Contact info for Architect David Johnson
Housepoor, i realize that. I used 20% because that is on line with what some contractors will mark certain things up.
I am not sure what a gc’s liability insurance costs. Aside from that. I am wondering if these contractors consider worker’s comp a payroll expense or an insurance expense. My mom worked for an re management/owner and i will ask her how they looked at that. There is no way out of some of this and the city does not care if hic’s like me have insurance but with gc’s they require it.
justinromeu26
in Architecture 2 years and 6 months ago
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2557 replies
sparrow4 | 9 years and 8 months ago
Thanks everyone! Very helpful! No-permits: You’re right, I wouldn’t cut off garden level gates either. These are parlor level; I misspoke in my original posting. I’m leaving the garden bars and the back parlor bars, just removing the front parlor level. I’m not on landmarked block so should be fine cutting them off. I think these are a 1980s addition anyway, according to my neighbors. I have a grinder for the job. It looks like there is not much of a market for these things, so I suppose I will be taking to a scrapper, calling Build it Green about a possible pickup, or simply leave them out on bulk garbage day. Anyone have any suggestions for this? Good scrap metal yard, etc? I’ll let you know how it goes. Gratitude! Have a nice day!
Arkady | 9 years and 8 months ago
I’ve wondered about that overflow, Bessie, but neighbor is happy w/ his system. He may Y off to drain. OP – It sounds to me as if you should have the downspout redone & maybe consider a french drain for the back yard.
workisfun | 9 years and 8 months ago
I am in my first house now, which came with a tankless (though not functioning properly). So, when I began investigating a replacement, I did not really want the new unit to take up MORE space. As MP states, there are compromises. However, I have no reason to regret choosing Navien…yet.
workisfun | 9 years and 8 months ago
Where would the french drain discharge? Could he problem be backflow from the city?
dorkofwindsor | 9 years and 8 months ago
stickman – seriously? can you read? from your first linked web page: “No asking price is posted on Pre Foreclosures because these properties are not formally listed on the market for sale, yet. Instead, the original loan balance is presented. Use this amount, along with local sale price comparables to establish a reasonable offer on this home. ” Interpretation: the house is not for sale and the amount you see is meaningless. (the house is not even yet in foreclosure). Well, not totally meaningless as it shows that the original loan amount was low vs what we generally know what the going rate is, so if they can’t make loan payments they could easily list the house normally on the open market and get way more than they owe – so they would not *really* be a distressed seller. So no, there will probably never be a deal at least on the first property you linked. In fact, i can tell you that there are no real “deals” to be found in NYC other than in neighborhoods that are complete crapulous. The only deals I have found are old school non REBNY brokers who listed at low / stale comps in a market that is moving higher very fast. New york is an extremely competitive market and flush with endless amounts of cash. Thus, few to no deals. I’ve been looking (and continue to) for a long long time.
dorkofwindsor | 9 years and 8 months ago
Of course it is illegal – and for the record DIBS is sort of wrong (but sometimes his statement is correct). Back when they were building brownstones the drainage was flawed depending on the developer. If you go to any particular “flawed” development / block you will see that every neighbor on the block has the exact same problem. To me it was an undersized main drain, street sewer or both (for the amount of rain this region gets). Either way everyone seems to deal with the problem with some one-off macguyvered solution. The reason it is not allowed in backyards is that if everyone did it all backyards would flood and everyone would get water in their basement through the foundation. I’ve never seen the code enforced and if you get a couple rain barrels it is bound to be a better solution. If you place the barrel overflow near or into the backyard drain, it will drain into the sewer but it will still be fewer gallons than what was originally overwhelming your main drain. I say go for it. EDIT: BTW, i see that despite the code the city seems quite amenable to the idea of rain barrels – even so far as to give them away: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/stormwater/rainbarrel.shtml
dorkofwindsor | 9 years and 8 months ago
i think you might be able to get around 3c per lb for scrap steel give or take. or just leave it for Sanford & Son
daveinbedstuy | 9 years and 8 months ago
dork..what does “sort of wrong” mean???? No one on my block had any problems with their rear gutter draining into their sewer pipe but we all had our original large cast iron sewer pipes. Apparently the developer who did our block did it right.
dorkofwindsor | 9 years and 8 months ago
yeah, sort of wrong means there are many who have clear built-in flaws, but blockages and / or rusted underground leaders are still a big problem for those who do not. Either way, the whole concept of combining main drain with rain (not in spain or on the plain) is so archaic. I was pretty much ready to do a new dry well myself but have been dragging my feet due to having to break up so much concrete in the yard. I think i am actually going to buy a couple barrels now that this thread has reminded me how much i don’t want the mess involved in doing a drywell. As for the OP with a lovely grass backyard – a few drywells are also an option if you don’t mind having it dug up and don’t want the kids playing around barrels of water.
cmu | 9 years and 8 months ago
>Hot water, or hydronic, heating doesn?t add humidity, it changes the air and the moisture already contained in it differently than warm air systems do. Here’s a link from ASHRAE that clearly disproves that forced air system ‘dry’ the air: “So we claim that the statement, ?furnaces dry the air,? is completely false. Leaky duct- work may result in lower indoor humidity levels, but it is not due to the furnace.” There may be a perception that hydronic (or steam) heat is _more comfortable_ from its evenness as compared to the warm-cool feel of blowing air, but there will be no difference in humidity because neither system _removes water from the air_ (to dryit). As the room heats with the same water content humidity drops, but it’s solely temperature dependent, not on how the heat is applied. www.hydronicheating.net/hydronic-vs-gfa.html Anecdotally, the humidity in my steam-heated house can drop to 15%…dry!
cmu | 9 years and 8 months ago
>Hot water, or hydronic, heating doesn’t add humidity, it changes the air and the moisture already contained in it differently than warm air systems do. Here’s a link from ASHRAE that clearly disproves that forced air system ‘dry’ the air: “So we claim that the statement, “furnaces dry the air,” is completely false. Leaky duct- work may result in lower indoor humidity levels, but it is not due to the furnace.” There may be a perception that hydronic (or steam) heat is _more comfortable_ from its evenness as compared to the warm-cool feel of blowing air, but there will be no difference in humidity because neither system _removes water from the air_ (to dryit). As the room heats with the same water content humidity drops, but it’s solely temperature dependent, not on how the heat is applied. www.hydronicheating.net/hydronic-vs-gfa.html Anecdotally, the humidity in my steam-heated house can drop to 15%…dry!
joshualane | 9 years and 8 months ago
@ Dorkof windsor OK man I’m still learning…I’m obvously new to this as I’m sure all of you were at one time. So in other words if I added 20% to the original loan amount posted I would get the original purchase price? That is odd that my neighbor tells me $700k would fetch a brownstone uptown …. Do you know if the new Jersey market is overheated also? I was specifically looking at west ny.
Augustiner | 9 years and 8 months ago
I guess the contractor took the ‘original details from 1870’ idea a bit too far
joshualane | 9 years and 8 months ago
never mind
slopefarm | 9 years and 8 months ago
When we renovated about a decade ago, we looked into tankless and our plumber at the time advised that they do not work well with pressure balance shower bodies. I don’t know if that was true then or remains true now. MP linked to his article on heatinghelp.com. I found the website to be an excellent resource for homeowners, particularly those of us with old heating and plumbing systems, to make sense of how the stuff is supposed to work. A great place to post queries of this nature, btw.
dorkofwindsor | 9 years and 8 months ago
stickman, the value of that particular house with the lis pendens and 300k original loan amount is whatever the seller will sell it at and whatever a buyer will buy it at – just like any house. You need to do your homework on the most recent similar comps that closed on nearby blocks. Need help with that? Streeteasy, trulia etc. Or go talk to a broker and they will prob tell you exactly the range shells go for. I haven’t kept up on that area for over 10 years but shells were going for that well over a decade ago. For example, there is a SRO listed for $1.399 million on 261 West 131 in central harlem advertised as one of the “best deals” around. And that is an SRO (boarding house) – very restricted on what you can do with that (search previous threads). Maybe there are 14 foot wide shells next to a dangerous project for $700, thats not my thing though. Perhaps you might be thinking of people who comb the list of lis pendens like you did, write / solicit letter to try and engage them and make an offer. Some people take a shotgun approach and write a generic form letter to thousands who have missed a couple mortgage payments, some make a targeted list and write individualized / personalized letters to each. That would be the only way to get a below market property – to negotiate off the open market and hope the person is really really stupid.
joshualane | 9 years and 8 months ago
yeah leave it to a broker to advertise an sro as a good deal for 1.4M$ …. gee I can buy an amazing house in a safe suburb for that, but I think I’ll go live in a bubblicious dump way uptown….ok.
Arkady | 9 years and 8 months ago
A french drain doesn’t discharge into anything – it helps make natural absorbency better. Basically it’s a deep trench filled w/ stones decreasing in size to pea grit at the top. You start w/ a perforated pvc pipe at the bottom, cover it w/ landscape fabric & then start piling on the stone. Should be at least as deep as foundation & pyramid-shaped – wider at the bottom. You can landscape the top w/ sod if you like.
no-permits | 9 years and 8 months ago
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