So we had a our first major/minor incident today. While I do believe in building security and taking appropriate measures to secure a building while in the bridge period, it did not occur to us that the ionization detector in a smoke alarm can be triggered by not just smoke, but also dust. The contractors have been doing a bit of demolition to install a new flue and reline the chimney so that our boiler does not spew carbon monoxide into our building or the adjacent building. The dust apparently triggered the smoke alarm at which point the fire department sprung into action and the alarm company notified us at work that there was a fire in the building. Surprisingly the Bed-Stuy fire department have a pretty quick response time. Good to know for future reference. Luckily nothing serious occurred and nobody was injured but there was definitely a few moments where our hearts skipped a beat imagining the worst. Yikes.
Monthly Archives: December 2013
Tax Photos
While many of the New York City agencies can often be difficult and cumbersome to deal with, one that is a bit of a pleasure is the department of records. A real treat for many homeowners and history or herstory buffs in the five boroughs is looking up historic tax photos of old buildings. Taken in the 1930’s & 1940’s they often reveal buildings before the stoops were torn off, stain glass windows before they were discarded and cornices that have vanished with the ravages of time. Each photo is a priceless time capsule that is well worth the money spent and a real treasure if you are intent on restoring an old building. You could build a souped up DeLorean with a trusty flux capacitor or just order it online from the city for $50. Full disclosure, we had to order it twice as the first time we placed the order, it got lost by the department of records. Oh well…
Its kind of a cool story that during the 1930’s, local governments began to use photography as a tool for appraising real property for taxation purposes. New York City was the largest municipality to adopt this technology. The result was 720,000 35mm black-and-white pictures of every building in the five boroughs. We were lucky enough to find ours which is shown above. I would love to know the identity of the man partially hidden behind the tree staring into the camera. I bet he also has a cool story…
Low and behold the mystery of the window buried in the wall has been solved. It appears that the mysterious window was placed in the wall after the door to the balcony was removed. Who knew there was originally a balcony on the outside of the building above the bay window for Rapunzel and her long luscious hair. In the image you can also clearly see the stain glass windows, the cornice perched below the slate tile and ornamental metal work on the roof line covering the shingles. Pretty cool if you ask me…
Eventually we are hoping to restore the exterior of the building to its original glory, but that will take some time as we trying to manage our budget. We are hoping that we can access some historic tax credits to redo the facade of the building. As this work is not a necessity to inhabit the building, we may attempt this portion of the renovation in the next 2-3 years when we may be able to find the extra money to do the required work and do it properly.
Stoned
Doing a renovation project can create a lot of stress in a relationship. It is important to recognize the milestones along the way and celebrate the aspects of the project that will make it unique when you finally move all your belongings into the home. Yesterday in the midst of an impending snowstorm and all the preparations that we New Yorkers make to combat such an event, my wife and I woke up early, got a nice cup of coffee, piled into our little Subaru, turned the seat heaters to high and headed out to New Jersey to visit the slab yards in what I would describe as a winters dream. It was lot a fun and very impressive.
They are open to the public, but it helps to know which ones are indoors…
Walking in between the slabs can be impressive in and of itself. Staring into giant hunks of the earth hewn from different parts of the world is mesmerizing. The variety and colors of stone to choose from can be overwhelming. Granite, marble and slate all have distinctive properties and attributes that make each one unique. While there is no right or wrong answer in choosing stone it ultimately is a personal choice that will dramatically impact the color and design of the room it which it is placed.
It also helps when you realize that both you and your partner have similar aesthetics in choosing stone. There is an implicit amount of trust and understanding in these moments of where you learn a lot about each other and it is thus that a renovation need not become a source of stress, but a bonding experience which makes the final product all that more enjoyable. Otherwise one needs to have a delicate hand in approaching these conversations.
Sourcing the stone yourself is also a great way to save a few $$$. It takes a bit of work, but it can be done and the payout can be considerable. It helps to be an architect or know one that owes you a favor, but it is not necessary.
The Bridge
In between the purchase of the property, creating the permit set, getting approval to start, and interviewing various contractors to ultimately do the renovation, there has been period of time where very limited work has occurred on the property. This is what I call the bridge. We have been primarily restricted to minor demolition and chimney work during the last few months as we have waited for approvals and mulled over the various traits of our pool of potential contractors. Waiting to find the right contractor is a bit of a bummer to be honest. It all just takes time no matter how diligent and motivated you are.
In that time however we have unfortunately developed a few leaks in the roof. Much to my surprise I came into the house the other day only to realize that it had been raining on the beautiful parquet floors in our kitchen that we have been so eager to refinish and bring back to their original luster. Yikes.
After speaking with a few roofing contractors, we were advised that to just patch the roof was about $3,500 to $5,000 and that it would be better to just to do the entire roof completely for about $15,000. While I am generally in agreement with this fact, the bigger issue we face is that we are entering the colder months and the ability of rubberized bitumen to properly seal in the cold is limited. Roofing is best done in the Spring, heading into the warm months of the summer, where the heat of the sun welds the roof together.
Looking to save a few bucks, I have recently convinced myself that I do have the ability to patch the roof and save the floor of my wife’s future kitchen. See for yourself:
The truth is, roofing is a relatively simple job and if it is not too involved you can save yourself a lot of fabulous moolah if your willing to take on the challenge yourself. So far so good. The storm clouds in the kitchen have been abated and the buckling has been held to a minimum. The roof is no longer leaking and we are hoping that she holds through the long winter! Sometimes in the process of a renovation there are those unexpected moments when you don’t have a trusty contractor on which to rely, the timing is off, and you may just have to do it yourself.
Architects & Developers
Couldn’t help myself with this one. It just makes too much sense. A good friend passed this article along to me and it epitomizes the new direction that I have taken in my career.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20131201/REAL_ESTATE/312019985#
Having worked at a large corporate architecture firm for developers I often saw first hand how projects would get wrecked because developers would so often fail to understand the design process. While architects can often be found guilty of inflated egos and design for design sake which can also wreck the profit margin in a developers proforma. The truth is that striking the right balance between design and profit can be an incredibly powerful combination in building a design development firm.
Thanks Greg!