Free Juniper Plants


Free to a good home – two common juniper plants.
I don’t know much about them but they look sort’ve like this
http://www.southerngrowers.com/Parsonii%20Juniper.jpg .
They were in plastic pots all winter, so they are a little scraggly and need TLC. But there is new growth on them and I think once they get a nice, comfortable, sunny spot, they will be wonderful!
Pick up in Crown Heights (Kingston Avenue near Atlantic). Please email me (blackandwhiteviolet at yahoo) if you can give them a loving home.

Categories: Garden
By Violet | 05/05/2010 4:02 PM | Comment

Raise My Chimney?


We have a two-story limestone house. A five-story building is going up next door. Our chimneys are a few feet from the developer’s new wall. NYC construction code (27-860) says that the developers must raise our chimney to be above the level of their new wall at all times (including during construction). They have not done so.

The still switch on our furnace (hot water heat) went out last week, and again yesterday, because of carbon monoxide build-up. The National Grid tech believes the developer’s new wall is to blame. The DOB sent out an inspector who spoke to the developer’s construction manager and determined that because the wall near our chimneys is not yet completed, the air flow is enough not to cause problems. The wall is bricked so I’m not sure what they mean by not completed. No complaint was filed, no violation found. The DOB suggests we have our furnace looked at (again).

The developer says they’ll inspect our chimneys and decide what they feel needs to be done in a few months, unless we want an inspection sooner. We want it sooner and have told them that repeatedly. As of this afternoon, they say they’ll get back to us.

Does anyone have experience with this issue, and any advice? Does anyone have any idea what alterations to our chimney may be necessary?

Categories: Building Code
By Violet | 12/09/2009 3:04 PM | Comment

once roof leak is fixed, what?


I’m in a two-family limestone. We have a big construction project right next door. We’ve already razed the garden and gutted the finished basement because of issues with the work next door.

The developers put plywood on our roof (there may be foam underneath) to protect it while they build overhead. Once the protection was set up, the next heavy rain (April 20) and we got a leak. It was leaking through the light fixture on the top floor, across that ceiling, and bubbled paint up at the edge of the wall.

The developers put tarp on the roof while investigating the leak and possible roof repairs. Two weeks later the developer is still going through the 2-3 estimates they say they got for the repair or replacement of the roof. (One of the estimates is from Premier, who put on the original roof – which was still under warrantee, and who we recommended.)

Yesterday we had new leaks, despite the tarp and good intentions from the developer. This new leaking is dripping in the nonworking fireplace, behind a metal grate. I don’t know where it’s coming from.

My question is, once the roof is repaired and there is no longer leaking, and the bubbled up ceiling is repaired, should I consider the problem fixed? Or is there some sort of remediation I need to do – to look for rotting boards or mold in the ceiling? What do you think? I’m nervous because we don’t know where the leak is from, where the water has travelled… I don’t want the developers to walk away after fixing only the initial damage, only to find more damage that was hiding. I hope my question is clear…

Categories: Roofers
By Violet | 05/04/2009 3:36 PM | Comment