DIBS Refinishes His Facade
Reader, commenter and frequenter of Brownstoner after-work gatherings, daveinbedstuy today shares with us the tale of his recent facade renovation… I recently had the facade on my brownstone refinished. It had been covered with 2-3 layers of paint and was crumbling badly on the garden level, primarily the stoop area. I got a number of…
Reader, commenter and frequenter of Brownstoner after-work gatherings, daveinbedstuy today shares with us the tale of his recent facade renovation…
I recently had the facade on my brownstone refinished. It had been covered with 2-3 layers of paint and was crumbling badly on the garden level, primarily the stoop area. I got a number of estimates and the price range was wide. After a recommendation from a neighbor who owns a number of properties and has had work done by a local guy, I went with Millad from CTG Construction. He literally lives around the corner.
We had an extensive discussion about the work needed and both he and I came to the same conclusion independently that we’d try to save as much of the original flat stone as possible from the parlour level and the top floor. (For before, during and after photos, click here.) This would be in the best interest long term instead of chiselling ALL of it off. The lintels & sills for those levels howvere, needed to be completely rebuilt.
The first step was…
…to apply two coats of paint stripper on the parlour level and top floor facade where we intended to save the stone. This stood for about a week and a half and was then powerwashed leaving a paint-free surface. It was nice to see.
All of the original brownstone was chipped away from the garden level and stoop area and rebuilt with a layer of masonry and two layers of brownstone “slurry.” Since this was going on for the past 3 months, you can imagine the difficulty working around the rainy weather; which is why it took almost 3 months! Millad was adamant that each layer needed adequate drying time before an additional layer is added; something I have not witnessed when watching other jobs around the neighborhood.
As you can see from the accompanying flikr photos, it was a major job at the garden level. The parlour and top floor sills & lintels were rebuilt. Millad’s mason is excellent. He formed crisp detailed lines in each rosette and the work on each side of the stoop.
With the flat brownstone surface on the parlour & top floor level about 90% in nice shape, there was some patching necessary. This has resulted in an imperfect match in some areas but I knew that was the case going into the process. Some of you may want a perfect match throughout but that will cost you a lot more money as well and I believe that the integrity of the existing stone is more important. You can see this in the last few pictures of the finished product.
My original tall double door entryway had been closed in to make a transom and a single 36″ door sometime in the 40s or 50s when the building became a two family, as was required by the fire department back then. The casings were very detailed fluted pilasters and looked nice so I decided against returning the entryway to the original style (plus it would be an additional $12-14,000) and I went on a search for an appropriate door to replace the fugly one that was there. I found a beautiful double tombstone window door at www.archantiquities.com in maine…about $1,600 including shipping. I replaced the door myself and added the hardware from www.houseofantiquehardware.com.
I also believe that a black entry, window casings % cornice is the most appealing color scheme.
Millad drew up a contract and everything went as contracted. The only addition was that we determined that the space underneath the stoop should get a new skim coat of cement because it was just exposed brick and needed to be repointed.
$20,000 + $1,500 for the additional masonry work under the stoop. This was at the low end of most of the quotes. Millad was very easy to work with and his men are very conscientious.
DIBS, nice! Great for you, great for your block. You’re definitely the right kind of owner.
Congratulations.
What a very nicely done facade restoration! Love the door as well. This is the kind of exterior work that goes beyond being a personal benefit to the homeowner. It’s a benefit to the community in general as it becomes support (or encouragement) for your immediate neighbors as well as top notch brownstone eye candy for all passersby. Congratulations (and thanks)!
Dave that looks fantastic. I particularly like the single door treatment. I’ve mentioned that my double doors had been removed and replaced by a fugly single door before. This makes the case for revamping it with a better single and not going whole hog and having the doubles rebuilt (at a ridiculous cost).
Great job!
I doubt that it matters to most, but London Planes are a hybrid, now common in NYC. We definitely called these trees Sycamores when I was growing up (even as
a child gardener at the BBG), and had many fights throwing their fruitballs, which we called “itchy balls.” http://bit.ly/7zqBh
sam, we miss you, vehemently. 🙂
Beautiful job.
dibs, I am no longer posting on brownstoner but i do occassionally look at the site and I just wanted to write that your restoration turned out beautifully. congrats.
They are on Tomkins, MM, you are right. I think they may be closed all day on Saturday though, not sure. They have another Bklyn location as well. They are great for anything paint related.
I’ve always been a huge proponent of buying the most expensive paints for durability. I’ll always prime in oil but 100% Acrylic paints are now the best for exterior. I did use the Fine Paints of Europe once on a door in PA, for the super high gloss look which looks fantastic but it has to be a perfectly smooth surface.
Not to nitpick, but Weinstein’s Paint, which is a great local resource, is on the corner of Halsey and Thompkins St. Their prices are good, and they have Benjamin Moore paint, as well as other brands, tile, and general hardware. I believe they still close at noon on Saturday’s though.