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September 23, 2007
100 years of baggage
When we first checked out the house, we thought that the rentals were in pretty decent shape and would be ready to rent by August--we thought we would just paint, update some fixtures, get the floors done and do a couple of little things with the kitchen and bath (little things--like rip out the whole kitchen and retile the bath). O those sweet and innocent times! We had not yet learned that EVERYTHING in an old house takes 3 times as long and costs 5 times more than what you would expect. And there are SO many details. Every decision to make a change has to be carefully weighed--which evils to let out of Pandora's box. Will it stay true to the character of the house? Is it something we can live with? Live without? Afford? Have time to execute? Does it even matter? When we bought this place, we had no idea what we were doing or how much anything cost and we didn't know we would care about the brass door hinges on the closet doors or cracked subway tile nor did we see the 100+ years of baggage parked by the front door. All we knew is that we saw a lot of potential.
Here are a couple of before pictures (of the rentals):
Bathroom:
All the rentals have clawfoot tubs which are nice. Unfortunately, we have discovered fairly extensive water damage in one of them--possibly because the walls were cut so that the tubs could be wedged in there--creating an opening for water to trickle down and through.
Also check out that vinyl tile--all of the bathrooms had nasty vinyl tile. We were thrilled to make this discovery:
But not so happy to find that they put those suckers down with adhesive that might just have been crazy glue. We scraped, and scraped and scraped and scaped and scraped and scraped and scraped and scraped and scraped and scraped some more--you have no idea how much we scraped--for hours, days, weeks, it was never ending--in fact two bathrooms have defeated us for now, so it really IS never ending. We used every scraper out there--plus adhesive remover, acetone, bleach, goo be gone, the list goes on. For any of you out there that have a similiar problem--call you manicurist now and tell her you won't be in for a while--no lotion, treatment, or lacquer can help make those red cracked fingers and nortured nails look pretty.
Here is a pic of unsalvagagable hallway parquet
This is the 4th floor kitchen. It photographs nicer than it ever was in reality. Check out all the fabulous details in this beauty--fiberglass tiling, more superglued vinyl tile (no sweet surprise under there this time), and the lovely warped and partially melted cabinets were a nice touch.
Details we can live without.
We've all heard New Yorkers talk about kitchens the size of a closet. The kitchens in the 2 junior one bedrooms were actually wedged into closets.
But THESE kind of details--we'll keep:
We can easily get caught up and bogged down in the details. Although we have been spending every waking hour, sanding, priming, painting, scrubbing, staining, sealing, stripping, scraping, etc.--today I spent close to 2 hours stripping a brass door hinge with a dental pick (there was A LOT of paint on this little hinge)! Took me way longer than I thought, but I have to tell you, it felt good to see that brass hinge free of 100 years of paint.
And T's no better--he is obsessed with pulling out all the nails, brackets, curtain hangers, and every other sort of metal that accumulated around the windows and doors over the years, and were painted over and over and over again. (I often hear his ranting from the upper floors---"Who paints over thumbtacks, why can't they pull out a thumbtack?)
Will renters even care? Doubtful. Do we? As much as we can.
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Comments
As renters (hopefully not forever), my boyfriend I definitely care. We've lived in some places where there was zero attempt made to make the unit nice (let alone beautiful, as you guys seem to be doing). Fortunately, we've also lived in some where a lot of care was taken, and it makes all the difference in the world. So on behalf of the renters out there, thank you!
Posted by: guest at September 24, 2007 10:19 AM
That is VERY encouraging! Thank you 10:19
Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at September 24, 2007 10:57 AM
Get yourself an old pot and boil paint crusted old metal hardware inm water. It works. And its not toxic.
Just a question? Why cant you sand the parquet?
Posted by: Chopper at September 24, 2007 11:55 AM
Most of the parquet elswhere in the house was savagable -- but this hallway had water damage etc and was beyond repair--we recycled some pieces to repair the other floors.
I heard about that method of paint stripping--which I will def. employ once we buy ourselves a stove!
Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at September 24, 2007 2:38 PM
The molding details look beautiful..hopefully thats enough to get you through the rough patches (both in terms of your hands and minds).
I think homeowners tend to see every little problem that most visitors won't notice. We're all our own worst critics. But I hope your renters will see all the hardwork you'll put in total and be happier to live there as a result.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at September 25, 2007 8:36 AM
"do renters even care?"
The answer is emphatically no. After having peeled contact paper, nails, a zillion layers of paint, hooks, you name it from doors in our tenants apartment (much of this she witnessed, btw) she immediately hammered into the bathroom door so she could use it as a darkroom. C'est la vie. She also kept cold water running 24/7 it seemed, washing prints. The resultant condensation on the pipes screwed up newly plastered areas on the floor below.
Tenants caring? Never.
Bitching? Always.
But deducting those supplies from the tax return? Priceless.
Posted by: guest at September 25, 2007 9:27 AM
Welcome to the neighborhood and the wonderful world of restoration!
My thoughts: 1. Do it right the first time, while it's vacant.
2. Of course tenants care! You could totally get more rent for a nicer apartment. You put quality in, you'll get quality out.
-reclaimed home (can't sign in for some reason)
Posted by: guest at September 25, 2007 10:19 AM
Next time, to remove paint from hardware, take the piece, put it in a slow cooker with water and a little liquid soap and leave it on for several hours. Later on, rinse the piece in cold water and the paint should peel right off.
Posted by: guest at September 25, 2007 10:34 AM
I feel your pain. We found *wads of gum* they painted over. Love the "Kitchen in a Closet." Enjoy the crappy doomed parquet--it frees you up; if you're gonna replace the whole floor, you don't need to worry so much about masking it when you paint (you do the floor last, natch), or consider painting it with a stencilled design or something crafty like that. As for tenants, try to go Zen about them: Murphy's Law dictates that if you cut corners, your tenant will be Martha Stewart's obsessive-compulsive young disciple, and if you torment yourselves to achieve Rental Unit Perfection, your tenant will turn out to be Oscar Madison. Good luck, kids!
P.S. Cat urine is also a great paint stripper. Don't ask how we know this.
Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at September 25, 2007 11:24 AM
I'm a brownstone landlord, I think tenants definitely care that you took time to make their apts as nice as possible. I see it as more of a Golden Rule type of thing, do unto the apartment as you would want to live it. If you are charging over $1000 a month, no matter where you are, it ought to look decent. Hopefully your tenants will be the type of people who love old houses, and the details within.
I don't agree with those who think tenants are the scum of the earth who should be grateful for whatever they get, and God help them if they are late with the rent. These are people sharing your house with you. End of the day, it's still your house, your clawfoots, your hinges. Do yourself proud.
Welcome to the area!
Posted by: guest at September 25, 2007 12:40 PM
SOOOOO glad to know that I'm not the only crazy person spending time scraping and sanding.....
Hint regarding the brass....cook the paint off. Use a pot that you will NEVER again use for food, add NYC tap water, bring to a boil and drop in the brass. Let it boil, use tongs to pull it out of the pot (it's hot)and watch the years of paint fall right off. Polish the brass and you are all set. I did my front door hinges and they look great!!!!
Posted by: guest at September 27, 2007 12:33 AM
I think you could have saved the floors in the hallway. I've saved floors that were in worst shape.
Posted by: guest at October 3, 2007 12:09 PM
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