Steve's Profile
- 1992
- 2006
- Brooklyn
- Bay Ridge
- House
- software developer
- Male
Author's Posts
September 21, 2008
Got an old picture of my house
Yesterday afternoon, I lent a neighbor my pressure washer. As I was standing on the sidewalk explaining to him how it works, a nicely dressed elderly couple stopped their car and were staring at my next door neighbor's house. He rolled down his window and said, "that was my grandparents' house in the 1930s".
To make a long story short, he sent me a photo his father had taken of my house in the mid 1930s, with what looks to be the owner climbing the stairs after parking his Model A(?) in the driveway.
The "long" story is here:
http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/old_photos
September 6, 2008
Bathroom roof vent for a flat roof
I've had a chronic problem with a leaking bathroom vent during storms (like this one). I thought I fixed it last month when I found some exposed flashing around the vent on the roof. Apparently not. I think now that the vent shroud was intended for a pitched, not flat roof. It appears that this vent was intended to have its opening pointing "downhill", which of course it can't with a flat roof.
What kind of vent should I have? Is there a name for it?
August 31, 2008
Bay Ridge
FWIW, Bay Ridge doesn't get much coverage here. I did a series of blog articles about Bay Ridge and Sunset Park over the past week -- some history, some grand schemes for the area.
The idea started as a "Meet The Neighbors" series on Old House Web but I thought some locals here might find it interesting.
http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/
August 9, 2008
Opinions please
Last year I renovated my master bedroom. I went maybe a bit overboard with the red oak but overall I'm satisfied with it. One of the things I constructed was a large, built-in bureau which, again, I might have gone a bit overboard on with the carvings.
My next taks here is to finish off the house with five years' worth of backburnered stained glass projects, one of which is the panels to the bureau's doors.
I've got two options and I'm undecided which will work better. The first is a simple but classic crosshatched diamond pattern using translucent art glass. This wouldn't compete with the carvings.
The other is a pattern I designed with GlassEye today. I like it by itself but I'm concerned that it might be too busy for this cabinet.
I can only post one image here so you can see the pattern on http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/node/117
July 11, 2008
So when does the hurricane get here?
Yesterday, I got a letter from my home insurer, USAA, that it was increasing my hurricane damage deductible from $1000 to $8600. This falls in the wake of companies like Allstate actually canceling the insurance policies of many homeowners in the NYC area -- I believe, anyone within one mile of the shore line.
Anyone else seeing this with their insurers?
July 8, 2008
Cool high-res shots of Brooklyn bridges
The pics are too large to post here but the detail is amazing.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/3893?size=_original
Author's Comments
I just went through this with my Newfoundland. It was the fourth attack on him by the same two vicious dogs, which have also attacked three other dogs on this block. The 70 year-old woman who "walks" these beasts is completely clueless.
See: http://www.bayridgebarks.org/node/133
I've been around the block with this. 311 is useless. ACC will tell you to call the cops. The cops will respond but all they'll do is write a report (and only if you insist on one). NYPD has no authority over animals. They'll tell you to call ASPCA but ASPCA will only respond to animal cruelty complaints.
I finally went through State Senator Marty Golden's office and found the agency to call:
NYC Dept of Health
Dangerous Dog Unit
Despite the bureaucratic apathy, NY State has some strict dangerous dog laws. New York is a "one bite" state. The dog gets one bite "for free". After that, the dog can be taken and the owner can be sued for negligence.
Posted by: Steve at May 29, 2008 12:36 AM in response to Aggressive Dogs
You should consider sod. It's a little late to be seeding a new lawn. Grass seed should be down by mid-April, or preferably the previous fall. Once the temperature hits about 75 degrees grass seed won't germinate. It will also be competing with weed seeds.
Posted by: Steve at May 29, 2008 12:51 AM in response to Landscaping / Planting new grass
You'll need to ask a real estate attorney, who can do a work-up on the building. As the other poster said, very old buildings typically won't have a C of O. Nevertheless, NYC real estate transactions often have a clause requiring that the property at least conform to C of O regs for its customary use and may require a letter from DOB attesting to that.
The sticky wicket will be if those apartments were added after the grandfather date (1938 sounds about right) because any change of use after then will require a C of O as a multi-family building.
If those apartments aren't legal, DOB could require them to be brought up to current code, which could be very expensive.
Posted by: Steve at May 29, 2008 12:52 PM in response to Buyin a brownstone with no CO
I renovated my small bathroom in '03. I used a licensed GC (Frank O'Donnell) for the demolition, mud floor, rough-in, electrical (including a 50a subpanel) and drywall. He also moved a wall back 16" into a walk-through closet to make room for the six foot tub.
Semi-depressing story is here:
www.brooklynrowhouse.com/house/bathroom
I did the tile, vanity construction, cabinet, fixture installation, taping, painting, etc. Frank's bill was $5500. The big line items were the fixtures, like $1700 for the tempered glass steam shower doors.
Posted by: Steve at May 29, 2008 4:49 PM in response to cost to renovate bathroom?
NY's dog bite law applies to an "attack upon a person, companion animal, farm animal or domestic animal".
A trainer isn't going to help you fix someone else's dangerous dogs. Most owners of dangerous dogs are like parents of obnoxious, aggressive brats. They think their pooches are sweet and harmless animals, even if they've killed a half dozen cats and bitten the UPS man.
In my experience, the only way you'll get any useful results is by persuading the owner to take the necessary steps to reduce the threat of his dogs to others. Some people can be reasoned with directly. Others need to be put on official notice. Still others never get it and need to have their dogs removed.
A dog which attacks other dogs unprovoked is a dog which will, sooner or later, also attack a human.
Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 11:24 AM in response to Aggressive Dogs
DOB needs to put an immediate end to its "self certification" program that permits developers to do their own compliance checking, not only with regard to on-site safety but architectural plans as well. It makes about as much sense as allowing defendants in criminal cases to try themselves.
We've got cranes falling in Manhattan, balconies falling off buildings in Bay Ridge and thousands and thousands of non-compliant (but "legal") driveways all over this city thanks to the self-certification program.
Just this past Sunday the New York Post reported that the Buildings Department reviewed 870 "self-certified" plans and issued objections against 730 of them. Eighty percent! I mean, c'mon.
If DOB lacks the resources to do its job then raise the friggin permit fees so it can hire more inspectors.
Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 12:36 PM in response to Another Fatal Crane Collapse in Manhattan
$150k?? Are they making 24-caret gold Subzeros now? Seriously, you should be able to do a bottom-up kitchen reno for less than half that cost. Mine cost me less than $20k and that included a new 150 s/f kitchen extension. But I built the cabinets and did everything except the extension construction and granite installation.
http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/house/kitchen
Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 7:16 PM in response to Makes sense to renovate?
Or you could build your own:
http://www.oceanmanorhouse.com/?page=paintremover
Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 7:33 PM in response to Wanted: Silent Paint Remover
I'll add a rec for Sessa Plumbing. A bit pricey but Richie is a plumbing and heating perfectionist.
Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 9:49 PM in response to Replacing an Ancient Gas Furnace
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
Listem to renomandru, he is totally correct... If you are interested in having a contractor look at it you can email me at acrcontracting@optonline.net
Posted by: alrosariojr at October 2, 2008 12:07 AM in response to Joint compound or plaster of paris?
When he said "the plaster has come off all the way down to the cement" and he was talking about his bathroom ceiling, I presume he's talking about "all the way down to the base coat". You don't often find cement in a ceiling in an old house.
Structolite is definitely the way to go if you've got exposed lath or masonry but it sounds like he's lost the scratch and finish coats.
PlasterWeld or some other bonding agent is probably a good idea over old base coat.
Posted by: Steve at October 2, 2008 1:15 PM in response to Joint compound or plaster of paris?
HI.If lath or masonary is exposed you definitely need to use Structolite like Steve said.If it's less than 1/4"you can use plaster of paris mixed with compund and water for faster work.You can get ideas for this serching for "dimond Plaster"
windsweptsoftware.com/myhouse/plasterrepair.pdf -
Posted by: plastervisions at October 2, 2008 2:37 PM in response to Joint compound or plaster of paris?
I sometimes mix some plaster (powder) into joint compound when patching holes etc. Makes it more durable and it dries much quicker.
Posted by: 1842 at October 2, 2008 3:31 PM in response to Joint compound or plaster of paris?
kingston--you and I share a basic outlook on the debate. I got all stoned and was waiting for the hilarious gaffe that never came. However, the fact that she didn't trip over doesn't mean she was an overly successful representative for McAncient. She still looked like a PTA President play-acting on the world stage while Biden looked in control and plausible as a guy with the controls.
Posted by: wasder at October 3, 2008 2:07 PM in response to Decisions, decisions...
I found it very difficult to follow her spoken thoughts....her memorized paragraphs....as she communicated them, sounded like a crazy cut/paste job.
Her nickname should be non-sequitur.
Posted by: moreteasir at October 3, 2008 2:17 PM in response to Decisions, decisions...
Yeah, she never actually answered any of the questions put to her.
Posted by: wasder at October 3, 2008 2:40 PM in response to Decisions, decisions...
I think she might actually be the What.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 3, 2008 2:51 PM in response to Decisions, decisions...
one of the papers called her answers an inch thin and a mile wide. I found her abnormally perky and chipper (not my favorite characteristics in anyone- disclaimer) but when all she did was smile and repeat rote answers after Bidens obvious passion and grief over what he saw in Darfur, and then no reaction at all to Biden's family loss, well, how scary can you get?
Posted by: lurker in the mist at October 3, 2008 2:55 PM in response to Decisions, decisions...
Sure B. Somehow my earlier Palin post falls under the black-list but what's bailout rants don't.
Posted by: moreteasir at October 3, 2008 3:32 PM in response to Reminder
Wait a year and the owner will be begging for his original $425,000. But I suspect it will be broken out into rental apartments.
Posted by: Steve at December 18, 2007 10:50 AM in response to House of the Day: 64A Clifton Place