run in place vs prefab ornamental plaster

I’m renovating a brownstone that has been stripped of all detail and have been counting on having plaster moldings and medallions made to more or less match the the gorgeously intact identical house next door. Have talked to a few highly recommended (on Brownstoner) artisans who are clearly talented and great guys but the estimates put me way over budget. Now I’m thinking, what about prefab plaster moldings? How much would I save? And do they look obviously not original? Is it worth taking out another mortgage to get the real thing? (Only partly joking.) Has anyone chosen one or the other with strong ideas on the subject they could share? Thanks!

chestnut

in Brownstoner Renovation 10 years ago

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yurigmusha71 | 9 years and 6 months ago

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Call mr Luis 3475005693\. luisenrique0571_62@hotmail.com

afrodytka8585 | 10 years ago

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Jfss: would you mind to provide me the contact info of your carpenter who replicated in wood? Thank you

brklyn1 | 10 years ago

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Hi Replay to the email orientedcorp at gmail and I will sent you a few pictures of molding profiles detailed nad plain, and the cost as well.

chestnut | 10 years ago

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Thanks again, everyone, very helpful. Looked up ASAR, looks like a good resource. Guess I have more research to do, but looks like the consensus is I can probably get something nice and authentic looking for cheaper than a fully custom job.

brklyn1 | 10 years ago

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Replicating/match existing cost it depends on the size and the details. If its plain most of the crowns run for $30 LF supplied and installed. Add another $300 for profile template. If it has details you have to make a mold. Which can cost from $300 – $4,500 depend on the size again. And the price could go up to $60 per LF supply and install. Plus $4,500 for the mold Like the 9″x7″ corbel crown. To run it in place the walls and ceiling has to be 100% strait level or the crown will have waves

bedstuy06 | 10 years ago

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We found prefab plaster moulding and medallions that were similar to others in our house at ARCHITECTURAL SCULPTURE AND RESTORATION, INC. 1818 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY, United States +1 718-467-2013

nanner08 | 10 years ago

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Have you looked at Outwater Architectural polystyrene moldings? Orac Decor? I think there are beautiful ways to achieve this with less cost/mess/time. The average person or potential next buyer would not be able to see the difference and, in this case, I think recoup is based on visual impact, not the purity of raw materials.

no-permits | 10 years ago

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dorkofwindsor, you’ll absolutely recoup the cost of replicating plaster. especially on the parlor floor. it’s the most impressive thing about most brownstones. i’m talking about a reasonable price. $25k floor is insane.

Rick | 10 years ago

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A great deal of money can be saved by going with wood or foam crowns. Easy install and inexpensive compared to plaster, I think you can come close to the style and character you’re looking for. Tin ceilings are always a great addition and you can cast swags and details that will work really well together. But if you are a purest you may have to take out that loan.

zag0r | 10 years ago

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Chestnut, I commend you for wanting to restore the historic details and to use plaster while at it. As far as visual difference between run in place and pre-cast, they will both look very nice. The difference is that they both serve slightly different purposes in application and design capacity. You can calculate cost differences yourself since you know the linear feet involved and remember you still need more labor to install the pre-cast – which partially depends on the condition of the walls and ceilings.

chestnut | 10 years ago

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Thanks, all. DOW, my logic, as far as recouping costs goes, nothing is going to trump the state of the market.But a given buyer might fall in love with the general esthetic of your place, and maybe their dream brownstone has intricate wedding cake moldings. The costs per floor for run in place are upwards of 25K — this is for a fair amount of detailing up stairways, hefty custom designed medallions, and deep crown moldings, but maybe not with dentils. So I’m wrong, zagOr, to guess that prefab plaster — from Hyde Park or some place like that –would be a lot cheaper, even including installation? And what about the esthetics? Would it look fake or pass for the real thing if done well? I did a tin ceiling in my last place, jfss, and it turned out to be a selling point. But this place really needs its grand old moldings back!

dorkofwindsor | 10 years ago

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fwiw, not sure you’ll ever recoup the cost of plaster if you have to re-create from scratch

zag0r | 10 years ago

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Without knowing the profile and assuming it’s just extruded I’d say run in place is the way to go because the pre-cast still needs a lot of labor to install. But what if there are dentils and rope, etc.? Then pre-cast is the way.

snowman2 | 10 years ago

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I had my front parlor plaster ceiling detail (except medallion) replicated in wood. The carpenter examined my neighbors front parlor, took some measurement and spent maybe half a day with me making a mock up with lots of different pieces of stock molding from Dykes. He just had an eye for it. It cost me about 1/3 of the estimate I had gotten to do it in plaster. After it was sealed and painted various neighbors over the years have assumed it was original. So it’s possible to get a decent substitute. For a lot of reasons, I cannot recommend the carpenter. If I had no other option, I would have reluctantly paid for the plaster replication because the parlor floor ceiling was the only original detail missing from my house. If you have a lot of restoration to and and better things to do with the money I would skip the replication, do wood trim or a spectacular tin ceiling (I believe if was WF Norman had amazing panels and patterns) and spend the money on other missing detail.