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January 22, 2005
Moldings Restoration Expert
My husband and I recently bought an 1880's brownstone in Prospect Heights. Much of the original plasterwork is intact but needs a serious tune-up. Can anyone recommend a skilled craftsperson for the job? Also, what kind of price range do you think we're looking at?
--Cecily in Prospect Heights
Comments
i have a guy .i use him in my brownstones. his work is amazing but not cheap . he charges me $200 a day plus the cost of materials. let me know if u want his ###
Posted by: electricgreek1 at January 24, 2005 2:20 PM
That doesn't sound super expensive for a skilled craftsman...Hard to imagine finding anyone good for much cheaper.
Posted by: Brownstoner at January 24, 2005 3:23 PM
oh .. i failed to say that he's one of my brother's tenants, so i might be getting a price break .either way he's exellent at what he does.
the coves n 1 of my brownstones went bad on the parlor floor . he redid them and they came out perfect .
im an lanlord but . i treat all my brownstones as if i live in em. historical details are very important to preserve.. sheetrock sucks!!!
Posted by: electricgreek1 at January 24, 2005 3:41 PM
can anyone translate $200/day into an approximate per floor estimate? we would love to restore every floor but may have to give in to drywall for the rentals and splurge on our duplex. garden and parlor in fairly decent shape but needs some repair restore. ballpark estimate per floor for reasonable craftwork? thanks.
Posted by: mcteague at January 24, 2005 4:04 PM
It's really hard to tell how much your particular job will cost because it depends on the complexity of the moldings that you're trying to restore. For instance, a crown molding in a Greek Revival home with a fairly simple design may cost around $150 per linear foot. A more complicated Victorian molding would probably cost more.
Also, it depends on the level of finish that you want. Bringing a crown molding to a level close to perfection can be extremely expensive.
If you're talking just sbout restoring your flat plaster walls, then you have a number of options. One option is to skim coat the walls and ceilings. Since I don't know how many square feet of walls you have, it's impossible to tell how much it would cost. But you should figure on something in the neighborhood of $10,000 per floor for all walls and ceilings (assuming a 25 foot wide house by 50 feet deep).
Of course, you could probably get it cheaper. I'm using my experience of renovating my home to a high standard (but by no means the highest possible!).
The only way you will know for sure is to get three or four contractors to bid on the project.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 24, 2005 5:01 PM
Your question is quite broad so it's hard to do more than give you a ball park. We had all four floors/ceilings skim-coated, painted (wall paper on one floor), some decorative plaster repair, some ceiling repair. All in all, I know the $10,000 per floor the previous poster stated sounds totally insane, but I would guess that we spent something close to that at the end of the day - between several different contractors. Our house was one of those oldies where nothing had been done in 50 yrs and it needed everything. Our footprint is 20 X 45, which is pretty typical.
Posted by: BigBubba at January 25, 2005 1:01 PM
Just finished a six-month plaster restoration project. Contractor was insanely meticulous, is more an artist than a contractor. Half of our crowns on the parlor floor were missing. He used rubber mouldings to create exact duplicates of sections of existing crown and astrigals. Waited five years to find someone whose price wasn't insane. A bit of a bohemian, a screw or two loose, but absolutely amazing at what he does and price was phenomenal (had it done on a school teacher's budget, no less). He's in L.A. now, but would return for serious client (is planning on coming in March).
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