Agree with Homey. You can all this stuff at Dykes Lumber and the mantels at a salvage shop. No architect needed. Check out Dykes web site, they list every product they carry and the price.

And -- that is Timorous Beasties' Thistle wallpaper.

Posted by: mopar at February 8, 2010 2:11 PM in response to Adding Detail to parlor - cost?

Cover the floors, don't create a nuisance that interferes with the quiet enjoyment of the other tenants, etc.

Posted by: mopar at February 8, 2010 2:05 PM in response to Lease Agreement Forms?

Eh, this one isn't doing anything for me. I like the 1840s marble fireplaces. But the floor plan is all weird and what is with those fireplaces at the end surrounded by window and little cupboards? Ew. Too much of a jumble.

Posted by: mopar at February 8, 2010 1:58 PM in response to House of the Day: 96 Joralemon Street

I can't picture what you're describing, but the cracks could be from plaster that is no longer adhering to the lathe. If it's a structural problem, you need to watch the crack to see if it's still moving. I've used Heimer, among others, and I thought they were good.

Posted by: mopar at February 7, 2010 4:54 PM in response to Cracks - settling or serious?

The heavy, all brass, made-in-America faucets last a lot longer and fit better than the stuff made in China.

Posted by: mopar at February 7, 2010 4:47 PM in response to Signature Faucets

You won't find anything earlier than a month ahead. Most listings are for immediate move in.

Posted by: mopar at February 7, 2010 4:31 PM in response to Too Soon for April 1 Rental?

How about a used appliance store? They service and move appliances regardless of where you bought them. There are two or three on broadway between flushing and macdonough.

Posted by: mopar at February 5, 2010 11:51 PM in response to 2 Men and a Van

I am shocked this place was shuttered and hope it will come back to life. It's a much needed and uncommon place in the area.

Posted by: mopar at February 5, 2010 11:48 PM in response to Bread Stuy Seized By Feds

I just had some chocolate ice cream from the bodega, a brand I'd never heard of before - belles or something. I figured it was some cheap off brand thing. Well, it was the best chocolate ice cream I've ever tasted. Anyone know this brand?

Rob, funny about the box, I had a vision of you this morning counting out all your cash and setting aside packets for the rent, etc.

Posted by: mopar at February 5, 2010 1:13 AM in response to Open Thread

Oh yeah, forgot to say: the 2 x 3 Ikea rug was $150.

Posted by: mopar at February 5, 2010 12:51 AM in response to Staging apt - need carpets

Oh my goodness yes. Google Docs. Takes a minute to set up, is free, can be viewed by groups, and can be viewed remotely and/or from a mobile phone with Web access.

I couldn't have renovated my house without it. I keep all my house info in a file there, and could look up a workman's contact info on the stoop if they didn't show, measurements, etc.

Posted by: mopar at February 5, 2010 12:44 AM in response to Online File Storage for Co-op

Convenient subway access depends entirely on where you are going. Figure out what subway line you need to get to work, then narrow down your neighborhood search based on that.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 7:29 PM in response to moving to brooklyn, need advice!

I presume this is not a rent controlled apt. You are on a month-to-month agreement. Does he have last month's rent as well as a security deposit? If not, give him 30 days written notice and tell him to use the security as last month's rent. Make sure you give notice on or before the 1st of the month you plan to move.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 7:26 PM in response to landlord issues

Reminds me of the time I was inspecting a used car for purchase and the seller was incredulous that I wanted to look under the hood. "You want to look under the HOOD?" he kept repeating.

I didn't buy his crappy car.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 7:21 PM in response to Bad inspection, reluctant seller

How do you install central air in an apartment? Doesn't it have to be installed throughout the whole building?

FWIW, you can completely rewire a whole 20 x 45 house with three floors and a basement for $15,000.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 7:18 PM in response to Costs to Upgrade Electrical

Rob, without questioning the psychic part at all, how would a squirrel know about paying rent? Does this squirrel overhear a lot of Park Slope type human conversations in the park?

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 2:58 PM in response to Open Thread

Wow, M4L, very interesting. I predict real estate fraud! Look again in three months to see if it's in foreclosure again.

As for that Crown Heights house, after being foreclosed on, it was probably trashed inside and had no kitchens and/or working bathrooms, hence the $300,000 price. Probably sold to a flipper outfit, and will be back on the market for $600,000 -- or $800,000 -- soon.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 1:49 PM in response to Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million

That does sound kind of expensive. The conduit is just running along in the basement exposed, right?

Then again, some firms may not want to take on such a small job.

I would ask around, get a few other quotes. Could be more like $200.

Both my boiler guy and my electrician offered to do this for me for free -- BUT I was already paying them to do other stuff at the time.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 12:41 PM in response to McCready & Rice?

That Bed Stuy house is really cute on the outside, but as Dave says, VERY expensive. Has someone overpayed multiple times for this beauty? Would love to know the story and the inside condition. Or maybe it's a revolving door of real estate fraud....?

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 12:35 PM in response to Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million

Hmmmmm.....I'm not sure what you're asking. You need to run a few new lines to the existing box? Or you need to rewire the whole thing and put in a new box?

I think I can accurately say it will be less than $3,000. It might be just $800 or $1200. Figure approximately $200 per point -- and then throw in some extra.

You will also need to plaster to cover up the holes. That gets rather pricey quickly.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 12:28 PM in response to Costs to Upgrade Electrical

I'm with Rob. I hate cold cereal. All that soggy stuff floating in dribbly milk -- disgusting. Give me whole wheat toast, lots of butter, bacon, coffee. When I was five, I briefly enjoyed King Vitamin -- like eating dessert for breakfast -- but never saw it again after my mother became a health food fanatic, and all junk food was banished from the house. I got so desperate I would eat raw jello from the package after school.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 10:47 AM in response to Open Thread

Arkady, I was wondering about hangers too. We have a lot of closets, but many are so narrow hangers don't fit in them. I guess they were lined with hooks, and you heaped your cloak and hat and whatnot on that.

Posted by: mopar at February 4, 2010 10:13 AM in response to Does a Bedroom Need a Closet?

Bob Marvin beat me to it. Ikea actually has handloomed (they claim) 100 percent wool rugs from Persia. We bought a small one (2 x 3) for the hall, and are very pleased. It has some fun colors: green and turquoise, plus the usual rusty tones. You can get a really big one for less than $1,000.

I did a casual check of ABC and didn't see anything in the 8 x 10 size for less than $3,000.

I am partial to the Madeleine Weinrib (also ABC) cotton flat weave dhurries. These run apprx $800 or so for 8 x 10.

We were also looking for something temporary (rental) that maybe we could use later. We spent $350 on an 8 x 10 rug from West Elm. It looks contemporary and is quite comfortable. I know from past experience with their rugs to be careful vacuuming, though. They tend to be loosely woven and will snag.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 10:48 PM in response to Staging apt - need carpets

Yes. There are two or three storefronts selling used stoves all along Broadway between Flushing and MacDonough. There is one near the Koskiesku (sp) stop, one just below the Halsey stop, etc. Mostly they sell gas ranges but I am sure they have a few electric too. Very cheap, everything is about $200 or so, and they are refurbished and clean.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 10:37 PM in response to used electric range

Cool, good luck!

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 10:14 PM in response to Sourcing Reclaimed Pine Flooring

Yeah, what advance notice? Con Ed started digging up our street this morning. I could feel our house shake.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 8:37 PM in response to Closing Bell: No Sleep On 2nd Street

These are both fine locations in general. Obviously, you have to check out the particular block and building closely.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 12:45 PM in response to Advice on Bushwick

P.S. Our old stuff is 1 inch thick. Not sure that matters though.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 12:38 PM in response to Sourcing Reclaimed Pine Flooring

Hey! We need 20 sf of aged white pine and the width should be 3.5 inches. Moon River Chattel has a minimum -- I forget what the minimum is. But we need much much less than the minimum. If the numbers work out, maybe we should approach MRC together. You can email me at moparbrownstoner at gmail.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 12:37 PM in response to Sourcing Reclaimed Pine Flooring

M4L, I can see raising two children on 45K in the city -- BUT what did they do for health insurance and doctors?

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 12:33 PM in response to Open Thread

I like the alarm idea, tee hee, that's a good one.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 11:16 AM in response to Open Thread

Someone called the police. But it takes a long time for them to arrive. My neighbor was brave, going out there to mess with her garbage. I feel like I should have flung open the door and yelled get the * out of here. But that would not be politic, and we stand out on the block. So much so that people probably think we did call the police even though we didn't.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 11:15 AM in response to Open Thread

Legion, we have fantastic lighting. We have a lamppost perpetually on all night. I was shocked they would pick our house instead of a more deserted area.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 11:11 AM in response to Open Thread

They didn't appear to be teens. It was hard to tell what was going on. Everyone is bundled up because of the cold and it was dark out. They could have been in their 20s, 30s, mid-30s, I don't know. I wouldn't call it gay on gay violence either. I don't know if they were punching the guy, knocking his head on the ground, knifing him -- I could not tell. I was mostly listening, not viewing. It seemed to continue for a long time after my neighbor pulled up. I heard one of the men say "You're lucky I saved your life." I don't know if they all walked away or what.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 11:09 AM in response to Open Thread

Yes, you are right. I should have called the police immediately. That was stupid of me. Next time. I feel bad.

I wasn't quite sure what was going on -- exactly like the witnesses of the Kitty Genovese situation.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 11:05 AM in response to Open Thread

Infinite, you left out the type of homeless I see most: The mentally ill.

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 11:00 AM in response to Good News for Bed Stuy and Crown Heights Armories?

Maybe I need a special section in the Forum just for me called "Violence."

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 10:56 AM in response to Open Thread

Biff, honestly, I would keep my mouth shut -- but I doubt it's the right thing to do. I am a wimp when it comes to corporate politics. Or maybe you could say something to her like I hear there might be another round of cuts, not sure who...?

Last night another violent incident, this one right in front of my gate. Two men attacking a third. I thought I heard one of them saying over and over "So what if I'm gay, [[the you know what word]]." Presumably this was one of the guys doing the attacking. I turned on the porch light and then my neighbor pulled up and got out and proceeded to mess with her garbage right next to them as if there was nothing happening. They finally broke it up but it seemed like it took forever. Sometime later I saw a cop looking around with a flashlight but I don't think he saw anything. This morning there was blood all over the snow right in front of my gate.

What am I supposed to do?

Posted by: mopar at February 3, 2010 10:55 AM in response to Open Thread

Legion has it on the nose. Look for a three family. Yes, the area shading toward Ridgewood is generally quieter.

Posted by: mopar at February 2, 2010 5:54 PM in response to Advice on Bushwick

I have always wondered about the New York practice of cooking with no vent except a window. But whatever!

So sorry to hear about this dramatic boiler mishap. So happy nothing exploded. Hope you get it all sorted out quickly. Good luck to you.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 4:26 PM in response to Need a New Boiler

Got a new Peerless oil hot water boiler installed and the old one removed for $6,500 through Nu-Lite in Maspeth. It is working great and we have been very happy with the service. They really know what they are doing and are nice guys besides.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 4:23 PM in response to Need a New Boiler

Yeah, I would at least check in with a few more experienced old-door repairers for quotes and see what they say before throwing in the towel.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 4:20 PM in response to Brownstone Doors...repair or buy

Just re-reading posts above. The sealer is key to tone down the wide variability in color tones in pine. Again, very important to have someone very experienced apply this so everything comes out even.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 4:17 PM in response to Staining Southern Yellow Pine Fl

P.S. Also, you really need to get someone very experienced if you're going to stain pine, so it doesn't look like a toddler's finger-painting project.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 4:15 PM in response to Staining Southern Yellow Pine Fl

We have white pine from the 1890s throughout the house. Pine is difficult. Our very experienced and meticulous floor refinisher first used a sealer so the colors of the pine would be more even. Then he tested several different Minwax stains and we picked Golden Oak. With several coats of satin water-based polyurethane it was just gorgeous and didn't look anything like pine. Unfortunately, we then put one coat of semi-gloss on it because we worried about durability, and that made it much darker, so now it does look like pine. However, it's still very beautiful and we get a lot of comments on it.

With pine, I would recommend using a sealer and no stain, then three to four coats of semigloss if you want a typical pine look. Alternatively, you can use a stain and four coats of satin. Semigloss is harder than satin but four coats of satin should do the trick anyway.

Also, note you don't want to go too dark with the stain if you have pine, because then you start getting ridiculous stripes. I mean, it's not really possible to get, say, a really dark, even chocolate brown floor if you have pine. It's not going to happen.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 4:14 PM in response to Staining Southern Yellow Pine Fl

I rewired three floors plus a cellar in September and it cost me $15,000 plus $2,000 for the plaster. I used WCK in Bed Stuy and I highly recommend them. They are fast and reasonably priced. The owner Paul is always available to handle problems and is extremely nice. They didn't break any medallions and they left the tin ceiling intact while doing everything to code with cable to every outlet. It was filed and approved.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 4:06 PM in response to Cost for Electrician

Consult a chimney expert before burning anything.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 3:58 PM in response to Fireplace Cracked

You mean gas for stove or the boiler? Contact a licensed, insured plumber with a master's license for high pressure and heating systems.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 3:57 PM in response to Gas Connection

Biff, they're going to need a garden-floor duplex to get yard access combined with two bedrooms/two baths.

If they are looking to buy a whole house for under $1 million, I would second everyone's else's recommendations for Sunset Park or Bed Stuy. Over a million, then you can look at Clinton Hill, Southslope, etc. Over $1.5 and up to $4 (I lose track at those high altitudes) you have your pick of Carroll/Cobble/etc. etc.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 3:48 PM in response to Need Neighbourhood Suggestions

I can't wait to read about the bookcases you built! I have been contemplating maybe doing the same thing. But I don't even own a saw.

Posted by: mopar at February 1, 2010 1:41 PM in response to Front Parlor: The Reveal

Think I was being inarticulate, not negative ;-)

Doing the room surprisingly cheap. Furniture of this ilk less so. Me and white furniture, even more expensive due to red wine spillage! Other thing, the plastic ceiling medallions. Dirt cheap. Can't tell difference . . or I can't.

Posted by: Johnny at February 8, 2010 3:11 PM in response to Adding Detail to parlor - cost?

The pricing will be so specific for each unit (is it nicely renovated? Is it REALLY in Prospect heights? Does it have outdoor space?). Our Garden level apartment rented for $2400, it’s a very nicely renovated two bed, 1 bath with a small private outdoor space, Washer dryer in apartment, central ac and electricity included. You will finder cheaper options and more expensive options--it just depends what is included.....
Good Luck! Prospect Heights is a great place to live.

Posted by: PHfamily at February 8, 2010 3:49 PM in response to Too Soon for April 1 Rental?

No wearing perfume, no Indian cooking, no loud sniggering, no illegal turtles, the list goes on and on.

Posted by: cmu at February 8, 2010 5:04 PM in response to Lease Agreement Forms?

I always "line out" the clause guaranteeing a fecal free environment.

Posted by: modsquad at February 8, 2010 7:45 PM in response to Lease Agreement Forms?

I have cherry mantel pictured in Architectural Salvage under October. I'm very motivated to sell. Email me and I will send you photos. pkslapt@gmail.com
thanks
Dave

Posted by: dlp at February 8, 2010 9:04 PM in response to Original Fire Place Mantles

I'm on my co-op board and use Google Docs exclusively to share/store docs and collaborate with my fellow board members.

Posted by: laurie11201 at February 8, 2010 9:41 PM in response to Online File Storage for Co-op

Homey's advice is right. A few more sources...

www.lornakollmeyer.com
www.urbanremainschicago.com
www.decoratorssupply.com

The last one will sell you the most incredible crown moldings in plaster, not cheap. Ceiling medallions whether in plaster or plastic, can be found anywhere.

There are countless manufacturers of decorative moldings on the internet.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 9, 2010 8:21 AM in response to Adding Detail to parlor - cost?