Thank you all for your input. Amazingly and lucky for us, the problem is solved and the source of the mildew smell was found by our new cleaning person....! Our previous cleaning person had left a damp mop in a bucket in the back hallway where it sat for a few weeks getting mildewier and mildewier. Crisis averted. The smell was strongest right where the bucket had been left. It never dawned on me to consider the mop as the culprit. So. Finally a problem that won't cost 5 figures to remediate!!

Posted by: brooklyny at September 30, 2009 4:14 PM in response to Who do I call to check for mold?

carpet is new so I don't think that's it.

Posted by: brooklyny at September 30, 2009 1:15 PM in response to Who do I call to check for mold?

BHS - the finish is shot, and it's a stand alone tub, so there's no shower curtain to hide it. I have spent hours scrubbing it, and it looks 1000% better than when we bought the house a year ago, but, sadly, it needs a total rehab. There's a really odd turquoise blue stain right where water drips from the faucet - maybe oxidized metal? It's a shame to lose it but I think it's going to be prohibitively expensive to restore. It needs new fittings as well.

pig three - thanks for chiming in.

I'm sure I'll have more questions in a couple of weeks once our contractor comes back for the more in depth look at what we want to do. he's awesome and likes to salvage old stuff where possible. to be continued....!!

Posted by: brooklyny at August 12, 2009 8:10 PM in response to Re-Enameling Tub?

Sigh. Refinishing the tub seems like it's going to be a major production, but the link from FenFen is fantastic - big thanks!

Posted by: brooklyny at August 12, 2009 9:30 AM in response to Re-Enameling Tub?

If you're considering a Viking, I'd look at the Wolf dual fuel instead. I think it's a much more reliable range. I do not recommend the Wolf all gas, which is less expensive than the dual fuel. Our house came with one and I don't think it is worth the money and lacks a lot of features I would want in a range that expensive. The Wolf All Gas has no sealed burners, no self cleaning oven, no ultra low simmer, all burners have the same BTUs AND no timer - a silly quibble but it annoys me on a daily basis. Even your basic GE apartment grade range has a timer!! I had a DCS in my last house - not a fan of that either. I really liked my Mongram range and I think it's great value for the money. If you decide against a pro-style range, I like the Electrolux my friends just installed in their kitchen.

Posted by: brooklyny at July 15, 2009 9:04 PM in response to Range Suggestions

consignment store like the one on Atlantic Ave in Boeurm Hill!

Posted by: brooklyny at January 8, 2009 9:54 AM in response to What Product or Service Does Fif

Blue Ribbon! Lots of families on the earlier side. We've never had anything less than gracious service and the food is always great.

Posted by: brooklyny at January 7, 2009 8:51 PM in response to need kid frndly, restaurant

I'm going to The Shade Store in Soho. I checked prices compared to Smith and Noble and a couple of others and they were competetive. I like that I can actually go look at the samples - I find Smith and Noble website really cumbersome. http://www.theshadestore.com/

Posted by: brooklyny at November 24, 2008 9:52 AM in response to Window Shade

Better Carpet sold us the wrong type of carpet for our stairs a few years ago. their installers couldn't install it properly and they refused to do anything about it. beware. We've had great luck subsequently with ABC carpet - their prices actually aren't bad and they know what they're doing.

Posted by: brooklyny at November 7, 2008 12:02 PM in response to Carpet and Install for Stairs

I am one half of the couple profiled in the Times piece, and it's really just a rudimentary outline of some of the issues that caused us to reconsider our move to the burbs. Ever increasing property taxes (20% increase in the 2 years that we lived there) were really what tipped the scales in favor of a move back to Brooklyn where I had first planted roots in 1990. I have never considered Brooklyn a homogenous neighborhood - I have always loved the many and varied neigbhorhoods that make up this borough, and even when living in downtown Brooklyn, my husband and I spent weekends going all over. I'm actually really loving where we are right now in PPS. True it has more of a suburban vibe, but as noted above, in 10 minutes I can be on Atlantic Avenue in one direction, at Difara's 10 minutes in another direction, and 15 minutes from Floyd Bennett Field if I want to take my kid for a great bike ride. I can get a Jamaican patty two blocks away. We're close to really good friends. What wasn't clear in the article, and what has half of Maplewood apoplectic at the moment, is that several of the children who were adopted from the orphanage when we adopted our daughter live close by. So nothing against the adoptive community out there- it's great, but some of the girls our daughter shares an important part of her history with, are a mere 10 minutes away which makes for great spontaneous playdates. The gist of the story is that we tried the burbs,but for a variety of reasons it just didn't feel like the right fit for us, and thanks to Brownstoner's Open House pick back in July, we feel incredibly lucky to be back.

Posted by: brooklyny at November 3, 2008 10:50 AM in response to Back to Brooklyn (Thanks, in Part, to Brownstoner)

As a precaution, I would follow some of the nutritional guidelines recommended for treating children with elevated lead levels. Avoid saturated fats/fried foods as lead molecules bind to the fats and are more difficult to eliminate. Eat lots of protein and leafy green vegetables. And I agree with denton. Your wife should ask her obstetrician to run lead level tests. (blood draw, not finger pricks which aren't as accurate). I learned when I was researching lead poisoning (don't ask, long story) that in the early 1970s, the average American child had a lead level of 20+ mcg, which actually made me feel better about the situation we had to deal with. And finally, ask your contractor if he will have the demolition areas damp mopped and wiped down with water which will also help to contain contaminents. It's a virtual certainty that your construction will disturb old lead paint so arm yourself with information and stay away from french fries for the forseeable future. And good luck!

Posted by: brooklyny at November 2, 2008 5:52 PM in response to Pregnant and Renovating

My husband was ticketed several years ago for drinking a beer on our stoop. He was just home from work, wearing a suit and tie, sitting at the top of our stoop, drinking a Guiness. He showed his license to the police to prove that he lived there and offered to show them the title to the hosue to prove we owned it. They didn't care. He fought it and the ticket was thrown out. But what about me? I'm a non-drinker who's been known to throw back the occasional Klaustheler non-alcoholic beer. Are they going to try to ticket me as well now, for consuming a beer emulating substance on my own steps? This is absurd. What if you are drinking apple juice from a wine glass? We thought my husband's run in was an isolated incident with a power tripping beat cop. Which is what the judge thought when he dismissed the ticket (fwiw, he had to go to court in Manhattan though the ticket was issued in Brooklyn).

Posted by: brooklyny at September 16, 2008 12:49 PM in response to More Tickets for Stoop Drinkers

My New Guinea Impatiens usually stay hardy through the first frost. That being said, it's probably not a great idea to start out with them at this point, if you can even find them right now. You should wait til Spring and they'll give you love for a good 5-6 months. For now, the coleus suggestion is good, and hostas, though they wither up in the winter and seemingly shrivel up to nothing. There are many varieties beyond the standard Home Depot garden center offerings. I see the hostas the previous owners planted in our (shady) front yard are flowering nicely at the moment.

Posted by: brooklyny at September 16, 2008 12:28 PM in response to Colorful shade plants for a container?

I love New Guinea Impatiens for a splash of color in shady areas. They're incredibly hardy and they're my personal preference for a shade garden. They like a lot of water but even if you neglect them during a hot spell they revive nicely.

Posted by: brooklyny at September 15, 2008 6:05 PM in response to Colorful shade plants for a container?

You and the Boeurm Hill Cafe were ahead of your time. I remember you. Come back!

Posted by: brooklyny at September 8, 2008 10:55 PM in response to Hot Bird Founder

An enthusiastic recommendation for Ricky Santos - 646-279-9325. We moved into our house on Friday. We were on an extremely tight schedule and he had 6 guys here the day before, who did plaster repair and painted four bedrooms in a single day. They were fast, clean and did a great job. And didn't break the bank.

Posted by: brooklyny at September 8, 2008 7:04 AM in response to Painter

I just heard that one of my old neighbors wrote a book called Green, Greener, Greenest. I believe it encompasses everything from food to green renovations and while not Brooklyn specific, you may find it helpful.

Posted by: brooklyny at September 3, 2008 8:43 AM in response to looking for info on all things green

Oh - I should mention that the guys at Better Carpet ripped us off big time several years ago. They sold us the wrong type of carpet for our stairs, couldn't get the installer to complete the job, fabricated a supposed letter they sent to us stating we would be billed the full amount anyway because it wasn't their fault we had ordered the wrong type of carpet, and helped themselves to $1500 as we had STUPIDLY paid for the carpet with our debit card...when we disupted the transaction with our bank, they produced letters they had allegedly sent to us but which we had never received (certified mail anyone?). So thanks for the recommendation - but that's a definite no. Will try Lowes. And would rather have dirty basement carpet than deal with Better Carpet ever again...

Posted by: brooklyny at August 28, 2008 11:29 AM in response to Where can we get carpet in a week?

That sounds high to me as well. Having been through a huge move just this week, here's my two cents. I got a quote from Flatrate to move us out of a 3200sf 4 story house just outside NYC, put the stuff in storage for 2 weeks and move us into our new house. Their quote was $8,000 if we did all the packing ourselves. While the number didn't seem excessive to me, I found another local mover based in our town, who came highly recommended, and their estimate came in at $5,500 total - $3,500k to move us out and $2k to move our stuff from storage into the new house. The actual charge for the move out was $2400. I don't doubt that Flatrate would do a good job but there are a lot of good ones out there who won't be as expensive. Tipping 15-20% on the cost of the move is pretty standard, apparently though I think on a huge move, closer to 15% is fair (any thoughts?). We had a crew of six and they worked like dogs. We tipped $400 - just over 15%.

Get a couple more estimates. We used Big Apple a few years ago when we moved out of the city. they were also very good but couldn't accommodate our time frame this time around. And do your homework....go to the Better Business Bureau site and read the complaints!!!

Posted by: brooklyny at August 28, 2008 11:15 AM in response to Ballpark cost for move & tipping movers?

A friend who is peripherally involved in the project told me last week that it's supposed to start moving forward again in December.

Posted by: brooklyny at August 27, 2008 10:46 AM in response to Don't hate me b/c I want to buy near AY

Will take a look at Liberty Mututal. I had never heard of Amica until I started this thread but I'm also going to check them out. Thanks!!

Posted by: brooklyny at August 17, 2008 9:12 AM in response to Homeowners Insurance for Ditmas Park House?

Gemini10 - we had Allstate on our previous house but the fact that they are not renewing so many policies in Brooklyn leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. I'd just rather not give them the business. And, while I'd love to save some money on insurance, I've heard nightmares about getting State Farm to pay up, so that rules them out. We can save 10% on Travelers if we also insure our car(s) with them - we're in the process of figuring out if it's worth switching from Geico. I know Chubb has an excellent reputation and they may still be a contender but right now Travelers seems to be our best bet.

Posted by: brooklyny at August 15, 2008 11:24 PM in response to Homeowners Insurance for Ditmas Park House?

We hated Airflo as well. They did a horrible installation job. The sashes were fine but the work they did was so horrific that not 8 years later the windows need to be replaced. We had much better luck with Pella replacement windows that our contractor installed in the rear of the house and they were far less expensive. We ordered the Pellan windows from Lowes.

Posted by: brooklyny at August 15, 2008 3:56 PM in response to window replacement

I thought I just read that NYC building code no longer allows floating stairs?

Posted by: brooklyny at August 1, 2008 2:43 PM in response to Open Stairs/ Floating Stairs?

I know one of the brokers at Aguayo and Huebner does this - I want to say Abigail Golde? She does an amazing job. Don't know if she does it on the side as well.

Posted by: brooklyny at July 28, 2008 3:19 PM in response to ISO Stager

Miss Muffett - we were in the same boat. In all the years I've been following Brookyln real estate (let's say the last 12) this is the longest dry spell I have seen. (By dry spell I mean shortage of interesting listings) And anything that seemed remotely interesting was always snapped up pronto. Sort of like the good old days. I think many, many people are sitting and waiting. There's a lot of stuff sitting on the market that's of little interest to us - properties that we feel are way overpriced, and evidently others do too, because the same listings have been sitting since January. We think we've found something but it took more leg work than I would have believed neccessary for someone who's pretty well in tune with the Brooklyn market. My advice - keep doing what you're doing. Maybe place a House Wanted on Craig's List. Check out Zillow and see if there are any "Make Me Move" tags in areas you are interested in. For what it's worth, I know a couple of people who have listed their houses under "Make Me Move" - they're overextended. Their "Make me Move" prices are somewhat unrealistic for this market, but perhaps you can approach with a price you think is fair. Good luck!

Posted by: brooklyny at July 23, 2008 6:11 PM in response to Why such low inventory?

doh. ok. I outed myself. we've made an offer. damn. ugh. ok. I'm going to look for pictures. sorry. this is all nervewracking.

Posted by: brooklyny at July 18, 2008 10:10 AM in response to Painting the woodwork - is it a crime?

Dave - let me see if I can find something similar. we want to make an offer on the place, regardless, but I'm wary of posting a picture of somoene else's home on the off (!) chance that they read Brownstoner and decided they don't want to sell to the philistines who are considering painting their treasured woodwork. :-)

Posted by: brooklyny at July 18, 2008 10:08 AM in response to Painting the woodwork - is it a crime?

If you get your sod at HD or Lowes the day it's delivered, you'll be fine. Call and ask them when they're expecting the next shipment.

Posted by: brooklyny at June 7, 2008 4:14 PM in response to Sod

I think Cabinet Fair is gone.We went by their Sunset Park showroom a couple of months ago - it's now an appliance showroom. We were told that CF is no more. Would love to know if anyone knows otherwise - we used them a couple of times and got beautiful maple cabinets. Great installation.

Posted by: brooklyny at June 5, 2008 10:49 AM in response to HELP! KITCHEN RENO

I had my knives destroyed by one of those knife truck guys. And then heard similar tales from friends. Lesson learned.

Posted by: brooklyny at June 4, 2008 5:52 PM in response to Knife Sharpening

Sounds an awful lot like Japanese Knotweed. I battled it for a couple of years before getting it under control. Do a search and see if that's what it is. Small shoots came up every spring and in a matter of days were enormous plants with huge leaves. The key to tackling it is to keep cutting it back, pulling up as many roots as you can and keeping after it. It will eventually go away.

Posted by: brooklyny at June 4, 2008 5:06 PM in response to Someone to clear overgrown yard?

thanks all. this is helfpul as we start to stragegize. the 75% rule is good to know.

Posted by: brooklyny at May 20, 2008 10:54 AM in response to Financing strategy?

$1M is the amount of money we have to put down on a house. Whether that is all down payment or some of it goes to renovation is tbd.

Posted by: brooklyny at May 19, 2008 9:41 PM in response to Financing strategy?

Mrs Limestone - I know all the mortgage calculators but they don't take rental income into account. General rule of thumb is 3x annual income for a mortgage but frankly, $1.4m doesn't really buy us anything in the area we'd like to move to. I put this out there to see what other's experiences have been with a big down payment and a not so hot (VERY relatively speaking of course...) income.

Posted by: brooklyny at May 19, 2008 5:12 PM in response to Financing strategy?

We have some crappy rental stove with a self cleaning oven. Cooks just as well as any other stove. The self cleaning oven is very convenient.

Posted by: mopar at July 18, 2009 12:11 AM in response to Range Suggestions

I have had both the WOLF dual fuel (gas burner + electric oven) and VIKING professional (all gas). Both have serious fire power, but for small quality details I prefer the Wolf.

The WOLF dual fuel oven has useful controls to do stuff like turn off the pot roast at 5pm & or when the temperature probe hits 170F. The WOLF standard stovetop trivets are also better shape for sliding pots around (the flatter nicer trivets are an upgrade accessory with Viking), and the sealed gas burners are a winner for keeping crumbs and spills out. In addition to their signature red knobs, the cobalt blue oven interior makes everything that comes out of it look more delicious, in my opinion.

My best dishwasher ever was a Miele. Their sanitizing super-hot wash option for canning jars / baby bottles and ingenious top tray for cutlery are worth the extra expense for Miele alone, whereas my Viking DW doesn't seem to dry thoroughly and is not as quiet. However, in the gas cooktop department, the Miele don't seem to have enough BTU output unless you cook very lightly.

There are a lot of opinions on appliances on gardenweb's house forum, by the way.

Happy cooking

Posted by: vicki_vale at August 2, 2009 11:07 PM in response to Range Suggestions

How bad is the tub's finish? Does it heave wear all over or just chips or discoloration in a couple places? I kept a cool old (1919? 1930?) tub in my bathroom that the contractor turned his nose up at because of some rust stains in the bottom inside. In my case the finish is in good shape there's just discoloration which I'm hopeful will come out when I have some time to soak it with peroxide. I found some info online re bleaching ceramic tiles with peroxide cream used for bleaching hair. The truth is though that with the shower curtain in place you only see part of the outside of the tub anyway (which is in great shape) so it's really not much of an issue.

Posted by: BHS at August 12, 2009 1:52 PM in response to Re-Enameling Tub?

"Bar Keepers Friend" works great on getting out rust stains on porcelain.

Posted by: pig three at August 12, 2009 6:57 PM in response to Re-Enameling Tub?

BHS - the finish is shot, and it's a stand alone tub, so there's no shower curtain to hide it. I have spent hours scrubbing it, and it looks 1000% better than when we bought the house a year ago, but, sadly, it needs a total rehab. There's a really odd turquoise blue stain right where water drips from the faucet - maybe oxidized metal? It's a shame to lose it but I think it's going to be prohibitively expensive to restore. It needs new fittings as well.

pig three - thanks for chiming in.

I'm sure I'll have more questions in a couple of weeks once our contractor comes back for the more in depth look at what we want to do. he's awesome and likes to salvage old stuff where possible. to be continued....!!

Posted by: brooklyny at August 12, 2009 8:10 PM in response to Re-Enameling Tub?

you can try renovators supply...their tubs are okay, but do not buy any of their fixtures...pure garbage http://www.rensup.com/?adsrc=9000910

Posted by: eman1234 at August 12, 2009 9:53 PM in response to Re-Enameling Tub?

Tape a clear piece of plastic onto a small area of the basement wall where you suspect there is mold, tape up all edges well. If there is mold behind the walls, the plastic will fog up.

Posted by: jre at September 30, 2009 1:33 PM in response to Who do I call to check for mold?

Vinegar kills mold.

Posted by: IMBY at September 30, 2009 1:44 PM in response to Who do I call to check for mold?

clorox is better, imby, but in either case you need to find it first.

Posted by: denton at September 30, 2009 1:48 PM in response to Who do I call to check for mold?

This could have been my post: just two weeks ago, we confronted the same thing with our Ditmas victorian. In short, we learned never, ever to put carpet in a basement. We carpeted it last year and then found that the one time water went into the basement (we've since fixed the leak), it corroded the carpet. So out the carpet went...as well as the lower part of most of the basement walls. Some were as a precaution, but it seemed prudent. We cleaned the whole thing with vinegar since I read it works better AND doesn't small as bad a clorox. New walls go up next week and a tile floor to follow.

It was a bummer to take out the new carpeting but ultimately it didn't seem wise to keep it in there--the mold risk for the future is too great with a carpeted basement. I wish I had know that before I spent $ to carpet the darn basement only a year ago.

Our contractor did the whole thing for us since there wasn't a lot of active mold to clean up once the carpets were out and walls off. Just be careful of expensive mold remediation companies...their scare tactics can be really effective. Most of this stuff you can do yourself.

Good luck.

Posted by: lah at September 30, 2009 2:00 PM in response to Who do I call to check for mold?