Forum: Renovation
February 27, 2008
Great contractor
All around a great contractor for our 5 month reno job. We recommend this contractor very much. He was much less expensive than all other quotes we received and still did a fabulous job. House is close to finished, so you can meet him and see him work if you like. Contact me at upstreamaccess@yahoo.com is you'd like to see our house. He should be available to you for April.
February 26, 2008
Lead Paint
I am planning on doing some renovations to my pre-war apartment, but before I begin, I want to make sure I take the proper precautions with respect to lead paint.
Anyone have any tips on precautions that should be taken?
Can anyone recommend a lead paint testing company and/or a good HEPA filter?
Thanks in advance!
February 23, 2008
Recommending Construction/Renovators
I just completed a project with EuroStar Renovation and so please with the job they have done for my husband & I that I wanted to share it with the forum.
We've had other contractors work for us in the past and have always had issues. Eurostar gave us the most personalized attention we've ever had. They went to with us to all the stores to help us purchase the best quality materials at the best price. There estimates were itemized and completely reasonable. They provided design ideas and all of the work was finished on time. They are fully licensed w/permit, which was important for us. They completed a very complex renovation in a timely matter and, to top it all off, this husband & wife team were a pleasure to work with.
Please take my word for it and give them a call (718) 846-1039. They will provide you with more referrals and before & after photos. After working with so many contractors, I am confident in recommending them as the best!
February 20, 2008
Recs for Gut Reno (Design/Build or Architect)
Gut renovating our townhouse - high end job (but not over the top). Any highly recommended design/build firms, or maybe an excellent architect who can pull together subs in a cost efficient manner. Thank you.
Contractor Suggestions Wanted
My husband and I just bought a condo in Brooklyn Heights. We are renovating the kitchen, a full bath an a half bath. We are looking for recommendations for licensed/insured contractors who can knock down walls, tile work in kitchen & bathrooms, install toilets, sinks and new vanities. Thanks!
Renovation - price comparisons
Dear All:
I am hoping to gain some valuable advice from those out there who have gone through kitchen and general renovations. I am about to embark on my third (and hopefully last) phase renovation in my brownstone home. In this phase I am going to renovate my kitchen and a guest room to accommodate our daughter who is quickly growing out of her small nursery room. The bids that I have received so far from both an electrician and contractor seem a bit high; granted the last renovation I did was in 2004 and I did not do a kitchen renovation at anytime. I want to ask those who have been through all of this before and fairly recently if they feel the numbers add up. Here are the figures I have gotten to date:
Electrical work: $18,000(this includes re-wiring kitchen, installing 4 high hats in ceiling, new plugs, dimmers, under the counter lighting), re-wiring bedroom (this includes on center ceiling light fixture and new plugs), and some re-wiring in a back livingroom area to accommodate and mount new flat screen TV).
Contractor bid: $37,000
This includes preparing the kitchen for new cabinets, renovating new bedroom (new dry wall, new windows, new closet construction, painting).
I realize that not all details have been included, but that is the job in a nutshell. Any advice that can be afforded would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all in advance.
Renovating a house in terrible shape???
hi, we are considering purchasing a brownstone in terrible condition. It is, in fact, quite scary - you would NOT want to live there in its current state.... But, most (if not all) of the original detail is present - fireplaces; plaserwork; moldings; woodwork; etc... We understand how expensive this undertaking can/will be. However, I guess we lack "vision" and are concerned that we could make a truly beautiful house out of it given the current state of disrepair. As for the current state - the floor has been mostly covered with nasty lineloeum; the bathrooms look like something out of a bus stop; there are holes (water damage) in the ceiling; the staircase (original) feels a bit rickety at places.... Putting aside the cost of renovation which we know will run the range of $500 -$750K), we just want to make sure that this place is "salvageable". In that regard, I was hoping someone could post "before" and "After" pictures of their homes that looked the way I describe this one prior to their renovation.
I guess my concern is the following - we have seen beautiful homes that need a full renovation, but the homes looked like they just needed a bit of sprucing up. (Ie, painting, minor repairs, new kitchens/bathrooms). But because those homes also needed all new plumbing/electric, they needed a major renovation. This house, however, looks like it needs much more than sprucing up and we just were hoping to see confirmation that such a house could be rescued.
thanks!
100 k--how far can this go
Just closing on a brownstone and want to do work on the parlor floor (Ultimately this first project would be 'phase one' of an overall plan for the house.) What we are hoping to do in the short term is install new flooring, expand the kitchen, convert a full bath to a half, renovate the parlor floor fireplace and possibly open up the wall into the stairwell. Our overall budget for this one floor would be 100-
$150k (not including architect design fees or incidentals.)
Am I crazy to think we can do all this with this budget?
If you were an architect would you consider taking this gig?
I just want to make sure I'm not approaching architects and offending them or sending them into fits of laughter by even suggesting it...
February 19, 2008
Projects: Where to get started?
We're closing on a house next month that has already been renovated, but we're considering undertaking a few projects before moving in (about 8 weeks after closing). We're just not sure if we need an architect, designer, or contractor, etc. We'd like to redo the smallish kitchen (replace cabinets, put sink in the island, possibly replace the tile floor with wood), plus replacing a small "shed" like extension off the back wall of the building with a bigger structure or even knocking down a wall and making the room a true extension. And/or turning a window into french doors. We'd like to get some design ideas as well as cost estimates before we decide how much work we're going to be able to do. Any advice or where to get started?
February 18, 2008
Paging Mrs. Limestone - need your input
Mrs Limestone - I have loved all your color choices.
Questions:
1) My daughter's room is painted BM Lily Lavender - what color drapes would go well?
2) If I have carrera marble tiles installed on bathroom floors, what color grout goes well with that?
3) What are your paint colors again by room?
February 17, 2008
cost to gut reno 16.5 x 40 brownstone?
Does $500-600K sound high, low, or realistic to gut renovate a 16.5 x 40 3 story brownstone, including all professional fees (i.e. if we use an architect)? We originally thought work was mainly cosmetic but following inspection, it really does seem to be a gut reno. Currently used as 2 family (lower duplex with garden kitchen, and top floor rental) that's kind of chopped up, we want to take over whole house. We thought we wanted kitchen moved to parlor but are open to keeping on garden if that's more economical, and if the garden can be made to feel like less of the dungeon it currently feels like. We do NOT want central AC, and in general are not "fancy" types - we like simple, clean, contemporary but not super high end (i.e. we're fine making compromises like Ikea kitchen cabinets). Also, there's little to no detail to preserve.
Thoughts?
February 16, 2008
Sunroom
we're thinking of adding a sunroom but have no idea where to begin. of course, we want something affordable yet not cheesy. another option is having part of our kitchen under the a small sunroomed area. has anyone had this type of renovation or design? what are the pitfalls? i'm also concerned about heating/ac costs it might add as it would be a room well-used through 4 seasons.
thanks
February 15, 2008
Park Slope Renovation Advice?
My husband and I are interested in buying a fixer-upper in Park Slope.
This will be our first time renovating a home, and his first time buying a home. The apartment we're interested in is about 750 sq. feet on the top floor of a prewar townhouse. We think it's a good value (at around $420k), but we're worried about reno costs, neighbors, borough regulations, the coop board... Do you have any advice for us?
By the way, we're talking a gut renovation with limited cash available ($25k now and another $25k later in the year). Inspector thinks it's a decent apartment but needs lots of work.
February 13, 2008
Contractor price per square foot?
We are considering buying a modest brownstone - 16.5 x 40', 3 stories (currently used as 2 family with top floor rental). What is a "safe" cost per sq ft to budget for renovation? It seems to be all over the map - I've been quoted 200/psf up to 500/psf. We are not "fancy" types - we have a tight budget and like a simple, clean look (a la Dwell magazine) and are not dealing with restoring tons of old detail, since the house does not have much. So far, a couple of architects have said we could squeak by and renovate 2 floors for 200-250K, but I have trouble meshing that to contractor prices I've been given.
Re: work we want to do - The house is in decent shape but we do want to do pretty major work including: flipping configuration so that we could first live on upper duplex (and hopefully eventually afford to take over garden) though this means putting kitchen on parlor; nearly gutting parlor floor (taking down a bunch of walls, creating kitchen & possibly a powder room and closet); top floor some reconfiguration but not as extreme - mainly ripping out kitchen to make bedroom larger (currently that room is a LR) and possibly add closet space, renovate bath and add add'l closet space, and maybe change door entry point to small study in front half of room (currently opens from adjacent BR, we want it to open from hall).
We are about to go to contract but are dying to get more of a sense of the true cost of renovation - can it done be rather thriftily? To me, 200-250K seems like a hell of a lot of money!
Thanks -
February 12, 2008
Looking for closet door ideas
I really don't like the classic louvered doors. I'm replacing 2 sets of mirrored sliding doors.
Thanks.
February 9, 2008
Small vanity w/ white marble sink needed..
Looking to have a black vanity with white carrera marble sink customed made for a guest bathroom, as I can't find any stock items because of my size requirements (20" wide, 34" high and here's the kicker, 12" deep).
Any source recommendations would be appreciated.
February 5, 2008
building over an air shaft
Hi, We would like to possibly build out over our building's airshaft to add a utility closet and laundry. We're on the 2nd floor so there is no rough-in floor. But, the wall is a shared wall with the bathroom so we at least know there are some plumbing lines nearby. I know this is possible, but can't begin to guess on what it would cost how it would work. We'd need to build a ceiling too. And what would the floor actually sit on?? Should we try to find an architect since some structural would be necessary? Overall, it is a fairly small space (~4'x4') so would it really be worth all the money and effort? Has anyone done this before?
Thanks!
February 4, 2008
ceilings and floors and basements
We are interested in a house but we need to finish the basement and rip up the carpet and dropped ceiling and restore the wide plank wood floors and tin ceiling (we've seen them, and they look to be in decent condition). What kind of time/price are we looking at for something like that? One other thing, a former sunporch was walled in and has wood paneling. How hard to turn back into a sunporch?
Any advice appreciated.
February 3, 2008
Asbestos Removal
Our coop just had the basement in our basement removed and the pipes re insulated by Leinster Contracting Services after reading recommendations for them on this forum. They did an excellent job for a competitive price. We have been getting other work done and I wish all contractors could be this easy to work with. Our primary contact was Pat Hogan (347-408-9190)
February 1, 2008
new kitchen
I just wanted to share my new DIY kitchen. The whole thing came in under $400. I guess the biggest price chopper was purchasing a one burner hot plate($10.99) instead of a GE profile stove. Also the plywood shelf for dishes instead of the "whole cabnetry shabang". I love my cozy kitchen!