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January 23, 2008
fixer-upper in co-op
We are considering purchasing a fixer-upper in a smallish co-op (about 16 units) that will involve a good deal of work (rebuilding some parts of the ceiling, redoing the kitchen and bathroom, probably some electrical and plumbing upgrades, refinishing the floors, etc.). We are renovation amateurs but are hoping to learn how to do as much of the work as possible on our own.
I am wondering if there are significant issues with doing DIY renovations in a co-op apartment (as opposed to in your own brownstone). Is there anything we should be particularly concerned about, or any particular questions we should be asking before making an offer?
For example, I’m wondering if a co-op board would prevent us from doing certain types of work ourselves because of our lack of experience or because we’re not licensed or insured. We would intend to do the work on evening and weekends – could that pose a problem as well?
Thanks in advance for your responses!
Comments
Coop boards are sticklers for enfocring rules and regulation.
Usually work on the evenings or week-ends are out of the question.
Tell the board you would like to tackle it on your own.
.Before you go to them it might be a good idea to get a coop insurance policy for your apartment.
if they deny your request you can argue that you have an insurance policy on your residence.
Let's hope this works.
Posted by: Ysabelle at January 23, 2008 8:36 PM
There is almost no way a decent co-op board would allow you to do renovations yourself and jeopardize the well-being and safety of your adjacent residents.
You need a contractor who is licensed and insured. Any co-op that would let you, is one that you should stay away from.
Posted by: guest at January 23, 2008 9:08 PM
Ysabelle-
Co-op insurance policies do not cover you for doing your own construction work. You need a special insurance policy to cover this.
Posted by: guest at January 23, 2008 9:10 PM
Yeah, the significant issues are that if you screw up the electric, plumbing, or other services you screw your neighbors as well. Don't even THINK about learning plumbing in an apt.!
9:08 has it right.
You can probably hang kitchen cabinets and cosmetic stuff but all this is not as easy as you think. Hire someone and offer to work with them if you want to learn.
Denton
Posted by: denton at January 24, 2008 7:52 AM
Like the previous posters mentioned, most co-ops restrict the hours you can do work. Ours only allows work between 9 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday. No work can be done on weekends or holidays. That makes handling renovations while working full-time tricky.
Co-ops also won't let you handle electrical or plumbing work. This must be done by workers who are licensed and insured.
As renovation amateurs, I urge you to consider the time you have available to do the work and quality of the work you’ll be able to do. When we purchased our co-op, we thought we would do a lot of the renovation work ourselves--including patching up plaster walls after having the entire apartment rewired. After one week, we’d barely made a dent in one room. (We initially thought we’d be able to finish the entire place in one week. Boy we were naive.) Be sure to allow yourself plenty of time. Also, consider whether you’ll be happy with the quality of work you’ll be able to do. Sometimes you’ll find a task is much harder than it first seems and your work may not be as polished as a professional’s.
Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 9:55 AM
Amen.
Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 9:39 PM
We lived through this same situation in an 8 unit co-op. We hired a plumber and electrician and did all of the other work ourselves. Before us, the co-op did not have official renovation rules, but they voted on and implemented them soon after we moved in and started working. We were restricted to doing noisy work M-F 8-5, Sat 9-5. Since we were working full-time, you can imagine how long it took... we were doing a complete renovation of 1250 sq feet. - Two years and alot of patience!
Posted by: guest at March 25, 2008 5:01 PM
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