Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

it's crack free and doesn't even appear to have any sitting water on it since the door is set back about a foot from the facade so it has a little overhang to it.

Posted by: denouement at July 29, 2009 3:11 PM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

Here is an older photo of the front door/stoop area that might help answer some questions

http://www.danabushman.com/photos/facade_gallery/front-door.html

The facade is shingled cement board and we have tried soaking that as well. We don't have any water in the cellar at the same time as the stoop leaks. We finally got Hatiya out today to look at it and they quoted us $1700 to take out the whole landing and repour it plus taking out the vertical sections of the steps and redoing those. I think that is overkill but no one seems interesting in the same job of simply helping us figure out where the leak is coming from and patching it up. They all want to rip out and redo which we are trying to avoid. $1700 also seems like a lot to pay for what they are proposing.

I will try Vinroy Barronette tomorrow. Any other recommendation for a mason who would help us fix this?

Posted by: denouement at July 27, 2009 9:33 PM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

the water is coming in from the ceiling of the area under the stoop which is a good 8 feet or so above the sidewalk/front garden area

Posted by: denouement at July 27, 2009 11:07 AM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

we've tried the bucket test as well and it doesn't seem to work either. We would probably need to dump 20 buckets simultaneously which doesn't seem feasible. It doesn't drip down the outside of the stoop much at all, but somehow it's still getting to the ceiling underneath. Most of the water seems to be coming in from the exact line where the stoop meetings the front of the house but we've filled in every crack along that line to no avail.

Posted by: denouement at July 27, 2009 9:20 AM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

If you see them around fresh fruits/vegtables, rotting fruits and vegetables, drains, garbage and damp organic materials then they are most likely fruit flies. We have been having a big problem with them lately too. However I found a great, cheap and non-toxic solution. Take a small plastic container with a lid (a left over take out sauce dish works great) and poke a couple of small holes in the top of the lid with a knife or tines of a fork. Alternative you could use a cup/bowl and cover in plastic wrap with holes poked in that. Make sure the holes are big enough for the flies to get into. Fill the container half way with apple cider vinegar. Then put a couple of pumps of any liquid dish soap into the vinegar. Put the top with holes firmly on and place near where you see the fruit flies the most (usually near sink, garbage or fruit storage) I put a new one together last night and as of this morning I had over 15 dead fruit flies in mine. The way it works is the sweet smell of the apple cider vinegar attracts them but the soap breaks the surface tension so when they attempt to land on it they fall in and drown. If you continue to have issues with them set up a new one every week or so.

Posted by: denouement at July 26, 2009 6:13 PM in response to Fruit Flies

we've tried and nothing shows up with a just hose--it has to be a heavy driving rain that drops an inch of water in a short amount of time (which we seem to be getting more and more)

Posted by: denouement at July 26, 2009 5:55 PM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

Just to clarify, my vet in north brooklyn also specializes in holistic medicine for small animals and it doesn't mean that is all they will do. They will also do standard western medicine as well if it is warranted and regular run of the mill checkups. And small pets would certainly include dogs. I think it's great--we need more vets (and doctors for people for that matter) that are willing to look at wellness as a whole and not just treat everything with antibiotics.

In fact, a Tim recently left my vet's office so I wonder if this is him setting up his own shop--that would be great!

Posted by: denouement at March 19, 2009 3:05 PM in response to Streetlevel: New Veterinarian for Fulton Street

we had a similar issue with our front yard drain and tried a few of those $49.99 clogged drain services to no avail. Some one on Brownstoner recommended Python Drains and they fixed our issue for good. We have them out every year to proactively clear the drains now...I highly recommend them.

(718)605-0930
http://www.pythondraincleaning.com/services.html

Posted by: denouement at March 11, 2009 3:37 PM in response to Backyard drainage

hmmm...we'll have to see what happens with the lights. I couldn't find any info about how much cold they can stand so I brought all the removable tops in for the winter just in case. I'll report back in the spring to see how they hold up.

Posted by: denouement at December 11, 2008 5:36 PM in response to Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg

FSRG--we did also like the more classic Bluestone option for the stone but we chose the multicolor and I think it worked well for us...but to each their own. Also the space in the upper seating section was made so we can also move our two table 2 chair set from the lower section to sit 6 if we needed to. Plus there is room for our outdoor heater or an offset umbrella. The back edge of the garden has a lot of tall, leafy trees on the other side of our fence so there is not a ton of direct light back there so we might not even need the umbrella. It turned out to be a comfortable amount of space when you are in it.

The solar lights seems to last about 3 hours right now but they never really got a full day of spring/summer sun so we are hoping they will last longer eventually. I do like the look of them as well--thanks!

Posted by: denouement at December 11, 2008 3:15 PM in response to Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg

hey AEPE--thanks, we do like to think that we are nice people but our one bad neighbor dictated a lot of what we did and how we did it. He called the DoB on us dozens of times during our reno with all sorts of bogus claims so we just didn't want to take any chances. I got a lot of conflicting info on exactly how the law would intervene on the whole "nice side of the fence" issue, so I just decided to play it safe. Plus we figured a wood fence would need treating and repairing and there is no way our one neighbor would let us into his yard if anything ever went wrong. Vinyl just seems more practical and it has a life time warranty from Amendolas. It's amazing the compromises you make that you never thought you would...

Posted by: denouement at December 11, 2008 3:11 PM in response to Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg

CGmodern, good call. The fence in the back is 8 feet and the sides are both 6 feet. The original chain link in the back was 8 and all of our neighbors have 8 in the back as well so we figured no one would rat us out! Also behind us is a city owned building and they have their own 8 foot fence back there so replaces ours didn't see to have any effect on them. They were very hands off during our entire reno so we figured they wouldn't mind.

Posted by: denouement at December 11, 2008 3:05 PM in response to Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg

wine lover--we are waiting to see how the solar lights do in the spring/summer with more direct sunlight to work with...otherwise we might be digging and running wires as well to get something wired out there.

Posted by: denouement at December 11, 2008 3:03 PM in response to Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg

Townhouse lady--thanks! Actually we addressed the drainage during the house reno. We put two drains on the raised slate area, one that feed into the main drain under the house and that other that lets off into the area at the bottom of the steps right outside the sunroom that has a drain that goes to the main drain. We did have issues with the original drain covers that were installed as they were too small and had a small indent in them so leaves would collect there and backup the drains. Now we have much larger stainless drain plates and the addition surface area seems to have solved all the drainage issues. But it was not without some trial and error!

Posted by: denouement at December 11, 2008 2:57 PM in response to Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg

Biff--yes we built that low 2' wall there to put the fence on. Our neighbor on that side had a wall where our original shared chainlink fence was bolted into, but it wasn't big or strong enough for us to use so we build that wall so we could install our vinyl fence parallel to the old chainlink one. Our crazy neighbor on that side would not entertain splitting a new fence so that seems like the easiest way to appease him and get some privacy even if we did lose a few inches off our yard.

Posted by: denouement at December 11, 2008 2:54 PM in response to Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg

Thank for the compliments everyone!

DIBS--yes those are solar lamps. We haven't had them long enough to see how long those batteries last but we are giving them a shot. They weren't too expensive, especially buying them in bulk like that.

Posted by: denouement at December 11, 2008 2:52 PM in response to Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg

We did a modern townhouse reno in Williamsburg with a modern facade (mostly out of thrift, a brick facade option was twice our budget) You can see facade photos here along with how it compares to some of the other (nicest) townhouses on the street

http://www.danabushman.com/photos/facade_gallery/index.html

Posted by: denouement at October 31, 2008 12:15 PM in response to Your Modern Townhouse Suggestions

Thanks

Posted by: jtphilli at March 27, 2009 1:22 PM in response to Backyard drainage

I have same problem.
What is the ball park price for snaking out drain line?
Anyone else use python?

Posted by: dano1182 at May 13, 2009 11:18 AM in response to Backyard drainage

so then maybe a bucket test? I know it sounds dumb but it just might be what you need. Water is very sneaky. Perhaps the fact that it's only hard rain that does this is a clue -- does it drip around the sides?

Posted by: townhouser at July 27, 2009 7:16 AM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

we've tried the bucket test as well and it doesn't seem to work either. We would probably need to dump 20 buckets simultaneously which doesn't seem feasible. It doesn't drip down the outside of the stoop much at all, but somehow it's still getting to the ceiling underneath. Most of the water seems to be coming in from the exact line where the stoop meetings the front of the house but we've filled in every crack along that line to no avail.

Posted by: denouement at July 27, 2009 9:20 AM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

Live & learn - both are great household hints!

Posted by: Arkady at July 27, 2009 9:20 AM in response to Fruit Flies

Have you tried flooding the sidewalk/front garden area? It might be groundwater.

Posted by: Stonergut at July 27, 2009 10:36 AM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

the water is coming in from the ceiling of the area under the stoop which is a good 8 feet or so above the sidewalk/front garden area

Posted by: denouement at July 27, 2009 11:07 AM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

I had a horrible infestation when I lived in the West Village - was unable to find the source (most likely from another apt or the trash bins in the courtyard), but hanging a bunch of rolls of fly tape was a HUGE help. It might be unsightly, but it killed off most of them and they resurged less frequently. You can find the stuff anywhere, including Duane Reade...

Posted by: collin85 at July 27, 2009 12:19 PM in response to Fruit Flies

is it possible it's entering the wall higher up, above the stoop?

Posted by: BHS at July 27, 2009 12:44 PM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop

BHS has a point. I'd get input from masons - I use Park Slope Brownstone - Vinroy Barronette - but there are lots listed in the archives.

Posted by: Arkady at July 27, 2009 1:22 PM in response to Leak under Rowhouse Stoop