Recommendation for a FAB Plasterer/Skimcoater


After searching high and low for a reputable, reasonably priced and skilled plasterer, I am over the moon happy with the results I received from William Prates Plastering. My husband and I recently purchased a 750sf pre-war 1 bedroom apt, and though there were no real cracks in the walls, there were many layers of gloppy, old paint that really made the place look shabby. William (who goes by Junior) came in and completely transformed our space, making the walls look like they were brand new.

Though we were not planning to replace our baseboard moldings, he realized almost immediately that it was going to be necessary, and quickly switched gears, headed out to Home Depot and took care of that as well.

He hired a painting crew for us as that painted our entire place from top to bottom (including the floors!). He was professional, flexible, and truly gave us a great price.

I am totally and completely head over heels in love with our space now. I remember feeling a bit of sticker price shock upon hearing how much it costs to skimcoat, but having gone through the process now, I can say that it was completely worth it for us.

Contact Junior via email :willianprates68@hotmail.com
(not a typo). His wife Aida often does his scheduling, coordination and translation (Junior speaks Portugese, though his English is very good–he always has Aida follow-up, however, to make sure that he is fully understood) and she is beyond fantastic too.

Feel free to email me at ericabethg at gmail dot com should you wish to hear more about my experience or get a reference.

Categories: Plaster
By ericabethg | 03/19/2008 10:00 PM | Comment

Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?


My husband and I have been seriously apt hunting for a month or so now in Park Slope/Prospect Heights and its been (mostly) incredibly depressing. We’ve seen horribly laid out apartments with 2 bedrooms that really should have only had one, kitchens and bathrooms that were woefully outdated and basically needed to be ripped out, 3rd floor, 4th floor and 5th floor walk-ups, spiral staircases that you needed a jackhammer to get up and down b/c they are so narrow and steep, etc, etc. I was beginning to think that finding a decent place within our budget was a total pipedream…until this weekend.

Through a friend of a friend, we happened to find an amazing (not yet advertised) apartment, in a fab, beautiful, pre-war building, in a spectacular location, and it has everything that we are looking for (high ceilngs, elevator in bldg, charming pre-war details, lots of space, great kitchen minus one or two quirks, original hard wood floors, etc). The *only* hitch is that its an interior courtyard unit–so no view and and the light isn’t fantastic.

Are we crazy for still wanting to buy? I feel like in comparison to everything else we’ve seen, this place is such a gem. Our last apt in manhattan had absolutely killer views and amazing light and our blinds were always closed (except when someone came over so that we could brag about our amazing views).

Am I in major “justifying” mode” or is this problem not *that* horrible if everything else is fab (including the price). With every other place we saw, its been within our budget, but we’d then need to do 50k of work to make it nice and really livable. With this place, I feel like we could do 10-20k of strictly cosmetic work, and it would be a showstopper.

Any opinions? Thanks!

Categories: Real Estate
By ericabethg | 10/15/2007 7:30 AM | Comment