since halloween is on the weekend for 2009, and i might actually be at home before it's dark, i'm considering handing out treats from the stoop.

what time do the cute trick or treaters come out?

what time am i going to get mugged by mobs of out-of-control teenagers?

Posted by: vicki_vale at October 6, 2009 3:15 PM in response to what is halloween like in brownstone brooklyn?!

I also used Federal Conservation, with fiberglass fill. For an 18 foot wide, typical townhouse, they put in two mushroom vents. One at each end of the roof, with tons of roofing cement to waterproof around the hole they cut out.

In retrospect, I think they overfilled. They filled the attic space FULL up to the underside of flat roof, instead of filling it to just few inches below the joists. Now I'm worried there's no space under for the hot air to migrate to the mushrooms, but the guy did say that the heat would dissipate through the fibers and find it's way out.

Electric fan would probably help, but I didn't have the stomach for putting in another device.

Posted by: vicki_vale at August 25, 2009 7:05 PM in response to Attic Insulation & Venting

You need to go all out if you are serious. While you are waiting for you coop to get organized to do a building-wide fumigation, there are several things you can do yourself.

First, you need to completely isolate your apartment. Caulk all the baseboards where they meet the floor, unscrew all the electric & switch plates an use spray foam or spongy gaskets around the boxes, and fill gaps with spray foam at all pipe penetrations for radiators, gas, and plumbing. Look for other holes, like incomplete drywall in closets, behind cabinets, and behind appliances. Put weatherstripping along your bottom edge of you apartment door.

Before you move in, let off a couple of the Raid bug bomb cannisters and let it air out for a couple days. Then put gobs of the brown Combat gel (it comes in small caulk tubes)inside all your kitchen cabinets. Buy extra tubes and label them for every 2 weeks, so you remember to replenish the bug dope on a regular basis and break the cycle of reproduction.

Good luck.

Posted by: vicki_vale at August 25, 2009 6:55 PM in response to Exterminator in Park Slope

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 had a terrible experience with Lowe's in Brooklyn two years ago. While the cabinet order went as expected, they lost the order for the matching trims and molding TWICE, delaying the completion of our final kitchen by several months. (And sent us parts of someone elses's kitchen cabinets by mistake) Their installers were not the most skilled, but eventually the job did get done at the price I expected.

I also had a terrible experience with a fancy Long Island custom kitchen & tub works company who sent goons to install our stone countertop. They did not template the actual size, so they used a stone grinder inside the place (occupied at the time) to trim it down to fit and covered EVERYTHING with stonedust. When I complained to the owner about the mess they had made, the crew called me a whore. it gets better. They also mis-cut the length, and glued a 4" piece of countertop on to the end and tried to tell me the joint line was "natural veining" in the stone.

My best kitchen experience so far has been with IKEA cabinets (ordered on-line, and confirmed by phone with helpful IKEA reps) and installed by a good handyman + plumber for final hook-up. Our handyman made filler pieces out of baseboard material to close the gaps between the standard cab size and the wall.

Good luck with your reno!

Posted by: vicki_vale at August 2, 2009 6:45 PM in response to Kitchen Renovation Work Question

I did not get charged a changeover or account opening fee.

In fact, if you wait a couple weeks, I'll bet you will get all kinds of junkmail from ADT addressed to the New Homeowner offering deals on a new subscription. You might even get a $50 discount coupon.

The Brooklyn ADT number is 1 718 706 3200. Or go directly through their website to make sure you are dealing direct.

Posted by: vicki_vale at July 4, 2009 2:03 PM in response to ADT Security "Changeover" fee???

Read the product label. It will list the amount of VOC that produce the bad fumes, measured in g/L (gram per liter). The higher the VOC content, the worse the fumes.

In this case, VOC means "volatile organic compounds" and the "organic" part is not a good kind of organic.

Traditional formulas may have VOC levels in the 200 to 250 g/L range.

Water-based acrylic formulas may have VOC levels as low as 50 to 150 g/L range.

Janovic Plaza paint store has a lot of products including a water-based acrylic floor & porch paint I believe, or, you may also want to try the large hardware stores like Home Depot. Good luck!

Posted by: vicki_vale at June 2, 2009 3:40 PM in response to Organic water- based

Henlia Chen

or

Ava Shypula

Be aware that the Department of Buildings has recently raised the standard for people performing inspections. I believe both of these engineering & inspection firms comply with new standards.

Posted by: vicki_vale at April 23, 2009 7:39 PM in response to Controlled Inspection

Double check all your costs!

The 'fee' you've been quoted might only be the bank's administrative fees. Look up the closing costs from your original purchase last year. You will pay most of these again.

Make sure you have included Title Insurance and Mansion Tax if your loan is big, as well as any origination fees (sometimes 1% of the loan) payable to the lender, and any points (pre-payment) required to get the rate you want.

Posted by: vicki_vale at February 12, 2009 1:21 PM in response to Refinaning your mortgage.

I am having trouble finding the right chapter in the online code book, but found this instead:

Under the old building code there is a NYC Building Department memo that clarifies the 144 square inch (or 1 inch per 1,000 BTU gas) calculation. It also says taking fresh air from an adjacent basement room is not allowed.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/downloads/pdf/bf918.pdf

In a basement installation of a boiler, it seems that a mesh grille or holes in a metal hatch to the exterior might fit the exterior wall louver description that is allowed by the memo. Any other interpretations?

Posted by: vicki_vale at February 12, 2009 1:02 PM in response to Dimensions of fresh-air vent

Update for 3200 SF, 4 Floors, roof ins, new boiler etc.

The Feb 4 bill was $520, way up from last month's $280.

Posted by: vicki_vale at February 10, 2009 1:12 AM in response to Cost of monthly heating?

3200 SF, 4 Floors, Attached, Double-glazed windows less than 5 years old, basement steam pipes are fiberglass wrapped.

Last winter, our gas bill was an average
$570 a month.

This year we filled the attic with R40 blown-in roof insulation and replaced the forty-year-old gas-fired Weil-Mclain steam boiler with a smaller gas-fired Burnham steam boiler. We also lowered the night temp on the thermostat from 68F to 64F btwn midnight and 6am...

So far, the gas bill this winter is $280 a month...

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 30, 2009 2:30 PM in response to Cost of monthly heating?

Re: "Purchase CEMA"

I think this means re-assigning an existing mortgage to the new home buyer, instead of applying for the entire purchase amount through a new application.

We were advised by our bank that our fixed rate mortgage (at an excellent rate) could not be re-assigned to the new buyer. Besides being able to qualify for credit, the Bank said it was only possible to re-assign for an ARM, or, if the new buyer on the fixed rate was an immediate family member.

Not applicable for our situation at the time, but hopefully useful for someone else.

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 23, 2009 4:33 PM in response to Refinancing Closing Costs

Sorry, I have no accommodations indoors for worms, even if they are the friendly house broken kind.

Good luck finding them a new home!

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 15, 2009 11:02 AM in response to anyone want composting worms?

Sorry, I have no accommodations indoors for worms, even if they are the friendly house broken kind.

Good luck finding them a new home!

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 15, 2009 11:02 AM in response to anyone want composting worms?

I believe that NYC Code allows for the repair, maintenance, and replacement of fixtures such as sinks and toilets without filing for permit; provided that they are being installed in the same location as existing fixtures.

So if you are moving the toilet and sink locations, and creating new plumbing lines then I believe you should be filing with the DOB for the Alteration work.

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 15, 2009 9:53 AM in response to is a licensed plumber necessary?

Thank you for your kind offer to share your worm collection.

If they are the outdoors type of worm, I would be happy to give them a loving home in my backyard Garden Gourmet compost box, where they can have lots of leaves to munch on.

Please drop me a line with your location: adrenelaine at gmail

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 15, 2009 9:45 AM in response to anyone want composting worms?

Thanks Master Plumber.

(Correction: I meant to say we have really BIG radiators in the extension, otherwise the next size smaller boiler would have matched.)

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 14, 2009 6:35 PM in response to Steam Pressure & Leaks

For update, Keyspan made good.

I called in the maintenance contract for service to check the boiler settings. In turn, they called the installer to come back and skim. No sloshing, clonking, no leaks today. Knock on wood.

Also, the pressure was adjusted from 3 psi to 2 psi, and I will watch out for cycle performance and check the farthest radiators over the next while. I am reading the Honeywell pressuretrol as 3 psi on the "main", minus 1 psi for the cut-off? shown next to it, for the final subtractive differential of 2 psi.

For reference, for boiler sizing, the original proposal was based on a larger IN7 which was sized by the contractor from a rule-of-thumb table for no. of radiator units (e.g. Total 14 - 18 no. of radiators). I downsized the actual installation to the IN6 based on my own calculation after measuring each unit myself and looking up the tables for the radiator height & number of fins, etc for a total 375 SF of radiator for a 3,300 sf house. We have really radiators in our poorly insulated extension on the back of the house, otherwise the next smaller model would have worked. On the other hand, our R40 roof insulation doesn't figure into this method of calculation at all.

If I've read the specs correctly, the Burnham Boiler Model steam ratings are:
Model IN5 358sf (Steam output 86,000 BTU)
Model IN6 450sf (Steam output 108,000 BTU I think)
Model IN7 542sf (Steam output 130,00 BTU)

Experts please feel free to jump in if there is disinformation here. Good luck to everyone on their heating projects, and stay warm!!!

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 14, 2009 11:19 AM in response to Steam Pressure & Leaks

eman1234
re:
"if the old steam header ...is not high enough over the water line to allow for dry steam on the makeup, you are doomed to have knocking and condensate problems"

Is the 'header' the outgoing hot steam pipe that runs horizontally away from the boiler, and the 'water line' the return condensate?

Could you please explain in more detail what this means, and why the same configuration of pipes would now collect condensate, when previously with the old boiler it would drain correctly?

Since the new boiler install, i do notice there is definitely a sloshing sound in pipes now, and I saw that the leaky condensate from one of the failed radiators had rust and black specks in it too. I thought for sure that Santa was going to leave coal in my stocking, but it seems to have come out of the radiator water instead. : (

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 12, 2009 8:55 PM in response to Steam Pressure & Leaks

There's Keyspan for you! I chose them to replace my boiler because they had faithfully maintained the previous system successfully for years.

Thank you Master Plumber for your troubleshooting ideas.

Posted by: vicki_vale at January 12, 2009 6:28 PM in response to Steam Pressure & Leaks

I used a Miele 18" DW at my previous home and was very happy with it. So were the new home buyers. The thin upper tray for cutlery is an excellent feature, which frees up room in the lower racks for more dishes. Worked fine for a family of three. I filled and washed stuff every day, instead of stockpiling a bigger dishwasher with dirty items for two days until full.

I also have a much cheaper, super-water-efficient 18" Energy Star "Avanti" model in another place, which has performed very well over the last three years.

Good luck!

Posted by: vicki_vale at December 30, 2008 3:43 PM in response to 18 inch Dishwashers

I bought the W/D ductless LG about two or three years ago and love it love it love it. There are no crazy noisy vibrations, as long as the drum was loaded evenly.

It willwhiz along fine with an evenly distributed load of similar lightweight objects like shirts and underwear. However, it will thump like crazy if it's loaded up with something clonky like a super-fat bathroom rug.

No special installation. Just adjustable feet that came with the machine.

Good luck!

(Remember to empty the trap under the machine- you will find pennies and lost buttons sometimes. Also, wipe out the lint from the rubber porthole gasket after each wash to prevent minor leaks through the front door from breaches in the seal.)

Posted by: vicki_vale at December 2, 2008 2:39 AM in response to experience installing W/D/ combo?

You can somewhat limit the growth of a tree by planting it in a big pot instead of the ground. Potted bamboo is stunning and keeps them from spreading underground to your neighbor's yard.

The Eastern Redbud is small, and have tiny pink spring blossoms. Birch are lovely but need good sun exposure to have good color. Japanese maple are a good small space choice, but I find they tend to be more shrubby in shape. I also am a fan of our fig tree, which does produce edible fruit. We have no problems eating all the fruit before it falls on the ground!

Posted by: vicki_vale at October 2, 2008 4:04 PM in response to Backyard Tree Recommendation

You can somewhat limit the growth of a tree by planting it in a big pot instead of the ground. Potted bamboo is stunning and keeps them from spreading underground to your neighbor's yard.

The Eastern Redbud is small, and have tiny pink spring blossoms. Birch are lovely but need good sun exposure to have good color. Japanese maple are a good small space choice, but I find they tend to be more shrubby in shape. I also am a fan of our fig tree, which does produce edible fruit. We have no problems eating all the fruit before it falls on the ground!

Posted by: vicki_vale at October 2, 2008 4:04 PM in response to Backyard Tree Recommendation

The coffeshop on the south side of Church Avenue, next to the Polish grocery store is a reliable breakfast place, and good for Greek salad too. George the waiter is super nice.

A falafel shop opened a few months ago (the Pita Stop?) on that stretch of Church Avenue as well.

For deliveries I like the Thai place at MacDonald & Abelmarle.

Posted by: vicki_vale at August 24, 2008 8:18 PM in response to Kensington

I have had with wireless devices. When the battery in the transmitter started to fade, it triggered a false alarm. That means ear-splitting sirens that will drive your neighbors crazy, and (eventually) a visit by the fire department or the police.

That said, I have had pretty good follow-up service from ADT in Brooklyn. They have made prompt service calls (no charge) to correct problems, and an ADT person did phone me within minutes of when the alarms were triggered.

I have no complaints about ADT, but if I had known about other providers, i might have considered others.

Posted by: vicki_vale at August 11, 2008 7:11 PM in response to Alarm options

Z Abedin (917 903 0196) just fixed a bunch of loose bricks and cast an additional 3' high concrete wall along the entire length of our brownstone foundation for reinforcement.

He normally does brownstone facade restoration, and his crew cleaned up everything. There was not even one smudge of cement on the sidewalk, where they mixed and hauled the buckets of stuff.

I was very happy with the results.

Dineen's work is impeccable, if A+ mint quality is important to you, but they do charge quite a bit more for it.

Posted by: vicki_vale at August 11, 2008 6:59 PM in response to need exterior mason recs

Update for 3200 SF, 4 Floors, roof ins, new boiler etc.

The Feb 4 bill was $520, way up from last month's $280.

Posted by: vicki_vale at February 10, 2009 1:12 AM in response to Cost of monthly heating?

Based on the building code Vicki found, I would definitely try to enlarge the boiler room to include an exterior wall. It might be as simple as removing the current boiler room door and installing 2 hr rated doors leading into the basement. It appears that if the boiler is above ground you have the option of using an adjoining room to ventilate both.

Posted by: mod squad at February 12, 2009 1:42 PM in response to Dimensions of fresh-air vent

For what it's worth, we're not using the same mechanical code now as when the document in that link was written.
July 1, 2008 we switched to the National Code.

Smokychimp probably knows the answer to the new requirements, but from a practical standpoint I'll offer the following:
When a boiler runs it expels a great deal of air out of the building's chimney.
Because you can't have less air inside your home than outside, that air has to be replaced.
So as that air flows out the chimney, a negative pressure (not quite a vacuum, but almost) developes inside the structure which pulls air from outside in through any cracks and leaks it can find.
We call this infiltration.
Infiltration lets cold air in from outside and mixes with your pricey, warm inside air. Then all of it heads for the boiler and is sent out the chimney.
Having a controlled path for new air, very necessary for efficient combustion, to get to the boiler reduces the natural tendency for infiltration and saves you fuel money.

The Code is smart and very necessary.

Posted by: Master Plvmber at February 12, 2009 4:56 PM in response to Dimensions of fresh-air vent

Well, the furnace uses the air within the room, which is fed by the duct

Posted by: cmu at February 12, 2009 6:29 PM in response to Dimensions of fresh-air vent

Molly,

The duct for fresh air to the furnace/boiler is the same as the duct to the room. Master Plumber explained it well.

But I am as frustrated as you. Getting a straight answer is obviously not easy, even from the pros posting here, and I am confronted with a similar situation.

The answer is complex depending on the use of your basement space, whether or not your make-up or combustion air is coming exclusively from the outside or perhaps also partially from the surrounding basement space, how air-tight your basement is, the BTU ratings of your equipment, and even potentially the exhaust duct sizes you currently have. I am afraid that the NYC Fuel Code, which seems to govern this, at least for natural gas-fired equipment, is not consistnent or clear in this regard.

I did not find 144 sq. inches anywhere, but I would conclude that 1 square inch per 3000 BTU (remember to reduce available air for elbows, louvres should cover you, even if the aggregate area of the existing "duct connectors" exceeds that. NYC is just trying to cover its ass. Get the ratings of your equipment and do the math. I need to do the same tonight.

Here is the text and link, including the rules for the multple configurations, for what I found:

http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dob/downloads/pdf/fuel_code.pdf

304.6.2 One-permanent-opening method. One permanent opening, commencing within 12 inches (305 mm) of the top of the enclosure, shall be provided. The equipment shall have clearances of at least 1 inch (25 mm) from the sides and back and 6 inches (152 mm) from the front of the appliance. The opening shall directly communicate with the outdoors or through a vertical or horizontal duct to the outdoors or spaces that freely communicate with the outdoors [see Figure 304.6.2] and shall have a minimum free area of 1 square inch per 3,000 Btu/h (734 mm²/kW) of the total input rating of all equipment located in the enclosure, and not less than the sum of the areas of all vent connectors in the space.

Posted by: renomandru at February 12, 2009 6:44 PM in response to Dimensions of fresh-air vent

Could also be that the external grill is 12x12 which is not a free space of 144. If you follow the 1in/3000 btu, you'd only need about 50-60 sq ins.

Posted by: cmu at February 12, 2009 10:10 PM in response to Dimensions of fresh-air vent

The Green Depot has what you need.
www.greendepot.com

Posted by: honeycut at June 2, 2009 5:14 PM in response to Organic water- based

thank

Posted by: benoit at June 2, 2009 8:32 PM in response to Organic water- based

We are thinking of using this whey based varnish by Vermont Natural Coatings:

http://www.vermontnaturalcoatings.com/

I don't have any first hand experience with it yet.

Posted by: beatlife at June 2, 2009 10:00 PM in response to Organic water- based

The green depot does not have white water based.

Posted by: benoit at June 3, 2009 8:57 PM in response to Organic water- based