Exterior Work Planning Questions (Facade, Windows, Cornice, Railings, Sidewalks)

We are thinking of embarking on the facade (including railings, windows, cornice and sidewalk) as our next capital improvement project and have a gazillion planning related questions. Did your facade contractor design and file for facade work? Or a separate architect? How much of the total rebrownstoning budget was paid before the scratch coat? I believe the scratch coat has to sit for 6 months before the finish coat is applied, right? Were there any challenges to getting your contractor to return to finish the brownstone?
Did you use a separate contractor to install windows and doors?
Besides, daytime privacy and construction related noise and messiness, are there additional challenges surrounding facade repair that you wish you had known in advance? We have 2 tenants in the building and would like to limit the disruption as much as possible. dd

christimody

in General Discussion 8 years and 2 months ago

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Guest User | 8 years and 1 month ago

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We are not in landmark district. Two of my neighbors used Premier Building & Renovations Corp for the facade which included replacing windows.

joekinde | 8 years and 1 month ago

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we were very happy with excellent contracting llc and they handled all landmarks permit work and it was fast.

christimody | 8 years and 1 month ago

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Thank you for your words of advice NeoGrec.

NeoGrec | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Our brownstone mason wasn’t much on paperwork so I wrote the LPC application myself and submitted it under his name. It was a lot less painful than I had feared. You just need to copy the language on the LPC website (part of nyc.gov). Some masons like to leave the scratch coat to cure over the winter but it’s not necessary. I believe 3-4 weeks is the minimum. Temperature is important: the job can’t be done while it is below freezing overnight and very high summer temps can be an issue. So spring or fall are ideal. Our facade took 3.5 months from start to finish. We paid one third upfront, one third after the scratch coat, one third on completion. IMHO, windows and doors need very careful installation to achieve the desired level of tight fit/draft-proofing so I would use a specialist. Ditto metalwork. Otherwise, hire a GC — but you’ll pay extra of course.

randolph | 8 years and 2 months ago

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every time i see a post like this i say a little prayer that i am not in a landmarked district! renovating my house was painful enough, having to run every decision by a panel of NIMBYs would have pushed me over the edge.

eileengray | 8 years and 2 months ago

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You need to start with an architect to file the drawings with landmarks and possibly DOB depending upon the scope of work (need for a sidewalk shed, etc). You should definitely have a different contractors for the brownstone and for doors windows, metal work. Who told you the scratch coat needs to sit for 6 months! ?
The LPC website has good guidelines for resurfacing brownstone; as does NY Landmarks Conservancy. Good to familiarize yourself with the process.

christimody | 8 years and 2 months ago

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Landmark- yes.

resident2 | 8 years and 2 months ago

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You have left out the most important piece of information: Are you in a Landmark district? Is your property on The Historic register?