Harlemite249's Profile
Author's Posts
February 13, 2008
Water damage!
Some pipes on my neighbor's garden floor burst this morning, and flooded my basement, including water running along the drywall on the ceiling and dripping to the floor via the light sockets. The basement is not finished, and although I store personal items down there it is just stuff, so I am not overly concerned. But I am wondering what kind of actual damage there might be to ceiling and electrical and how I should go about have it assessed/remedied.
November 13, 2007
Minimum Heat Requirements in a two family
Anyone know what the minimum heat requirment is for a a two-family dwelling? Is it the same as for a multi-family?
November 7, 2007
Moving Enormous Gas Range For Mouseproofing
I have a 48" Wolf range that, by all appearances, is heavy as heck. An extermination service mouse-proofed my house but for around the gas line behind the stove because they aren't insured for the task of moving the range. Thing is, despite the mouse-proofing and follow-ups, I still have the little critters. Should I go through the trouble/expense of getting someone to move the range (I am 5 ft tall and 100 pounds so no way I can do it myself), and if so, what things do I need to consider in making arrangements to move such a huge piece of equipment? Or is the occasional mouse something that I just have to learn to live with?
Author's Comments
My garden unit tenant in our brownstone (we live upstairs) has been very unhappy about the heat as well. And we actually keep ours a bit higher than yours up to 70+ in the morning and never lower than 68, even at night. I looked into it and called the city, and your legal obligation is for the temperature in the unit to actually be 68 degrees anywhere in the unit from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. -- what you have your thermo set for doesn't matter one bit to the city. If your tenants get wise and call the city, and you are found in violation, the fine is $500 per day. The temp in the garden unit was dipping down below 68 degrees several times during the day. For us, I was unwilling to turn the heat up any higher to guarntee 68 degree temp all day in that unit, so I bought my tenant two state of the art space heaters for about $60 bucks each, and gave her a $50 allowance for electricity for Dec., Jan., and Feb. Now the ball is in her court. The way I read the city regs this is legit.
Posted by: Harlemite249 at November 25, 2007 2:53 PM in response to Landlords: what temps do you set your thermostats to?
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
Marcy Pesner of Beagletiles -- beagletiles.com, I think. She's great and her workshop is right in Gowanus/downtown. Beautiful work, reasonable prices, excellent service. She did alot of built-ins for our new house -- loads of built-in cabinets and bookcases.
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 4:44 PM in response to custom cabinets
stephen peck. a little crotchety but talented
Posted by: Cobblekrill at November 7, 2007 8:18 PM in response to custom cabinets
Emerald Furniture ask for Aiden (718- 237-1619)...tell him Allan recommended you...I shot his work for his portfolio...I shot these photos this summer in East Hampton...he did all the cabinet work...
http://picasaweb.google.com/allansuarez/ToilsomeLaneEastHamptonProject
Posted by: guest at November 8, 2007 12:43 AM in response to custom cabinets
Steve Rayboy from Urban Exteriors. He built us a beautiful deck and radiator covers. He a good cabinetmaker, and easy to deal with.
http://www.urbanexteriors.biz/built-in.html
Posted by: guest at November 8, 2007 8:43 AM in response to custom cabinets
Jack Gavin at St John's Woodworking does lovely work and is a really nice guy:
http://www.saintjohnsplace.com/
Posted by: nyflicka at November 8, 2007 8:59 AM in response to custom cabinets
We swear by our ratzapper.com
Posted by: CrownGardener at November 8, 2007 1:05 PM in response to custom cabinets
Your settings are fine. Make a visit to the apartments (preferably on a very cold day) to check the heat for yourself. Don't be surprised if the cold tenant answers the door in a t-shirt.
Posted by: guest at November 25, 2007 3:04 PM in response to Landlords: what temps do you set your thermostats to?
OP here. Thanks for your comments. Just to clarify the thermostat is on a much colder floor than this apartment, so it definitely is much higher than the number on the screen (68/62.) We just turned the temp up a few degrees to buy ourselves some peace. We have new double pane windows, a new efficient boiler and have had master plumber in to optimize our whole system in the past.
Posted by: guest at November 26, 2007 9:46 AM in response to Landlords: what temps do you set your thermostats to?
Count me as a wimp. I hate being cold. I live in my building and I am cold below 70 and very happy at 72. Even having set it at that level, last year my top floor tenants were trying not to be wimps and complain about being cold, until they did and I couldn't understand it. I went up there and it WAS cold. Reason, I had the wrong valves on the radiators which during transitional times heated my apartment nicely (thermostat was there) but didn't keep the boiler on long enough to take the heat all the way to the top. I changed the valves and everybody is happy. Ditto to others comments - give them what you give yourself. You don't want people heating their own spaces. This assumes that the rents are covering your costs. Always negotiate a rate that will pay you enough to take care of people.
Posted by: donatella at November 26, 2007 2:51 PM in response to Landlords: what temps do you set your thermostats to?
Remember that the thermostat and the temperatur can be very different. I keep a little thermometer next to the thermostat and it routinely shows that the thermostat show a temperature about 3-5 degrees under the ambient temperature read by the thermometer.
Posted by: guest at November 27, 2007 11:01 AM in response to Landlords: what temps do you set your thermostats to?
Little Wolf. They did very nice work on bookshelves and cabinets in my house.
Posted by: Harlemite249 at November 7, 2007 4:43 PM in response to custom cabinets