Wall Collapse, Vacate Order, Maybe Demo on MacDonough
The Department of Buildings issued vacate orders yesterday for the two brownstones at 329 and 331 MacDonough Street in Bed Stuy due to unstable conditions caused by illegal construction work in the basement of Number 329. ANC Contracting, which had been gut-renovating 329 MacDonough, was issued three ECB violations (for failure to protect the adjacent…
The Department of Buildings issued vacate orders yesterday for the two brownstones at 329 and 331 MacDonough Street in Bed Stuy due to unstable conditions caused by illegal construction work in the basement of Number 329. ANC Contracting, which had been gut-renovating 329 MacDonough, was issued three ECB violations (for failure to protect the adjacent property, for work contrary to approved plans and for unsafe conditions). The cause of the structural failure was damage to the party wall as well as water and gas pipes in the basement. A tipster told us that a DOB inspector on-site yesterday evening said the buildings would be torn down, and the photo on the jump from 11 p.m. shows a fence erected, but as of the end of the workday yesterday DOB officials were not able to confirm the course of action. More to come. It will be really sad if these beautiful buildings have to come down. GMAP
tubur6 – I beleive contractors at a minimum need only a 1 million dollar insurance policy.
someone is going to get a nice check.
Posted by: Gowanus_Bklyn at January 21, 2010 11:16 AM
First of all, litigation will take years. Secondly, the lawyers will take 1/3. Thirdly, the insurance company will find a way to wiggle out.
tubur6 – I beleive contractors at a minimum need only a 1 million dollar insurance policy.
someone is going to get a nice check.
Back in 2006 we dug our basement down by over three feet resulting in a 18″ inch gain in eventual ceiling height. The quotes we received ranged from $30,000 to $150,000. We ended up going with a large construction firm that we’d watched completely demolish and rebuild the adjoining townhouse to ours. They were also the most expensive BUT they were fully insured, had been in business for years and I felt confident they knew what they were doing.
Over several months they slowly and painstakingly dug 18 inch wide trenches and reinforced with steel pins and concrete. It was slow and expensive BUT there was absolutely no settling after their work was done. Maybe we paid too much but three years in we have a beautifully finished cellar (that added another 880 usable square footage) and we are confident that out foundations now are at least as strong if not stronger than before.
I don’t know who the contractor is on this job but I hope the owner didn’t go with the cheapest quote who then to make money had to cut corners. Sometimes that is a real false economy.
What about the residents? Are they at least allowed to get their stuff out while things are sorted? Whole thing is just hideous.
Don’t contractor usually carry at least $5 million in general liability? That should be plenty….
This has happened a few times in Williamsburg and I keep wondering, is there really nothing that can be done? Can’t they sink a foundation in now and shore up the walls somehow?
This is sickening. As everyone has said, this is one of the most beautiful blocks in Bed Stuy. I hope they can shore up the buildings so they can be stabilized and not torn down. That would be like losing your front teeth for this block. People are right, lawsuits are going to fly here.
There was an episode of This Old House in Washington DC, where they were working on an old townhouse, gut renovation from the basement up.
They made a point of showing the work in the basement where they were digging out 2-3 feet to add ceiling height.
The engineer and contractor pointed out that the excavation in the basement must leave 2-3 feet of the soil around the foundation walls undisturbed because of the possibility of destabilizing the foundations.
This topic was also recently in an episode of a show called Under Construction (I think)that follows around a crew of contractors in Brooklyn, they were excavating near the foundations of a building and had to dig specific holes to be filled with reinforced concrete to the depth of the neighboring building’s foundations (20ft), this was not fly by night work, it required much expertise.
This is so fucked up for 331. Damn!
***Help Haiti***