Try to find where the links are with a candle or somethign similar. Then see if you can silicone around there from the outside.

Posted by: Gosha at October 22, 2008 10:29 AM in response to Drafty Windows

How big is the building that you live in ?
Can you talk to the landlord and help him troubleshoot the problem?

The problem is definitely not in the valve.
It is most likely due to a clogged / incorrectly "pitched" water return line.

Steam turns to water as it cools and is supposed to return to the boiler via a relatively thin pipe that usually branches off the main "riser" somewhere in the basement.
The "riser" is the vertical pipe that your radiator is connected to.
Find where that return pipe is.
Knock on it lightly with something metal (like a key) to check if there is water in it. There should not be any water in there once the steam pipes are no longer too hot to touch.
Find the place where the water is accumulating (the ringing noise from the knocking on the pipe will be very different where there is water in the line). Most likely there is either a clog somewhere between there and the boiler or the pipe is slanted (pitched) away from the boiler some place past there.

Posted by: Gosha at October 21, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Radiator Steam Valves - Recommendations?

I second on the Verrazano floors recommendation.
They are real pros. If anyone can fix anything , it's them.
But don't just blindly trust them, no contractor is ever perfect. Make sure you check everything, before they put down the polyurethane or lacquer.

Posted by: Gosha at October 20, 2008 2:50 PM in response to ISO Flooring Contractor for Parquet Floor Repair

I drive in The Slope daily and bike around very often. Believe me when I say this: it's the bicyclists who are to blame in some of these incidents, not the drivers.
Not sure what exactly happened in the mentioned accident, but some of these guys constantly go against traffic and/or in the middle of the road; not even slowing down for red lights; making dangerous blind turns when lights change, and so on.

Posted by: Gosha at October 20, 2008 2:38 PM in response to Park Slope Wants to Go Both Ways (Traffic-wise)

Try these guys too:
718-753-3771
Speak with Lana.

Posted by: Gosha at October 16, 2008 3:12 PM in response to insurance while doing renovation

Definitely check all radiators.
Vacuum as much of the sut from inside the cast iron rings as you can.
Check if you have any exposed wood that is not lacquered, especially that custom piece. what is the condition of the hardwood floor? It may need to be sanded and laquered as well.

What is the condition of the walls and ceiling, are any beams exposed?

Posted by: Gosha at October 16, 2008 1:09 PM in response to old house smell?

First off, fixing such old windows is most likely more expensive then replacing them with new modular windows, that can be made to look very similar to what you currently have.
I think it's time for you to replace your windows with the more modern GlassPack type. Modern windows are made of a vacuum sealed 2 or more pieces of glass, that is very good at keeping heat where it belongs.
You will definitely notice a considerable improvement in your heating bills and will stop throwing money out the window with the escaping heated air in the winter or cooled air in the Summer.

You do not have to do all windows in one shot(although it will be cheaper in the long run). For now you can just replace the broken ones and see how much of a difference that makes.

I know a good, reasonably priced place for modern windows. They are called Windows R Us (in Bay Ridge).

Posted by: Gosha at October 13, 2008 12:51 PM in response to Help with windows

I had mine painted in summer of 2006 by a general contractor that did a gut renovation of my APT.
I expected him do use heat resistant paint as we have steam heat. According to him if done properly, there was no need in heat resistant paint.
Doing it properly entailed, chemically stripping old paint completely, with some light sanding (be careful they are old pipes and will not stand much abuse) he then painted it with a layer of oil based primer. and then painted it with regular wall paint.

This has held up nicely through 2 heating seasons so far without showing any sign of deterioration. (your results may vary)

Posted by: Gosha at August 6, 2008 3:49 PM in response to Painting the Heat Pipe

I had mine painted last summer by a general contractor that did a gut renovation of my APT.
I expected him do use heat resistant paint as we have steam heat. According to him if done properly, there was no need in heat resistant paint.
Doing it properly entailed, chemically stripping old paint completely, with some light sanding (be careful they are old pipes and will not stand much abuse) he then painted it with a layer of oil based primer. and then painted it with regular wall paint.

This has held up nicely through 2 heating seasons so far without showing any sign of deterioration. (your results may vary)

Posted by: Gosha at August 6, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Painting the Heat Pipe

My coop is considering TKR. They are basically around the corner from us physically. So if they are not responsive We can just go there and get things taken care of (I hope)
Has anyone had a good experience with them? Who is your Rep? What did they do that made you feel like they provided a good service?

We are currently with AFC management (Ari Farkus) and they are basically useless. Anything the we need done we need to manage by ourselves and then take an extra step to make sure that they don't mess it up.

Posted by: Gosha at August 6, 2008 2:32 PM in response to Management Companies/Managing Agents

One more vote for classic tile on 86th St.
If you want nice tile, (and can tell the good tile apart when you see it) You should go there.

they have a huge selection and prices are very good.

Posted by: Gosha at August 6, 2008 12:03 PM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

Thanks, Gosha.

It's a 4-unit brownstone. I can actually get at the boiler myself if necessary, but would much prefer not to.

Posted by: jcoifman at October 22, 2008 10:45 AM in response to Radiator Steam Valves - Recommendations?

I'd suggest storm windows that are called Triple Track. we bought ours from LWP Windows. Very good company. Don't forget to tip the installers a few bucks, they do a good job.

thx, handymaneric.com

Posted by: HandymanEric at October 23, 2008 10:39 AM in response to Drafty Windows

I also recommend Nemo Tile. The showroom is kind of a pain and they are always swamped... but for more basic things like small glass tiles or slate tiles, etc., I go to their warehouse which is just around the corner and they have the basics on display. They will sell you individual tiles if you need a few more tiles. As opposed to the Complete Tile Collection that sells you an entire box of tile if you need only a couple of additional tiles and if tiles arrive broken, they insist you did it because it's sidewalk delivery and therefore you can not prove that it arrived that way. I also agree with the poster above that Nemo is honest. Fast delivery and fairly priced.. next day if it's in stock.

Posted by: janeinteriorsnyc at October 29, 2008 10:58 AM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

Everyone, note the entry Posted by: guest at August 26, 2007 6:36 PM Can you spot the fraudster. Very cute... when was the last time you saw a glowing testimonial like this one? A bit self serving I think. It makes me rather suspicious of the Agent.

Posted by: Cooperator at November 2, 2008 4:33 PM in response to Management Companies/Managing Agents

We recently used Precision Flooring to restore our parquet floors. They did an amazing job (including a considerable amount of repair work on damaged pieces of parquet). I highly recommend them - we really couldn't believe how well they brought our old floor back to life.

Precision Flooring
409 East 57th Street
Brooklyn, N Y 11203

718-629-9589

Posted by: Chip Beef at November 19, 2008 5:32 PM in response to ISO Flooring Contractor for Parquet Floor Repair