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July 13, 2009

312 Dean Street Cleaning Up Its Act

312-Dean-Street-0709.jpg
This residential building on the corner of Dean Street and 3rd Avenue has always felt a little seedy to us so we took it as a good sign on Wednesday when we cycled past and saw someone powerwashing the paint off the reveal the beautiful original brick underneath. Wonder why the owner's decided to spruce it up at this time? GMAP




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:30 AM | Comments (5)
Categories: Boerum Hill, Quality of Life

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Comments

Let's hope that's a low-pressure, chemical-free spray coming out of that powerwasher, eh?

Posted by: BrooklynButler at July 13, 2009 12:17 PM

Ditto. Either way, kudos, nameless landlord. It's amazing how a simple power-wash can change an eyesore to a property tax-increaser...

Posted by: StructureHub at July 13, 2009 2:30 PM

You can't strip paint off this well with just a powerwash. The stripping chemiclas are applied first, allowed to sit for an hour or two or three and then removed by the power spray. The power spray also removes the mortar from all the joints so the step after stripping is re-pointing. If it is done well (which is unusal in Brooklyn) the facade will look fantastic. This kind of Romanesque revival building usually had tinted mortar. I hope they are doing it right. White or grey mortar on these facades -especially if shmeared on by non-skilled workers will look awful. The wrong mortar will also make the brick effloresce like crazy. This sort of thing looks easy, but it's hard to get it right.

Posted by: Minard Lafever at July 13, 2009 3:15 PM

FYI - It's 306 dean st. that is getting washed. The landlord says they are not using any chemicals, just power washing. Not sure if this was a lie, but that was what they said. There is a great poster inside the building that shows how the building was a Brewery at one point.

Posted by: trago at July 13, 2009 3:24 PM

If they are not using any chemicals then they are blasting the skin off the brick. Once that happens, the brick is no good, it becomes as porous as a sponge.

Posted by: Minard Lafever at July 13, 2009 5:28 PM

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