Forum
« Deciphering Ownership History Strucural engineer sign-off »
September 21, 2007
Cost of Brownstone Facade Restoration
Different RE brokers have told me that the cost of a brownstone facade restoration is about $100K. Is this accurate? I also later found out that a place I saw had had its facade re-done, but that it was a cheap imitation brownstone material. Anyone know about this?
Comments
Please read the archives this is already covered
Posted by: guest at September 21, 2007 5:38 PM
I gotta say that I think it's odd that you would turn to a RE broker to get this kind of information and/or complete strangers on a blog. Call around to actual experts to get real numbers on actual properties.
Posted by: guest at September 21, 2007 5:50 PM
Using real brownstone (yes, it is still quarried) will set you back at least $100k. Refacing by chipping back the damaged surface and covering with a layer of cement stucco is approx $45-70k for a 4-storey brownstone. This is what most people do.
Patching and painting with a "breathable" masonry paint (not the longest lasting solution but all many of us can afford) will run $18-30k for the same sized house.
Posted by: guest at September 21, 2007 5:53 PM
5:38--the archived posts are from 2005-2006, but you're right, my bad.
Actually, 5:50, the brokers volunteered the info as a selling point for some homes I viewed, ie., "the facade has just been redone and it'll save you $100K." I wasn't ASKING brokers for information. And I did call two different "experts" and received quotes of $125K and $35K for the same job(!!) on a building I was considering purchasing. So something sounded fishy to me there. And isn't the whole point of this blog to ask "total strangers" about brownstones and share relevant information?
Thanks, 5:53.
The aggression on this board, especially evident in today's open house picks and a lot of other recent forum posts, has convinced me that this blog is frequented by way too many sociopathic and clinically depressed people who don't get out much and will never be able to afford the brownstones they salivate over in this blog. Good luck to you all.
Posted by: Emily14 at September 21, 2007 6:36 PM
Oh--and to clarify, the two quotes I received told me they'd be using real brownstone from the Portland quarry in Connecticut, which makes no sense since the quotes were so far apart.
Posted by: Emily14 at September 21, 2007 6:39 PM
This usaed to be a good friendly blog but now is turned to be a real crap.
Emily14 you are totally right.But aniway good luck with your project.
Posted by: guest at September 21, 2007 8:41 PM
a lot of the conversations going on are quite good, given the fact that it's an anonymous blog.
if you want nice chit chat, maybe head over the the park slope parent site or something.
there are distasteful comments, sure...but there is also a lot of great and different viewpoints. not to mention intense ones...which good and bad mean people care. i wish people would get this worked over the war, but maybe they do...this is a site about real estate so i digress.
if you need everything spoon-fed with only the parts you love perfectly and none of which you don't like, you might consider joining a communist society.
Posted by: guest at September 21, 2007 9:00 PM
emily many of the posters on this blog actually own one or more brownstones. I own four. Think whatever you want to think in your own little fantasy world.
Posted by: guest at September 21, 2007 9:34 PM
Emily, do not give on up on Brooklyn. I have written what I hope was friendly and constructive advice on other posts and suffered the keyboard-lashings of other posters, always "guests." Just do not let it get to you. The common theme among many of these mean-spirited posts is that others are "WRONG" or "DREAMING" or living in a "FANTASY WORLD." There is no absolute in real estate so everyone's experience will vary and all we can do is take everything posted as a whole and try to isolate the beneficial. This site, despite being insulted, ridiculed, and dismissed, has given me a great deal of help in making my house a home. An early settler of my neighborhood put it this way, "Thirty years ago the biggest adversity was crime and poverty and now it is attitude and bitterness." I really think Brownstone Brooklyn is worth the effort it takes to ignore negative people.
Posted by: bheightsejp at September 21, 2007 11:19 PM
Emily I believe the disparity in quotes is due to labor not materials. In demand facade restorers price their services high because they have a back log. Cheaper restorers are not in demand due to lower quality of their laobr. If you think this makes no sense as you stated and that labor is an undifferentiated commodity you have quite a lot to learn about brownstones. Quite rude and insulting comments with little knowledge to back up your statements.
Posted by: guest at September 22, 2007 4:58 AM
9/21 9pm and 9:34pm of course confirmed everything Emily said about Brownstoner. So did 9/22 at 4:58am. She obviously hit a nerve here.
By the way, Emily was not rude until someone was rude to HER. Her original post was not rude, 4:58 am. I also found her subsequent rebuttal an articulate, intelligent comeback to inarticulate, unintelligent, unnecessary insult.
Posted by: guest at September 22, 2007 10:17 AM
rude is rude
Posted by: guest at September 22, 2007 6:55 PM
Hi Emily14, I haven't dealt with this particular service but I have gotten quotes that were very far apart in price for the seemingly same work and materials.
I went back to the higher one and asked them to explain what would be different with the higher cost. Most quality people will explain the value of their work. They may also lower the cost if there's negotiation possible.
In some cases the reasoning was sound and the higher cost felt like a better investment and in other cases I decided the lower cost one was sufficient but at least I felt I understood something more of the work to be done.
Posted by: guest at September 23, 2007 3:10 PM
Ok bloggers - let's bottom line it - from relevant experience or hearsay - which are the best service providers for this service (irrespective of price)? If you had to restore your brownstone facade who are you going with - don't explain why - just lay a name on the line......
Posted by: guest at September 23, 2007 8:02 PM
Emily, we do own multiple brownstones and do get out a lot and aren't sad at all. But the best answer is to do your own homework really. This blog isn't the best way to get the real numbers. Ask real people that you actually know for names of good contractors, get them over to see the building and then call and get recent references for their work. It's not rocket science. Ask those helpful realtors where the homeowners went to get their brownstone work done. And follow the above advice. Contractors vary from year to year and job to job. A $125k job will be better than at $35k job. You can save money and do an okay job and then redo the work in a couple of years if it doesn't hold. You might not like this advice but it's the best advice you are going to get. It takes work to own a home. And you end up gambling with contractors every time, unless you go with a super expensive one that is charging you to obliterate that risk, which really is what the extra money is for.
Posted by: guest at September 24, 2007 10:32 AM
The lack of responses to 8:02's challenge is indicative of what this forum has come to be...mostly debaters and haters and few genuists. What happened to Brooklyn's "lay it on the liners - Keepin it simple"!
Posted by: guest at September 24, 2007 11:45 PM
If you want to get ripped off badly, call Progeny, ask for Abdul, not only you will be broke, but unhappy with his work like me. I live in Clinton Hill
Posted by: guest at November 21, 2007 4:28 PM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.