Can the stair hall be included the top floor apartment?


Hi Brownstoners!

We live in a narrow four storey 3-family brownstone, where the long partition that separates the living area from the stair hallway is not load-bearing.

On the top floor of the house, the hall provides access to a cat ladder to the roof hatch as well as the 4th floor apartment door.

We are thinking about making the top flight of stairs, skylight, and hallway part of the 4th floor apartment, by adding a new apartment door for the 4th floor starting on the 3rd floor and closing off the stair balustrade area. The beautiful daylight from the stair skylight (and also the cat ladder to unoccupied roof) would then become part of the apartment’s interior space.

Is there any reason why this configuration might not be permitted? Does roof hatch access from a common hall need to be maintained for some code reason?

If we ever needed to get on the roof without going through the tenant space, there is an alternate exterior fire escape.

Am I missing something?

Thank you in advance.

Categories: Renovation
By vicki_vale | 03/26/2011 3:48 PM | Comment

Steam Pressure & Leaks


Our ancient boiler finally bit the dust, so we hired Keyspan / National Grid to replace it with a Burnham IN6 gas-fired steam boiler, for our one-pipe steam heating system. We have a four-story townhouse.

The original system & the radiators seemed to work fine without any troubles until now. For reference we used Size No 4′s air valves on the 1st floor, increasing to Size D on the top floor.

Three of our radiators have sprung leaks since the new boiler has been installed. They hiss & whistle and water burbles from the air valves, and now water is also leaking from the pipe-to-radiator connection as well.

So the installer reduced the pressure from 5 psi to 3 psi, but this hasn’t stopped the hissing and leaks. They said the radiators were not in their scope of work, and suggested that I should hire another plumber to correct the problem.

The manufacturer literature for Burnham cites numbers like 0.5 psi to 2 psi, so the 3 psi to 5 psi range that Keyspan used seems high. Could this be forcing steam out of the radiator pipes in unexpected ways? Am I even comparing correct numbers?

I am going to try replacing the air valves with new ones, but I need to know why the radiators might be leaking. Before I call in another plumber, any suggestions what may be going on?

Categories: Heating
By vicki_vale | 01/13/2009 10:16 AM | Comment

St Stephens Sacred Heart School Opening?


After a bunch of demolition & construction this summer, today there were moving trucks at the St.Stephens (Sacred Heart) school on Summit Street, next to the church, between Henry St and Hicks Street.

Is this really re-opening as a school? After being empty for so long I was wondering if it was going to be flipped into condominiums!

Any ideas on opening date ?

Categories: Landmarks
By vicki_vale | 08/27/2008 9:57 PM | Comment