Thanks again all for your feedback on this. Bruce is correct to clarify the situation.

Here are the problems associated with the current exposed subfloor situation-

-Space between the planks
-Dust coming up between the planks
-Softness of old pine allows the boards to deflect - which leads to cracking of the edges where they are still close
-General sponginess of just having a sub-floor
-Noise
-150+ years of frame house settlement combined with sistering of the joists in the past leads to some seriously wavy floors in places (though this is the least of the problems.)

The pine still *looks* really great as a top layer floor-

So the plan would be to pull up the pine carefully, place the subfloor and sound barriers as described above and re-lay the floor. The result would be a more solid floor, less noise, less deflection and wear to the boards themselves, less dust coming out of the joist space, and a more even, though not perfectly level floor.

Posted by: Park Place at November 12, 2009 11:34 AM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

Thanks all for the info.

Might decide to try this on one room this year (starting in the attic so we can continue to live in the house...)

Posted by: Park Place at November 10, 2009 9:54 AM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

Someone put this up in the forum weeks back, and the comments solved it then.

They did not only spray the sidewalks, they also spraypainted walls in the neighborhood. They should pay some tickets, no?

Posted by: Park Place at November 9, 2009 11:42 AM in response to 21123 Revealed - And Exposed

David King's website actually has an amazing treehouse project description. Too bad that's not his firm- this was nice tree to work with-

Posted by: Park Place at October 29, 2009 12:48 PM in response to Development Watch: Fischer Out at 572 5th Avenue

If you view source on their site, there is an indication that this is for a condo on 211 23rd street. If you google street view that location, sure enough, there is a condo there that's presale.

If this is true, then it's also worth noting that this group behind this has also spray painted the 'what's 21123' logo on walls in the neighborhood- not just a sticker campaign. Totally obnoxious.

Posted by: Park Place at October 26, 2009 11:14 PM in response to What IS 22123?!

We love our Jenn Air 30" slide in with downdraft and modular grill/burner option. Really good high btu burner. Good temp control. Switch out indoor grill is great. The downdraft spot is nice to push a pot off the burner to rest.

The indoor grill is surprisingly useful-

Posted by: Park Place at October 20, 2009 12:18 PM in response to Help with stove/range

Ghost trees!

Posted by: Park Place at October 13, 2009 3:54 PM in response to Development Watch: 433 3rd Avenue, Now and Later

Exterior Alklyd would work on metal-

You can mix a tiny bit of sand into the last coat for the top of the stairs to create a better grip.

Posted by: Park Place at October 13, 2009 8:00 AM in response to Exterior metal paint

Rob- bodega beer is super expensive. If you really want cheap beer, get down to 3rd ave and go the beer distributor.

Posted by: Park Place at October 6, 2009 8:05 PM in response to Development Watch: 150 4th Avenue Rising

Wood boring beetles- (powder post beetles and false powder post)- look like termite-ish beetles. They have wings and legs and long bodies-

they also eat old house wood just like termites, and they are active this time of year.

Posted by: Park Place at October 5, 2009 12:43 PM in response to Unusual Bug Infestation

Might be powder post beetles or related species-

Find that they try to come into our place around this time every year-

Posted by: Park Place at October 5, 2009 11:39 AM in response to Unusual Bug Infestation

Reading above, and in the last posts on this topic- sounds like this could work well for the skilled do it yerselfer- were it not for the landmarks part.

Posted by: Park Place at September 29, 2009 2:14 PM in response to House of the Day: 329 Adelphi Street Reduced

Anyone have a list of what's wrong with the house-

Electric
Plumbing
sagging joists
rot
termites
roof

All of it? More of it?

Posted by: Park Place at September 29, 2009 2:04 PM in response to House of the Day: 329 Adelphi Street Reduced

This would be great. No different than sharing the street with cars, and probably safer if you can separate it.

Views are not relevant- cyclists who are going to stop and ogle the skyline are in other cyclists way.

While we are at it, there should be better enforcement of the non-cycle path on the Manhattan bridge.

Posted by: Park Place at September 29, 2009 10:32 AM in response to Bikes and Bodies on the Brooklyn Bridge

There's a lot of car stripping and stealing (and sometimes burning) on these quiet dead end blocks next to the cemetary. Reducing the cars parked here is probably not a big deal. Also probably best for these new residents to have their car behind closed doors.

Posted by: Park Place at September 29, 2009 10:29 AM in response to Curb Cut-apalooza at The Minerva

We need the same kind of cover to be built over the prospect expressway- between 7th ave and 5th ave

As for the trolley comments above- you could run the trolleys from Sunset Park all the way to Greenpoint if you just followed the right of way of the Gowanus and the BQE. You could connect them to the trains that ran close to the waterfront the whole way through

Posted by: Park Place at September 21, 2009 12:20 PM in response to What to Do with the BQE Ditch

Brooklyn has ample right of way space under the BQE and Gowanus expressways. It would be very easy to run trolleys the entire way, and these could easily connect with nearby subways.

Posted by: Park Place at August 18, 2009 11:12 AM in response to Resurrecting Red Hook's Trolley Tracks

P.S.- I'm looking at the proposed sites- I think you need to push hard on P2- those other sites are too small for a dog run, and they are directly next to houses, or a grammar school. Additionally- P3, which is way too small was recently planted over because the city did not want a dog run there.

Posted by: Park Place at July 16, 2009 12:37 PM in response to South Slope / GH Dog Run

Hey- great. Totally support this. When this goes through, we should also start a push to cover the damn expressway, and reunite the parks on both sides. Imagine how nice that would be...

Posted by: Park Place at July 16, 2009 12:30 PM in response to South Slope / GH Dog Run

We used them for our house purchase- they were indeed personable and honest, and found me the best rate for my needs. We used Isaac Shalom, but everyone I spoke to was great.

Posted by: Park Place at June 24, 2009 10:00 PM in response to Universal Mortgage in Brooklyn?

You can find a little woodframe in Greenwood for around that price these days it will need some work, but you'll be closer to the city and the other brownstone brooklyn neighborhoods than if you move out to the ridge. Bay Ridge is indeed a lovely neighborhood.

Jersey City is nothing like real housewives- it's got great architecture and what seems like a pretty diverse community, and it's very close to anywhere you'd need to get in Manhattan.

Posted by: Park Place at June 24, 2009 10:19 AM in response to Townhouse for $600k?

Many developers would have put much uglier, less functional, and intentionally more downmarket construction on this site-- and many continue to do so on nearby blocks.

Regardless of how you feel about the aesthetic, I think it's wonderful that someone attempted slightly upscale and modern design for single family homes across the street from this landmark cemetary.

Posted by: Park Place at June 22, 2009 3:56 PM in response to Development Watch: 614 7th Avenue

Dave- This place is very similar to the place we've been working on for the last year. Hats off to you if you take on a wood frame. They are way underappreciated in this area, and many of them predate the brownstones.

Curious to hear what the real condition is. Many people assume a gut renovation when sometimes you can tread more lightly on the house and still make it pretty good. Is the electric two wire exposed? Cloth? Is the plumbing all original? In a lot of ways, the wood houses are easier to work on and restore, as long as they have sound foundations and no termites.

Also- if you ever do buy it, looking forward to comiserating with you on finding a good wooden stoop restorer in Brooklyn.

Posted by: Park Place at June 22, 2009 1:54 PM in response to House of the Day: 329 Adelphi Street

Once consideration- The sphere rule usually applies to all the stair parts- you may run into code trouble with the open risers for that reason. Don't know, but you'll want to check that-

Posted by: Park Place at June 12, 2009 11:04 AM in response to Open tread stairs and cable side

Was speaking with the guy who was working on it- think it's just one of the Southside coffee guys with another set of partners. He mentioned something about the chef from the Grammercy Tavern. At any rate, we'll be very excited for this neighborhood space to have a restaurant again!

Posted by: Park Place at June 12, 2009 10:14 AM in response to Kitchen Bar Out, Lot 2 In

paperstone

Posted by: Park Place at June 10, 2009 4:49 PM in response to eco alternative to formica?

It was a bad idea to begin with to put the bike lane on a heavily trafficed commercial two way street that's lousy with pedestrians, delivery trucks, and store/bar parking.

The bike lanes (which are not a bad idea) would be better placed be put on other avenues- with less delivery traffic and fewer crowds of pedestrians crossing mid block during peak hours- like 6th ave, for instance-

Posted by: Park Place at June 10, 2009 9:50 AM in response to CB6, Fifth Avenue BID Going After Bike Lane

We have a 1 BR listed on craigslist for 1300- full floor of a private house (our house) with a small patio. South Slope/Greenwood- 18th between 4th and 5th-

Craigslist Ad here:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/abo/1189176187.html

Posted by: Park Place at May 27, 2009 10:28 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

For what it's worth-

We had a good experience with Premiere recently where they did similar work for a similar price. I think if you have leaks now, any recent work is really a sunk cost- no roofer will give you a warranty on the new roof, unless they've done the whole roof themselves.

best of luck-

Posted by: Park Place at May 13, 2009 10:54 AM in response to Roofing quotes

The south slope house was a solid renovation. Not super high end, but very livable- nice ikea kitchen, sliding glass doors to the back, good bathrooms and good layout for the rental on the ground floor. Think that area of the South Slope is a good spot- although as people mention, prospect is a busy street.

Posted by: Park Place at May 12, 2009 12:08 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

We use Kemper (through a local agent) They insured us after a little bit of a fight. They seem more willing to keep us because they also have our car.

Brownstone Agency also seems to cover brooklyn homes near the water (they are all near the water).

Posted by: Park Place at May 12, 2009 8:41 AM in response to Can't Get Insured Near Water

The raised hightway and raised train infrastructure provides perfect placement for streetcars- All along northern Atlantic Ave, for instance; park ave/wallabout area/gowanus/BQE/Prospect Expressway-

All of these existing corridors could be used to link up areas and subway lines that have traditionally been better at bringing commuters to brooklyn then bringing brooklyn residents to other parts of brooklyn-

Posted by: Park Place at May 8, 2009 10:17 AM in response to Could Streetcars Return to Brooklyn?

Martin Pluming and heating is honest and reasonably priced (though all plumbing is insanely expensive.)

Posted by: Park Place at May 6, 2009 3:32 PM in response to Riddle Me This (Plumbing Questio

We bought from them- did not have a good experience- but you're not buying them-- you're buying the property, and they go away once the property is yours.

Treat them like someone who you need to stay on top of, and expect the worst, and go to the top of the firm if you are not getting responses or action from the listed broker. They want to get paid, so even if they aren't the most honest or competent, they have plenty of incentive to sell you the property as quickly as possible.

Posted by: Park Place at May 6, 2009 3:30 PM in response to Aguayo & Huebener broker?

markus bartenschlager does excellent work-

http://bartenschlagerwoodwork.com/

Posted by: Park Place at May 6, 2009 3:25 PM in response to new kitchen cabinet doors

Is the argument that kidz are going to model the behavior that they see on display at the expensive restaurant?

Posted by: Park Place at May 5, 2009 8:26 PM in response to How'd You Miss This?

We see the liberty state park fireworks from our greenwood yard every week. Thank goodness for common.

Posted by: Park Place at May 5, 2009 10:55 AM in response to Brooklynites' Hopes for 'Fourth' Fireworks Exploded

That's great news - was hoping that old building would go to some sort of creative housing re-use-

Posted by: Park Place at May 4, 2009 11:42 AM in response to Brooklyn Co-Housing Lands in Greenwood Heights

They don't seem 100K different- what does the fixer upper need that the other one already has?

The fixer upper seems like it has much more potential and space. Which one is on a better block?

Posted by: Park Place at May 4, 2009 9:36 AM in response to Which house would you go for?

Maybe, maybe, but when we sold our apartment last year, I prayed every day it wouldn't show up on brownstoner. If you guys had seen it, I never would have been able to close the deal at the price we did...

Posted by: Park Place at May 4, 2009 9:32 AM in response to Real Estate Blogs: Double-Edged Swords

Shannon's Nursery did our yard recently- and it turned out very well. About the same size area-

Posted by: Park Place at May 1, 2009 11:37 AM in response to Sod Installation

Wasn't that a car port last week?

Posted by: Park Place at May 1, 2009 10:03 AM in response to It Came From 4th Ave!

right on. since I built my own pressure treated wooden stringers and stairs from my parlor floor back deck, I may take it on myself...

Posted by: Park Place at April 29, 2009 4:16 PM in response to wooden stoops info needed

Thanks-

Most contractors I've spoken too have too many bad things to say about wood stoops and don't want to build one--even the ones who specialize in restoring frame houses.

Will contact the south slope woodworks guys-

Posted by: Park Place at April 29, 2009 2:21 PM in response to wooden stoops info needed

Apt Therapy has a list of them:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/kitchen/the-knife-grinding-trucks-of-brooklyn-052429

Posted by: Park Place at April 27, 2009 9:40 AM in response to Seeking Lawnmower Sharpener

Check out greenwood-

Posted by: Park Place at April 23, 2009 9:05 PM in response to Eager for advice

Thanks much!

Posted by: Park Place at April 21, 2009 8:42 PM in response to Foam insulation systems

Shannon's Nursery has done this for us in the past- Ft Hamilton Parkway-

Posted by: Park Place at April 16, 2009 7:53 AM in response to soil & sand

Also have had two great experiences with Preimier-

Posted by: Park Place at April 15, 2009 5:48 PM in response to Roofer

My contractor can definitely do this and can get you a good price quickly, you can call him and say Mr. T sent you.

Rafique 718-791-1179

Posted by: tanive at November 10, 2009 11:30 AM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

have done this many times and yes although it is a big job, there is nothing like a level floor with salvaged old pine flooring. happy to give you an estimate when you are ready. shane d. 917-495-7120

Posted by: smdconstruction at November 10, 2009 4:57 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

i inverted the process by putting plywood plates underneath the existing subfloor between the beams...glued and screwd them from beneath, and then supported the plywood plates with 2x4s screwed to the joists..if i were not a contractor myself, i would never have done the job

Posted by: eman1234 at November 10, 2009 11:42 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

No one seems to be discussing the bigger issue, how to level the new sub floor.

We can assume that over time, for various reasons, that the wood joists are no longer straight and level.

If the intent is to end with a level sub floor, than the ultimate height of that floor can not by definition be lower than the existing high point of the under lying joists.

Depending on the location of that high point, and the height of adjoining halls, rooms, or stairs, you might be forced to compromise on a flatter, and more level floor.

None of this is rocket science, but it requires a skill in carpentry well beyond the typical NYC contractor.

Pine plank will lose about 50% of you footage, so plan on taking up twice what you plan to cover. The greater part of your expense, whether you attempt to engage a contractor or not, and your ultimate satisfaction with the results, will depend on your rebuilding of the sub-floor structure, that which is below the new plywood sub-floor.

bruce at jerseydata.net

Posted by: brucef at November 11, 2009 7:55 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

i assumed that the issue had nothing to do with levelling the floor, but rather maintaining the character of the subfloor as finished floor...accept the existing conditions and save endless thousands of dollars, or be willing to pay endless thousands for leveling a brownstone (a pyrrhic victory at best)

Posted by: eman1234 at November 11, 2009 9:10 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

We had a slightly different situation. When we renovated, we knew we wanted carpet in the top floor rear bedroom (the guest bedroom immediately above our own bedroom) for better sound insulation. Meanwhile the top floor hall flooring was rotted out because of old roof leaks. So we repaired the beams running under the hall floor, threw out the old rotten flooring, replaced it with the pine planks from the guest bedroom and replaced those with plywood on top of which went the carpet. No-one ever guesses that we repaired the hall flooring because it's the wood we used is the exact same type and vintage.

Posted by: grand army at November 11, 2009 9:25 PM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank

Thanks again all for your feedback on this. Bruce is correct to clarify the situation.

Here are the problems associated with the current exposed subfloor situation-

-Space between the planks
-Dust coming up between the planks
-Softness of old pine allows the boards to deflect - which leads to cracking of the edges where they are still close
-General sponginess of just having a sub-floor
-Noise
-150+ years of frame house settlement combined with sistering of the joists in the past leads to some seriously wavy floors in places (though this is the least of the problems.)

The pine still *looks* really great as a top layer floor-

So the plan would be to pull up the pine carefully, place the subfloor and sound barriers as described above and re-lay the floor. The result would be a more solid floor, less noise, less deflection and wear to the boards themselves, less dust coming out of the joist space, and a more even, though not perfectly level floor.

Posted by: Park Place at November 12, 2009 11:34 AM in response to New Subfloor Under Wide Plank