Not a Gut Reno


We are house hunting and seeing a lot of estate sales – usually the verbiage in the listing suggests “bring your contractor” or something along those lines. I really don’t want to do a major renovation at this point – we’re hoping to find something habitable – maybe with a few things that need to be fixed. Can anyone share their experience of not doing a major renovation right off the bat? Is hoping that we’ll be able to repair things as we go too optimistic?

Categories: Renovation
By mimimimi | 06/01/2011 5:08 PM | Comment

Buyers’ Broker


We are about to start looking for a place in Park Slope or Windsor Terrace. Can anyone recommend a broker who’s familiar with those neighborhoods? Thanks!

Categories: Brokers
By mimimimi | 04/15/2011 7:06 PM | Comment

gray grout


Our bathroom has black tile on the floor and cream tiles on the walls. Right now the grout on the walls is white and the grout on the floor is black. The contractor did a kind of messy job where the black and white meet and I’m thinking about regrouting the whole thing with gray grout. Any thoughts about this idea? How does one deal with the caulk around the tub and sink in this case – does it stay white? And is this a project I could do myself? I’m pretty crafty but I’ve never done this myself before …

Categories: Tile
By mimimimi | 01/20/2011 12:29 PM | Comment

sharing back yard


If we’re planning on using the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors for our family and renting out the garden apartment, what is the protocol for sharing the yard? Can we keep it for ourselves or do we have to give the garden renter access?

Categories: Etiquette
By mimimimi | 12/07/2010 1:28 PM | Comment