It's quite possible that the joists weren't significantly damaged in a fire. In ye olden days, the Douglas Fir joists that were commonly used were not the nominal dimensions that they are now. Timber was a full 2" thick by a full 8"/10"/12" wide. That's a lot more wood than current building standards have. Is your engineer saying that the charred wood is a problem that needs repair or is he just noting it? If he's noting it, it might not be anything to worry about. If you're worried about it however, maybe you just need a 2nd opinion from a structural engineer for piece of mind.

Posted by: fauxvic at November 11, 2009 9:47 PM in response to Fire damage to roof

In my professional capacity I've hosted ~15 shoots in various properties (all historic, all with busy schedules) and in my personal life, we've had a 7 day indie release shot in our house. From my perspective, here's a short list of good/bad:

BAD: HUGE numbers of people on your site. A small/mid size motion picture unit is 5-10 trucks plus 50-75 crew. A large is 15 trucks and double the crew. Not all of the crew will be in your space at the same time but all of them will need access to your surroundings. Streets, sidewalks, stairwells, whatever. They'll need it and take it.

BAD: Many film people tend to ask for forgiveness instead of permission while they are doing their job. This comment isn't meant to be slanderous to the profession, it's just the nature of their job. They're under a serious time crunch and chances are that when they're on location, they're working 16 hours out of 24. Anything that slows things down is a problem that they want to solve in the shortest/quickest way possible.

GOOD: For the most part, the first offer of cash is the low ball. Even indie shoots budget much higher than the $1500/$500 offers. For the indie shoot (with major stars) in our house, we got $3k/shoot day plus $1500/prep day. Majors, depending on how invasive they are (I'm thinking special FX here. Pyro, blood, stunts) commonly settle for a LOT more than that.

GOOD: It's fun. Crazy but fun. And you'll have a momento for your grandkids to laugh at later.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is that you should never assume that their understanding of terms is equal to your understanding of terms. If you're not in the business, you won't have the same context for terms as they do. See my note about unit sizes. You might hear them say small unit and think a couple of trucks and they might actually be saying much more. Don't be afraid to ask many, many questions. The location folks that approached you will be more than happy to answer them and unless they're bad, they'll be inclined to give you a clear and honest (ish) answer. After all, there's nothing worse than having to talk a panic ridden location owner down from the ledge as their units are pulling up to the door.

Hope this helps.

Posted by: fauxvic at October 29, 2009 1:51 PM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

Not to be a killjoy (I know the satisfaction that comes from righting other's decorative wrongs) but... If you're on the 3rd floor of a brownstone, I'd be somewhat concerned with taking a sledge to any flooring without first considering whether the flooring joists can take the stress without too much flex. If they flex a great deal, violent demo runs the risk of destroying the ceiling of the room below, especially if the ceiling is old plaster. As boring as it sounds, I'd go with a more surgical tactic and use a grout saw to chew away the grout around one tile and then use a hammer and cold chisel to break away the offending piece.

Hope it goes well.

Posted by: fauxvic at September 4, 2009 1:25 PM in response to Need floor guy recommendation

RE: re-fi closing costs were estimated by our broker at $6k. The taxes are on the cash pulled out only, not on the entire amount. Ammortizing that amount would be under $100 month assuming we run the entire 60 months.

RE: HELOC. We have looked into that. However, it would be ideal for us to not increase our monthly expenses. Part of this exercise would be to lower the monthly costs or at least not see them increase. Our thinking was that we would re-fi into a 5/1 to lower our expenses and receive a cash bonus at signing. However, if we could find a HELOC with deferred repayments.....

Thanks to both of you for your considered answers.

Posted by: fauxvic at August 3, 2009 4:07 PM in response to Yet another refinance question.

> im not a huge fan of these manhattan businesses opening up places in brooklyn."

Would you feel better about this if you knew that A) the owners live quite near to their new restaurant and B) they are closing their Soho location prior to opening Purple Yam?

Posted by: fauxvic at February 5, 2009 10:05 AM in response to Streetlevel: Cortelyou's Purple Yam Opening in April

We also might be interested in the 42x22x9 and the 33x25x9. Can you email photos to xa60 @ hotmail . com?

thx

Posted by: fauxvic at November 4, 2008 10:37 AM in response to Cast Iron Radiators

I recently used Maged Iskander for a small job. He came up with a rational solution and both his fee and the work associated with his portion of the scope were reasonably priced.

Maged Iskander, P.E.
Structural Concept Engineering
917-531-7960

Posted by: fauxvic at September 29, 2008 9:56 AM in response to Structural engineer

I'm guessing you already know this but Mary K. Gallagher is the go to agent in the area. Her only significant competition is Brooklyn Properties. Both Mary and Hal Lehrman (owner of BP) live in the area and they seem to get the best prices for their listings. Many of our neighbors have bought from them and I have yet to hear any major complaints. Barring those two, your options dwindle to Brooklyn Hearth and Julie/Kestyn. I used Brooklyn Hearth for our rental property and found them to be average but I don't know Julie enough to comment.

Posted by: fauxvic at June 16, 2008 1:53 PM in response to Ditmas Park Realtors

I 2nd Master Plvmber's Python rec. I used them recently to snake a clogged main sewer line and they were super quick, super professional and very reasonable. After hours call out was $369.

Posted by: fauxvic at June 4, 2008 1:52 PM in response to Bklyn Plumber to Snake a Drain?

While I understand some of the anger towards State Farm in the continuing wake of Katrina, they have been our carrier on our 2 family in Ditmas Park for the past 6 years. During that time, they've been nothing but professional, handling our single claim very well and keeping our premiums very reasonable with only nominal annual increases. currently paying ~$2600 for theft/damage/liability.

Posted by: fauxvic at May 14, 2008 2:08 PM in response to Getting Dropped By Allstate

I've been very happy with Shaul Betesh and Tina Blakeman at Manhattan Mortgage. either of them can help you out. Prior to being at Manhattan Mortgage, they were at Guardhill Financial, a boutique mortage broker on 57th Street. Alan Rosenbaum, President of Guardhill, is also worth having a conversation with.

Posted by: fauxvic at April 13, 2008 8:46 PM in response to mortgage broker ?

Hugh Hardy's office? www.h3hc.com

Posted by: fauxvic at April 10, 2008 1:44 PM in response to Contact for hcubed?

They're going to take pictures of your house regardless of whether they have permission or not. They'll simply stand on their property to do it. Far better that you are informed of their intention to do so and to cooperate with them in advance. That said, I agree with the other responses in that you should also do your own documentation of the existing conditions, including pics of the vacant lot, for your own purposes should the need arise.

I'll also go one step further and advocate for your taking pics of the project as it moves forward. Even the best developers make mistakes and it's in your best interest to document each step of the process. I'd personally be very interested in work that they do near the foundation.

Posted by: fauxvic at February 17, 2008 12:31 PM in response to new building going up next door

I wouldn’t be too concerned with the thickness of your pre-existing floor. A good floor guy/person would inspect the site and determine what needs to be done. As far as the integrity of your sub-floor (which will be compromised after rip-up). A good Floor guy/person will explain the procedures that he/she will take to have a sound substrate and installation of your cherry pre-finish. I would be glad to inspect your floor at no cost. My # is 347-677-7626

Posted by: Ray Bascaglia at September 26, 2009 10:45 AM in response to Need floor guy recommendation

Dont do it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/923415.stm

Posted by: sjcg at October 29, 2009 1:52 PM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

Dont do it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/923415.stm

Posted by: sjcg at October 29, 2009 1:52 PM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

I think I'm more inclined to blame the government person who thought it was ok to have a film shoot on Machu picchu than the film crew.

Posted by: kramer at October 29, 2009 3:09 PM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

fauxvic is right $1500/$500 is definitely their low ball offer. When we rented our house in L.A. for a commercial we were paid $6K/day plus hotel expenses. We had an agent representing us that had someone on site to monitor the production and to communicate directly with us for anything that varied from what was agreed upon. They also supervised clean-up.

Posted by: HDL at October 29, 2009 4:08 PM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

If I was on the board of your coop I would never allow it. It will disrupt the entire building for the gain of a single shareholder. Plus it constitutes commercial use. I can't believe a board would let you do this.

Posted by: denton at October 29, 2009 6:10 PM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

They probably wouldn't, but if the fee to the coop was worth the trouble (are they doing exteriors?) they might at least discuss it. Who knows? The commercial use clause might be the kicker though,

Posted by: Minmin at October 29, 2009 6:14 PM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

I work in the film business (as tech crew).....make sure they tie into their own source of power, not yours. Or charge them extra for electricity. You won't believe how much amperage lights draw....and I second all the above "cons" even though I have shot in many, man homes around the area.

Posted by: sogo at October 30, 2009 7:58 AM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

We were asked by a film company to use our Brooklyn Heights Brownstone -- hallway, front, steps, etc. for a couple of days prior to the Christmas holidays one year. The money was a pittance compared to what looked like to be 18 hour days leading right up to the holidays. We said no. Film crews also think they own their locations and that includes city streets, like we should be privledged to have them around. There is a little beach community in Staten Island that regularly uses its area for Law and Order episodes and for some reason that is usually not disruptive, but fun for the people there. But it is an open area near the beach and it is a regular thing so the neighbors welcome them.

Posted by: donatella at October 30, 2009 4:26 PM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie

MAKE SURE THEY HAVE A CURRENT INSURANCE POLICY FOR A HIGH AMOUNT. Ask to see it and call the insurance company to verify.

Posted by: Ysabelle at October 31, 2009 11:08 AM in response to Renting Your Place for Movie