Hey Mopar, I noticed that DEA Bath carries a tank liner that might be a medium-term solution to your leaking wood tank. Only $39 for the low tank model,which I think is what you said you had in a post a couple months ago. They sell non-standard sizes for more.
http://deabath.com/Hightank/Toiletparts/toiletparts.html

I live in an 1875 mansion in Fairfield, Iowa. I am selling my 1875 bannister. Any interest?

warmest regards,

walter day

We’re considering restoration of the exterior front double-door on our brownstone — it has been coated in layers of paint over the years and the wood will need a good amount of surface work, plus addition of kick-plates etc. Any recommendations for a good restoration specialist and ballpark idea of the cost? Many thanks.

We transformed an ugly little room into an extraordinary little room by hand painting new Anaglypta wallpaper. Our 1905 Neo-French Renaissance Brooklyn brownstone has original Anaglypta in the hallways and staircase, but we couldn’t find the same patterns anywhere. When we bought the house, this little room’s mahogany woodwork had been painted pumpkin orange, one wall was crumbling and other wall had been covered in cork tile. It had one sconce. We stripped the pumpkin paint off the woodwork, demolished the old wall and installed dry wall, refinished the parquet oak floor, installed a chair rail, curtain hardware, antique lights, and reproduction switch plates. But the star of the show was the brand new embossed Anaglypta, which was originally invented by Thomas Palmer in the late 1880’s and made out of cotton pulp, that we hand painted with Benjamin Moore studio finishes metallics and pearlescent paint in copper, gold, jealousy and buttercream yellow and then glazed. Costs/Resources: 3 rolls of Anaglypta ($40 per 60 sq. ft.) from DYHomeDecor.com, Paint ($160) from Benjamin Moore, curtain hardware ($35.50) and switch plates ($52.00) from VanDykes.com, antique lights ($860) from OldHouseLights.com, and chair rail ($57) from HomeDepot. Tip: If you are going to hand paint embossed wallpaper, choose a small room or an accent wall or a boarder, otherwise you’ll spend the rest of your life painting wallpaper. Dave Cummings (718-864-2906, DaveE718@hotmail.com), who specializes in restoration of Brooklyn homes, did most of the extraordinary work.

All our windows have interior pocket shutters — glued into the wall. But when I removed them only the outside panel was there — the two interior ones that should fold out had been removed by a previous owner.

Apart from Eddie’s Salvage, any thoughts on where I might find some? I guess there’s no standard size but each of the missing panels is around 44″ by 9″.

Many thanks for any leads.

We have a mansard roof with a cornice on it in Chicago. This is a 6-flat building on a very narrow lot in the city. Pictures are here: http://east-village.posterous.com/east-village-building

The issue we are having is with rain water running off of the roof, down the front of the building, pooling at the ground, and seeping into our meter room under the front steps. We cannot install a drain because we would have to do so on the neighbor’s property and tear up all of their sidewalks.

So can we add some type of gutter to the cornice? Or should it have had a gutter at some point? The building was built around 1870, but over the past few years we have had to repair masonry and various other issues in the front due to the water.

THANKS!

hi everyone,
I might be the “lucky” person who gets to restore 859 Saint Marks Avenue.
I am having second thoughts, though.
Our offer was accepted, but the engineer’s report was about as bad as one could expect. The needed repairs greatly exceed the value of the house – by many hundreds of thousands. The Now Landmarked building needs a LOT of historical restoration. The side façade is also leaking like a sieve… in need of pointing and brick replacement …which no one has ever mentioned before on any forums.
My question is has anyone else gotten a report or inspection done on this house? Is there any advice to be given. I have the ability to pull out of this sale. I put language in the accepted offer which allows me this option if the repairs are over 750k. I have also discovered the title has some major problems as does the C of O (SRO??). The city swears it is, the realtor swears it isn’t. Who do I believe? It has tenant violations, which means if it is an SRO, I’m in for a very, very long (years) wait to begin any rehab.

I’m afraid I may have bought a rather large paperweight.

Any advice?

The original tub is still in the house we bought. All the hardware is damaged but the tub is still in beautiful condition. There’s some minor dings and some minor water damage in the interior. What is the best way to restore this tub. I want to do it the best way I can do I don’t have to upkeep it every few years. I heard something about sandblasting? What’s the best method and where can I get this done?

Hi,Would anybody here know where I might find information about pre-civil war door hardware, 1850’s? Thanks!

We live in a three-unit, brownstone coop in Cobble Hill. Our building is considering doing exterior restoration work. Rather than charge a special assessment, we would like to finance the work. Any suggestions regarding where to go to get this type of financing?