Regrets, I have a few
What do you regret not doing or regret doing in your brownstone? I wished I’d spent a little more time researching finding replacement strips for our beautiful old flooring instead of succumbing to the path of least resistance, and replacing them. I also wish I’d spent more time trying to get interior doors of the…
What do you regret not doing or regret doing in your brownstone? I wished I’d spent a little more time researching finding replacement strips for our beautiful old flooring instead of succumbing to the path of least resistance, and replacing them. I also wish I’d spent more time trying to get interior doors of the same vintage.
He moved back to Poland a couple of years back and, actually, he wasn’t always great — he couldn’t schedule the subs efficiently and that cost us a boatload of money in mistakes and lost time. But his greatest strength was that he really believed in quality. What made a big difference for us in choosing him was visiting the homes of people he had done work for in the past to actually see his workmanship with our own eyes. So if you are about to hire a GC, I recommend you try that approach if possible.
NeoGrec — Who was your great GC?
we’re doing tons of wokr right now and I already regreat not getting central AC. BUT just today we got a hide-a-hose, central vac system. The vacuume hosees all retract into the walls – all the dirt goes into a unit in the bastment – will get emptied 2-3 times a year. Should be great for helping my dust mite allergies. It’s even better than I dreamed it would be.
We had to do a complete reno on our house which hadn’t been touched in 40 years+. As a result, we couldn’t afford too many extras — I still dream of a walk-in steam shower and separate laundry room. 6 years later, we have a bit more money available, but now of course it would twice as expensive (and SO messy) to do these things. If we had had the money then, I would also have opted for Marvin windows throughout — both for their looks and their insulation abilities. But on a more positive note, there are two things I’m really glad we did do: 1) We worked with our architect/designer to maintain the original layout of the house as much as possible, just improving the flow here and there but basically maintaining the integrity of the house. 2) Thanks to our GC, we have fabulously smooth walls (he hired a brilliant old-school Polish plasterer) and great, crisp moldings (he had the old layers of paint stripped off). I notice these two details everyday. They are a big part of the overall “quality” feel of our renovation — even though we don’t have the bells-and-whistles of fancy appliances, electronic gizmos etc. Finally, I agree completely that good quality door hardware is a great thing to prioritize and something you notice all the time. Also, quality light fixtures.
Original poster -see, but you can’t keep your original flooring then. I am kind of regretful about not trying out the radiator system – we ripped it out for central heat & air.
anon 8:57 — definitely go with radiant floor heating over radiators…we just put in in the entire house and, while it forces you to slightly upgrade your wood flooring choices to quarter-sawn woods (because they expand and contract less than regular sawn woods, impt. because they are right on top of the heat source), it is sooooo worth it……the heating system creates no noise (no hissing radiators) and no dust. It is just right, totally comfortable heat, even throughout the entire house, unlike radiators, which heat the space next to them first. Our house is much cleaner than our previous residence, which had radiators.It’s one of the best things we did……
Wow, what a great thread. I am two months into living in my new brownstone (and yeah, it’s pretty seriously broken, so we are rushing to get stuff fixed).
And while I am normally quite a decisive person, I am seeing how potentially paralyzing all this decision making is going to get.
Right now we are at the pre-regret phase (mostly with radiant heat v. radiators, and the how many walls to remove question…) so I look forward to more advice from those on the other side…
Original Poster – I wish we could have lived in the house before starting work, but it was not feasible in terms of the amount of stuff we have. What’s done is done, I guess.
Everyone seems to rush in with the wrecking ball as soon as they get the keys. Unless the house is totally unlivable, it really makes sense to live in it, either partially or completely, and get to know the house before changing it. One really gets a different perspective when you do. The things that bothered you may turn out to be negligible in the big picture, and things that you didn’t notice become glaring in the course of everyday living.
Also the rush to gut can lead to loss of irreplaceable items. Unless you hire contractors who specialize in older houses or restoration, even the best of them will get rid of everything, unless you are watching 24/7. It is much easier for them to start from scratch than to work around detail and original features.