Electrician referral needed to have a bathroom outlet moved

The p/t porter for our Coop is wonderful and I highly recommend him. He's always looking for additional work to supplement his p/t income. He's an honest, reliable hard worker and a genuinely nice guy. His name is John and if you'll contact me, I'll be happy to provide you with his phone number as I don't want to post his personal number in public. My email is lauried at gmail dot com.

Posted by: laurie11201 at April 7, 2008 1:26 PM in response to Maintenance/Cleaner for 5 floor apt building

While I can't comment on your GE experience with the rest of the appliances (we managed to reno our kitchen without a single GE appliance, thankfully) and - I can comment on your wet dishes issue as we went through the same thing with our new dishwasher.

The 20-year old dishwasher we replaced always gave us dry dishes (albeit still somewhat dirty, hence the need to replace!) when it was done but when we installed a new Whirlpool model, we had to have 3 service calls (where they'd find nothing wrong) before someone finally told us that we needed to use Jet Dry in the rinse agent holder in order for our dishes to dry and that that was the case with any new dishwasher. We have never used any kind of rinse agent before so this was a shock to us. I thought they were insane.

Whirlpool offered to send us a few sample packs for our trouble and sure enough, our next cycle and each one since has ended with bone-dry dishes and spot-free glasses. I picked up a large bottle of Jet Dry from Costco for like $10 a year ago and since we've only had to refill that little holder once since then, it will likely last us 10 more years. I don't know why it works the way it does, but it does!

Posted by: laurie11201 at June 25, 2008 4:59 PM in response to GE Cafe: DON'T PURCHASE!

Thanks all. We've used Ceriello a few times over the years for larger jobs (track lighting install, etc) and have been happy with them. I think I've even recommended them a few times here in the Forums! It didn't occur to me to call them for this tiny job, but perhaps I will. As an option, though, 11:55 can you comment on whether Aidan is licensed and what work he did for you?

Posted by: laurie11201 at July 1, 2008 4:55 PM in response to Electrician referral needed to have a bathroom outlet moved

We just had our bathroom re-tiled and we used Rob Mara. He advertises on Craig's List as "the grout & tile guy." We have used him a few times for plumbers patching and cracked grout/tile repairs over the last 5 years and since he'd always done nice work on those small jobs, we hired him to do the bathroom walls and also to re-grout the existing 2x2 tile floor. He did a very nice job and he's a really nice and friendly guy. His pricing is very fair and he and his helper worked quickly and cleaned up after themselves. Don't hesitate to tell him that Laurie in Brooklyn Heights referred you. You can also email me if you need any additional info laurie.duncan - at - gmail - dot - com

Here's his contact info:
Rob Mara
917-670-6900
www.thegroutandtileguy.com

Posted by: laurie11201 at July 10, 2008 3:06 PM in response to Tiler Recommendation?

We used Silestone for our kitchen countertops and love it. We looked at Zodiaq as well, but ultimately chose Silestone because we fell in love with the "leather" finish it's offered in, and Zodiaq did not have a similar finish (this was 2 years ago, can't speak for now). I would not use it for the backsplash, but I suppose it's a personal preference. We used glass subway tiles for our backsplash.

Posted by: laurie11201 at July 15, 2008 4:17 PM in response to Zodiac counter tops

Our contractor installed ours as we'd had a scheduling issue at the last minute and didn't want to reschedule the delivery, but the granite place in NJ we purchased the countertop (Granite Concepts/HomeGranite) did the templating and cutting and delivered the finished counter.

Posted by: laurie11201 at July 17, 2008 12:42 AM in response to Zodiac counter tops

We have Silestone countertops (quartz, like Ceaserstone, just different brand) and it was slightly more expensive than granite. I found that to be the case from every fabricator we considered. Not much more, but slightly more, nonetheless. Then again, granite and quartz both have varied pricing, depending on the color and the finish.

Posted by: laurie11201 at July 22, 2008 10:41 PM in response to Inexpensive Ceaserstone

We just completed a mini-reno of our bathroom. For tile, I recommend Cancos Tile on 21st bet 5th & 6th in Manhattan. I second the Toto recommendation. We kept our pedestal sink and tub so can't help there, but all our showe, sink and wall trim/hardware came from various online sources (faucetdepot.com, hardwareaccents.com, etc).

Posted by: laurie11201 at July 23, 2008 8:07 PM in response to Sources for bath reno supplies?

I can also vouch for Rob Mara.

We'd used him a few times in the past for minor tile repair and he just re-tiled our 5x7 bathroom a few weeks ago. He did the tub & shower enclosure (including tearing down to the metal beams and putting up new backer board), baseboard and re-grouted our existing 2x2 floor tile. He's a nice guy, works fast, does good work, charges fairly and has always returned calls and emails promptly.

Posted by: laurie11201 at August 1, 2008 4:56 PM in response to Bathroom Renovation

Another vote for Classic Tile. We bought our blue glass subway tile for our kitchen backsplash there and had a very positive experience.

For our bathroom tile we bought from Cancos on W. 21st St in Manhattan, however, and also had a great experience.

Posted by: laurie11201 at August 5, 2008 4:33 PM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

Robert Mara is an excellent tiler. He tiled a complicated shower room (like the ones in Europe) in our recently purchase limestone. His estimate was reasonable, he consulted with us twice, he was knowledgeable, dependable, speedy, and a pleasure to have in our home! I am a designer, very detail oriented and have already used him again for one of my projects. His contact info is rmara13@verizon.net

Posted by: katham at July 31, 2008 11:46 PM in response to Tiler Recommendation?

Marino Tile in williamsburgh.
Swan Tile on college point ave in flushing.

Posted by: raphael9 at August 5, 2008 4:50 PM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

Classic is excellent for help, price and service

Also Lowes if you can find what you want

Posted by: aabklyn at August 5, 2008 6:05 PM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

mosaic house on 22nd in manhattan has really nice mosaic tile from morroco.

Posted by: chickenoid23 at August 5, 2008 6:45 PM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

I purchase all my tiles from a huge tile supplier in LIC. called International Tile, located on 21 street. They have a large selection of regular tiles along with fine imported pieces. I was first brought there about 10 yrs ago and had found a neighboring Contractor to do all my work. They moved from 30-50 21 street to a new location about 2 miles away, still on 21 street. Best of luck.

Posted by: Bklyn1 at August 6, 2008 8:43 AM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

One more vote for classic tile on 86th St.
If you want nice tile, (and can tell the good tile apart when you see it) You should go there.

they have a huge selection and prices are very good.

Posted by: Gosha at August 6, 2008 12:03 PM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

I had a really bad experience w/Bella Tile. Originally they told me the tile would be ready in 7-10 days. Its' 4 months later and I just received the tile. They also lack in customer service. One woman was nice there - -Mandy & Anna (the owner's secretary). However, the rest of the store's employees(especially the manager) were the worst customer service people I have ever met. The owner -- while he tried-- did not make my experience w/the store any better.

On a good note -- I have had very good experiences w/Nemo Tile. They are honest, good prices (especially if you get an architect to order for you)-- and a pleasure to deal with. I would highly recommend their store in the city (their queens location was small.. but I did pick up tile there and they were very nice and helpful).

Posted by: brklyngal at August 7, 2008 2:17 PM in response to Tile shops in Brooklyn

Thanks everyone. I know and trust this plumber, but the number just sounded high at first. I guess he is in line so I will proceed.
And thanks for the tile quote too, because I had the same question about our tiling estimate.

Posted by: cornetor at August 7, 2008 2:51 PM in response to Plumbing estimate

You know I guess I did everything on the down low and with cheap(ish) labor, but that prices seems really high just for labor.

Posted by: donatella at August 8, 2008 2:45 AM in response to Plumbing estimate

be prepared to be quoted outrageous shipping charges if you're ordering a significant amount of tile. their initial quote was around $1,000 in shipping; after protest, they went down to $800. our contractor ended up using their own drop-shipment company which cost around $300.

Posted by: z at August 8, 2008 10:30 AM in response to Ann Sacks Tile