i had close friends who lived in this building (1st floor apt on the left side) for many years before moving overseas. the building is pretty stunning, pierced plaster crown moldings, stained glass and tiled fireplaces. the only real downside was the concrete backyard with a view of the white castle on atlantic. i can imagine that it is a total pain to keep up, a very large house with tons of details. will be a true shame if it is demolished. i can't imagine that a building this large could be easily transported....

Posted by: benno57 at July 27, 2006 12:31 PM in response to Civil War Era Gem Facing Wrecking Ball

agreed, pretty insane.

should be noted that 171 greene, on the same block, sold not that long ago for $1.425 mil. and the purchaser is condo-ing, rennovating and planning on reselling. woah.

btw, i'm pretty sure that this block was built by two separate developers replacing a delapidated hotel/apartment building. the whole block was built before the rush/gentrification into ft. greene and clinton hill. from washington to 175 were built as three family units by one developer and from 177 to st. james are two family units built by a different company.

Posted by: benno57 at August 9, 2006 11:59 AM in response to House of the Day: Crazily Overpriced on Greene

for $20 you can get a heavy hammer and chisel and do the demo yourself. pretty easy there. the tiling and plumbing are potentially a do-it-yourself project too depending on how handy and confident you feel.

tiling, itself isn't too hard and should only cost af few hundred dollars in labor. materials can go anywhere from $1-$30 sq/ft. installing sinks and toilets is relatively cheap too, particularly if you buy the units yourself. also shouldn't be more than a few hundred dollars.

Posted by: benno57 at September 7, 2006 1:37 PM in response to looking for a general estimate for bathroom renovations

i've heard that soapstone, limestone and any honed granite are all stainable. but i've also heard that the wear and tear on soapstone is part of the charm. it is soft enough so it doesn't ruin your knifes if you cut on it (i think the installers use regular woodworking tools to cut the stone).

we ended up choosing a polished black granite for our kitchen because of staining fears and we're generally happy with it however the polished dark surface shows every smudge and streak. at least those smudges aren't permanent stains, i guess....

Posted by: benno57 at September 7, 2006 1:45 PM in response to Soapstone countertops

oh yeah, we got our counters at SMC stone on morgan ave in greenpoint. they have tons of different slabs and tiles, not sure if they do soapstone though.

Posted by: benno57 at September 7, 2006 1:48 PM in response to Soapstone countertops

ground floor will become a borders bookstore.

Posted by: benno57 at September 11, 2006 12:18 PM in response to A Shower and a Shave for the W'burgh Bank Tower

i'd be careful of light colored materials in high-traffic common areas unless you're keen on cleaning them all the time. if you find a tile or stone with a dappled color it will do a lot towards hiding the dirt and grime. also make sure you seal the grout otherwise it will look nasty really quickly.

we used cheap home depot style 12" x"12 ceramic tile in our tenant's kitchens and they've held up great, no scratches or chips. for our common hallways we ran out of money and ended up using vinyl tile with a stone-like pattern. they actually worked out great, but our hallways are pretty utilitarian and style wasn't a concern.

Posted by: benno57 at September 11, 2006 2:58 PM in response to Stone Flooring / Ceramic Flooring????

one of my best buddies lived here for years. from what i hear from him, the developer sent the buildings dept after the former owner. piling up tons of violations that she didn't have the resources to remedy, forcing her hand towards selling. i've never understood how that would work since the building always seemed to be in relatively great shape. but that's the story.

the lot next door was not owned the owner of 70 lefferts. a perfectly fine multi-unit building could have gone there without knocking down one of the prettiest houses in the neighborhood.

Posted by: benno57 at September 13, 2006 12:30 PM in response to Movement to Preserve Lefferts Place Gem

should also be noted that the former owner was not a "flipper". she seemed like a nice person who was raising a family there.

Posted by: benno57 at September 13, 2006 12:34 PM in response to Movement to Preserve Lefferts Place Gem

a friend of mine won a PACC local housing lottery to get his apartment several years ago. it required much more of the applicants than just getting your name in. you had to be a neighborhood resident for a certain period of time. there were numerous meetings that you had to attend. you also really do have to be able to qualify financially -- if a recent college grad couldn't pay the mortgage they wouldn't qualify. i think he was originally 80th on the list but ended up getting the first choice of apartments because of people dropping out.

Posted by: benno57 at September 14, 2006 10:45 AM in response to "Affordable" Condos Where Brownstone Stood

question? is there a skylight in the bathroom where a significant amount of heat loss or draft will occur? If yes, then heat may be necessary, if no then i wouldn't even consider it.

Posted by: an0on at March 21, 2007 7:19 PM in response to bathroom heat

do it. heated floors? awesome.

Posted by: at March 21, 2007 7:23 PM in response to bathroom heat

question? is there a skylight in the bathroom where a significant amount of heat loss or draft will occur? If yes, then heat may be necessary, if no then i wouldn't even consider it.

Posted by: an0on at March 21, 2007 7:24 PM in response to bathroom heat

We renovated a bathroom in the center of our house, top floor with a skylight, and we have no heat. Except for a few very cold days during the winter, I really don't miss it (and I'm one of those people who's always cold).

Posted by: Anonymous at March 21, 2007 8:30 PM in response to bathroom heat

is it the bathroom you will shower in daily? if so, i'd spring for the radiant heat. a little bit of luxury goes a long way. you won't remember that $1250 in 2 years.

Posted by: at March 21, 2007 9:09 PM in response to bathroom heat

That price seems pretty high to me. We put electric radiant heat in our bathroom and it was no more than $600. We didn't have much floor space, really just a standard brownstone bathroom. No need to heat under the tub, so we just used a couple of mats. But it kicks out plenty of heat when you need it.

Posted by: at March 22, 2007 5:40 AM in response to bathroom heat

Electric radiant actually heats the whole bathroom and not just the tiles? I was reading up on it and they didn't recommend electric for heating, but maybe that's a larger room. How much of that price is installation and how much is materials?

Posted by: at March 22, 2007 6:34 AM in response to bathroom heat

We had electric radiant heat installed in a 3rd floor kids bathroom and once we turned it on, the electric bills shot through the roof. I never even noticed when it was on. Now we have it turned off permanently, and haven't missed it on bit. Plus we have a skylight and its still not noticeably cold in the winter....

Posted by: vs at March 22, 2007 8:51 AM in response to bathroom heat

We had electric radiant heat installed in a 3rd floor kids bathroom and once we turned it on, the electric bills shot through the roof. I never even noticed when it was on. Now we have it turned off permanently, and haven't missed it on bit. Plus we have a skylight and its still not noticeably cold in the winter....

Posted by: vs at March 22, 2007 8:52 AM in response to bathroom heat

OP here:
The bathroom is on the ground floor so it has no skylight.

I don't know how the cost is split up between materials and installation, but I trust the electrician not to be ripping me off. But now that I think about it, I wonder if it includes the shower floor. I hope it does, since that is about 1/2 the floor space of the room.

I don't know why I feel like this is the hardest decision I've made yet in this project!

Posted by: at March 22, 2007 9:01 AM in response to bathroom heat