Renovating a house in terrible shape???
hi, we are considering purchasing a brownstone in terrible condition. It is, in fact, quite scary – you would NOT want to live there in its current state…. But, most (if not all) of the original detail is present – fireplaces; plaserwork; moldings; woodwork; etc… We understand how expensive this undertaking can/will be. However, I…
hi, we are considering purchasing a brownstone in terrible condition. It is, in fact, quite scary – you would NOT want to live there in its current state…. But, most (if not all) of the original detail is present – fireplaces; plaserwork; moldings; woodwork; etc… We understand how expensive this undertaking can/will be. However, I guess we lack “vision” and are concerned that we could make a truly beautiful house out of it given the current state of disrepair. As for the current state – the floor has been mostly covered with nasty lineloeum; the bathrooms look like something out of a bus stop; there are holes (water damage) in the ceiling; the staircase (original) feels a bit rickety at places…. Putting aside the cost of renovation which we know will run the range of $500 -$750K), we just want to make sure that this place is “salvageable”. In that regard, I was hoping someone could post “before” and “After” pictures of their homes that looked the way I describe this one prior to their renovation.
I guess my concern is the following – we have seen beautiful homes that need a full renovation, but the homes looked like they just needed a bit of sprucing up. (Ie, painting, minor repairs, new kitchens/bathrooms). But because those homes also needed all new plumbing/electric, they needed a major renovation. This house, however, looks like it needs much more than sprucing up and we just were hoping to see confirmation that such a house could be rescued.
thanks!
Anything can be done.
You need the money and time.
Hire an architect for the vision.
I’m finishing up a renovation of a townhouse that we completely gutted. We took it down to the brick. We took out the old staircase, floors. We stripped it of all it’s details. (There was nothing great – it was an SRO).
We re-built a new stair, put in an elevator, new floors, new everything. We’re wrapping it up after 2 years of construction, being shut down by the DOB several times for monthes and a tenant still living in what would be the living room (couldn’t be bought out).
So, hire an architect, tell them what you’d like and what your budget is.
Good luck.
The decription of the house you are considering seems to be exactly what our house was like when we purchased it. My blog has photos.
If you have $750K to renovate, thats a hell of a lot of money. You should be able to pretty much whatever you like.
That said, no amount of money totally relieves the stress/aggravation/time/energy you have to put into a renovation like this. You have to really want it and you have to have a vision of what your end game is.
“Are you crazy? It very rare for a brownstone to be razed. – Gutted to a shell maybe, but rarely torn down and rebuilt.”
That was exactly my point. I said “Can it be done? Sure.” Because it is NOT common for people to raze a house. Then I went on to say just what you did: that this is a project to take on “if this is the kind of work you love.”
What did you think I meant?
I think one real advantage of taking on this kind of project is that you can get exactly what you want since you have to replace so much anyway…you aren’t paying for another’s renovation or taste.
Like others have said, as long as the bones are good you should be fine.
“Sure. It’s not very common here for places to just be razed and a new building created.” Are you crazy? It very rare for a brownstone to be razed. – Gutted to a shell maybe, but rarely torn down and rebuilt.
Things to note: lineloeum may have protected the wood floors underneath and can be removed. Staircase – is it the treads or bannister or really the staircase that has problems?
I would agree with Bob Marvin, but get an engineer in to inspect. I would also ask lifestyle questions – is this a labor of love, that I want to invest some time in creating a home, or just a smart investment that will yield a nice place to live as a bonus. This should help you in making those sheetrock vs. plaster kinds of decisions.
You seem to be doing this a bit backwards. You want to rebuild the house up under the details. It’s usually better to add the missing details to a sound house.
You say you lack vision. I guess that’s ok if you have serious construction and engineering skills. You can use those to build up to the details already there. I think for most brownstone fans, they have the vision of the details and need a sound house to put them on. Maybe you’re different. Are you? Can you take on this job? You can always get a designer to finish the details, if you can do the building work.
You should check the renovation blogs. You’ll get a good look at some before and after photos.
If you’re talking $500K-$750K in renovation costs, that money should be able to repair ANY BK brownstone in ANY condition.
That said, you need to know that the house has good “bones”
i.e. no termite damage, good, solid foundation. Solid, straight joists, etc.
Get yourself a good inspector and take a careful look.
Aesthetically, the house doesn’t need to look perfect. Sheet rock and plaster are not the things you should be making decisions on if you’re thinking of putting more than $200k of renovations in.
Hope this helps.
If it has ceiling and stair problems, the engineering report will show structural problems.
If there are holes in the ceiling and a rickety stair, this place needs serious help. Your prediction for how much it will cost makes it sound like a huge job. Can it be done? Sure. It’s not very common here for places to just be razed and a new building created.
However, that doesn’t mean you want to be the one doing it. If it’s that big a job, you should only take it on if this is the kind of work you love. Anyone here who does enjoy this will tell you it sucks and they were miserable along the way, but they like that sort of thing. From what you write, it seems you don’t have the experience. If you have that much money, I’d say look for a place where someone with vision already got part of the work done and created a livable place.
There are places out there if you have some cash. Why take on a place that obviously needs so much and may not be worth it? What about this place seems so attractive?