Window Gate for sale


74″ silver gate with runners and hardware. It shuts and latches into locked position, not a keyed lock. Pick up in Park Slope. $50.

917-685-9250

Categories: Windows
By jland | 11/04/2010 12:08 PM | Comment

Sprucing Up Kitchen Cabinets


Our kitchen cabinets are the run-of-the-mill sort, and the general wear over the decades has taken its toll. We’d like to rejuvenate them up without doing a full refinishing. They’re not worth stripping and etc, but we like them fine. Can anyone advise on the best way to do a sprucing up of these things?

Thanks!

Categories: Woodwork
By jland | 05/02/2010 1:50 PM | Comment

Mortgage Points Type


I’m grappling with the actual results of the difference between an Origination Fee point and a Discount point. I’m fighting with the lender to make it the latter, but it’s only a total of $2,500.

Aside from being able to deduct it, are there any other reasons to fight to make the point prepaid interest instead of a fee for getting the loan when it’s that amount of money?

Thanks.

Categories: Mortgage
By jland | 04/19/2010 5:34 PM | Comment

Permit Posting Required?


For jobs where permits are required, is it a requirement that construction permits must be posted on a job site? Or just that they can be presented when asked for?

Categories: Construction
By jland | 09/22/2009 4:13 PM | Comment

Need floor guy recommendation


I need to pull off a hall area that has tile (the ugly faux wood tile) and put down engineered cherry wood. The wood flooring is already chosen but I need to have the tile removed before I can determine the thickness I can go with. It’s a bit tricky, so I’m looking for someone who does a lot of underfloor work, who can pull up thinset, cement board, etc. and deal with fixing whatever damage ensues from the removal. It’s a relatively small space, about 90 sq ft., 3rd floor of a brownstone.

Because the tile is so much higher (3/4 “) from the floors around it, we have a feeling the tile guy just laid it over what was there, but we can’t determine that until the floor comes up.

Thanks!

Categories: Floors
By jland | 09/04/2009 11:31 AM | Comment

Crystal Aluminum windows?


I’ve gotten some info on them from searching, but I’d love some more before I pull the trigger. Even though they don’t qualify for the rebate (the 2000 series), the next up I’m looking at, the Trimline Wood/Aluminum, which does, will still end up being more than a little extra than the rebate difference, which I’m not even assured of getting all $1,500 of.

We’re fixing up our new condo (that won’t actually convert for a while) Third floor brownstone, lots of light, currently have old, crappy wood windows, most of which are broken. Money is a little tight, but I still want to make a smart choice I don’t like any of the options less expensive than the aluminum Crystal, but am I wrong for not going straight to the wood/al, cost be damned? The actual U Factor/SHGC aren’t different enough to be in another zone of perception, just that the aluminum missed the target mark to qualify.

Are the Crystals an OK choice?

Thanks so much for any guidance.

Categories: Windows
By jland | 07/27/2009 11:35 AM | Comment

Roof work during this rain?


Has anyone gotten any roof work done during this unusually rainy season? Just curious how much the attributing my roof guy has given to it for putting us off for so long is the case across the board for roof renovations. I’m hearing stories from friends elsewhere that rain hasn’t stopped it like it’s stopping us, but they’re in the suburbs, and not in brownstones. Still, I’m a tad concerned we’ve got a less than realistically aggressive contractor.

Thanks,

By jland | 07/10/2009 4:06 PM | Comment

Energy Saving Rebate Question


We’re currently choosing between window upgrades, and there’s one unanswered question regarding the tax rebate. Each homeowner gets 30% of the cost (if the window qualifies) up to $1,500 per year in tax rebates. In our case, we have four families in an LLC converting to condos, and there are upcoming common renovations, such as roof and basement work, that would seem to be candidates for rebates when those bridges get crossed. Are these energy rebates only available for individuals and not common building upgrades? If they are, does the common rebate amount cut into the $1,500 total of my window rebate, or are they considered separate and not co-mingling totals?

Thanks : )

Categories: Environmental, Renovation, Windows
By jland | 07/10/2009 1:45 PM | Comment