dt's Profile
Author's Posts
August 29, 2008
cobblestone
we're looking for some cobblestone to line the edges of our front garden. Any suggestions?
March 4, 2008
neighbor's chimney causing damage
The chimney of the row house attached to ours has a compromised lining. As a result, we are getting water damage on our Parlor floor. We can also feel a hot spot on the parlor level from the neighbor's boiler vent (which is in this chimney). The neighbor's house also has water damage. He has been non responsive to our requests that he fix the problem. Has anyone else gone through this? What did you do to rectify the problem?
February 3, 2008
sewer smell
We recently added a laundry room to the garden level of our house. A few months following this job we started noticing a sewer smell in the laundry room when the top floor shower is used. The plumber insists that he hooked up the laundry to our vent. What could be causing this? There is no smell when the laundry, garden floor bath or kitchen are used.
September 30, 2007
want to change grout color
We used subway tile in our kitchen and now regret that we didn't use a darker grout. Any suggestions on how to darken the grout so that the subway tile pops?
September 15, 2007
Anyone get Anderson windows through Landmarks?
We are replacing the windows on our limestone house in a Landmarked neighborhood. We simply aren't loving the look of Marvins. Anyone ever get Anderson windows through Landmarks? Any other good brands of all wood windows?
Author's Comments
Traditionalmod, I agree with everything you say, but is it really worth $300,000 more?
Posted by: dt at January 31, 2010 8:57 PM in response to Open House Picks
BTW,
212 Midwood Street was initially put on the market last June for only a couple of weeks before it was pulled to work out an ownership dispute. That has since been resolved and it just went back on the market. The stupid realtor let the inactive listing stay on the NYTimes while the legal issues were worked out, so it looks like it has been on the market all this time. I'd fire her if this were my house.
Posted by: dt at January 30, 2010 11:24 AM in response to Open House Picks
The Maple Street house IS pretty special, but I also like the house at 212 Midwood Street- which is priced at $997,000. That's where I would put my dollar if I were in the market right now.
Posted by: dt at January 30, 2010 11:19 AM in response to Open House Picks
You've GOT to be kidding.
Posted by: dt at January 26, 2010 10:35 PM in response to 50's Metal Sink Cabinet
Has anyone done this from below? I don't want to tear our all the tile in my kitchen to do this, but would love to install it from the basement.
Posted by: dt at January 19, 2010 1:22 PM in response to Radiant Heat in a Brownstone
Frederick, the two story you refer to is obn Maple II. However, there is an amazing two story on Midwood II that had an open house today. I went just to check it out. Beautiful house, priced just under 1 mil. Totally worth it IMHO.
Posted by: dt at January 17, 2010 7:09 PM in response to House of the Day: 207 Lincoln Road
One only needs to look one block over to the house on the corner of Rutalnd and Bedford to see what could be done with this house. As far as the schools are concerned, folks from the Maple Street School just got approval to put an new charter elementary school in the nabe. Very exciting time to own in this neighborhood.
Posted by: dt at January 15, 2010 11:30 AM in response to Price Cut at Neglected Lefferts Beauty
I much prefer having the kitchen on the garden level leading out to the garden. We have our three story set up that way and use the parlor level back room for our den. We end up using the whole house this way. When we have dinner parties we use the dining room (also on the garden level) and for other parties we have the entire parlor level. If you put your kitchen on the parlor level you never use the garden level. What's the point of having 3,000 sqaure feet if you only use 2,000?
Posted by: dt at January 14, 2010 2:26 PM in response to House of the Day: 207 Lincoln Road
11217, Berkeley Carroll doesn't cost 35K a year. 29K perhaps, but not 35K.
Posted by: dt at January 5, 2010 9:42 PM in response to CB6 Land Use Approves Berkeley Carroll Expansion Plans
okay, 11217, I get your point. I simply don't like the look of the addition.
Posted by: dt at January 5, 2010 1:35 PM in response to CB6 Land Use Approves Berkeley Carroll Expansion Plans
The school has been there for over one hundred years. It has actually done a nice job of expanding with character and beauty -much more so than the expansion of Lower Poly Prep a block or two over.
As far as the students go, they seem pretty well behaved to me. Any large group of adolescents will be oblivious to their surroundings. They're wired that way!
Posted by: dt at January 5, 2010 12:17 PM in response to CB6 Land Use Approves Berkeley Carroll Expansion Plans
The gods of built in cabinetry are clearly happy with you. I only wish I knew what to do to please them so that I, too, could be blessed with such a score.
Posted by: dt at November 23, 2009 11:20 AM in response to Dining Room Dilemma
I can't believe this house hasn't been on the house tour. I actually like the paint colors in the livinhg and dining rooms. I've been looking for inspiration in that area. For info about the street, go to the hawthorne street blog. They seem to like it plenty!
Posted by: dt at October 28, 2009 5:45 PM in response to House of the Day: 136 Hawthorne Street
Rutland Road between Bedford and Flatbush, in Lefferts Manor, has one of these alleys.
Posted by: dt at October 27, 2009 7:57 PM in response to 97 St. Marks Avenue Update
Over the course of the last six months I've noticed that houses needing renovation aren't moving nearly as well as the turnkey ones, regardless of the price. Most certainly this house was underpriced, but given current market conditions I think they did pretty well with a house that needs some money put in.
Posted by: dt at September 17, 2009 5:53 PM in response to Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million
$920,000 is quite good for the PLG house. This house needs renovation.
Posted by: dt at September 17, 2009 1:53 PM in response to Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million
What's with all the hate, Shillstoner?
Posted by: dt at September 16, 2009 5:46 PM in response to House of the Day: 165 Fenimore Street
Shillstoner, Your comps are out of date. The last house that sold for $920 was unrenovated.
Posted by: dt at September 4, 2009 11:37 AM in response to House of the Day: 168 Midwood Street Revisited
BTW, This house was a wreck when the owners bought it. They put mucho dollars into fixing it up. Brownstoner, your comments about people wanting twice what they paid for houses need to be more informed about these issues. How would you like the same crap to come at you when you try to sell?
Posted by: dt at September 2, 2009 10:37 PM in response to House of the Day: 168 Midwood Street Revisited
This house would sell at 1,150,000. The owners have simply remained firm because they don't especially need to move. There has been alot of movement of houses in Lefferts Manor in the past few months. This house will sell over 1 mil. The two story houses are selling right not at around $975,000.
Posted by: dt at September 2, 2009 6:20 PM in response to House of the Day: 168 Midwood Street Revisited
Conch chowder is rare up north; having a raw bar etc... floats my boat; fish and chips yeah!!
Posted by: dt at August 18, 2009 8:47 PM in response to StreetLevel: New Lure in PLG
I can't wait to try this new menu.
Posted by: dt at August 18, 2009 4:19 PM in response to StreetLevel: New Lure in PLG
Go ahead and gloat, Bob. Several houses are in contract in Lefferts Manor. 128 Rutland did pretty well considering that the kitchen and bath both need updating.
Posted by: dt at August 16, 2009 12:23 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later
$1,050,000 is a good price for Rutland Road. That is not a large house. The seller was a little crazy with the original price tag.
Posted by: dt at August 7, 2009 12:43 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later
Maplewood guy, if you're going to call me out for posting about a low scoring elementary school from Maplewood you need to post about ALL the elementary schools in Maplewood, not just the couple of 7 out of 10s. You are only posting about the best ones, and they aren't even #1 schools. There are others that score as 4s that I didn't mention. If you're going to bring up Park Slope:
P.S. 321 William Penn School
Public · K-5
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Rates an 8 out of 10.
MS 51 rates a 9 out of 10.
Please help me understand what you are saying. If you are going to quote scores from John Jay, forget it... no one in the slope sends their kids there.
Why are we even talking about Park Slope? There are many neighborhoods and schools beyond Park Slope? Once kids get to the middle school level they start applying all over the city.
Posted by: dt at August 5, 2009 10:00 PM in response to House of the Day: 439 East 19th Street
Maplewood guy, Here is the greatschools rating for one of your towns elementary schools.
This is not #1, sorry.
Clinton Elementary School, located in Maplewood, New Jersey, serves grades K-5 in the South Orange-Maplewood School District. Based on its state test results, it has received a GreatSchools Rating of 4 out of 10.
Parents have reviewed this school and given it an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
Posted by: dt at August 5, 2009 8:52 PM in response to House of the Day: 439 East 19th Street
Greatschools rates Maplewood middle school a 5 out of 10 and the high school 6 out of 10.
Grade 11 students who scored as proficient:
Language Arts Literacy
86% (2008)
89% (2007)
87% (2006)
90% (2005)
The state average for Language Arts Literacy was 83% in 2008.
Math
80% (2008)
78% (2007)
82% (2006)
84% (2005)
The state average for Math was 75% in 2008.
This doesn't seem all that great to me.
Posted by: dt at August 5, 2009 8:48 PM in response to House of the Day: 439 East 19th Street
Maplewood guy, Can't say I agree with you about the schools in your town. We considered it, but were turned off by the low performing public schools.
Posted by: dt at August 5, 2009 6:26 PM in response to House of the Day: 439 East 19th Street
It's summer vacation time, silly posters!
Posted by: dt at August 2, 2009 8:20 PM in response to Open House Picks
Eww...
Posted by: dt at July 30, 2009 6:42 PM in response to BFF Of The Week: Mark
Are they painted?
Posted by: dt at July 29, 2009 5:42 PM in response to Doors, Doors, Doors!
I think it's because there are posters on this site that undervalue properties. A year or so ago I would have loved to have my house featured as a house of the day. Now I would beg Brownstoner NOT to feature it if I were selling. Posters on this site tear up houses for sport.
Posted by: dt at July 28, 2009 11:18 AM in response to RE Agents Hate Brownstoner
I hate our GE Profile slide in. The burners are placed too close together to fit several pans at the same time. The broiler drives me crazy, and not in a good way!!
Posted by: dt at July 13, 2009 9:25 PM in response to Range Suggestions
"Two SROs per floor" sounds like two studio apts per floor. Big difference. Will each have its own bathroom?
Posted by: dt at July 8, 2009 8:47 PM in response to 2 means of egress?
Lefferts Manor houses really are continuing to sell despite this economic downturn. This Rutland road house did quite well for itself.
Posted by: dt at July 7, 2009 2:32 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales
Lefferts Manor houses really are continuing to sell despite this economic downturn. This Rutland road house did quite well for itself.
Posted by: dt at July 7, 2009 2:06 PM in response to Open House Picks
Chicken,
At the peak houses just like this were selling for 1.1 mil. This one should do fine given that almost all the other two story houses in the Manor are in contract. The Manor has a market all its own!
Posted by: dt at July 5, 2009 7:37 PM in response to House of the Day: 212 Midwood Street
So true about the high heals! I remember going to a roof party where one person wore high heals. The next rain storm revealed holes all over the roof. My friends apt. was soaked!
Posted by: dt at July 4, 2009 3:38 PM in response to Roof Party
Finally, This house has plaster tray ceilings. The is no missing moulding!!
Posted by: dt at June 24, 2009 4:35 PM in response to House of the Day: 212 Midwood Street
Brownstoner, You have an old picture of the house posted. The windows and door are black now.
Posted by: dt at June 24, 2009 4:34 PM in response to House of the Day: 212 Midwood Street
They did a lot more than sprucing up on this place. They spent months stripping and refinishing the woodwork. The place was done top to bottom. I saw it before they started the reno. I can't believe it's the same house! Two story houses are all going into contract pretty fast in this area (except the over priced on on Maple Street). I was shocked at how fast a two story on Rutland went into contract recently.
Posted by: dt at June 24, 2009 4:33 PM in response to House of the Day: 212 Midwood Street
No contract is binding until it is signed by both parties. The owner got a higher offer before they were locked in, so they went for it. Anyone else would do the same. Your need to draw everyone's attention to all the negatives of the house appears to be sour grapes.
Posted by: dt at June 12, 2009 11:32 AM in response to 1094 Park Place
The kitchen cabinets seem nice. I think it's the counters, lack of space and lack of appliances that give it a cheap look.
Posted by: dt at June 10, 2009 1:04 PM in response to Condos of the Day: 707 Carroll Street
My house gets a little seepage on the back wall when it rains hard. Some mold, too. I don't worry about it. We will eventually fix our gutter to get rid of the problem. Don't sweat it.
Posted by: dt at June 9, 2009 4:53 PM in response to Urgent Buyer Advice Needed
As a buyer, I've never been asked to pay a brokers fee-even when my broker is not the listing agent. The brokers split the fee, which is paid by the seller.
Posted by: dt at June 8, 2009 9:09 PM in response to buyers broker fee? who pays?
brandedmatt, you can take a pill for that. Paranoia is treatable.
Posted by: dt at June 8, 2009 11:32 AM in response to Open House Picks
I have no idea what the Maple Street house will sell for, but to say that it is not worth more than what was paid for it in 2005 excluding the cost of the reno is silly. Houses in the Manor continue to sell, despite the downturn. Both houses recently listed on Rutland Road are in contract. I guess one man's hell is another man's heaven!
Posted by: dt at June 7, 2009 1:11 PM in response to Open House Picks
Gee BrooklynGreene, what did the designer ever do to you?
Posted by: dt at June 5, 2009 10:43 PM in response to Open House Picks
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
vinca thanks for the spell check. What do I owe y?
Posted by: modsquad at February 19, 2010 10:35 AM in response to Back Rent
Yes, under "Illusory Sublets" bohuma is right. My apologies. My bad.
Posted by: modsquad at February 19, 2010 10:45 AM in response to Back Rent
You owe the money. A statute of limitations would most likely run to years, and more than one year. You signed a lease and you knew they made an error- in court the judge will simply tell you to pay- and possibly add fines and legal fees. Don't be a fool.
Your friend Anna is breaking the law. Hope she gets caught.
Posted by: bxgrl at February 19, 2010 11:06 AM in response to Back Rent
Modsquad: choice of ritual is yours, preferably involving a Funk & Wagnalls.
propitiate |prəˈpi sh ēˌāt| verb [ trans. ]
win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them : the pagans thought it was important to propitiate the gods with sacrifices. See note at pacify.
Posted by: vinca at February 19, 2010 11:09 AM in response to Back Rent
I can't believe you wouldn't be embarrassed to even post this! Where is your integrity? You knew the invoice was incorrect and now you want to "negotiate"? You should be ashamed of yourself.
Posted by: jewel at February 19, 2010 1:05 PM in response to Back Rent
Here's the update (abridged). Thanks for helpful and not so helpful advice. Yes, it was a typo- it's 400 over 3 months- which equals $1200
I spoke to the management company and told them that I thought both parties were of equal blame. Them for not doing their job and me for not checking. But every month they sent me an invoice with the rent amount and a zero balance from the previous month- I took that information at good faith.
I then told them I would of course start paying my regular rent amount as stated in my lease as of March 1, as long as they send me an invoice to reflect such. But as a good faith gesture I was willing to pay $300 of $1200- the $900 they would have "eat" for their mistake. The long and the short is that they threatened me with legal action and I said fine but who knows I could get a sympathetic judge- I was willing to take my chances. We got of the phone they called back an hour later, with a $700 offer- we settled at $500 which I think is more than fair. Hope this can be of help to other renters out there.
Posted by: 7andfive at February 19, 2010 1:53 PM in response to Back Rent
Sorry for all the typos in my post. Typing and talking on the phone= bad grammar
Posted by: 7andfive at February 19, 2010 1:59 PM in response to Back Rent
I am absolutely shocked! You ripped them off. They obviously gave you the $700 because it would have cost them more to take you to court.
But that money you got is stolen.
Posted by: starfish1948 at February 19, 2010 2:02 PM in response to Back Rent
I wouldn't say that holding an annual meeting two months late is a sign of "willingness to do illegal behavior". Planning these meetings is a hastle.
Posted by: dt at March 7, 2010 9:24 AM in response to Coop Board Endorsing Candidates?