A loud boom? Sounds like Vigilante has been there recently.

Seriously, my last experiences with boiler repair were not good enough to recommend, but, with my hand on my heart, when the gas company came to inspect for a leak this year and saw a Vigilante sticker they said, point blank, don't use them for anything, that they have to come and fix more Vigilante bad work than anyone's.

We used Belsito last year and while they did the job they left the boiler room looking like such a disaster area that someone thought we had been broken into and vandalized, so I wouldn't recommend them.

Posted by: jland at November 8, 2009 10:28 AM in response to Boiler Repair Company

I swear by Superior Auto on 19th St. I've been going to Frank since the Pro Care days, Dom as well, and Charlie since they've been on 19th. I give them carte blanche to fix anything they find, don't even call, I trust them that much, and they've never been anything but the most honest and reliable guys I can imagine. Can't go wrong with them : )

Posted by: jland at October 3, 2009 6:51 PM in response to Auto Inspection

Spread the word. Post it where you can. Call the papers (The Brooklyn Paper might go for this story).

Good luck.

Posted by: jland at October 2, 2009 10:49 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Yeah, it really depends on a lot (not that you didn't know that already : ) )

We got some estimates on painting our 2 1/2 bedroom, which needed a fair amount of prepping. We went with a $4,000 estimate, including paint, because it was the lowest and they assured us they would prep it as well as it needed to our satisfaction. We took the sales pitch and figured how bad could it be? If we have to call in more thorough painter to finish that's fine.

We ended up firing them halfway through. It looked like a tenement with new paint. The walls they prepped and painted looked like patchworks of spackle. They started a room with the wrong color. Showed up without a color so I'd have to go get it. They sloppily painted around light switches instead of removing them. Used horrible judgement whenever judgement was needed. Etc. etc. The previous recommender must have stood over them every minute like a Catholic school nun with a ruler, but we could not. Fortunately, we found someone to come in and do it right (and fix their goofs) and now we're thrilled at how it looks. (Plus, we paid 20% less for paint because this one didn't just stand in line at a hardware store like the other one did, same as we would do).

Now we're completely gun-shy about low bids, no matter what they claim they'll do. I would do it Olympic rating style and toss out the low bids : ) , but that's just me. I understand that a lot of good hands are doing work at lower prices in this climate, but buyer beware. : )

Posted by: jland at October 2, 2009 9:37 AM in response to Looking for Advice on Painting

Are you talking about TIC as a phase before conversion? Or staying as a TIC?

Posted by: jland at September 28, 2009 6:45 PM in response to Tenancy in Common

Love the "Rubles for Clunkers" headline in today's Times.

Posted by: jland at September 24, 2009 12:33 PM in response to Nets Will Have New Owner; FCR Will Have New AY Partner

Best thread ever.

Posted by: jland at September 23, 2009 4:26 PM in response to Nets Will Have New Owner; FCR Will Have New AY Partner

Thanks for the information. Is there any reason why a contractor who has obtained permits for a job might decide to not post them, or is the lack of posting a fairly definite sign that he did not, in fact, get the permits?

Posted by: jland at September 22, 2009 9:16 PM in response to Permit Posting Required?

Yllebdael said: "Nova Zembla sucks. Bought a custom made piece from them. It was delivered damaged. A big chunk came out from one of the legs. The owner would not give a discount. He's a stupid man. Zero idea how to treat customers and a complete moron. Buyer beware."

I went to Nova Zembla for the first time as a result of this thread and am compelled to offset this. We saw great stuff, bought several right then and there, special ordered another (with legs moved to accommodate our vents) and had a first class experience. Delivery (that day) was inexpensive, especially considering it was three large HEAVY rosewood pieces up three flights, and done with extreme care and professionalism. Everything is high quality but not expensive. We are thrilled to have been able to get so much stuff made for urban spaces rather than suburban houses. We spent an inordinate amount of time in the store making decisions and were treated extremely well the entire time. I especially appreciated that the owner gave us all information and zero sales shtick. I know that if we hit an issue he'll deal with it to our satisfaction. I've hit countless furniture places this month and the only two that spoke to me were Sterling Place and Nova Zembla.

I will return and recommend highly.

Posted by: jland at September 19, 2009 10:45 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

Thanks, fauxvic. The sledgehammer remark was more metaphoric (as I can see you empathize with : ) ) than the actual strategy. I plan to delicately chip away at a small area after weakening the grout.

Thanks for the support.

Posted by: jland at September 4, 2009 9:36 PM in response to Need floor guy recommendation

Arkady, I'm with you : ) We don't quite have a consensus here regarding taking a sledgehammer to a corner of it before getting a professional view of it, but, yep, considering the tile is so reviled I'm willing to go there.

Worst that can happen is I'll need a tile guy to fix it, if it's determined to be too much of a horror show to tear up. But I'm not getting that sense.

Thanks for the encouragement! : ) Where's my pickaxe?

Posted by: jland at September 4, 2009 11:53 AM in response to Need floor guy recommendation

Neglected, indeed. It's a wonderful place but has been treated like crap by the BPL for decades. Diminishing book stock, more offices downstairs for non-library city use, clerks who don't get trained and hence don't care if the library works smoothly or not. I love the place, but the BPL has been purposefully corroding it for ages so they can point to it and say "See, it's not needed. Let's put another marble stairway up in Central".

It could be great, but they need new leadership up top.

Posted by: jland at September 4, 2009 11:12 AM in response to Park Slope Library to Close in Fall

Ah, brokers. Gotta love 'em.

Posted by: jland at August 21, 2009 1:44 PM in response to "Livable" Cellars?

Whatever you do, never use Vigilante. Our old landlord used to have an account with them so we had to use them, and they broke more than they fixed. They spent more time trying to upsell us service contracts (Dudes! Morons! We're RENTERS! Duh.) than they did plumbing. We could count on still having the problem after they left.

Posted by: jland at August 20, 2009 11:28 AM in response to Plumber I can trust

Vent : )

You can first try all the easy vent stuff, within the dryer, then between the dryer and the wall. Us personally, it wasn't enough so our Brownstone had a vent cleaner come in and do all the vents from the wall to the outdoors, which were unfortunately not accessible to the vacuums at hand, and vvrroooooosshhhhh, towels suddenly dried in ten minutes : )

Posted by: jland at August 20, 2009 11:09 AM in response to Help With My Dryer

Show him this thread : )

And find a better apartment for less. I have neighbors in PS with great rentals who had a lot of trouble renting and ended up dropping their price several times just to get them occupied. These are not the times to have horrible LLs when you can have great ones in a nicer apartment for less.

Posted by: jland at August 20, 2009 10:47 AM in response to Landlord Problem

It's possible that he can find some way to chisel $900 out of you, but you can't legally collect broker's fees if you're not a licensed broker. Not to say that they're not paid as blackmail as a formality, but...

Posted by: jland at August 19, 2009 10:59 AM in response to Landlord Problem

I think FInd is great as well. Worth noting is that they were 20% off everything last month and yesterday it was 30% off. So while the original prices didn't keep them on our short list, now we're reconsidering some things.

Posted by: jland at August 19, 2009 10:17 AM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

I dunno about the Century 21 thing. Just my own cranky take on it. Everything you say is true, but I can't stand it in there, I feel the essence of my soul being sucked out (same as in similar places wherever they are). I love Bay Ridge, but a spell in C21 is almost enough to ruin my day in the neighborhood : ) but a run to any of the mentioned restaurants places could save it!! : )

I have never had a less than great food experience in any Bay Ridge place I decided to try. Does a less than very good pizza even exist there? And the recommendations here for the favorite ones will send you to heaven.

Posted by: jland at August 16, 2009 5:46 PM in response to Just Moved to Bay Ridge

They may say that neither can outvote the other, but there are other disadvantages to having the other owner a majority owner. You may have equal say in common voting matters but be the odd one out when the other owner can simply point to a document which states what they as majority owners can do without needing a vote. I'm just being hypothetical there, but expenses and voting are but two aspects of the big picture.

Might be some good reason for it, but if you don't know what that reason is yet, I'd have a real estate lawyer look it over before proceeding.

Posted by: jland at August 14, 2009 9:38 PM in response to Safety in 2 Unit Coop?

Can they have the dogs somewhere else for an afternoon? This certainly seems like something they should cooperate with to enable you to use a plumber during normal business hours. It's not your fault they have a dog that complicates this.

Posted by: jland at August 12, 2009 1:35 PM in response to Need plumber for night or Sun.

mopar, when I saw some F & B I was very impressed, and it sure has a legion of fans But when I checked for the color scheme it was quite a bit more than Aura. You sure about that?

Posted by: jland at August 12, 2009 12:48 AM in response to Benjamin Moore Regal or Aura?

rick, that's odd to me, because I've found Aura to be noticeably thicker in each instance of apples to apples, and that's basically what it's reputation is. That's sometimes not preferable, but it's definitely not thinner than Regal.

Posted by: jland at August 11, 2009 8:43 AM in response to Benjamin Moore Regal or Aura?

We just finished having our apartment painted and we compared Regal and Aura and decided there was enough of a difference to warrant the higher cost. Plus, Aura is virtually odor free after 24 hours and we could stay in the apartment while it was painted, low toxicity and only requires one coat and often no priming for walls. It requires a different application mentality than Regal. I'm very happy with it.

Kind of a bummer that your painter took it upon himself to not get what you asked for. I've heard opinions that Aura isn't worth the extra expense, that they're barely different in the end (which is not at all my experience so I disagree with that) but NEVER that Regal is higher quality.

BM dealers claim that they can exactly match both types, but it's not really the color that's the issue, rather the texture and and how they coat, which they differ in.

Posted by: jland at August 10, 2009 8:43 PM in response to Benjamin Moore Regal or Aura?

The biggest issue to me as far as the broker is that A & H aren't selling it for what it is. They're selling it as something else once you do what they suggest. They're selling the top units as potential two bedrooms when in fact they are not.

Posted by: jland at August 10, 2009 6:25 PM in response to 660 Bergen: Shady!!

landry, I'm glad that it's working out for you and that you're satisfied, but I wholeheartedly disagree that it's of no concern that the agents are pushing illegal modifications as a selling point. Red flags are flying galore.

Posted by: jland at August 9, 2009 10:09 PM in response to 660 Bergen: Shady!!

If you have a cat, rodents won't even come around. : ) The other apartments in our brownstone have mouse sightings occasionally, but with our even strictly indoor, declawed feline we've never, ever had one.

Posted by: jland at August 9, 2009 9:51 PM in response to Garden Apartments & Pests

Oh dear, yo2n, if you didn't put this site, your, in your profile I would almost say there was a .001% chance that it wasn't just a shill for your typical insurance broker's site, on your only post here ever.

Thanks for playing, though.

PS: "The real information bring to you also on the Best Car Insurance free Quotes, Guides, including Tips hire" sounds like a parody of a fractured Nigerian email scam letter as written by the Onion. Was good for a hearty laugh, I'll admit.

Posted by: jland at August 1, 2009 11:30 AM in response to Cost of BK Car Insurance?

After years of criminally overpriced insurance from Allstate, 7th Ave Park Slope location, which I initially began to support a local business (this was in 1988, before Geico AFAIK) I switched to Geico five years ago and get hugely better service for $600 a year, bare bones, parked in street, less than half Allstate was charging IIRC, for the same coverage and a much smoother experience. Now I'm not condescended to when I have a question about something, and it doesn't get incorrectly answered by a POed secretary in front of a 1979 computer.

Posted by: jland at July 31, 2009 11:12 AM in response to Cost of BK Car Insurance?

The arrival of new soft furniture will only help if your space is still very reflective with the rugs in place, and even then it helps tame the sound once it has entered your room. Here's a test: clap your hands slowly. Walk around the room clapping, and listen to the sound of the room. If it's a pleasant clapping sound then probably any treatment won't alter the problem. If the claps sound a little clangy, that's the sign of what's called "standing waves", which happens when lively walls are parallel. What might be happening is that once the sound has entered your apartment, the lack of furniture to break up the sound waves from reflecting *might* be causing it to sound a bit more unpleasant than it would otherwise, so it's more noticeable in its annoyingness. Not having bookshelves sounds like a culprit in this kind of thing. I have doubts the added furniture would make it seem lower in volume, though. Just not as harsh, but if it helps, it helps : ) And unless the room is really cavernously big, that's the only kind of sound bouncing you'd get. (If you clap and it sounds like a concert hall, that would be pretty surprising! : ) )

Posted by: jland at July 29, 2009 3:53 PM in response to TV Noise Through Wall

As a recording engineer (of 25 years) who has enjoyed tackling sound issues outside of my work for the challenge, I can assure you that it basically lies with your neighbors' cooperation, and whatever you as the recipient can do will have only marginal effect. I'm not saying that there's no point in a little acoustically geared construction, but it pretty much only helps to do it on their end.

The suggestions for friendly negotiations are spot on.

Best of luck! : )

Posted by: jland at July 28, 2009 7:22 PM in response to TV Noise Through Wall

Well, knowledge is power, and it compromises what a broker has historically been able to do, especially in the pre-internet days. It makes you work harder, in ANY business, when the client is halfway there in the knowledge department and just need you to bring your expertise and work to earn your commission.

Like the travel brokers, who went the way of the dinosaurs once we had access to the same info they did, any real estate broker who can truly offer a useful service will stay in business. The ones who rely on us being ignorant fools are the ones who feel an arrow in their back at the mention of Brownstoner.

Posted by: jland at July 28, 2009 2:19 PM in response to RE Agents Hate Brownstoner

Thanks Bob. That's good to know. I've gone with the aluminum, with the thermal break.

Posted by: jland at July 27, 2009 5:21 PM in response to Crystal Aluminum windows?

Gemini, 11217 is yanking your chain. : )

During the '80s it never occurred to me to go past 9th St., I didn't care WHAT it was called : )

Posted by: jland at July 27, 2009 3:00 PM in response to Renting Condos

Very helpful, BKRed. I appreciate it.

Posted by: jland at July 27, 2009 1:19 PM in response to Crystal Aluminum windows?

I love Cafe Regular on 11th. Not only do they know how to make fantastic coffee, but their hot chocolate has no peer within miles. Great folks, too. And, even if one doesn't favor the place, their regulars are EXTREMELY loyal! : )

And I just got my best haircut in 20 years next door for $15 !

Posted by: jland at July 25, 2009 11:44 AM in response to StreetLevel: Cafe Regular Open on Berkeley

311 complaints can be very effective. The Park Slope Public Library on 6th Ave was sued by neighbors (a neighbor?) for loud roof compressors and the result has been their installed central AC can't be used. They have brought in a temporary indoor cooling unit to comply while the branch plans a fix. So getting a noise reading can result in an action.

Posted by: jland at July 25, 2009 11:34 AM in response to major noise from neighbor's A/C

Yes, this Catch 22 is due to the owner, and your bank is right. A mortgage contingency the order of the day and if he doesn't get with them program he'll never sell it.

Posted by: jland at July 25, 2009 10:27 AM in response to Commitment Let - Catch 22

Yes, it's obviously a shill, if you check the rest of their posts, 75% selling BC.

Peter will try to talk you into all kinds of stuff you don't need or even want.

If you want to get a cheap price, no permits, and violations, sure go for it, it's your misery.

Posted by: jland at July 23, 2009 8:03 AM in response to I LOVED my roofer

Middle of the night munchies are so '70s.

Posted by: jland at July 16, 2009 12:29 AM in response to Elan goes rental

I was on the way to calling the IRS, but I was so bounced around on the tax rebate links on the www.energy.gov site that I came here first.

These are very helpful responses and get me much of the way there. Thanks very much : )

Posted by: jland at July 10, 2009 8:35 PM in response to Energy Saving Rebate Question

The quality of the product is beyond irrelevant. They wanted to build on a toxic dump. Didn't happen. Anyone who says a company like WF, whose CEO sent out fraudulent anonymous forum posts lying about a rival company in order to drive down its stock and then buy it, even has the grouchy neighbors remotely on its radar when building a new store, is saying more about their own views than the issue.

Posted by: jland at July 9, 2009 2:04 PM in response to As Predicted, Whole Foods Bailing on Gowanus Site

The Park Slope Food Coop always has boxes for the taking, and some are pretty huge. And as someone who does a receiving shift, taking stuff out of them and putting them out front, they're as clean as you could imagine : )

Don't know if a non-member could make out with a bunch, but I just did exactly what you're doing (boxing up during renovations) and my free box of choice is Coop!

J

Posted by: jland at July 9, 2009 1:50 PM in response to Suggestions - moving boxes?

As a back up line of credit, the best credit card in the world would be about 45th thing on a list of things to use for one. Seriously, don't go there : )

Posted by: jland at July 9, 2009 1:39 PM in response to Credit Card as LOC?

Your broker is feeding you typical broker bs. The lawyer should be familiar with the area, but let's be honest, some neighborhoods simply don't have a lawyer worth hiring for such a job.

On a related note, a relative of mine sold her Manhattan coop and was told point blank by her broker, who had done a great job, that she needed to get a Manhattan based lawyer for the wheels to turn decently. She did it halfway, getting a Manhattan lawyer friend of a friend, for whom her kind of deal was not his specialty. Bad move.

Get a good lawyer, who regularly does exactly what you need, and knows your area.

Posted by: jland at July 8, 2009 9:50 PM in response to Potentially Dumb Lawyer Question

We just had Miguel's (4th Ave and Bergen) do all common doors including gates and basement access, and one full apartment in our brownstone on 3rd St in PS, based on recommendations here, and they were great. Andy and his crew arrived exactly when they said they would, were straight shooters, and very easy to deal with. I consider it a grand well spent and will certainly use them next time. As John said, prompt and professional.

Posted by: jland at July 1, 2009 11:04 PM in response to Locksmith recommendations?

There go all the side view mirrors in Bed-Stuy.

Posted by: jland at June 30, 2009 12:37 PM in response to Fresh Direct In My Part Of Stuy!

I'm personally finding info of qualifying windows to be incredibly evasive : ) I understand the .30 requirement, but I can't for the life of me find a simple page on the net that shows "These qualify, these don't" : )

Can anyone point me to one?

Thanks : )

Posted by: jland at June 26, 2009 1:56 PM in response to All United Windows

I'll add kudos to Norman and Isaac. We used Universal for our closing and everything went smoothly. I'd use them again in an appropriate situation.

Posted by: jland at June 26, 2009 1:51 PM in response to Universal Mortgage in Brooklyn?

It's not remotely possible that there was a single, legit offer of over $1,000,000, because then it would never have been negotiated DOWN to 960 : ) That's all the proof you need that whoever made that claim (Kathryn Lilly?) has no ethical compass.

I'm guessing they knew the OP was unlikely to go the distance blindly given their trepidations and they found someone who just wanted in, wacky contract be damned.

Posted by: jland at June 13, 2009 10:50 AM in response to 1094 Park Place

totally illegal. Corcoran is in the wrong here, they can be held liable if you get hurt in the building or worse. No builging can have people living there without a c of o. A friend of mine works for a Real Estate company that got in trouble for this exact situation and now they verify every building before ever listing or renting in the building.

Posted by: IrieMan at October 3, 2009 11:00 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

also think you need to relate more info.
How do you know that there is no working heat(not heating season yet)?
Unless you control heat yourself and heating unit is in your space?
So oven not working....landlord may have not known this (as many people don't use them)....has landlord been notified?

How do you know not legal? Is this some industrial bldg?
What kind of bldg is it? how many apts?
Based on your info - you sound like drama person.

Posted by: Petebklyn at October 3, 2009 11:40 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

"No builging can have people living there without a c of o"

Wow, you live in a parallel Brooklyn than me. Half the brownstones on my block have no CO and have rentals.

Posted by: cmu at October 3, 2009 12:06 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Same question here re: no C of O. MANY buildings do not have a C of O. There is nothing illegal about this. More info, please.

Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at October 3, 2009 12:31 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Minh's Auto on 3rd and 15th. Minh and his son Tam run an honest shop. I've been going there for years.

Posted by: modsquad at October 3, 2009 8:07 PM in response to Auto Inspection

It's in Williamsburg but Salerno's on Maujer St and Lorimer is great.
(718) 384-4880
451 Lorimer Street

They are down the street from where I use to work and I still go to them for everything.

Posted by: christopher at October 3, 2009 11:35 PM in response to Auto Inspection

So you decided to leave Brooklyn after one month and now would like to recoup the $5000 you paid to Corcoran. Good try.

So you dug up the fact that the building does not have a C of O.

For the record, any building built prior to 1932 would not have a C of O unless after 1932 an alteration which required a C of O was made.

My guess is that your apartment is legal or Corcoran would have returned your money and not be subjected to a complaint to the Department of State or to a Court action.

Also, even at $5,000 per month rent, you are not entitled to heat in the summer and I am sure the landlord would have fixed your stove if that was the real issue.

Good luck...

Posted by: jre at October 4, 2009 8:31 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

I assume you paid the 5,000 dollars. Sue them. Forget a lawyer. Go to petty claims court and get a form and ask for advice on how to file a claim from the people there. I am not sure now what the limit is - I am pretty sure it is 5,000 dollars. You will get a date and then you go to court and you then present details. Have everthing documented and prove that the apartment was illegal and whatever other evidence of your experience. You will get your money back.

Posted by: donatella at October 4, 2009 8:49 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Why are so many gas stations closing again? Minhs auto does everything for my car by the way. Their shop is unlike no other.

Posted by: dantes at October 4, 2009 10:06 PM in response to Auto Inspection

It's hard to believe Corcoran would compromise their multi-million dollar business for $5000 (which is over the current Small Claims amount, btw). If you can afford 5K a month, you can afford a consultation with a good lawyer for a couple of hundred. They will fire off a letter and get you what you need; which should be restitution of the fee, and perhaps priority for a new unit--plus covering your moving expenses if there are truly in error.

Posted by: sogo at October 5, 2009 8:48 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit