Wait a year and the owner will be begging for his original $425,000. But I suspect it will be broken out into rental apartments.

Posted by: Steve at December 18, 2007 10:50 AM in response to House of the Day: 64A Clifton Place

I just went through this with my Newfoundland. It was the fourth attack on him by the same two vicious dogs, which have also attacked three other dogs on this block. The 70 year-old woman who "walks" these beasts is completely clueless.

See: http://www.bayridgebarks.org/node/133

I've been around the block with this. 311 is useless. ACC will tell you to call the cops. The cops will respond but all they'll do is write a report (and only if you insist on one). NYPD has no authority over animals. They'll tell you to call ASPCA but ASPCA will only respond to animal cruelty complaints.

I finally went through State Senator Marty Golden's office and found the agency to call:

NYC Dept of Health
Dangerous Dog Unit

Despite the bureaucratic apathy, NY State has some strict dangerous dog laws. New York is a "one bite" state. The dog gets one bite "for free". After that, the dog can be taken and the owner can be sued for negligence.

Posted by: Steve at May 29, 2008 12:36 AM in response to Aggressive Dogs

You should consider sod. It's a little late to be seeding a new lawn. Grass seed should be down by mid-April, or preferably the previous fall. Once the temperature hits about 75 degrees grass seed won't germinate. It will also be competing with weed seeds.

Posted by: Steve at May 29, 2008 12:51 AM in response to Landscaping / Planting new grass

You'll need to ask a real estate attorney, who can do a work-up on the building. As the other poster said, very old buildings typically won't have a C of O. Nevertheless, NYC real estate transactions often have a clause requiring that the property at least conform to C of O regs for its customary use and may require a letter from DOB attesting to that.

The sticky wicket will be if those apartments were added after the grandfather date (1938 sounds about right) because any change of use after then will require a C of O as a multi-family building.

If those apartments aren't legal, DOB could require them to be brought up to current code, which could be very expensive.

Posted by: Steve at May 29, 2008 12:52 PM in response to Buyin a brownstone with no CO

I renovated my small bathroom in '03. I used a licensed GC (Frank O'Donnell) for the demolition, mud floor, rough-in, electrical (including a 50a subpanel) and drywall. He also moved a wall back 16" into a walk-through closet to make room for the six foot tub.

Semi-depressing story is here:

www.brooklynrowhouse.com/house/bathroom

I did the tile, vanity construction, cabinet, fixture installation, taping, painting, etc. Frank's bill was $5500. The big line items were the fixtures, like $1700 for the tempered glass steam shower doors.

Posted by: Steve at May 29, 2008 4:49 PM in response to cost to renovate bathroom?

NY's dog bite law applies to an "attack upon a person, companion animal, farm animal or domestic animal".

A trainer isn't going to help you fix someone else's dangerous dogs. Most owners of dangerous dogs are like parents of obnoxious, aggressive brats. They think their pooches are sweet and harmless animals, even if they've killed a half dozen cats and bitten the UPS man.

In my experience, the only way you'll get any useful results is by persuading the owner to take the necessary steps to reduce the threat of his dogs to others. Some people can be reasoned with directly. Others need to be put on official notice. Still others never get it and need to have their dogs removed.

A dog which attacks other dogs unprovoked is a dog which will, sooner or later, also attack a human.

Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 11:24 AM in response to Aggressive Dogs

DOB needs to put an immediate end to its "self certification" program that permits developers to do their own compliance checking, not only with regard to on-site safety but architectural plans as well. It makes about as much sense as allowing defendants in criminal cases to try themselves.

We've got cranes falling in Manhattan, balconies falling off buildings in Bay Ridge and thousands and thousands of non-compliant (but "legal") driveways all over this city thanks to the self-certification program.

Just this past Sunday the New York Post reported that the Buildings Department reviewed 870 "self-certified" plans and issued objections against 730 of them. Eighty percent! I mean, c'mon.

If DOB lacks the resources to do its job then raise the friggin permit fees so it can hire more inspectors.

Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 12:36 PM in response to Another Fatal Crane Collapse in Manhattan

$150k?? Are they making 24-caret gold Subzeros now? Seriously, you should be able to do a bottom-up kitchen reno for less than half that cost. Mine cost me less than $20k and that included a new 150 s/f kitchen extension. But I built the cabinets and did everything except the extension construction and granite installation.

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/house/kitchen

Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 7:16 PM in response to Makes sense to renovate?

Or you could build your own:

http://www.oceanmanorhouse.com/?page=paintremover

Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 7:33 PM in response to Wanted: Silent Paint Remover

I'll add a rec for Sessa Plumbing. A bit pricey but Richie is a plumbing and heating perfectionist.

http://plumberswhocare.com/

Posted by: Steve at May 30, 2008 9:49 PM in response to Replacing an Ancient Gas Furnace

Thanks everyone. The walls are in good shape, and I'm basically repainting the same color. I'm a little intimidated doing it myself because of the crown molding, dtailed baseboards, radiators, etc, (gad do I sound like a girl). But maybe I'll at least try one wall and see how it goes. Although, lechacal, I'll pay you $500, two six packs AND watch your kids if you'd do it for me.

Posted by: westernnygirl at September 6, 2008 5:42 PM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

The A/C keeps the humidity down so the primer dried well. Unfortunately, it also dried well on right side of my black Newfoundland who decided to run down the stairs past my ladder with wet paint on the wall.

I don't particularly enjoy painting (it's pretty by-rote) but it rarely throws you any curves.

Westernnygirl: effective painting is all about the prep: emptying the room, laying down tarps or rosin paper, scraping/cleaning the walls (I use TSP), filling holes and dents. With your drywall, it's a breeze. My old plaster took quite a bit of extra work:

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/node/130

Otherwise, cut everything with a brush first that you can't roll. Don't saturate the brush, keep a wet edge on the wall, watch for drips, use a side light to look for missed spots.

Posted by: Steve at September 6, 2008 6:10 PM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

Steve -- I'm gobsmacked! Your house is gorgeous, can't believe all the work you put into it. Love the dining room, and the kitchen and the yard--even love the dog. Now I'm totally intimiadated because as far as DIY is concerned, you've made it to Mt Olympus and I'm down in the seventh circle of hell. Can I just move into your guest room? Or hire you to paint? $600, 3 six packs of your choice, and I'll watch your kids and your dog (sorry lechacal).

Posted by: westernnygirl at September 6, 2008 6:49 PM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

I've been outbid!!! Or wait, I guess I am the lower bid but Steve offers a better product... Damn competition. :)

Steve, love the website. And I agree that painting is all about the prep. I actually enjoy skim coating (I get a little Zen thing going on when I do repetitive physical tasks). And I love the almost instant gratification of a new color in an old room. I have never worked with plaster like you have (the house I reno'd was built in the 1960s and all drywall). I understand plaster presents its own set of challenges.

Posted by: lechacal at September 6, 2008 9:20 PM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

Thanks, folks.

I'm not terrific with plaster either but I'm slowly learning. The main issue with plaster is knowing how to mix it and work it. Also which kind to use: gypsum vs. lime vs. finishing vs. structolite, etc.

There's a lime plaster seminar at Howard Hall Farm (http://howardhallfarm.com/) in Athens, NY this winter that I've been thinking about taking.

Posted by: Steve at September 6, 2008 11:01 PM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

We just brought our own banister back to its original state. After stripping we applied 3 coats of tung oil, then wax (butcher's wax) to protect the banister. It looks great!

Posted by: dt at September 6, 2008 11:46 PM in response to stair rail

Shellac as you know gets darker over time. I'm sure that's why so much woodwork got painted. Many people just did not think about stripping the old finish in the past. Now that you have stripped the shellac, you should use denatured alcohol to wash off the stripper, it will open the grain of the wood too. I would use some fine steel wool and you're ready for the finish. I vote for varnish. I think it looks better than polly. Tung oil is pretty but it will not seal the surface so you will be cleaning the rail and adding coats of tung oil as time goes by.

Posted by: Rick at September 7, 2008 7:39 AM in response to stair rail

Wow Steve!

Not sure how you found the time to do all that work yourself but your skills are great. Love the woodwork!

Posted by: Rick at September 7, 2008 7:49 AM in response to Cost of painting bedrooms?

Tung oil and wax protects wood much better from constant touching than shellac. Shellac is used, when properly applied (French Polish) to give wood a beautiful, natural finish. It is not good for floors or things that are constantly touched. They both (shellac and oil/wax) will require some maintenance. Varnish and urethane require less maintenance, but have a less natural look. Flat finish urethane followed by a 0000 steel wool polish and then wax - has the closest-as-your-going-to-get look and feel of oil and wax without the maintenance. I personally like oil and wax. Even olive oil is beautiful on wood.

Posted by: pig three at September 7, 2008 7:50 AM in response to stair rail

Hi RG, just for the record, I recommended a specific product (Formbys) that is not just tung oil, but a penetrating tung oil finish. IOW, there is more than just tung oil.

Having said that, I've finished dining tables in it and it's held up beautifully, so I don't see why it wouldn't work on a banister.

But certainly, a couple of coats of varnish or poly would also work, cut down the last coat and paste wax.

Posted by: denton at September 7, 2008 9:03 AM in response to stair rail