Eddie's usually hanging around the Flea on Saturdays -- that's hit or miss. Try during the week (not Monday, though) from noon to 6.

Posted by: josh59x at November 1, 2009 1:10 AM in response to Looking for Exterior Doors

Question about Pioneer St -- we had toyed with Red Hook before buying in Clinton Hill, but I had heard all of those homes have flooded basements when it rains. Is that still true?

Posted by: josh59x at October 18, 2009 9:48 PM in response to Open House Picks

@gemini10 all of those issues are true in condos and coops too, though the difference is that there is a structure in place (condo association bylaws and power-of-attorney transferred to the condo association) to handle those decisions.

Posted by: josh59x at July 23, 2009 10:39 PM in response to ISO Partner in Joint Ownership

Two Jakes in Williamsburg ... http://www.twojakes.com/

Posted by: josh59x at July 14, 2009 2:36 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

We have a Bluestar that we live (36", though they make a nice 30"). I totally recommend them. That said, you may be better off doing research on the Gardenweb site -- those guys specialize in these types of discussions. http://ths.gardenweb.com/

Posted by: josh59x at July 13, 2009 10:37 PM in response to Range Suggestions

We looked at this place pretty carefully before buying our place in Clinton Hill. It's a cozy little house, nicely decorated and finished, and it appeared to be in very good shape. The tile wasn't our taste, but whatever, not a big deal to change.

The biggest problem with the house was its size. The 2nd floor is very cramped -- there are no closets, no storage, and only one bathroom. The "Garden Floor" -- a generous characterization of what I would call an English basement -- has space, but low ceilings and no light. The back yard is very small, and faces a big fence with barbed wire (commercial use).

Bottom line, given that so much of the area is in a basement, it's hard to see this selling for more than 350 or 400/sq ft. Same ballpark as what everyone else is saying.

Posted by: josh59x at July 13, 2009 2:10 PM in response to House of the Day: 111 Clifton Place

Jodi at Different Cleaner II on Fulton near South Portland is the right answer.

Posted by: josh59x at July 3, 2009 8:47 AM in response to ISO Drycleaner Ft Greene

We also ordered from Green Depot. We got the EcoTimber strand woven bamboo (honey color):

http://www.ecotimber.com/bamboo-flooring.php

All of the advice above about using strand woven is spot on -- much harder than the other types. Our contractor also loved it ... email me offline at my nickname @mac.com for contact information.

Josh

Posted by: josh59x at June 14, 2009 10:14 PM in response to Bamboo flooring - recommendation

For that size I would definitely get the steel. zeebee has it right -- the actual cost of the steel beams ought to be fairly minimal considering everything else you're doing. Plus, remember that the reason it's required is for the safety of firefighters -- they don't want a huge unit falling on top of their heads. It's just the right thing to do.

Posted by: josh59x at June 9, 2009 11:15 PM in response to a/c rooftop dunnage

That's ridiculous. The real estate agent who "sold you a place" was never working for you -- he/she was working for the seller, with the singular goal of selling the place for the highest price possible.

Posted by: josh59x at March 29, 2009 10:37 PM in response to Same Real Estate Agents

The GardenWeb forums are generally quite a bit better for getting appliance recommendations than Brownstoner.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/appl/

I think it's fair to say that Liebherr for refrigerators and Blue Star for ranges are some of the most popular picks, and Bosch dishwashers are legendary. But almost every brand is discussed in detail there.

Once you decide what you want, you can come back and start a discussion about whether people prefer Drimmer or Gringer, or you can look in the archives about a month ago :-)

Posted by: josh59x at March 14, 2009 3:39 AM in response to Kitchen Appliances Rec's?

Right, the original poster is missing the point of what the Google Search Appliance is. That device is designed for companies to index and search their own internal documents and assets behind a firewall, and not for information available on the public internet (i.e. Brownstoner.com).

The Google solution that Mr. B could implement is a Google Custom Search Engine, which is free (as long as you let Google run its own ads on the results pages):

http://www.google.com/coop/cse/

Posted by: josh59x at February 22, 2009 8:41 AM in response to Brownstoner Search..............

eman is right. Cat 5 is always home run. Coax should be home run too, but contractors and electricians are lazy and will daisy-chain splitters inside the walls -- a terrible practice.

Also, your contractor was feeding you a line about Cablevision (and making a mistake by running cat 5 instead of cat 6, but that's another story). But if you are at all technically adept, buying some keystone jacks and wall plates is pretty straightforward -- they're a couple of bucks a piece from Monoprice or other sellers.

Posted by: josh59x at February 17, 2009 4:41 PM in response to cat 5 connections

There's a simple solution. You can read the meter yourself and enter it on Coned's website. They send you reminder emails when it's time to do that.

Posted by: josh59x at February 8, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Meter Readings- Con Ed, DEP, NG

Adding a floor on top of the extension is still adding square footage.

Posted by: josh59x at January 21, 2008 7:15 AM in response to C of O missing - do I need it for renovations

Mrs Limestone has it right. If the OP is looking at this as an economic opportunity, then there is a price whereby the risk/inconvenience is worth it. If the OP is considering this as a "favor" for a neighbor, then forget about it.

Posted by: josh59x at January 3, 2008 9:03 AM in response to To Party Wall, or Not to Party Wall....

Rico on Atlantic is good for modern. They carry Maria Yee and some other interesting lines including DeLaEspada's lower priced line. Moon River Chattel in W'burg always has fun stuff -- their style is recycled/antique/industrial. Future Perfect has great decorative items but not much real furniture (at least not at real-world prices). Fabrica on Vanderbilt has a good but small selection of mid-century modern. Of the chains, I like CB2 best. And there are infact deals to be had on 1stDibs -- easy to search by price and location. Horseman on Atlantic is a little scarey -- don't bring bed bugs home is all I'll say!

Posted by: grand army at July 15, 2009 6:33 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

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

I third Find on 9th street. Amazing stuff.

Posted by: boofer at July 15, 2009 10:38 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

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

There's a 'structure' in place in TIC's as well...it's called common sense and rationality. Yesterday I talked with one potential partner. Without going into details and on the first meeting, my instincts tell me [s]he would be all right. You have to go on the assumption that problems can be solved.

Who will take care of problems? All partners, or as with my SF TIC, I did the bookkeeping & emegencies and my partner major ones.

I'm really amazed that people START with the assumption that there will be problems...and me, the perennial pessimist, starts with the opposite assumption!

Posted by: cmu at July 24, 2009 10:29 AM in response to ISO Partner in Joint Ownership

"I'm really amazed that people START with the assumption that there will be problems...and me, the perennial pessimist, starts with the opposite assumption"

cmu, that might be the essential difference between West Coast people and New Yorkers.

I wish you luck on this...let me know how it comes out.

Also, where is this building??? A brownstone?

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at July 24, 2009 11:29 AM in response to ISO Partner in Joint Ownership

CMU -- Are you planning to go in with a plan to do a condo conversion in a certain time frame, or is teh only exit strategy selling through the TIC?

Also, what neighborhood or part of neighborhood?

Posted by: Boerumresident at July 27, 2009 11:24 AM in response to ISO Partner in Joint Ownership

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

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'm surprised no one has mentioned Baxter & Liebchen [http://www.baxterliebchen.com]in DUMBO. Great mid-century [Danish primarily] furniture at not exactly cheap but reasonable prices. Unfortunately, the ABC Carpet store [also in DUMBO] is defunct!! There's a DWR on Montague in the Heights though I don't quite know "who's reach the designs are within"!! Haven't been on Atlantic for awhile but there "used to be" quite a few antique shops btwn 4th Ave. & Court Street. There's IKEA, of course. Also worth a mention are the Ft. Greene flea market @ Lafayette & Vanderbilt [on Saturdays] and the Brooklyn Flea Market under the Brooklyn Bridge [on Sundays].

Posted by: blkchrome at August 28, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?