4BR Victorian: $ 369,000
3BR Victorian: $ 389,000
Posts from September 2007
Silent Paint Remover
Tools I Can’t Live Without
A friend turned me on to the Silent Paint Remover only after I finished stripping 3 floors of my brownstone. With a whole room of wainscoting to go, it was still worth it for me to give it a shot.
Unlike a heat gun, the SPR heats a 5″x12″ area at once, so it goes lickety-split. You’ll still need the heat gun or chemicals for small corners and clean up, but I’d highly recommend this tool to get through large areas with multiple coats of paint. It can save days, maybe weeks, on large projects.
If you’re working on a flat surface, you can move it along to heat the next area while you continue to scrape. For vertical surfaces, I invested in the hands free kit, which saves my arms, but isn’t much faster as it is inconvenient to make adjustments each time you move along.
Although it’s more environmentally friendly than harsh chemicals, you still need to wear a mask and gloves if you are working with lead paint. You must be mindful of your wood with this tool. Don’t leave it in place too long. It WILL burn your surface! When you see smoke, it’s time to remove it.
For more details and where to purchase, see following links.
House in Progress
Silent Paint Remover
Air Nailers
Eco Strip
Safety First!
So, it’s your first DIY project. Before you start ripping into your house, you should have a few safety items on hand.
Just assume that any home built prior to 1978 has lead paint. Lead is only dangerous when it’s ingested or inhaled. Tip #1: Don’t eat it. If you’re doing demolition, scraping walls or stripping paint off moulding, you need a good mask! Not those flimsy dust masks….a NIOSH certified, HEPA filter mask. There are different filters for various hazardous materials. Ask someone if you’re not sure which one to buy.
Keep the lead infested room well sealed off. Wear one of them “Silkwood” suits or leave your clothes and shoes behind in the room when you’re finished. A HEPA vacuum is recommended for clean up, as well as wiping down surfaces with damp rags. DO NOT LET KIDS OR PETS IN AREA!!
Protect your hands! Use heavy construction gloves for demo and chemical resistant gloves for paint stripping. DO NOT chemical strip paint with common latex gloves. They will last about 1 second.
Goggles are necessary if you’re demoing a ceiling, cutting tiles or wood or working with anything that might go flying into your eye. Chemicals and even paint can fly into your eyes if you’re clumsy enough.
Ear plugs won’t take up space or set you back too much. It’s a good thing to have handy. Some of those power tools are noisy!
Better details here:
EPA
NIOSH
Consumer Product Safety
Respiratory Protection Supply
North Safety Products
Photographing Your House for Sale
Before: Quick Snap
Tripod with Wide Angle. Focal point is the fireplace, not dining room table.
Before: Quick Snap
Tripod with Wide Angle. Polished table and opened curtains.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Since this site will be focusing on DIY, I realized that some industry professionals may accuse me of putting their livelihoods in jeopardy. To be fair, the first DIY tip I’m offering is that of my own profession: photography.
Before you even think of whipping out your camera, prepare your subject. Make sure you clear away clutter, make your bed, close toilet lids.
You’ll need proper camera equipment. If you don’t own any, you can rent at Alkit, Adorama, Calumet or Fotocare to name a few. Make sure you have a camera that is capable of manual exposures. You’ll also want a wide lens on this baby. There’s nothing I hate to see more than a photo of someone’s furniture because the lens wasn’t wide enough to capture the whole room. A tripod is the final key ingredient.
I sometimes light the room, but it’s fine to shoot solely with natural light. Roll up all window shades, open curtains, turn on all lights and set your camera to a slow shutter speed to pick up ambient light. 400 ISO should be sufficient with a tripod. An 8+ F stop should give you enough depth of field. You must read the meter for your exact exposure. If you have an on camera flash, feel free to use it for fill and color balance.
Obviously, you want to focus on the room’s best features: light and detail. I always like to get those window in….with sun shining!
If you shoot large RAW format, you can edit the photos without doing damage to the files. Make all adjustments while the photos are still a large resolution and then change it to a smaller 72 DPI for online viewing.
And there you have it. My trade secrets.
Photos:
B: The focus is on the dining room table. There are burnt out light bulbs. The image is not out of focus, but rather pixelated due to it being worked on at too low a resolution.
A: A wider lens allows us to see the 2 windows in the room. And oh, what’s this? Wood floors! Didn’t see that in the first image! The long exposure, plus fill flash makes the main feature of the room (the mantle) pop.
B1: Hmm, dusty dining room table.
A1: Again, wider lens allows us to see more. Whereas the first image concentrates on the one room (or just the table, really), here we can see the full double parlor in all it’s glory. The second room is lit, bringing it into the photo as well.
Ulster County Antiques and Salvage
There’s only one huge salvage place in Ulster County that I know of. Zaborski Emporium in Kingston has a 25,000+ square foot warehouse off of Broadway. You will most likely find what you are looking for here; however, you’ll have to dig for it. Prices are good on some items, so-so on others. It depends upon what Stan the Junkmana paid for it himself. Layer up in winter….there’s no heat!
Check out the Antiques and Collectibles Street Market if you’re in Ulster this weekend.
Zaborksi sinks
Ulster Antique Shops
Water Street Market, New Paltz
Cat House Antiques, High Falls
Weekender: High Falls, NY
The Most Awesomest Teeny Tiny Hamlet!
High Falls is small. You need a magnifying glass to find it. But this little town is bursting at the seams with fine foods, arts and history.
Some of the best restaurants in the Hudson Valley (according to me and a few of my buddies, like the NY Times) are located in High Falls, including the 4 star Depuy Canal House, eclectic Egg’s Nest and delectable Northern Spy.
PROS
- The restaurants are to die for!
- This itsy bitsy town even has a Sunday flea market (May-Oct) and a food coop.
- High Falls is sandwiched between 2 other extraordinary towns: Rosendale and Stone Ridge. It’s also close to New Paltz, Kingston and Woodstock. There’s plenty to do in the area.
- It’s less than 2 hours from city.
CONS
- The entire town is walkable, but you need a car to get there.
- Apart from the restaurants (Did I mention them?), you can do the town in a couple of hours.
New York House
High Falls Listings
2 BR solar dome: $ 315,000
4 BR: $ 369,900Affordable NYC: Parkchester, The Bronx
I don’t know much about The Bronx, but I do like what I’ve seen. Last year, a friend of mine bought an investment condo in Parkchester and dragged me there to show me his acquisition and to try to entice me into splitting another unit with him. I couldn’t afford it, but if I had a few dollars to scrape together, I just might have.
1 Bedrooms in the complex start at about $115k and 2 bedrooms are as low as $165k. Rents are approximately $900-$1300 and maintenance is a bit over $600 on the 2 BR units, under $500 for 1BRs.
Parkchester is a village unto itself, kinda like Starrett City, only cooler and less smelly. You’ve got your Starbucks, Macy’s, diners, dry cleaners, etc. It’s serviced by the 6 train, which will get you into midtown in about 40 minutes.
There’s nothing overly exciting about Parkchester, but it’s convenient, safe and clean, which makes it a good bang for the buck.
Wiki Parkchester
Parkchester.com
Parkchester Info
2003 Village Voice Article
Parkchester Listings
1 BR: $ 118,000
2 BR: $195,000
3 condo package: $ 294,000
Reclaimed Flooring
5 years ago, we paid around $6000 for reclaimed wide plank pine for a 600 square foot room (installed and finished). And that was the best price. Maybe we had more money to throw around back then, but we would never dream of paying that much for a single floor now.
Reclaimed wide plank is still pricey, but many companies run internet specials. There are also smaller local mills that may charge less.
The least expensive option, if it exists in your home, is to carefully pull up the existing subfloor/planks and scrape them down, then reinstall. Tons of work, but saving all that dough…..priceless.
$6000 Floor, Marbletown, NY
Original Planks, Bed Stuy Home
Scraped and Installed Ourselves: $0
Companies Offering Internet Specials
Antique and Vintage Woods
Craftmark
Staging Your House To Sell
As an ole’ house buying pro, I can walk into any wreck and visualize it’s potential. Not everyone looking to buy a home has such foresight. In fact, some people are completely imagination impaired. If the home is a bit dirty or has the wrong color paint, they may just walk out. Staging is important if you want to get your price!
First, clear away the clutter! Remove family photos, dusty tschotskes, piles of laundry and anything that doesn’t belong.
Clean! No dirty dishes, smelly cat litter or unmade beds. Wipe down dirty walls, switch plates and cabinets. Paint, if necessary.
Curb Appeal. Make sure the house looks good from the front. Tidy garbage, sweep, mow or weed.
Light Makes Right! Open window shades. Turn on lights for showings. Change burnt out bulbs. Clean windows. Nobody likes a dark house unless they have photophobia.
Delight All Senses. You’ve made it visually stimulating, but how does it smell? Fresh flowers or natural scents are always more pleasing than artificial deodorizers. When showing, turn on calming background music. Classical is always suitable. Make sure the room temperature is at a comfortable level. Offer some refreshments to buyers schlepping around all day.
These are the no cost basics. You’ll probably want to take it up a notch if it’s a high priced property. Other items to consider: whole house paint job, take up carpeting, finish wood floors, rent proper furniture.
NY Staging
Home Staging Quiz
Archive: NY Times article