Today on the Reno Blog: Plaster Time
While the plumber and electrician were at work down below, the plasterer got cracking on the top floor. That and more on the Renovation blog. Plaster Time [Renovation Blog]
While the plumber and electrician were at work down below, the plasterer got cracking on the top floor. That and more on the Renovation blog.
Plaster Time [Renovation Blog]
Yup, I’d say $75K to $150K per floor is a solid rule of thumb for all-in costs (including soft costs like architect, etc.). We spent about $450K for a four-story conversion from single to 2fam.
New plumbing, elec, roof, stairs, woodwork refinishing, floor refin, etc. – the works. Everything a neglected building would need. Wife GC’d much of the work, saving us considerable dollars. It was a relatively medium-high-end reno, but seriously, a Viking stove, SZ fridge, & custom cabs, don’t add that much to the cost in the grand scheme of things.
Peel-Away (go to peelaway.com) makes a specific product for lead paint. I am currently using Peel-Away 7 and it works great! Brush it on cover it with the Peel-Away paper (use SaranWrap when you run out…it works as well or better) wait a few hours (I like to let it “cook” over night) and then block some time for scraping the goo away.
The best thing about the product is that it DOES NOT contain Methyel-Chloride. You don’t have to ventilate or even wear a respirator. The product my take a bit longer to work, but you avoid the hazards of the much hasher products.
Peel-Away turns the paint (lead-based or otherwiser) to a neutralized goo. Get a 3″ taping knife to scrape off the intial “peel”. Bag it and keep scraping. Next use a set of “shaped” scraping knives that you “pull” with the grain. Do this one time to get another layer removed, then let everything breathe for 20-30 minutes. Now you can do a final scrape, being careful to avoind carving your wood or any paint that hasn’t turned to goo. If needed, apply another round of Peel-Away and scrape again.
My scraping technique took a few times to perfect, and I can work pretty quickly. If you have a lot of stripping to do, and nobody lives in the house, stronger porducts are fine (with adequate ventilation) but the 5 gallon pail comes with a lot of Peel-Away paper and SaranWrap is cheap. Try a small pail first and see if you like it.
Good luck.
ps: make sure to lay out a disposable drop cloth catch the goo. Wear gloves if you want, but they will stick together pretty quickly. It won’t hurt your hands, but it is a workout getting off. If you have an important meeting the next day, this stuff is still gonna show a bit.
It’s incredibly difficult to generalize, but figure anywhere from $75-$150K per floor. Ours is at the very low end of that and we can’t imagine how you could do it for any less. There’s a minimum that you can’t get below if you’re doing all new plumbing, electrical, hvac,etc. That sound about right to others?
What are the renovations expenses on a 4 story brownstone in similar conditions as the one that the brownstoners are restoring? I know it’s hard to say but I’m trying to picture a rough figure for mine. Can you also reccomend me a contractor
Thanks!
Does anyone have any ideas how to deal with a central staircase in a brownstone that I’m buying that has lead paint on it?
thanks!