Mediocre renovation work, what to be on the lookout for
Hi all, I am looking at a brownstone in the Bed Stuy area that’s currently being renovated. It is not a gut renovation, as the place seems to have been in good condition before. The agent says that the electrical and plumbing have been fully redone. However, the work being done is clearly shoddy. There are exposed pipes, some of which have been clumsily boxed, leaving an interstice between the box and the wall for dirt and crud to accumulate in. They’ve installed floor radiators which are eyesores, the pipes go through the floor without pipe flanges (though perhaps they intend on installing those later?). Old, wooden, indoors, window shutters have been glued to the wall and daubed with a thick coat of paint instead of being removed or replaced. The shutter is glued at an angle, leaving about 100 cubic inches of space between the wall and the shutter – and, why, no, of course they did not bother to paint between the shutter and the wall, I mean, “whatever”, right? I’m trying not to let that influence me too much. Even though doing mediocre work like this is a shame and a waste of money, it doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed by another contractor. But… 1) What type of cost am I looking at to correct those issues? 2) More importantly, what do they tell me about bigger ticket items, what should I be on the lookout for? Since they seem to be cutting corners, I worry that – they might only have changed the sockets instead of putting in new wires (even though they said they redid the entire electrical) – they might have left some old plumbing pipes in place – they might not have bothered checking the joists and masonry
murbard
in Brownstoner Renovation 10 years and 5 months ago
23
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23 replies
murbard | 10 years and 5 months ago
Hum, the DOB doesn’t mention any electrical application. I see some plumbing slips from January with no details, and a $5000 work in February for changing bathtubs, sinks & toilets. Maybe the slips from January are for the whole plumbing, but there’s no detail? Not sure how to interpret that, it seems bad, but I’ve also checked a nearby building which has been gorgeously, expertly gut-renovated, and I see no electrical application either, and just “plumbing slips”. I guess the engineer will have to figure all this out.
catboot | 10 years and 5 months ago
While I don’t doubt the work is shoddy (a lot of flips are), exposed radiator pipes are not unusual in a brownstone. The painted over shutters are also a common thing – my guess is that they were just left as they were. It’s not hard to fix, just time consuming. If the work that has been looks to be of poor quality, I would be concerned about the what lurks behind the walls. Did they pull permits for the electrical and plumbing work? You can check the DOB website to see if they did. That is the stuff that is expensive to fix and can cause huge headaches later on. As daveinbedstuy said, get a competent inspector and ask lots of questions.
daveinbedstuy | 10 years and 5 months ago
You need to use a competent inspector to answer most of these questions. Your initial concern is probably correct though and there are likely more important corners cut that you aren’t seeing. Something that you could do is check for an updated circuit breaker panel and how many circuits there are. Also, are all the wires emanating from those circuits new Romex plastic covered, BX metal”cable” or older looking fraying plastic/cloth covered. If you make an offer, you can always have that null and void based on your inspector’s report. You also need a good BROOKLYN based real estate lawyer for this process.