Horror Show Friday: Mutant Facade Repair
We were biking through Wallabout earlier this week and were struck by the rather odd design choice at 33 Vanderbilt Avenue. For some reason, someone decided to put a layer of screamingly new brick on the lower half of the facade. What possible reason—other than pure bad taste—could account for this decision? Is it cheaper…
We were biking through Wallabout earlier this week and were struck by the rather odd design choice at 33 Vanderbilt Avenue. For some reason, someone decided to put a layer of screamingly new brick on the lower half of the facade. What possible reason—other than pure bad taste—could account for this decision? Is it cheaper than repairing the existing facade? GMAP
So, ENY- you think the facade is a good thing? You did take my comment out of context. I don’t know why the homeowner did it although sam may have that down pat (thanks, sam). And I am not making a judgement call on the owner’s taste but I am saying it is out of context and doesn’t work for the house. And that’s based on the architecture of the house itself, not whether or not the owner paints his walls bordello red and garnishes the windows with 5 miles of polyester swaths. The facade has impact on how the house ages, its value and property values around it.
Mr. B is guilty of hyperbole- after all he needs to generate hits. And maybe the facade isn’t even finished but we did have a discussion about the technical aspects of facade repair and the impact on property values too.
Put all the pieces together folks;
-Mr. B.points out the exact address;
-The What is on a tear, threatening to sue;
Yes, that’s right, this is The What’s house!!!!! He’s putting up this facade just to aggravate Mr. B and his loyal followers!!!!
“What if somebody did this to you, would you say the same things???? I hope not!
”
Didn’t we all diss Mr.B’s kitchen renovation? That was way back when Brownstoner had just been born.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion wrt the way something looks, etc. I’ll be the first to agree with that. But, riddle me this: Was it really necessary to put up the exact address? That’s just mean.
What – you’re one of those idiots who think you can sue for anything.
As an attorney, I’ll take your case. Send me a $2,000 retainer.
Folks;
I just realized that my statements above may come off as contradictory, so let me further elaborate:
-yes, we all can agree that for normal walls repointing is the way to go;
-as Sam acknowledged above, however, in the case of bowing or leaning facades, pointing will not do the trick. In this case, the front wall should be rebuilt, and this IS an expensive job.
So what I’m saying is that the guy may have had the second case (bad front wall), and went with a new facade as a cheaper fix. While I agree with Sam that just applying a new facade over it is not a great solution,it may have been what he did as a cheaper alternative that his contractor suggested. Believe it or not, some folks do opt for a cheap way out!
Maybe there’s a lot of architectural detail inside.
Yes, What. It’s called free speech on the Internet. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.
Posted by: mopar at May 15, 2009 11:58 AM
Do I have the right to yell “fire” in a crowed theater?
Answer this question!!!! What if the owner was trying to sell this building??? Maybe someone was thinking on buying it and now they read this Clap-Trap on Brownstoner????
This has hurt the “Value” of this property and could make Jon liable for damages! The owner of this house did not do any thing to Jon but is now compromised by this post on the internet!!! What if somebody did this to you, would you say the same things???? I hope not!
East New York now you understand where I’m coming from, the retards take insanity to new heights!!!!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
Here is what the contractor probably told the homeowner:
” well, first we would have to strip off the paint and then repoint every brick by hand. it would take a lot of time and be expensive and when we’re finished you will still have hundred year old brick on your house and it will look like everybody else’s house. Instead, for the same money, maybe only a little more, we could give you a brand-new facade, with NEW brick that will stand out and look like you have spent a lot more than actually have.”
Stories like that are repeated a hundred times a week all over Brooklyn by second-rate contractors looking to take advantage of less-educated owners.