First Time Homeowner
Hoping that someone, (particularly the author) reads this post. Here’s my intro, I’ve just purchased a brick row house; garden floor,parlor and top floor. The top floor has been converted to an illegal apt (registered 1 fam cert of occupancy). I plan to immediately demolish as much as possible in order to begin my own…
Hoping that someone, (particularly the author) reads this post. Here’s my intro, I’ve just purchased a brick row house; garden floor,parlor and top floor. The top floor has been converted to an illegal apt (registered 1 fam cert of occupancy). I plan to immediately demolish as much as possible in order to begin my own conversion with a budget of about 28-35k to work with. I arrived at this site with the hope of finding a thread that may contain a detailed discussion of a similar project but I can’t seem to find one. Can someone please list at least some of the steps I need to take? Hire an Architect first to develop the floor plans? Is it possible to get architectural plans/permits in with the proper agencies without any worries of inspectors showing up and violating me because they may see my top floor in demolished state,pluming and all? Can I then work from such plans myself? Please help.
Thanks for reading.
steve_autin_2000@yahoo.com
Thankyou much Queenie,you may not know how much I need/value the encouragement.
Steve,
Last year I also purchased a three floor brick rowhouse (footprint 17 x 42) and spent $25K in a matter of weeks. We did most of reno ourselves (save for plumbing, asbestos abatement and lining chimney). No permits, no architects and no expediter (although one day we’ll have to go there if we want to make further upgrades). The house only really required some basic upgrades to make it liveable but it was amazing how fast you burn through $25K and don’t have much to show for it! For example:
1) 5 new windows: $2,500
2) Asbestos abatement in cellar: $3,000
3) Paint + painting supplies: $1,500
4) Basic Home Depot supplies: $3,000
5) Line chimney with flue: $3,000
6) VERY basic kitchen upgrade w/some plumbing: $5,000
7) Ventilation in kitchen + bathroom: $2,000
8) Basic labor (paint, strip/sand floors, etc): $5,000
TOTAL: $25K
Good luck!
Pete,the author of the “BedSty reno” blog along with GF and some friends appear to be able to carry out much the renovation of their home (similar to mine) mostly themselves. I’d like to know how they where able to get their permits.I had hoped that my starting post would be viewed by Pete. I visited some neighborhood contractor and was told that I can file something called “certificate of no objection” as part of the effort of getting an ammendment to the cfo. Any opinions on this?
If you’re gonna convert the c of o to make it a legal 2fam, your budget will just about cover the architect, expeditor, and filing. If you are lucky.
I didn’t mention the fact that this property has two con ed electric meters installed. Is it that simple to get a meter installed from con ed just because you have a meter socket?
And there’s the rub. DOB doesn’t care what the DOF calls it. If the CO says one family, then one-family it is. If you want to change it to a two, then you need to file with the DOB, and you need an architect to do that.
As for the work already done, chances are that no one will know that anything’s actually been done, so you file as if you’re doing the work for the first time. The DOB will not inspect the premises before you do work, so they will have no idea what’s there to begin with.
Do not, however, start any demolition before you have a permit. All too often, neighbors complain and then the DOB sends inspectors. If you get caught you will be issued a stop work order and fined for work without a permit and you’ll be months dealing with that. It doesn’t matter that the work was done beforehand. You’ll get out of it because you are correcting a situation, but it’s a real headache either way.
As for your question of doing the work yourself, to do this work, you need a contractor with a tracking number with the DOB. Some contractors will pull the permit and allow you to do the work, but those are hard to find.
Hi Mopar,the cert of occupancy when I searched the online DOB says it’s one family. I only wish that way it appears to ACRIS matched what’s listed with DOB.
If it’s classed as a two family house, and indeed there are two units (the owner’s and the apartment) then what is the issue? What are the violations for? It sounds perfectly fine.
First,thanks for the unbelievably immediate comments. I’m going to try being brave and sorta clarify the purpose of my original post. I’d like to convert the top floor to a legal apartment. Dept. Of Finance lists the building as a B3-2 family dwelling and it is being taxed as a two family.
This is one of a block long row of uniform brick towhouses,several of which are actually two family homes.The building’s footprint is 20’x 40′ on a 20’x 74′ lot. I intend to dismantle the kitchen and bathroom right away. I just would like a few opinions on what to expect/do after my attempt at removing the violating conditions and starting from scratch?
Thanks in advance for ALL answers.
steve_autin_2000@yahoo.com