swngnmonk's Profile
- Peter
- 1998
- 2005
- Brooklyn
- Park Slope
- House
Author's Posts
October 2, 2009
Windows - Recs and Prices
So I'm looking to replace the windows in my (non-landmark) brownstone, and some ballpark estimates from those who have been through it would be a huge help.
The windows are of varying sizes, but generally 30x60, 30x70, and a couple of 30x96 (parlor floor). From what I've researched, it seems like my best bet would be wood-frame windows with an aluminum exterior.
What I'd love to know -
What kind of ballpark numbers am I looking at for this (e.g. window + installation + disposal)? Who did you use, and would you recommend them? Any tips in going through the bidding/negotiation/purchase/installation process?
Thank you!
September 16, 2009
Starting to Consider a Reno
Apologies, this is a bit long.
My sister and I inherited a house a couple of years ago when my mother passed away. In the early stages of dealing with her estate, I had a guy come in to draw up some plans for renovating the kitchen and upstairs bathroom. In the process of that, the scope of the work increased dramatically - he believed a formerly load-bearing wall no longer was. That said, any changes made were done during renovations in the early 1980s, and nothing's moved much since - ergo there's no immediate fear. Part of this is also motivated by the fact that the upstairs bathroom once held a big clawfoot tub, and now is just a shower (amazingly, I met someone who used to live here).
Given all that news, and the chaos going on in my life at the time, I punted on everything. I'm now starting to re-examine the situation.
I'm facing a number of large repairs:
* Window replacement (a must)
* Stoop resurfacing (it's a mess, but not critical)
* Aforementioned kitchen & bathroom
* Potential structural repair.
If I had my druthers and an unlimited budget, of course I'd say to just fix everything. But I can't do that.
I feel like I need a combination architect/GC/mentor on all of this. I'm still pretty overwhelmed by it all, and I need someone I can trust on this to give me some sense of perspective on this work, especially with regards to the scope of it, how expensive it would be, and how long it would take.
I've taken to heart the whole "Good/Fast/Cheap - choose 2" mantra, but I could really use some help & advice.
Thank you for any advice & recommendations, and please ask any questions that would help clarify things.
December 16, 2007
storm glass on screen door?
Very annoyed at the moment - the latch on my screen door failed, swung the door open in tonight's storm, and dropped the storm glass, shattering it.
Latch is an easy fix, but where to find replacement glass? Home Depot will only sell replacements for their doors, which this is not.
Thank you.
September 25, 2007
Door replacement - vendors?
My wife and I have been repairing a doorway that was punched out of the back of our parlor floor years ago, and done poorly. We're really happy with the results, but we faced an unanticipated problem - the door.
The old door is unusable - whoever did it in the first place cut it off-angle to fit the lousy doorway that they created. Shame on us, we straightened the whole thing out.
So we need a new door. But the size is non-standard, and we'll need to cut the door down to size. Home Depot & Lowes only seem to sell steel, covered-wood and polypro doors.
Can anyone suggest a place that would sell a traditional wooden door?
Thank you!
Author's Comments
You should be able to do it yourselves - wifi is generally designed as a consumer product. A couple of questions:
1) What kind of internet access do you currently have? DSL? Cable?
2) How many computers are you talking about? What kinds? (desktops? laptops)
3) Do you have any other devices that need internet access? (e.g. Tivo, Internet phone, etc?)
4) If you're not comfortable with setting up internet access on your own computer, did someone else do it for you?
Wifi in a multi-story building can work, but you need to be careful about antenna placement - the signal won't always travel through walls well. In my 3-story building, we put the wifi on the second story, and we get a decent signal everywhere in the house.
Any recent laptop will ship with wifi. If you have desktop machines, or other non-portable devices, you can buy wifi antennas for them, at reasonable cost ($30-50).
I'd check with a neighborhood PC shop (anyone know any?), or your desktop-support person at your office? Or a friend who has a computer-savvy teenager? Setting up wifi is pretty run-of-the-mill these days.
Posted by: swngnmonk at February 17, 2008 1:40 PM in response to Installing Wi Fi
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
We have a four story brownstone in Park Slope, and live on the top three floors. We ran into some trouble - but ended up with a successful wireless connection throughout. Our main line via Road Runner cable is hooked directly to our main computer on the third floor. By placing small "boosters" into sockets, in addition to attenna, we are now able to get sireless signals to the second and top floors.
Posted by: guest at February 17, 2008 1:47 PM in response to Installing Wi Fi
We live in a 2-story with E-basement one-family house, and my husband in his basement office gets his wireless signal from the 2nd floor modem connected to my desktop. We have Verizon.
Posted by: guest at February 17, 2008 2:25 PM in response to Installing Wi Fi
"Setting up wifi is pretty run-of-the-mill these days"
This is so right on.
I would recommend buying a standard Linksys from Best Buy.
They have tech support AND more importantly, if you get stuck, you can call our Internet Service Provider and they could probably help, as that's all they deal with.
Posted by: guest at February 17, 2008 5:35 PM in response to Installing Wi Fi
OP here. Thanks for the helpful responses. Any idea what equipment costs? Right now we have 1 computer, a 2004 Imac G4. We're connected to the internet via Time Warner Cable cable on the third floor (which is the top floor for us). We have two kids and have gotten along sharing the one computer so far. My oldest starts high school next year though and my youngest will be in middle school. I expect the older girl will need to spend more time online and that we'll need to get her a notebook. Over time, I expect my younger daughter will need a notebook too. Would like them to be able to work throughout the house (i.e. downstairs at the dining room table) or up in their rooms. Appreciate all the good advice.
Posted by: Boerum Hill at February 17, 2008 5:43 PM in response to Installing Wi Fi
I have a 3 story brownstone as well and have Macintosh computers as well as Time Warner's Roadrunner. If you are using an Imac I would recommend buying an Airport setup. Either an Airport Express Base Station (w/Airtunes $99) or AirPort Extreme Base Station with Gigabit Ethernet for $179. I personally have both. I use the Extreme Base Station to connect to the TWC cable modem and then have wireless cards in the computers that connect to that. The Airport Extreme is set up as a remote base station that connects to the main one connected to the cable modem. You can also play music from that Base Station as well but that is a whole other conversation. The Airports are easy to configure especially if you have a Apple Macintosh. I have also previously used Linksys wireless routers as well and they are great but may be a little more difficult to install if you are a novice to WiFi and using the MAC OS. Let me know if you need anymore info.
Posted by: Juno106 at February 17, 2008 7:38 PM in response to Installing Wi Fi
Can someone please provide numbers for any of the recommendations above? Thank you! :)
Posted by: swngnmonk at February 29, 2008 2:57 PM in response to Electrician Recommendations