBalerts.com sends a text or email if/when someone (e.g., unhappy neighbor next door) files a complaint about your project.  That gives your contractor a head start on fixing things before an inspector arrives and issues a fine or a temporary halt to your project. 

DOBalerts.com founder Mark Weiss tells BrickUnderground that he came up with the idea after renovating his house in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

"The neighbors were older people and their hobby was to call 311. The whole neighborhood is like that. One guy whose brother died in a construction accident walks around and calls 311 at anything he doesn't like," says Weiss.  

Fighting fines resulting from the complaints took a full day: "You sit there for hours. By the time I was done renovating, I was mad," says Weiss.  

Since DOBalerts.com launched in April, a few hundred customers have signed up--mainly contractors who heard about it from other contractors.

"This was something the contractors were crying for," says Weiss.