Bed Stuy Reno: The Home Stretch?

As you may recall, in our last installment, I was dealing with the “no-show” plumber and was in the process of firing him. Firing a plumber is actually much more difficult than I thought. The plumber has to agree to withdraw his permit from the job or agree to allow another plumber to work under his permit, or the owner has to send a letter to the DOB outlining his negligence, and after review the plumber could be removed.

Well, my plumber would not agree to withdrawing on his own, and going the DOB route would add weeks if not months to an already delayed job. In the end, I was stuck with him.  He continued to leave work half done, late and unacceptable. In the end, I  ignored his objections and had another plumber finish the work. The real drama may ensue when he has to close the job.

This renovation has literally been a second full-time job. But in the middle of the madness comes the fun stuff. And for me, the fun stuff is picking out finishes such as countertops.

Prices for stone countertops range greatly, depending on the type of stone and the fabricator. Luckily for those of us in Brooklyn, there are some great stone fabricators in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. I rented a Zipcar on a Saturday afternoon and headed over to check a few out.

First, I was incredibly excited that there were places in New York City with such a huge amount of stone selections on site.  I fell in love with an absolutely amazing piece of quartzite at one of the stone yards but it was way out of budget. I tried to calculate not eating or buying a new mattress to make it work.

In the end, I went with a beautiful  and affordable slab of marble. Let’s not discuss the upkeep of marble, ok?

Overall, the last six weeks have been the most stressful part of the renovation. Hopefully, we’re in the home stretch now.