Wish I could explain your rationale to the 300 or so homeless dogs and cats tomorrow.

Whatever, more self-indulgent economic blustering! Maybe there's another New York mag mention to gain from it.

Posted by: Steve at October 3, 2008 3:31 PM in response to Reminder

Gosh darn, we hafta comment on that fella?

Okay, lemme get my index cards here...

Posted by: Steve at October 3, 2008 2:03 PM in response to Decisions, decisions...

You can also try Naval Jelly (spray) to get rid of the rust. If you have access to one, a compressor will dry it off quickly.

Any time you strip iron, you need to get a primer on it quickly because rust starts forming as soon as it's exposed to oxygen. Add water and the electrolytic action multiplies.

Posted by: Steve at October 2, 2008 6:58 PM in response to Cast Iron Radiator Finishing Advice

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?

Joint compound is basically just liquefied dust so it shouldn't be used in applications greater than ~1/8" thick.

Plaster of paris is easier to work with if you retard the setting with a little white vinegar or milk. Make sure to spray down the repair area with water first so it doesn't suck the moisture of the plaster.

Posted by: Steve at October 1, 2008 6:27 PM in response to Joint compound or plaster of paris?

I'm a woodwork freak (obviously) and these shots bother me. There are at least three different treatments here. The original appears to be the red oak of the staircase. Then someone stained the fireplace with walnut. Then there's the newer woodwork which looks like clear pine with a light stain or possibly paint because I don't see any grain.

Blond woodwork can look great but not so much when it's mixed with competing trim colors.

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/house/diningroom

Posted by: Steve at September 30, 2008 5:49 PM in response to House of the Day: 208 Midwood Street

The 1917 Colour Chart on that oldhousecolors.com site seems like it might be the most definitive authority.

Last week, I finished painting my first and second floor halls and stairway with a Benjamin Moore color called Beverly Hills, which looks very close to "Cream" in that chart:

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/node/142

Posted by: Steve at September 30, 2008 5:13 PM in response to Classic brownstone interior paint color?

Ocre?

Check the Benjamin Moore online color viewer (good luck with this link):

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&_windowLabel=portletInstance_2&portletInstance_2_actionOverride=%2Fbm%2Fcms%2FContentRenderer%2FrenderContent&portletInstance_2cnp=public_site%2Farticles%2Fmain_page_articles%2Ffh_home&portletInstance_2np=public_site%2Farticles%2Fapplication_article%2Fapp_personal_color_viewer&_pageLabel=fh_home

Posted by: Steve at September 30, 2008 1:44 PM in response to Classic brownstone interior paint color?

Surbandude: dood, stop watching FoxNews and start watching the news.

A majority of Democrats voted FOR the bill. Only 40% of Democrats voted against it. If a majority of Republicans have voted for it it would have passed.

However, twelve thin-skinned Republican suits had little to do with it. 133 Republicans -- 66% of House Republicans -- voted AGAINST the bill. That's why it died, not because of Pelosi.

Posted by: Steve at September 29, 2008 10:15 PM in response to Quote of the Day

Egg-and-dot or egg-and-dart?

Posted by: Steve at September 29, 2008 10:20 AM in response to Free Egg & Dot Tin

Man, that's some nice tile!

Posted by: Steve at September 29, 2008 10:18 AM in response to Installing floor mural/tile persian rug

It sounds like you have a doghouse vent on the skylight, which is pretty common in old houses with flat roofs. I have two of them here. On the "roof" of that skylight you'll see slit vents which are protected by metal flaps, or shrouds. Over time those flaps can bend, even break, allowing water to enter the vent. One fix is to braze larger flaps over the vents, also making sure that water pouring down the "roof" doesn't get into the vent.

You should also caulk around the glass because that's another entry point for water. I'm not a roofing expert but I believe you want to use a tar caulk on the outside, not something silicon based. You can pick up tubes of that in the roofing section at Lowes/HD.

I was on my roof last week fixing a fan vent (contractor installed a pitched roof vent on a flat roof, which was a source of leaks) and noticed that both of my old skylights are in pretty bad shape. I'll probably replace them next year with new ones.

Posted by: Steve at September 29, 2008 10:18 AM in response to Skylight Venting

Whatever, just bear in mind that for all practical purposes the owner is under no obligation to fix violations so you can only press the matter up to his "take it or leave it", the same as any other demand.

Yes, you can retroactively apply for a curb cut permit. But if your zoning prohibits parking in front of the house this is something that would have to be corrected.

Posted by: Steve at September 28, 2008 10:11 PM in response to Curb cut legal?

You need the venting to exhaust warm air which would otherwise condense on the walls of the airshaft and create a mold/dry rot situation. This is especially important in a bathroom.

You may need a better shroud over your vent though.

Posted by: Steve at September 28, 2008 10:02 PM in response to Skylight Venting

Bear in mind that Howard Golden (past Brooklyn boro prez) commissioned a study which found that up to 90% of Brooklyn driveways were illegal. I've never been able to find the original study so I don't know if that means the curb cut was illegal or that the driveway was illegal in some other, possibly correctable way.

To my knowledge, the city hasn't been busting homeowners with illegal driveways unless they catch them in the act or a neighbor drops a 311 on them. There are some bills before the Council to change that but none have so far made it out of committee.

Posted by: Steve at September 28, 2008 6:45 PM in response to Curb cut legal?

A check of DOB filings should be enough. You need to have a DOT permit to get the DOB permit.

Posted by: Steve at September 28, 2008 3:17 PM in response to Curb cut legal?

There are a lot of snake oil merchants in the market. Econnergy is another worthless ESCO I had a bad experience with. However, the contract I have with Liberty is simple and no-games: 17 cents kWH, flat rate, guaranteed for two years. Since Con Ed was billing me 23 cents and energy prices are only going to go up, it's a good deal. Granted, I'll be paying 17 cents this winter when Con Ed may dip to 14 or 15 cents but it still works out in my favor over a year's time.

If you're with Con Ed you've already got an ESCO.

Posted by: Steve at September 28, 2008 2:01 AM in response to IDT Energy marketer

STOP SPAMMING THE FORUM!

Posted by: Steve at September 26, 2008 10:25 PM in response to allstar locksmith

So then why are you spamming the forums with your advertising if you don't need to advertise here? To annoy everybody?

You're the one with the comprehension problem: spamming a discussion group generates negative word of mouth. I'd rather get a ladder and kick in my own window than do business with a spammer. And you know what? I'm sure most people here feel the same way.

Posted by: Steve at September 26, 2008 8:34 PM in response to allstar locksmith

I locked in a contract for 17 cents/kWH for two years with Liberty Power, another ESCO.

Posted by: Steve at September 26, 2008 7:54 PM in response to IDT Energy marketer

Are you sure the green market is gonna be based in the Key Food lot? Isn't there gonna be a lot of construction going on there soon which would result in that lot being fenced off?

Posted by: Steve at September 26, 2008 7:03 PM in response to Bay Ridge gets its Green Market!

I would STOP SPAMMING THIS FORUM and buy a freaking ad like the legit retailers here do.

Posted by: Steve at September 26, 2008 7:00 PM in response to allstar locksmith

How soon before IAMBROOKLYN pops in to post his unsolicited and unbiased recommendation of these chronic spammers?

Posted by: Steve at September 26, 2008 6:16 PM in response to allstar locksmith

So long as you don't use a motion sensor you should be okay with a CFL. Here, I use Insteon home automation for stuff like this. The computer knows my lat/lon, time of day and time of year so it knows when to turn the lights on and off.

Posted by: Steve at September 26, 2008 3:24 PM in response to Dusk to Dawn Lighting

There's a little antique shop on 69th St (Bay Ridge Ave) off 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge where I occasionally find cool, inexpensive things. It's not large so I probably wouldn't make a special trip but it's worth ducking in there when you have a few minutes.

Posted by: Steve at September 26, 2008 10:34 AM in response to Reasonable priced antique/salvage shops in Brooklyn ( or Queens)

... especially when you can buy a 2000psi pressure washer for under $200.

Posted by: Steve at September 25, 2008 8:10 PM in response to Polyurethane on Concrete

A blow torch, phosphoric acid and an angle grinder?

Posted by: Steve at September 25, 2008 8:09 PM in response to Removing Paint

Actually, now that I've thought about it, I put some K-Strip paint stripper on the urethane first to soften it up, then used the pressure washer. Wear goggles.

Posted by: Steve at September 25, 2008 2:16 PM in response to Polyurethane on Concrete

I had a can of water-based poly leak through a garbage bag on my sidewalk. I got it off in five minutes with a 3500psi pressure washer.

Posted by: Steve at September 25, 2008 2:11 PM in response to Polyurethane on Concrete

I can't recommend any place in particular but when I'm looking for stone or pavers I usually hit the stone yards on Long Island. HD and Lowes ain't discount stores. You can usually find better prices on higher quality stuff from a local retailer.

Locally, you could try Kings on 15th Ave @37th St. They'll at least have a better selection.

Posted by: Steve at September 25, 2008 10:39 AM in response to Reasonably Priced Pavers?

The GC is under no obligation to do so, correct, but I've been in this situation several times and not only did the GC not have a problem directing a sub that I contracted, he appreciated it because it allowed him to manage his own resources and schedule more efficiently. Rather than sending his guys to the site only to have them sit because the electrical sub I hired killed the panel, he could send them to another job while the electricians worked.

For example, when I did my master bath renovation, I decided after the walls came down that it would be a perfect time to install split unit AC on the second floor. I contracted the AC installer and I asked Frank (the GC) to manage them. He was happy to do so rather than have four guys trying to work in my small bathroom. Both contractors were happy.

Posted by: Steve at September 24, 2008 7:12 PM in response to Boiler installation: bad experience so far

The past few years have actually been more subdued than previous ones. Two of the most outrageous displays are gone.

One (my favorite) was in front of a beautiful old Victorian on a triple wide lot and depicted scenes from "A Christmas Carol" using life size mannequins in lavish, Broadway-quality costumes. The other was "Christmas Around the World", which was a knock-off of Disney's "Small World" with ferris wheels, a train, and so forth.

One year, I think Christmas 2000, someone constructed a "Christmas dragon". It was an animatronic dragon's head and neck mounted on the roof of a garage. I think it used hydraulics. It had glowing red eyes and swooped down on pedestrians, growling and belching smoke. It scared the hell out of little kids, which is probably why it had such a short run.

As BRG said, the giant Santa has a hidden speaker, mic and video camera so the owner can talk to the gawkers.

Posted by: Steve at September 24, 2008 4:10 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

Here's a sample of those Dyker Lights:

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/dyker_lights

Posted by: Steve at September 24, 2008 3:23 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

5 baths, 4BRs and a rec room that looks like Chateau Deville, all in just 1892 square feet? No wonder the aspect ratio is way off in those photos.

Dyker Heights does have some beautiful old homes, even a couple of newer ones I really like. Unfortunately, they're overshadowed by the recent trend which seems to derive its architectural aesthetics from Miami Beach drug dealer cribs and superpimp movies.

Posted by: Steve at September 24, 2008 1:16 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

It doesn't matter who picked who. They all work for you. Someone's got to be in charge of the construction, what goes in when, who needs what done in which order, etc. That should be the GC, not you.

Posted by: Steve at September 24, 2008 12:44 PM in response to Boiler installation: bad experience so far

The trees usually follow the sidewalk cuts two or three weeks later.

Posted by: Steve at September 24, 2008 11:21 AM in response to NYC Parks Dept tree planting season is here!

The coordination should be between your GC and the boiler installer, not with you in the middle. Tell your GC to deal with them and to make whatever accommodations they need. Tell the installer that he needs to work through your GC.

It's an unfortunate fact that some construction types have a pathological inability to work with homeowners directly.

Posted by: Steve at September 24, 2008 11:19 AM in response to Boiler installation: bad experience so far

He did the work on my loft after I got out of college. If he's still around he'd be like 90 years old now.

Posted by: Steve at September 24, 2008 1:02 AM in response to license plumber who can do a sign off on our boiler

Unless you already have the ducts, a split unit system will always be cheaper to install than conventional central air. I've got a 36k, two head system upstairs which cost $5200 to install. The plaster repairs were on me though.

They pretty much keep the whole house comfortable except for maybe two weeks in the summer when I flip on a wall unit in my kitchen extension.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 6:26 PM in response to No More Window Air Conditioners

Way too many cops for that to go on for long. The mayor and all the local politicos show up at this festival so they try to keep it orderly.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 6:19 PM in response to Bay Ridge festivals

No idea what it costs but you're probably looking for something called an automated zone or volume control damper.

It can be either a conventional heating register or a section of ducting with a motor that opens or closes based on an external signal. The damper is driven by a 24V motor or solenoid so the power line is sometimes run inside the duct itself. The dampers could, in turn, be controlled either manually or by a computer employing a timer and/or wireless thermostats inside the rooms, perhaps using something like Insteon protocol.

Won't be cheap though.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 6:03 PM in response to Heating question

It's unlikely you'll get a busy, licensed plumber to sign off on another plumber's work, especially with something like a boiler installation which can be dangerous if not done correctly. Install an undersized pipe, screw up the venting or even use the wrong kind of pipe dope and the liability can be on him.

I'd look for a newly licensed plumber who hasn't built up a business yet or a retired guy who still has his license. At my old loft I used a retired master plumber who worked for the MTA (subways) and who did it the old-fashioned way (string on pipe threads, poured lead, etc.) He would only work two or three hours a day, three days a week, but he eventually got the job done.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 5:46 PM in response to license plumber who can do a sign off on our boiler

Strange because those tax photos were done to identify a building with a posted block/lot number. The photographer set up a sign on the street in front of the entrance with the tax ID on it, or at least in every tax photo I've seen.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 4:35 PM in response to Got an old picture of my house

My neighbor, Joe, will be working the Food Coop table too.

The Harvest Festival also has the canine costume contest, right?

The Third Ave festival has all kinds of people. Yeah, you get some mutants like any large street festival, especially hanging out around the boombox car club dorks who usually have a "booth" in the low 70s.

Hope the belly dancers are back this year.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 4:26 PM in response to Bay Ridge festivals

I'm cringing, waiting for Halloween. That's when they do Haunted Halloween, or whatever it's called, in Owl's Head Park. The immediate neighborhood becomes a mob scene, especially they shut the Haunted Walk down and thousands of kids descend on local homes for their sugar fix.

I want a government subsidy of my candy supply because of that event. I went through 15 pounds last year.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 12:24 PM in response to Bay Ridge festivals

On my block it just seems to work out, except for the few off-duty cops who don't move their cars for nobody. The street cleaner usually finishes 15 minutes after alternate side begins and Traffic agents are pretty hardcore about writing up violations right up till the minute alternate side ends. (Then we don't see them again for a week).

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 11:32 AM in response to Ethics-free Parking?

It's big and it's very crowded. Thirty blocks of 3rd Ave get shut down for the Ragamuffin parade on Saturday and the street festival on Sunday. If you come, the R train or a bicycle is your best bet because parking can be ridiculous around here.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 11:23 AM in response to Bay Ridge festivals

I haven't found a lot of written history about my neighborhood, although senatorstreet (the user here) probably has a bunch of interesting resources.

I did find a 1918 obituary from the Brooklyn Daily Standard Union on an archive site:

"Annie R. FELD, who died on Friday at her home, XXX XXXX, Bay Ridge, is survived by two daughters, Edna and Mabel. Funeral
services were held at her late home yesterday with interment at Greenfield Cemetery, Hempstead."

The Felds may have been the original owners.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 11:19 AM in response to Got an old picture of my house

As I understand it, the Green Church is actually more of a co-op owned by a handful of parishioners, which is all that's left of the congregation. They will all share in the proceeds of the sale. Their interest was #1: the money and #2: a smaller church on the property for themselves.

As beautiful as the church is, it desperately needed millions of dollars in restorations because it was literally falling apart. One analysis I read cast doubt on whether it could even be repaired given the ravages of time and the elements on the serpentine stone.

Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 12:01 AM in response to On to the Afterlife for Green Church

Sorry, BRG. I just realized that I never enabled a "contact" option on the blog. It's there now but I'll email you.

My neighbor around the corner -- actually the guy who found me this house -- was the former City Register for NYC. He gave me a framed tax photo of my house for Christmas.

italiana71: my house is right off Owls Head Park, in north Bay Ridge. I knew my garage dated back to 1942 from that tax photo. This new photo shows that it was here in the 1930s as well. There's some evidence from the framing that it may have been constructed when the street was regraded in the 1910s and all the lower stoops were built on the block. Or at least, that's what a neighborhood historian alleges happened.

Posted by: Steve at September 22, 2008 11:07 AM in response to Got an old picture of my house

Practically speaking, unless you have zoned central air, split units will be cheaper to run, if only because you can shut off the split units in rooms you don't need to A/C, especially at night.

Posted by: Steve at September 22, 2008 1:57 AM in response to No More Window Air Conditioners

I have the Fujitsu Halcyon system here. Very reliable, if not exactly attractive. It was installed by Coolco NY (347) 219-7570 (Dmitri)

Posted by: Steve at September 21, 2008 9:06 PM in response to No More Window Air Conditioners

Yes. Clean the door with mineral spirits first to remove any oil from the machining. Use a red oxide or other oil-based metal primer too.

Posted by: Steve at September 21, 2008 7:46 PM in response to Prime & Paint new steel door??

Real estate markets don't all obey the Law of the Bubble. Housing prices could be crashing ten miles away but still be zooming upwards in the Slope and Fort Greene by virtue of the fact that other market factors may be supporting the latter. Like, for instance, a shorter and cheaper commute, or people dumping their second homes because of taxes and heating costs and reinvesting the money in a nicer primary home in the city, or foreign buyers taking advantage of a more favorable exchange rate to buy something in an established, gentrified neighborhood, or nervous investors pulling their money out of an increasingly flaky stocks and bonds and putting it into real estate in high demand neighborhoods.

Point is, when the market runs out of "FOOLS" willing to pay top dollar to live in those neighborhoods, that's when those prices will start to fall. Not surprisingly, that's one rule that is constant across all real estate markets.

Posted by: Steve at September 21, 2008 7:41 PM in response to Can someone explain sellers' prices to me?

Today was my first visit to the Brooklyn Flea. I brought my neighbor, who's a chocolate maker who does street fairs, so she and Justine talked shop. Great chocolate. We picked up only a few little things, like pickles. Overall, we had a terrific time. I'll be back.

Posted by: Steve at September 21, 2008 7:22 PM in response to Where's My Scooter!?

You probably have the progenitor to drywall, plasterboard, on the ceiling. It was common to use it on circa 1920s-40s ceilings. The brown paper is like the paper on drywall. It probably won't hurt to remove it but if you're tiling anyway, why bother? If it's loose, you should remove it of course. Otherwise, just tile over it.

If you think that plaster will be exposed for a while it would be a good idea to at least put a primer/sealer on it to protect it from moisture and mildew.

Posted by: Steve at September 21, 2008 12:22 PM in response to Bathroom ceiling plastering question

Does anyone carry these photos available for framing? I'm looking to do an "old Brooklyn" wall of photos here.

Posted by: Steve at September 19, 2008 2:03 PM in response to Brownstoner Book Club: Historic Photos of Brooklyn

Any millwork shop with a lathe duplicator can knock them off for you. There's one up in the Prospect Heights area that I used to re-cut all my balusters seven years ago because I really didn't want to have to strip the paint off the old ones. And needed a couple of new ones anyway.

IIRC, it cost $12/spindle in red oak. I can't remember their name but I found them under Millwork in the yellow pages.

The did a good job:

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/node/142

Posted by: Steve at September 18, 2008 1:54 PM in response to Looking to match Spindles

I used to have a great Brooklyn lawn:

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/house/backyard

It was a lot of work and it can be a heartbreaker during the hotter summer months if you don't keep up with watering, the weeding, the feeding, the fungus, the bugs, etc.

After I got two energetic, digging puppies I gave up.

Posted by: Steve at September 17, 2008 7:38 PM in response to Removing small rocks and twigs for soil

Some small rocks and twigs won't stop grass from growing. I've got grass growing in the gravel for my french drain. Maybe it was the mini heat wave that killed the sod.

This is a good time for seeding. Grass seed germinates best in temps below the low 70s and without hot afternoon sun. If you want a strong lawn next spring, loosen up the top few inches of soil with a tiller and throw in some peat moss and a starter fertilizer. Over-seed and cover it with a half inch of peat moss to hold it in place and so the birds don't eat it. Keep it moist (but not soggy) until the grass sprouts. Water in the morning, not in the evening.

Next spring, give it a light dusting with lime.

Posted by: Steve at September 17, 2008 1:13 PM in response to Removing small rocks and twigs for soil

I'm happy to see the brisk house sales even here in north Bay Ridge, in the Owls Head Park area. Last year at this time there were 14 homes for sale within a three minute walk. Today there's only one, and it just went on the market last month. (Yes, they were all sold, not taken off the market).

Posted by: Steve at September 16, 2008 2:49 PM in response to Anyone know what is going in on 84th and 3rd?

It's not as though most of the financial pundits haven't been warning us about this for years. We knew these companies were leveraged to the hilt. Fannie Mae was busted for $4.5 billion in accounting hacks back in 2003, the same year this was written:

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the only two Fortune 500 companies that are not required to inform the public about any financial difficulties that they may be having. In the event that there was some sort of financial collapse within either of these companies, U.S. taxpayers could be held responsible for hundreds of billions of dollars in outstanding debts. A recent investigation by the Justice Department and the SEC into the accounting practices at Freddie Mac revealed accounting errors in the amount of 4.5 to 4.7 billion dollars and resulted in the termination of three of the company's top executives. Ongoing investigations by Congress, particular the House Finance Services subcommittee that oversees the activity of GSEs, will determine the future role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the secondary mortgage market that they dominate."

Prophetic or a "duh" moment?

Posted by: Steve at September 16, 2008 2:42 PM in response to The end of the Mutant Asset Bubble...

My next door neighbor is going to that food co-op meeting tonight and wants to drag me along. He's a chiropractor and a big fan of holistic/organic stuff so he has a strong interest in seeing this co-op succeed. Me, I still need my White Castle fix a couple of times a year.

PS: best margaritas in Bay Ridge: Case Pepe on 69th off Colonial. Ask for the "Cadillac".

PPS: best gyro/souvlaki: Spartan on 68th & 8th Ave. Ask for the "greek fries", which are french fries with olive oil and feta cheese.

Posted by: Steve at September 16, 2008 11:11 AM in response to Anyone know what is going in on 84th and 3rd?

If you mean the old Henry Grattan, I believe Salty Dog's owners bought it and intend to open a "high end" Mexican restaurant there. But that's from like a year ago.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 9:56 PM in response to Anyone know what is going in on 84th and 3rd?

Incidentally, Petite Oven on 69th off 3rd is excellent too. It's run by a couple of women from Bay Ridge.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 9:53 PM in response to Anyone know what is going in on 84th and 3rd?

The best sushi in the neighborhood used to be Fontana down in the 90s but it took a serious nosedive around 2002. I've heard it's good again.

Me, I like Bay Ridge Sushi on 69th and 3rd. It's not much on ambiance but the fish is fresh, the selection is great and the AYCE is cheap: $18.95.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 9:51 PM in response to Anyone know what is going in on 84th and 3rd?

I've no doubts that he IS that locksmith.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 9:46 PM in response to All-Star Locksmith

You could save yourself a lot of money by doing some of those jobs yourself. Tiling and installing a RTA cabinet is no big deal.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 9:42 PM in response to Is it possible to renovate a 6 by 8 bathroom for $12,000?

I don't do business with spammers.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 5:34 PM in response to All-Star Locksmith

Rover is the only source I've heard for that. A two story French restaurant in Bay Ridge sounds very risky. My ex-partner in La Bouillabaisse opened a French restaurant here in the mid 90s (Chez Nick) and it tanked in a few months.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 5:33 PM in response to Anyone know what is going in on 84th and 3rd?

Knotty pine? For $8 mil? Yeah, right.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 2:31 PM in response to House of the Day: 315 Garfield Place

I bought my engineered flooring from Hosking Hardwood. Although the engineered flooring sucked, it wasn't their fault. Engineered flooring sucks in general unless you don't have dogs and you're very careful with stuff like furniture legs. But Hosking Hardwood delivered as promised and had competitive prices.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 2:09 PM in response to where to buy bamboo floors

What's the big deal? Instead of working for Merrill-Lynch they'll be cashing their paychecks from the Bank of China.

When I was househunting in 1998 my priority was a fixed-rate mortgage payment no higher than a LES 1BR rent, before deductions. That's why I closed on a beat-up house on a nice block in Bay Ridge. With all the costly renos completed here, I should be okay even if Chicken Little's dire predictions prove to be correct.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2008 11:22 AM in response to The end of the Mutant Asset Bubble...

Is rent gonna get cheaper now?

Posted by: Steve at September 14, 2008 9:57 PM in response to The end of the Mutant Asset Bubble...

You might have a trap but did they vent it? Without a vent, water can siphon out of the trap. Try trickling a little water into the drain and see if that breeze and smell goes away. If so, you've probably got a venting problem.

Posted by: Steve at September 14, 2008 2:59 PM in response to sewer smell coming from tub???

Cabinetmaker's Choice offers it in a ready-to-assemble cabinet:

http://cabinetmakerschoice.com/Cabinet%20Systems%20Catalog/6.0%20BaseCabinets.pdf

BTW, these are excellent, high quality cabinets -- much nicer than you'll find at the box stores. There are lots of options you won't find with anything other than a completely custom cabinet. You can also select literally any hardwood lumber that's commercially available in 3/4" stock.

Posted by: Steve at September 14, 2008 11:35 AM in response to Rounded Kitchen Cabinet?

I wouldn't order flooring from a box store. Go to a real flooring store like Premium on 3rd Ave.

Posted by: Steve at September 14, 2008 11:03 AM in response to where to buy bamboo floors

And you just thought you'd create an account here and do all the folks here a favor by letting us know what a satisfied customer you are a few hours after All Star spammed the forum with its unpaid ad? Wow, what a coincidence.

Are the moderators on vacation?

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 9:04 PM in response to All Star Locksmith

Gotta agree with wintaki. Noise is in the ear of the behearer. Me, I don't mind the helicopters much, and I live three blocks from the "Belt-Gowanus merge" that the traffic reporters talk about every morning, which means hovering choppers every morning.

I'm much more annoyed by retarded showboaters with loud bikes and boombox cars because they make as much racket as they can on purpose. It's simply making noise for the sake of making noise, like a bratty five year old trying to get attention. Helicopter pilots can't help that helicopters are loud.

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 8:08 PM in response to Helicopter Noise - Does it bother anyone else?

I did fixed wing. But you still needed (then, dunno about now) 20 hours minimum in rotary wing to get the sign off. And, even then, about the only gig I could have gotten was as a fish spotter because most choppers are turbines. And that training is where it gets REALLY expensive.

Shouldda done it in the military like my brother.

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 4:57 PM in response to Helicopter Noise - Does it bother anyone else?

It helps that I like helicopters. I even took some lessons in a Robinson R22 with hopes of maybe jumping careers. But the lessons were prohibitively expensive.

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 4:18 PM in response to Helicopter Noise - Does it bother anyone else?

No idea. I found it on Betsy Gotbaum's public advocate site:

http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/services/noise.html

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 1:36 PM in response to Helicopter Noise - Does it bother anyone else?

These days it's like $125 just to get a qualified plumber to drive to your house.

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 12:08 PM in response to Quote to 'check out' gas heater

Er, "Aircraft which ARE flying IFR..."

In any event, helicopter noise is probably something you're gonna have to live with. I live three blocks from NYPD's heliport at BAT so I've just gotten used to Bell 412s zooming over my house at 200 feet. But NYPD is at least cool about doing this only during the day.

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 11:30 AM in response to Helicopter Noise - Does it bother anyone else?

That's true and not true. All of NYC lives under a terminal control area for its three major airports as well as Teeterboro. Aircraft which aren't flying IFR (being directed by instruments and air traffic controllers) fly above 1500 feet. There's an open VFR corridor up the Hudson River with a 1500 foot ceiling for uncontrolled aircraft.

The FAA does regulate the airspace over the East River, Brooklyn and Queens but under an exclusion to the rules. For instance, after Corey Lidle's crash the FAA required all fixed wing aircraft to get permission from LGA controllers before entering the corridor. That ruling doesn't apply to helicopters but the FAA has the authority to implement operating rules for the airspace as it sees fit.

Call the Helicopter Noise Coalition of NYC (212) 628-3126.

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 11:25 AM in response to Helicopter Noise - Does it bother anyone else?

Most central vac manufacturers offer sweeper ports as an accessory. Mine (VacuFlo) does. I never saw much point in it though because the hose is so convenient.

Posted by: Steve at September 12, 2008 1:37 AM in response to Recessed in-floor kitchen trash can?!

Hey, I'm mad as hell. This Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac bailout is a crock. Why should taxpayers be required to socialize the risks of an infrastructure managed for private profit taking? Those investors should take the same bath that the rest of us did when AOL's stock price tanked.

One more thought: the top five foreign holders of Freddie and Fannie long-term debt are China, Japan, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. Foreign investors hold over $1.3 *trillion* in these agency bonds.

So not only are we socializing the damage caused by greedy, irresponsible, domestic Wall Streeters whose sub-prime games are largely what caused this mortgage mess, US taxpayers will also be responsible for sending tens of billions of their dollars to foreign countries.

But what are you gonna do? It's a two-party system and this is two-party failure. Even though it's mostly the fault of Republican banking and mortgage deregulation going back to the Reagan years, the Democrats went along with it because both parties have their snouts firmly planted in Wall Street PAC troughs.

Posted by: Steve at September 10, 2008 5:23 PM in response to The biggest rip-off in US history! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Call the ASCPA, Humane Law Enforcement Unit: 212-876-7700, ext 4450.

Posted by: Steve at September 10, 2008 2:19 PM in response to Dog barking all night...

Amen, carfreenation. I'm not anti-car by any means but it's clear to me that at least 1/4 of the drivers currently on American roads shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel, ever.

There's a personal responsibility disconnect with cars that we don't find with anything else. We even call them "accidents", as if collisions aren't the result of careless or inept drivers but a roll of the metaphysical dice.

Let's say the guy driving that car was instead carelessly cleaning his gun and it fired, killing the same kid. Would he get off? Hell, no. He'd likely be charged with reckless endangerment if not involuntary manslaughter.

Four years ago, a female acquaintance was killed on her motorcycle in Red Hook by a truck running a stop sign. The driver didn't have a license either. He got a ticket for "failure to yield".

Nevertheless, I do blame dad. NYC streets are what they are, not what we'd like them to be. "Rights" aren't a bulletproof vest. Putting a little kid on a bicycle on a busy avenue, bike lane or not, is simply being ignorant of the reality of the danger out there.

Posted by: Steve at September 9, 2008 10:55 PM in response to Brooklyn's Dangerous Intersections

Every troll's got a right to her opinion.

Posted by: Steve at September 9, 2008 7:46 PM in response to reno pictures

Forgot: billings are quarterly.

Posted by: Steve at September 9, 2008 7:24 PM in response to Brooklyn Water and Sewage

DEP handles the hardware. Finance handles the billing.

Posted by: Steve at September 9, 2008 7:23 PM in response to Brooklyn Water and Sewage

I think you have to be an Asshat not to think these failures are the result of decisions made by some whoevers in office who let it happen. Do you think they're acts of nature or chaos theory?

Posted by: Steve at September 9, 2008 4:14 PM in response to The biggest rip-off in US history! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Brooklyn drivers have gotten much worse over the past ten years. You really don't know how bad it's gotten unless you're a bicyclist or a motorcyclist. I've all but stopped riding motorcycles in the city because it's gotten so dangerous with all the idiot drivers.

In addition to a shameless lack of law enforcement against dangerous drivers (the PD seems to be mostly interested in "crackdowns" these days), I blame cell phones and the mentality of invincibility of SUV drivers in general. I'd like to get all of the latter out of their steel cocoons and on the street on a push bike for a week s so they can see the threat that hotdogging SUV drivers are to the public.

That said, what possessed this parent to put his eight year-old on a bicycle in heavy avenue traffic, especially around Livingston and Adams where pedestrians and bikers get hit all the time? A friend of mine spent three months in the hospital after she was hit by an off duty cop at Tillary and Adams, and she's an experienced Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor. That's about as irresponsible as it gets for a parent. The city lets kids up to 12 years-old ride their bikes on the sidewalk for a good reason.

Posted by: Steve at September 9, 2008 2:18 PM in response to Brooklyn's Dangerous Intersections

There's a contractor here who did a terrific job restoring the old oak front doors of a few houses on my block. I'll ask one of the owners for contact info.

Posted by: Steve at September 9, 2008 10:25 AM in response to front door restoration

How appropriate it is that we have a presidential maverick who's had so much personal experience with banking scandals and destructive banking deregulation.

Posted by: Steve at September 8, 2008 10:33 PM in response to The biggest rip-off in US history! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

At least.

Posted by: Steve at September 8, 2008 8:05 PM in response to The biggest rip-off in US history! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Gotcha. This has become a common problem in many Brooklyn neighborhoods where roof drains were originally dumped into sanitary sewers and neighborhood growth is maxing out sewer capacity.

Any siding contractor or handyman can probably take care of this for you. You just want to cut the leader, install an elbow and attach a diverter. Just be careful where it's dumping. You'd be amazed how much water a flat roof can collect during a heavy rain. I was when Karen's idiot house painters removed her leader and forgot to replace it before a storm last month.

Posted by: Steve at September 8, 2008 1:42 PM in response to Downspout Diverter

Your sewer can't keep up with the rain water?

Posted by: Steve at September 8, 2008 12:13 PM in response to Downspout Diverter

You can buy one at HD or Lowes. Just slip it on and point it somewhere. It's kinda like saying you need someone to install a garden hose.

Posted by: Steve at September 8, 2008 11:22 AM in response to Downspout Diverter

The Benjamin Moore site is pretty cool for selecting paint colors. I wouldn't trust the color accuracy without an actual sample but it really helps to narrow down the choices.

Posted by: Steve at September 8, 2008 10:09 AM in response to paint consultant

I don't know about paint consultants (I think that's within the scope of work of an interior decorator) but otherwise a good place to start is to pick up small sample bottles of paint, slap them on the wall and live with the colors for a few days to see which ones you like.

I don't think HD or Lowes carry sample bottles but Doody's does on E.17th St off Ave Y. Benjamin Moore stores should have them too. I picked up seven different colors of yellow/gold today for my entryway.

http://images.magpie.com/house/photos/entryway/paint03.jpg

Posted by: Steve at September 7, 2008 8:03 PM in response to paint consultant

Thanks, Denton. I'm looking just for the vent. Lowes and HD carry powered mushroom vent fans too, as I learned on my quest this afternoon. That's probably what I should have installed initially because they're more powerful.

Incidentally, I blogged about this:

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/life_sucks_and_then_you_renovate

Posted by: Steve at September 7, 2008 4:10 PM in response to Bathroom roof vent for a flat roof

The flashing around the vents was poorly done but I fixed that last fall with tar and roofing fabric, hoping that I fixed the leak as well. No such luck. It turns out that the (idiot) contractor's helper who installed this vent shroud used one that's intended for a pitched roof. It's a flat box, about 4" high, with one side open. The way it's configured, it works so long as there's no driving rain coming from the north and no heavy snow melt next to it.

I found what I need. It's called a "roof jack" or "mushroom vent". That's the only kind of vent that should be installed on a flat roof. I drove all over today looking for one... Lowes, HD, Doody's... no luck. I found one online:

http://www.hvacquick.com/hqthconfig.php?fm=GJ

I just need to pull the fan and see what size ducting it's got (probably 4").

Posted by: Steve at September 7, 2008 2:46 PM in response to Bathroom roof vent for a flat roof

Sorry, I was obtuse. This is for a bathroom exhaust fan vent not a plumbing vent.

Posted by: Steve at September 7, 2008 10:08 AM in response to Bathroom roof vent for a flat roof

Thanks, folks.

I'm not terrific with plaster either but I'm slowly learning. The main issue with plaster is knowing how to mix it and work it. Also which kind to use: gypsum vs. lime vs. finishing vs. structolite, etc.

There's a lime plaster seminar at Howard Hall Farm (http://howardhallfarm.com/) in Athens, NY this winter that I've been thinking about taking.

Posted by: Steve at September 6, 2008 11:01 PM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

I wouldn't use Tung oil on a stair banister. You need to protect the wood from tens of thousands of greasy, sweaty, acidic hands so you want a real sealer on it, if not shellac then a varnish or urethane or something like Waterlox.

Posted by: Steve at September 6, 2008 9:29 PM in response to stair rail

The A/C keeps the humidity down so the primer dried well. Unfortunately, it also dried well on right side of my black Newfoundland who decided to run down the stairs past my ladder with wet paint on the wall.

I don't particularly enjoy painting (it's pretty by-rote) but it rarely throws you any curves.

Westernnygirl: effective painting is all about the prep: emptying the room, laying down tarps or rosin paper, scraping/cleaning the walls (I use TSP), filling holes and dents. With your drywall, it's a breeze. My old plaster took quite a bit of extra work:

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/node/130

Otherwise, cut everything with a brush first that you can't roll. Don't saturate the brush, keep a wet edge on the wall, watch for drips, use a side light to look for missed spots.

Posted by: Steve at September 6, 2008 6:10 PM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

Painting is such a DIY gig. It's all in the prep.

I just got the primer up on my first floor entry/mud room/hall, staircase and second floor hall this afternoon. I'd probably pay a painter two grand for this job. My cost: $100 and three days' labor. And, frankly, given what I've seen pass of professional paint jobs I'll frankly do a better job of it.

Posted by: Steve at September 6, 2008 5:16 PM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

The worst that can happen is that a DOT inspector could see it and they can be brutal. A DOT inspector wrote up two of my neighbors last month because their plumbers hadn't applied for a permit to dig holes in the street to replace the house mains that DEP had ordered them to do (with 72-hour shut off notices, and over a weekend).

Nevertheless, a lot of people illegally repair their own curbs. Just be discrete about it. Do it on a Sunday and park your car in front of it for a couple of days till the concrete cures.

Posted by: Steve at September 4, 2008 10:18 AM in response to what's the worst that can happen?

CMU: ask the company to send a real tech to fine tune the dish. The monkeys who do the installations only know how to get it in the ballpark.

I was the first HD customer that DirecTV had in the neighborhood so they sent a guy with alignment electronics to train the installers. As a result I rarely have a problem with signal blackouts. It will occasionally black out for a minute or so about 30 seconds before a heavy downpour. The longest it's been out was for around ten minutes, but that was when that tornado zoomed 500 feet from my house.

Posted by: Steve at September 3, 2008 5:51 PM in response to cable service in Windsor terrace?

A neighbor had his staircase rebuilt (10 foot ceiling, two turns) with new oak for $12k, but he turned the spindles himself and also provided the treads and risers, which he bought cheap at a liquidation auction in Massachusetts.

In other words, that price seems fair.

Posted by: Steve at September 3, 2008 5:42 PM in response to Cost of New Staircase

DirecTV?

Posted by: Steve at September 3, 2008 1:51 PM in response to cable service in Windsor terrace?

I just spoke with my neighbor, who was the former NYC City Register and the designer of the ACRIS system. According to him, so long as your garage doesn't have a separate block/lot classification you shouldn't be taxed separately for it. It's all included in the net square footage of the block/lot. That is, there's no "garage tax" unless you're renting it out. Otherwise, it's taxed the same as any out building. If the garage faces the street there may also be a "frontage tax".

Posted by: Steve at September 3, 2008 11:35 AM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

Wait, you have a free-standing garage, right? That explains the "Extension-G" thing. Any permanent, stand-alone building on residential property is taxed as an "improvement", whether it's a garage, a pottery shop, whatever.

Posted by: Steve at September 3, 2008 12:49 AM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

Was it classified as a garage customarily used for rental purposes... property tax code 439... or is it sitting on its own tax lot? I don't know how many ways I can say it but an attached residential garage isn't taxable square footage. That comes from the former NYC City Register, who's a neighbor.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 11:53 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

If DOF is taxing your garage (not just the property under the garage), you need to have a lawyer contact them.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 10:15 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

Check out a large tile supplier for contractor returns. There's one on McDonald Ave. You can get a few square feet of excellent art tile cheap that way.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 9:35 PM in response to kitchen backsplash

Nevertheless, garages and driveways aren't counted as living space so you don't pay property tax on them. DOF regards garages the same as a utility basement. It's not part of the taxable square footage.

The suburbs isn't a fair comparison, especially when it's actually illegal to park on the street in many suburban residential areas. Mainly, the neighbors aren't circling the block looking for parking spaces at 1am.

Chaka: you're not "entitled" to your sidewalk. You're responsible for maintaining it, the same as your garage-less neighbors.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 9:27 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

Townhouselady: please tell me where on your tax assessment you see a line item for your curb cut? I have a legal garage too and I know I didn't pay the city a nickel for the curb cut when I bought this place.

Garages aren't taxed because they're not living space.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 8:24 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

Perhaps there should be an annual fee. I own a garage and I don't think it's fair that I have curb privileges that my neighbors don't just because I bought a house with a curb cut. That's why I let my neighbors park in my curb cut so long as I have their spare car keys to get my own car in and out of the garage at 2am. I certainly don't think it's fair when people who don't have functioning garages treat their curb cuts as reserved street parking spaces for themselves. That's not why those curb cuts were permitted.

I think a more productive initiative would be to crack down on all the illegal driveways in Brooklyn first. Vincent Gentile has several bills to introduce in the city council that will address at least the illegal curb cut issue. Whether they will be enforced is another matter.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 8:20 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

Legal curb cuts are grandfathered, yes. But since DOT, not the homeowner, owns that curb cut there's no reason why DOT couldn't condemn it, especially if it's not being used as intended.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 4:47 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

What you do with your garage is your business. But it's not your curb cut. It's DOT property, the same as the sidewalk and the rest of the curb in front of your house. Technically, you could be ticketed for parking in your own curb cut because it's obstructing a DOT right-of-way. Unlikely here, yes, but other cities enforce it. Alexandria, VA for one.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 3:01 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

You need permits from both DOT and DOB.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 2:04 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

Bxgrl: it's permanent. There's no renewable fee.

Here's a PDF on the topic:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/downloads/pdf/curbcuts.pdf

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 1:19 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

I know they're legal. The point was that if someone has a curb cut for a garage and the garage isn't being used as a garage, or even can't be used as a garage (I've seen rec room conversions of garages), then he shouldn't be allowed to have a curb cut. A curb cut is intended to enable legal off-street parking, not to give a homeowner reserved curb side parking in front of his home. What DOT should do is switch the classification from permit to revocable consent based on customary use.

My garage is at least 65 years old and all zoning-compliant driveways were grandfathered in this neighborhood years ago. I made sure it was a legal before I bought the place.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 1:13 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

I've got both a garage and a largish back yard so they're not mutually exclusive. Since I have a collection of motorcycles, a garage topped my list of house hunting qualifiers. I was paying $150/mo/each to keep those bikes in a commercial garage on Mulberry Street.

Curb cuts are about the least-enforced buildings issue in Brooklyn. Making those permits harder to get has only increased the proliferation of illegal curb cuts. I read an article last year about a study commissioned by a previous boro president, Howard Golden, which concluded that as much as 90% of the driveways in Brooklyn were illegal. In some cases, crooked architects self-certify blatantly non-compliant driveways but in many the home owner just hires some fly by night sidewalk contractor to install a curb cut and parking in the front yard.

In most cases, if you see a car parked in what would otherwise be the front yard it's probably an illegal driveway according to DOT and zoning regs. In all but only a few Brooklyn neighborhoods, it's mandated that cars need to be parked inside enclosed garages or beside or behind the house, well away from the public right of way (18 feet sticks in my craw).

There's a stretch of trashy, 80's-era row houses on 67th St that looks like a friggin strip mall, with cars parked three-quarters the way across the sidewalk. NYPD does zero enforcement in this regard.

It's these illegal driveways which are making it tougher to find curbside parking in many neighborhoods. Mine's legal (I've got a 1942 tax photo with the garage) but since I don't drive my car much and the bikes aren't an issue, I let my neighbors park in my curb cut so long as they give me a spare set of keys to move their cars.

What's really needed is a review of all curb cuts in Brooklyn, legal and otherwise. If you've got a garage and you're using it for an attic, you shouldn't have a curb cut. If you bought a fat-assed SUV that won't fit in your little garage, same deal. The city doesn't owe you reserved personal curbside parking area in your curb cut.

Posted by: Steve at September 2, 2008 12:13 PM in response to The Luxury of the Garage

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/interference.html

Posted by: Steve at September 1, 2008 8:45 PM in response to Radio Interference

A two-family in move-in condition in Bay Ridge for $600k is gonna be a tough find, even now. Bay Ridge two-families typically start in the high 700s.

Red Hook is a lot closer to Manhattan than Bay Ridge but suffers from lack of a subway. By day, though it's got ferry service to/from lower Manhattan (5 minutes). If you can find what you need in RH for $600k, I'd go for it.

Posted by: Steve at September 1, 2008 8:14 PM in response to two family in brooklyn????

My uncle used to do custom glass etching as a hobby. For large areas he used a sand blaster.

Posted by: Steve at September 1, 2008 5:44 PM in response to DIY Frosted Glass?

If all you want to do is etch up a plate of glass, pick up a bottle of "etching cream" at a crafts store. This stuff can be pretty nasty to work with though. The old school stuff is made with hydrofluoric acid.

Posted by: Steve at September 1, 2008 5:43 PM in response to DIY Frosted Glass?

Anyone ever seen the movie, "Pacific Heights"?

Posted by: Steve at August 31, 2008 10:33 PM in response to Need advice on evicting squatter

The issue, as I understand the law, is that the building was otherwise unoccupied. Once someone settles into an unoccupied building they become a squatter and squatters have to be evicted by court order. Cops don't have the authority to throw them out without due process.

In the meantime, contact your community board and see if they can build a fire under the precinct captain to have the guy arrested for trespassing. It might work.

Posted by: Steve at August 31, 2008 12:17 PM in response to Need advice on evicting squatter

A chamfered or eased edge is usually an option in prefinished flooring, not mandatory. It means you can be a little sloppier with your subfloor.

I elected to have a chamfered edge with the engineered flooring on my second floor here because I didn't want something that looked like Pergo. It was a mistake for the reasons Bond mentioned. With a long-haired Newfoundland, it's a perfect channel to collect dog hair and pieces of Milkbone and it's very difficult to clean those channels. Neither a sponge mop nor the terry cloth mops you're supposed to use on prefinished floors can get into those grooves.

I've seen some very nice prefinished floor installations though, even DIY. But I'd never do one again.

Posted by: Steve at August 31, 2008 11:58 AM in response to pre finished or raw floorboards?

Do you mean just sand and finish the damaged areas? If so, that hardly ever works. Stained floors are a bitch to color match if only because the finish changes the hue of the stain. Secondly, prefinished floors usually come with an aluminum oxide finish which is much harder than urethane and cures by UV light. In other words, it can't be done on a job site.

If you want protect your prefinished flooring just tell the contractor to lay down paper and tape down a layer of 1/4" masonite over that.

Posted by: Steve at August 31, 2008 2:02 AM in response to pre finished or raw floorboards?

Jim's been terrific with every job here. He's moved up from masonry contracting to GC work and I'd have no reluctance to use him for that as well. His subs are also the best -- all old school craftsmen.

Posted by: Steve at August 29, 2008 4:44 PM in response to BRICK FOR A GARDEN

I think SenatorStreet was commenting on laying sand over the existing concrete. I have to agree that that wouldn't be a good idea and it doesn't really buy you anything.

Sand works well over compacted dirt (or, ideally, compacted crushed stone over dirt) because water only has to perc down through a couple of inches of sand in order to drain away. Over concrete however, where's the water going to go? What will probably happen is that over time the sand will float up through the gaps between the bricks, wash away and the bricks will start becoming uneven.

This is what I've observed with my own pavers-over-mortar installation but it's no big deal because the bricks are laying on mortar. The sand just brings everything flush. Every spring I pressure wash the brick and sweep in a few more pounds of fresh sand to fill in the stuff that's washed away.

Posted by: Steve at August 29, 2008 4:39 PM in response to BRICK FOR A GARDEN

Depending on the stability of the concrete, you can brick right over it. Jim Lally of Galway Bay bricked over my back yard. You can see the photos here:

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/house/backyard

You don't want bricks. You want color-through concrete pavers that look like bricks. Kings has a Brooklyn showroom on 39th St betw. 8th and 9th Ave.

Posted by: Steve at August 29, 2008 2:51 PM in response to BRICK FOR A GARDEN

I plant tomatoes every year here too. This year I had nine heirlooms (Mortgage Lifters, Yellow Giants,Sugar Nuggets, etc). They were doing fantastic until about the second week in July. I had so many large, ripening tomatoes on the plants that I had to add secondary support for the branches.

Then for some odd reason, they all started to croak. They were getting the recommended fertilizer and water. I even bought an electronic soil tester to make sure of that. It wasn't bad soil because they were all in large planters with fresh top soil.

What a freakin' disappointment. I think I'm just gonna buy tomatoes next year. This is the second year in a row I've had a bad crop. The previous four were great.

In answer to the question, I found incredible tomatoes cheap: $20 for a half bushel (about 21 pounds). The downside: it was at a farmers market in Kingston, NY. The corn alone was worth the trip.

Posted by: Steve at August 28, 2008 5:20 PM in response to Caprese Diem: Where are the good, ripe, reasonably priced tomatoes?!

CB10 has traditionally been lukewarm towards the Owl's Head dog run. Parks and the nearby co-oppers don't like the run because of its trashy appearance. Some of the latter, I'm told, are with the CB.

But we're caught in a Catch-22 because we can't do much to correct the slovenly appearance of a dilapidated fence, the encroaching weeds, the dust bowl of the grounds or even the street garbage furniture people bring into the run so they can have a place to sit (because Parks never installed benches). We're not allowed to do hardscape maintenance to Parks property and none of us have the authority to tell others not to bring kitchen chairs into the dog run.

A few of us tried to organize a dog run association two years ago but met with resistance from the old timers who thought we were on a power trip or something. They didn't oppose the concept of an organization so long as they ran it (which I'm fine with). But they have no interest in actually starting one so... another Catch-22.

We have one persistent guy who's been talking with both the CB and Parks and thinks he's making some progress. But he's a field producer for a TV show (The First 48) and is on the road 8 months of the year so that progress has been slow.

Posted by: Steve at August 27, 2008 10:53 PM in response to Clinton Hill needs a DOG RUN!!!!!

Oops: http://www.bayridgebarks.org/

Posted by: Steve at August 27, 2008 1:23 AM in response to Clinton Hill needs a DOG RUN!!!!!

Oh, the URL: http:/www.bayridgebarks.org

Posted by: Steve at August 27, 2008 1:23 AM in response to Clinton Hill needs a DOG RUN!!!!!

You probably want to do this through your community board rather than Parks. Parks has almost no budget to tackle capital improvement projects, just maintain what they've got. The CB is the bridge between Parks and the pols who can get the project approved.

The CB is what got Parks to designate an area of Owl's Head Park for a dog run. Parks installed half a chain link fence, then bailed on the project. Dog runners chipped in to install 300' of wood snow fence to complete the enclosure. After a six month probation, Parks was supposed to install the permanent chain link fence. That was seven years ago and we're still fighting for it. Meanwhile, the snow fence has rotted out, there are no benches, Parks employees don't mow the four foot high weeds or maintain the fences, yet they gripe about the dog runners not maintaining the dog run. The maintenance it needs we're not allowed to do!

I've had positive chats with Parks officials about our dog run too but that's all it was. Generally speaking, it's been a waste of time.

The way Parks capital improvements projects are typically done is with earmarks. You need to find a powerful political ally who can get grant money released to Parks for construction. That's how $1.5 million was released to build the Millennium Skate Park in Owl's Head. Parks is sitting on millions in private grants to the parks which has to be earmarked for them.

Posted by: Steve at August 27, 2008 1:22 AM in response to Clinton Hill needs a DOG RUN!!!!!

A lis pendens is just a notice that a lawsuit has either been filed or a public notice of intent to sue has been published against the property. It won't stop the sale of the property but it will turn up in a title search so it will definitely have a chilling effect on a potential buyer.

The person filing the lis pendens could indeed by a bald faced liar. In fact, lis pendens are often used purely for harassment, such as a disgruntled and disowned heir or a girlfriend-from-hell. But you'll need to take legal action against the party to prove lack of merit to a judge in order to have it lifted.

You should use a real estate attorney who's comfortable with civil litigation, not someone who just does closings. I recommend David Rosenholc and Assoc.

Posted by: Steve at August 26, 2008 12:54 AM in response to Lis Pendens

Raising a house will definitely be the more costly way to go. It's not just the cost to raise it off the foundation. I'm not sure what that costs here but it can up to $70k on Nantucket, and for a small house. Just for the lift. It's the cost and time to detach the house from its utilities and put them back, excavate and construct a new foundation, build new stairway access to to the entry doors and re-landscape. Since your utilities probably also enter at the basement level, it also means some rewiring, extending the water, DWV and gas, chimneys, etc. And repair all the beat-to-hell plaster upstairs you'll almost certainly have.

If it were me, I'd look for another house more suitable to my needs.

Posted by: Steve at August 25, 2008 5:21 PM in response to 'Lifting' a House

It depends on the controller.

I've got my CFLs running with Insteon controllers. I've had problems with cheap CFLs in the past but since I stopped buying Phillips and no-name CFLs they've been fine. I have dimmable Westinghouse CFLs in my entryway and second floor stairway landing. The Insteon timer controller automatically dims them to 50% at midnight.

Posted by: Steve at August 25, 2008 12:08 PM in response to Comments on dimmable CFLs

Heh. Back in my CP/M days I user a word processor called WordStar. It had a companion spelling checker called SpellStar, which had a "Maintenence Menu".

Posted by: Steve at August 25, 2008 12:13 AM in response to Ending with Ignurance

That "furniture" thing was Johnny's comment, not mine. Why should your mortgage company care so long as you pay off your mortgage in full at closing?

I think you should look at it from the buyer's perspective. He wants to unload a bunch of cash he didn't pay taxes on. That's his IRS problem, not yours. It shouldn't affect the contracted sale price of the house. He's just bringing to the closing 50 grand in cash/money order + a check from his bank for the purchase price minus 50 grand.

So long as your hands are clean, the IRS shouldn't be interested in you. They'll go after the house he just bought.

Posted by: Steve at August 24, 2008 11:55 PM in response to lower offer with cash at closing?

Both Home Depot and Ikea will take CFLs for disposal in all of its stores regardless of where you bought the bulb. Lowes is expected to announce a similar recycling program soon.

I don't think CFLs will be much of an issue in five years. I expect that LEDs will have improved considerably in color temperature and grabbed the market by then.

Posted by: Steve at August 24, 2008 11:36 PM in response to Comments on dimmable CFLs

The seller said to assume that he would declare the cash. A money order is safer than cash because it establishes a traceable paper trail in case the IRS comes sniffing.

Posted by: Steve at August 24, 2008 5:41 PM in response to lower offer with cash at closing?

The best dimmable CFLs I've found are from Westinghouse. The worst are from Phillips (but that's indicative of Phillips bulbs in general, even for auto light bulbs). Mine have lasted three years without a problem.

I totally agree about those plastic blister packs. I hate them for a lot of reason, not the least of which is trying to get them open.

Posted by: Steve at August 24, 2008 4:25 PM in response to Comments on dimmable CFLs

Muggers usually don't mug in their own neighborhoods, for obvious reasons. They usually (but not always) focus on neighborhoods where people are patronizing restaurants, bars and stores and where the mugger is reasonably sure that the victim is carrying cash.

Street muggings are fairly uncommon in Bay Ridge for several reasons, one of which was already mentioned: there's not a lot of sidewalk traffic in its residential neighborhoods for it to make it worth a mugger's effort and where he might get spotted by cops before he finds a victim. Much of the after-dark pedestrian traffic around here are dog walkers. Finally, a lot of law enforcement types reside here. That's just the nature of Bay Ridge, or at least north Bay Ridge. A mugger would know that by the large number of personal cars parked at fire hydrants with NYPD dashboard placards.

Posted by: Steve at August 24, 2008 4:20 PM in response to Shooting - Monroe & Nostratd, Bed-Stuy

Scaremongering, indeed. The IRS has dealt with money laundering for generations, and with organizations a lot more expert at hiding cash than a couple of people at a house closing. That's what forensic accountants do for a living.

The buyer can use his cash to buy money orders to bring to the closing. That should be enough to keep the seller's hands clean in case of an audit.

Posted by: Steve at August 24, 2008 2:24 PM in response to lower offer with cash at closing?

More likely, the guy has a lot of undeclared cash income he needs to wash. He doesn't have to be a drug dealer. He could just be someone doing lots of work off the books. Beware though. If he gets popped by the IRS he could send them your way as part of his plea deal.

Posted by: Steve at August 23, 2008 11:16 PM in response to lower offer with cash at closing?

You're fine.

Posted by: Steve at August 23, 2008 7:04 PM in response to DOB Complaint

Sounds familiar. My first week in my first apartment on the UWS there there was an armed mugging in my lobby, a shooting at the Pick & Pay, a dead o/d in "Needle Park" (across from the W.72nd Street subway station) and I learned that my first floor neighbor was a pimp and a drug dealer.

I was afraid my parents would visit, hear the news and put the screws on me to come back home to Virginia. But that was the worst it ever was. Cops arrested the drug dealer a few weeks later. After that the only predators I had to deal with were real estate speculators.

Hope things get better with your hood too.

Posted by: Steve at August 22, 2008 4:37 PM in response to Shooting - Monroe & Nostratd, Bed-Stuy

There's a fixer-upper around the corner from me in north Bay Ridge (Ridge btw 67th & 68th) for $599k. I know they were accepting offers as low as $575k. The two potential buyers so far couldn't come up with the financing.

http://www.remax-1stchoicerealtyny.com/propertysearch/propertydetail.aspx?MLSNumber=338410&MLSMarketCode=BrooklynNY

The catch: "fixer upper" is literal. It needs moderate gutting -- new floors, new kitchen, new woodwork, plumbing, electric. $200-225k should do it if you use a GC.

The up side is that it's otherwise a solid house with great neighbors in a safe neighborhood, one block from Owls Head Park, three blocks from the subway and two blocks from BQE and Belt Pkway entrances. Also close to the MTA Express bus to Manhattan (15 mins).

This place would be good for someone who doesn't want to restore an old house but wants a spanking new home with their own internal design.

Posted by: Steve at August 22, 2008 4:18 PM in response to restored Victorian in Bay Ridge

A "Hollywood" layout usually refers to a studio efficiency where the apartment is one room and a bath. The kitchen (or kitchenette) faces the living room, sometimes behind folding doors. It often has a Hollywood bed, a bed that can be made up to function as a sofa.

Hollywood apartment complexes are all over Hollywood. They're kind of like motels by-the-week. When I was a musician I used to spend about six weeks every year in one off Sunset while doing recording work or playing in the clubs.

Posted by: Steve at August 22, 2008 10:50 AM in response to What's a "Hollywood" Kitchen?

Bay Ridge hasn't exactly been crime-free lately either. A beat down outside the Blue Zoo, on 84th & 5th, a knifing in Owls Head Park, bank robberies...

Posted by: Steve at August 22, 2008 2:07 AM in response to Shooting - Monroe & Nostratd, Bed-Stuy

I don't even wanna start on "located in a one way trees line street block"

Posted by: Steve at August 21, 2008 7:30 PM in response to Brooklyn Hts. Elegant 2 Bedrooms Sale

That may well be true but NYC is also a global business, shopping and entertainment center. Foreigners don't travel here just for holidays. I know several Europeans who keep apartments in NYC for business purposes, as a US home base for travel in this hemisphere and just for a change of pace.

They're not wealthy either. When they're not using them they do what my friend does with her Nantucket house: rent them out on a short term basis. My friend leases out her house during the on-season (May 1-October 1), which pays 90% of the mortgage and taxes for the year.

Posted by: Steve at August 19, 2008 4:14 PM in response to European Purchasers

USAA (my home insurer) sent me a letter last month raising my hurricane deductible to $8600+. Some insurers, like Allstate, have dropped home owners policies for thousands of Brooklyn customers, allegedly because of the hurricane threat, even though NYC hasn't experienced a serious hurricane since 1938, and even that was mostly Long Island.

After insurance companies took a bath (so to speak) in Katrina I think they're just looking for an excuse to reduce their future liability on the flimsiest pretext, or by cutting their potential liability altogether. Only a relatively small piece of Brooklyn is within FEMA's "100 year hurricane flood zone". It wouldn't surprise me if this is a move on the part of insurance companies to persuade the fed to underwrite their future hurricane losses.

Posted by: Steve at August 19, 2008 2:58 PM in response to Liberty Mutual Hurricane Deductible?

Maybe he renovating a drawbridge into a residence?

Posted by: Steve at August 19, 2008 12:48 PM in response to 3 Phase Electric

You can tile over tile but it's a lot of extra prep work and you run into issues like the door and trim needing to be cut down, the toilet rough-in being too low, a new threshold, etc.

It's better to remove the old tile using a flat tool, like a garden spade and a prybar. You can make any repairs to the mud bed while laying the new tile.

Posted by: Steve at August 19, 2008 12:18 PM in response to 2nd floor bath - flooring question

I think three-phase is only available to industrial customers, and at commercial rates.

Posted by: Steve at August 19, 2008 1:35 AM in response to 3 Phase Electric

Gemini10, not really. Housing sales in Bay Ridge are still pretty strong thanks mostly to the fact that you can find a large, comfortable, move-in-condition home for sub-seven figures here. Know who's buying them? People much like yourself -- homeowner's from trendy, hyper-expensive neighborhoods who still want to have a nice house and a bunch of cash in the bank afterward.

Posted by: Steve at August 18, 2008 7:13 PM in response to Selling My House

I had both lally and screwjack columns littering my basement to compensate for a cracked center support beam. The obstructions made the basement almost useless for a shop so I replaced the wood beam with a steel I-beam, which got rid of almost all those columns. That's one option to consider.

Posted by: Steve at August 18, 2008 7:05 PM in response to Jack Post Column replacement

You can't get an Irish construction guy in August. Unless you're in Donegal.

Posted by: Steve at August 18, 2008 6:58 PM in response to Crown Molding

The surface of the wood is probably dessicated by age, soot and general exposure. Sanding it would remove most of that and get you down to clean wood but there are no guarantees. Urethane or a two-part clear epoxy finish will stiffen up the fibers to a certain extent but don't count on that either. I've got aluminum oxide, which is twice as hard as any job site-applied finish, on my engineered flooring upstairs and it's gouging like crazy thanks to my large dogs and the pine plywood substrate.

I had 115 year-old yellow pine floors in my loft. With my general carelessness, I wouldn't do pine floors again.

Posted by: Steve at August 18, 2008 10:29 AM in response to Re-flooring with the Pine 12" subfloor

Not for nuthin', Nantucket is also 9 hours away (6.5 hour drive + 2 hour ferry + 30 min check-in @ Hyannis), unless you have the disposable wealth to be able to afford the outrageous r/t plane fare. My girlfriend owns a house there though. So do lots of Europeans for that matter.

Posted by: Steve at August 17, 2008 10:34 PM in response to European Purchasers

If jerks didn't breed where would new jerks come from?

Posted by: Steve at August 17, 2008 5:19 PM in response to Park Slope Baby Carriage Pushers Are on the Loose!

Something like this?