Landmarks and facade
We live on a Landmarked block, and would like to redo the facade of our brownstone, which has been painted and in general is crumbling in a number of places. We planned to have it chipped and resurfaced, and applied to Landmarks for a permit. Landmarks replied that they would only issue a permit to…
We live on a Landmarked block, and would like to redo the facade of our brownstone, which has been painted and in general is crumbling in a number of places.
We planned to have it chipped and resurfaced, and applied to Landmarks for a permit. Landmarks replied that they would only issue a permit to strip off the paint and powerwash the facade. Once this has been completed, they would then visit the site to determine if the facade should be completely stripped and replaced, or if it should be patched in needed places only, as their goal is to retain as much of the original facade as possible.
Has anyone faced a similar situation with Landmarks, and if so, do you have any advice on how to handle it?
And does anyone have a recommendation on a contractor that can patch well (as well as doing the stripping and powerwashing)? I imagine it’s more difficult to blend patch work well with the original facade than to replace the entire facade.
Thanks.
as far as landmarks is concerned….they are a nightmare!!!
On a Brownstone house,what’s the best product to paint over the existing stone? I had these guys worked on the exterior side of the house & found that the colors were not matching with the original brownstone. I heard that there is a product that you mix(cement/brown color),anybody know anything,thanks
LPC’s take on what needs to be done is grounded in a lot of experience — they didn’t come off, to me, to be the types of people who just make stuff up, even though i’ve heard stories of power tripping a-holes. I’ve been really happy with the guy who was assigned to our project.
We are having to strip all of our brownstone completely and start with a scratch coat, building out, because the brownstone had been so neglected for so many years. We are being asked by LPC to provide three samples of brownstone to match the existing brownstone color that’s UNDERNEATH the painted surface. (Our building had been painted too). The three samples consist of 1. The color we think is the best match, 2. A shade lighter and 3. A shade darker. Then the LPC guy comes out and chooses which sample he likes, and that’s what we use as a mix for our brownstone.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, i’m using Progeny and although the job isn’t finished yet, so far i’ve been thrilled by the craftsmanship and the attention and service. The owner, Abdul, is here at the site every day, his foreman is fantastic and even my other trades (master carpenters, etc) are impressed with how these guys are handling some of the more complicated work. They are also organized and fairly tidy, considering the messiness of the job.
Caveat: Progeny wasn’t the lowest bid. However, I did want to feel really secure with this particular aspect of our renovation (too many things can go tragically wrong with exterior work), so I decided to pay the extra (10% more than the lowest bid).
Progeny 1 888 776 4369
Edson did an excellent job on my brownstone stoop, including replacing a complicated relief on the front wall.
There is much to be said for the visual quality of the original brownstone vs. the cement usually used to replace it. It’s much more textured and complex than the monotone cement. Of course, when you patch the failing parts, it’s also pretty obvious that it was patched because it is very difficult to match the texture of the original stone. It sounds like the LPC has come down on the side of preserving the stone versus having consistent coloring across the fascade.
Several fascade contractors have been mentioned on this site. I liked The Brownstone Authority, which did a terrific job on my stoop. If you want to spend the money to get real artistry in an effort to make the patches look like the original stone, you might try Integrated Conservation Contractors.