renoishard's Profile
- TK
- 2006
- 2005
- Brooklyn
- Park Slope
- House
- Finance
- Male
- 39
Author's Posts
November 18, 2009
Carpe Diem / Hastens Bed
I am looking to sell a gently pre-owned Carpe Diem Korno mattress, king size. Mattress and top mattress only (no base). Its firmness is half medium, half firm. Beige color. Carpe Diem compares the Korno to the Hastens 2000T II; see links at bottom for both. Both retail for more than $20,000 for a king size set (mattress, top mattress, and base). I am looking to sell my mattress and top mattress for $6,000.
I have owned it for three weeks; it is like new. If you are seriously considering a Hastens or Carpe Diem bed or mattress, you should consider this opportunity to save a lot of money. I am pretty sure you can buy the base if you need it and still save a lot.
I will deliver it for free anywhere within a reasonable distance of NYC. Please email me if you are interested, follow link to my craigslist ad and reply to it.
Links:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fuo/1472548167.html
http://www.carpediembeds.com/beds/korno-12
http://www.hastens.com/en/THE-COLLECTION/Continental-beds/2000TII/
March 30, 2009
Mailing Address Scam?
Is this a scam?
I keep getting mail addressed to different people at my address. It started 2 years ago and I've gotten mail for at least 30 different names now. Lots of it is junk mail but some are bills from utilities, dentists, hospitals, and even a Social Security statement.
When I call the companies that sent the bills, they don't care. I asked a credit agency and they said as long as my credit report stays clean, its not a problem.
But I'm pretty sure all these people didn't pick my address randomly. I've lived at multiple addresses in NY over 15 years and never experienced this. And those were apartments where you would expect high turnover. I now live in a house that was previously owned by a couple for 20 years.
Is this some kind of scam? Don't see anything on internet.
Mr. B - Can you post an inquiry about this on the homepage? Maybe as part of an article on scams on homeowners or Brooklynites more generally?
Thanks in advance.
December 13, 2008
Honest Chimney Guy
I wanted an inspection of two chimneys and was worried about getting a hard-sell on new liners etc ($3-5k job it seems) even if they weren't really necessary. I called Andre from A&A, based on all the + reviews in this forum. He came, inspected, told me everything looked fine as is. I was thinking about at least buying chimney caps and he said those are usually unnecessary and sold by guys just looking to make a buck. I paid him his inspection fee (small $) and that was that.
I just wanted to salute Andre for his honesty! So if you need a chimney inspection, I'd definitely call him. I am not Andre, I've posted many times under my tag.
March 25, 2008
? re Daikin Ductless Split A/C System
We planning on installing that in the owner's duplex of our house. One system for each floor. Here's a link:
http://www.daikin.com/global_ac/products/commercial/duct/outline.html
The ducts of a central system are replaced with the thin tubes of a Mr. Slim-type system. But the indoor unit isn't a big box on the wall, its hidden in the ceiling or somewhere and opens to a flat register in the wall (so it looks like central). Condenser is outside, like a Mr. Slim.
Its seems somewhat popular outside the US but unknown here (maybe its new?). This seems to be the first reference on this site to "Daikin".
We chose it as an upgrade over the Mr. Slim system we had planned on. Never really considered a central system. Maybe we should have but our plans were done by the time we switched to the Daikin choice.
We're kind of taking a gamble bc its sounds like what we need but have no real, real-world reviews.
Has anyone considered a Daikin system? Anyone have any feedback on the brand? Perhaps in a commercial setting?
Thanks!
Author's Comments
All Renovation is getting close to finishing a gut reno of a townhouse duplex + cellar for me in North Slope. I would strongly recommend giving serious consideration to these guys.
Here are the reasons I like them: (1) their estimate was reasonable (not highest or lowest); (2) they are always pushing the project along at a good pace, (3) they do very nice quality work, (4) they are cooperative and fair on the inevitable change orders, etc etc. Most importantly, the 2 principals (Pietro and Robert) are very good guys who are open & communicate well. They care about getting it done right.
Also, I think they know how to manage their business so there's less risk they'll take your deposit then go bankrupt and disappear. That's what happened to our first GC, JAW Construction, which is mentioned in a warning bv another poster in the Forum. I also lost a lot of time and money because of JAW.
If I was looking to hire a GC in the future, I would be very concerned about this issue. GC's seem to go bust and disappear quite often.
Posted by: renoishard at June 27, 2009 1:20 PM in response to GC recommendation
I had to recently terminate a contractor who went broke and did nothing but make excuses and disappear for months at a time. Owners have the right to terminate for various reasons, assuming you have the standard AIA contract. Terminating a GC and bringing on a new one is not so bad. Letting a bad one linger wastes a lot of time (months).
Your GC is probably ahead on payment and so won't mind being terminated. Mine didn't. Hope your not too far ahead in payment.
If you really want to know your legal position, hire a lawyer. Try to pay $500.
Posted by: renoishard at April 24, 2009 10:43 PM in response to cancel contract? (home improv..)
NY Times real estate listings
Posted by: renoishard at April 24, 2009 10:38 PM in response to Bathroom renovations
google "design blogs" etc. Some good ones: remodelista, apartmenttherapy. websites and magazines like: dwell.
websites of hi-end European KI and BA companies (modern styles): Boffi, Poliform, etc
NY real estate listings for Brooklyn townhouses. Lots of pics of baths there.
Good luck.
Posted by: renoishard at April 24, 2009 10:36 PM in response to Bathroom renovations
If that's the only thing wrong with it, its probably very fixable. Beam repair seems to be not too hard or costly. Same for stair repair or replacement.
Posted by: renoishard at March 30, 2009 11:52 PM in response to Sagging brownstone
I just hired one for some work on the beams in my house. I got a bunch of rec's from this Forum.
Ended up calling and hiring Kathleen Dunne from Dunne & Markis. We've only just started so don't have much of a review but she so far is (1) nice & communicative, (2) charges a reasonable rate and is willing to work on smaller projects, and (3) seems to have an approach of trying to spend the client's money wisely (as opposed to scaring them into the biggest job possible). Definitely worth at least a call.
As someone who is dealing with a "sagging brownstone", I can tell you that fixing a "sagging" house is not cheap or easy. But if you're going to do a gut reno, its so expensive anyway, repairing structural issues won't be a huge % addition on top.
Good luck.
Posted by: renoishard at March 30, 2009 11:37 PM in response to Need Structural Engineer!
I just checked out the listings on the Townsley website. Lots of things listed as "Recently Sold", some with pretty hi asking prices. Curious how much (little) they sold for and when. Does anyone know? For example: #119 at $2.55mm ask; #88 at $2.09mm; #118 at $1.6mm.
Are all of those listing their "exclusives" or just MLS / open listings? Sure seems like a lot of sales from one agency.
Posted by: renoishard at March 14, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later
http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2007/05/gut_renovation.php
Here's a good post on it.
Posted by: renoishard at January 25, 2009 12:56 PM in response to Looking for GC to do a walk-thru
That is a great concept, in theory, and one I have though of as well. But execution could be tricky. Not sure too many reputable GC's would find providing that service worthwhile for a fee that you or I would find reasonable. Same for an architect. Unless you pre-commit to either, which is probably not a good idea. Also, it would be very hard for a GC to provide even a rough guess of cost without knowing what were "the plans". No recs for you but good luck, and if you find a good GC who does this, pls post on it.
You might search these forums for rough estimates of cost by sf or by type of room. When we were at your stage, we kept hearing "rule of thumb of $200/sf (for gut level work)". I thought that was nuts bc I thought what I wanted to do was a "small job". Guess what, it's coming in at even more (altho we did go with lots of "premium" stuff). My main point is, if the bloggers here say "$x/sf" is "normal" or what they paid, don't assume you'll come in at half of $x. Good luck.
Posted by: renoishard at January 25, 2009 12:42 PM in response to Looking for GC to do a walk-thru
Andre of A&A. 718-953-2836.
Posted by: renoishard at December 19, 2008 5:10 PM in response to Honest Chimney Guy
Shout out to i disagree for the nice research.
It inspired to look into an address near me. Its 260 Flatbush Ave, which also fronts onto Prospect Pl. as 89-91 Prospect Place. At some point in 2006, someone put up some building permits, they did a tiny bit of work, then it went quiet. "i disagree" inspired me to look into it a bit for the first time.
So far, I've found: In Aug 04, GNI Realty bought it for $2.2mm. In Dec 06, GNI Realty sold it to 260 Flatbush LLC for $3.98 MILLION. Chinese people seem to be behind 260 Flatbush. The LLC got a mortgage for $2.3 million from a Chinese bank. The bldg is a one-story comml bldg and they filed plans to ADD 7 stories of residential (add 16,300 sf). They did almost nothing.
On 10/30/08, 260 Flatbush LLC sold it to Thiri Han Inc for $230k ($230 THOUSAND). That's 6% of the last sale price! Propertyshark shows there was an "Agmt" between 260 Flatbush LLC and the bank on the $2.3mm mortgage. Not sure if the mortgage was paid off, don't see any Termination of Mortgage etc.
That is a very odd series of prices. A sale for $240k seems way too low, even in a bad market for a big comml rent and future expansion oppty to add 16k sf. Even 88 Lafayette went back to its 2005 price. 260 Flatbush went to 10% of its 2004 price and its in much better shape (still usable for comml tenant).
Does anyone know anything about this specific property or the parties involved? Or know anything about this pattern of facts? Thanks.
Posted by: renoishard at December 13, 2008 2:57 PM in response to The Curious Case of 88 Lafayette Avenue
FYI. Dealer's markup is 100%, not 50%. If he's selling similar for $4k, and you ask for 50% of that, you're asking $2k. He'll take it and mark it up to $4k, a 100% markup.
Not opining on fair or unfair. If you try to sell it yourself on here or craigslist for between $2k and $4k, you might find its not so easy after-all. Good luck.
Posted by: renoishard at April 13, 2008 9:44 AM in response to Fair Price for Mahogany Mantle?
Is this guy named "Kent"? He started doing a horrible job for me and we parted ways.
Posted by: renoishard at March 25, 2008 9:03 PM in response to Great contractor
Engan Bostanci at 917-699-4497. Nice guy, good work, communicates and listens well, finds solutions. I've used him for $30k of misc projects.
Posted by: renoishard at March 25, 2008 8:11 PM in response to Need a Handy Man
Engan Bostanci at 917-699-4497. Nice guy, good work, communicates and listens well, finds solutions. I've used him for $30k of misc projects.
Posted by: renoishard at March 25, 2008 8:07 PM in response to Need a Handy Man
Engan Bostanci at 917-699-4497. Nice guy, good work, communicates and listens well, finds solutions. I've used him for $30k of misc projects.
Posted by: renoishard at March 25, 2008 8:06 PM in response to I need to get ROCKED!
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
Engan Bostanci at 917-699-4497. Nice guy, good work, communicates and listens well, finds solutions. I've used him for $30k of misc projects.
Posted by: renoishard at March 25, 2008 8:11 PM in response to Need a Handy Man
Rick Ladd has helped us with a few small projects around the house. We were impressed with his communication skills, attention to detail, and reasonable price (I think $35/hour) He is actually an artist by training, but has moonlighted as a handyman for many years to support his true calling as an artist. He's got good taste in music, too. His contact info:
Rick Ladd
718-506-7621
bottlecap@mindspring.com
Posted by: lizpic at March 25, 2008 10:15 PM in response to Need a Handy Man
No, not Kent, His name is Ri Min Lin.
Posted by: aramsey at March 31, 2008 5:29 PM in response to Great contractor
http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2007/05/gut_renovation.php
Here's a good post on it.
Posted by: renoishard at January 25, 2009 12:56 PM in response to Looking for GC to do a walk-thru
I have worked with J Thomas Construction based in Brooklyn. My experience with them was nothing less than amazing - efficient, reliable, dedicated and the best customer service I've received. The owner is JT Stewart and the website is www.jthomasnyc.com. The portfolio section speaks for itself...Give them a call.
Best of luck with your remodel!
Posted by: VF at March 12, 2009 12:39 PM in response to Looking for GC to do a walk-thru
NY Times real estate listings
Posted by: renoishard at April 24, 2009 10:38 PM in response to Bathroom renovations
Not online, but if you're up for a trip to the library, the central Brooklyn library at Grand Army Plaza has a surprisingly good home reno/interior design section on the 3rd floor. Check out some of the bathroom books.
Posted by: zeebee_in_bklyn at April 26, 2009 12:10 PM in response to Bathroom renovations
HELLO I RESTORING BATROOM SEND US YOU EMAIL FOR SEN PICTURES learcanraj@hotmail.com
Posted by: yurigmushainti71 at April 28, 2009 8:20 PM in response to Bathroom renovations
hi contact to mr luis ill send same picure learcanraj@hotmail.com
Posted by: yurigmushainti71 at April 28, 2009 8:40 PM in response to Bathroom renovations
We just recently closed on a house and needed our chimney cleaned before converting to gas. We called up A&A and they accommodated to our work schedule. The chimney specialist finished the job in 30-45 minutes and explained to us what we need to look out for in the future. The job was initially quoted for $125 but because theres major clog in the chimney..I guess extra work needed to be done.. so it was $175 which is still not bad.
Posted by: namahs at July 22, 2009 11:52 PM in response to Honest Chimney Guy
OP here. Thanks for your posts.
1. Why I am selling this mattress? A fair q.
Many people like a Swedish-style bed. My wife really likes this bed, she gets a great night's sleep in it. I liked the idea of it too. They feel great in the showroom.
But I have a bulging disc in my lower back and this mattress seems to make it worse. Salespeople of Swedish beds will say that this kind of bed is better for bad backs but I have not found that to be the case for me. I have no general opinion on the matter. I am going to back to a firmer American-style bed.
I am not trying to convince anyone to buy a Swedish-style bed or a Hastens or Carpe Diem in particular. But there are people who do buy these beds, and this could be a chance for such a person to buy one for much less.
This will end up as an expensive experiment.
2. I'm not not a billionaire and I didn't pay a full $20k.
But I have bought into the bed industry's marketing of paying up for a premium bed (half you life in bed, etc). I have always had a premium-priced bed (not as pricey as this though) and thought it was worth it. Not trying to convince anyone that they should too. My post is only targeted at people who are already in the market for this kind of bed and price-point.
3. Disposable.
I wouldn't call a mattress a "disposable" item. I think many people use theirs for 5-10 years.
4. Body oil, fluids, bed bugs etc.
We definitely do not have bed bugs.
But in general you are right that these are concerns. Yet people do regularly buy pre-owned items (sofas, clothes, furniture). If you never buy used items, I respect that. But there are people who do and such people check thinigs for such issues, and my post is directed at them.
Thanks.
Posted by: renoishard at November 19, 2009 5:24 PM in response to Carpe Diem / Hastens Bed