The Punch List: What Goes on It and Who Pays for It
Near the end of a renovation, the apartment looks finished but small things are still open. The crew is mostly gone, yet a door rubs on its frame, one cabinet door sticks out slightly past the one next to it, and grout haze still clouds the tile in t
What a Pre-War Building Adds to Renovation Cost
Two apartments of the same size, on the same block, can be renovated to the same finish level for very different money. The one in the pre-war building usually costs more, and owners often assume that means fancier materials. It does not. The differe
Can You Put Hardwood Floors in a NYC Co-op?
You buy an apartment with old wall-to-wall carpet, plan to pull it up and lay wide-plank oak, and then a line in the house rules stops you: 80 percent of the floor has to stay covered. Owners usually find that line after the closing, sometimes in a l
What a Contractor Needs From You Before Giving a Real Price
You call three contractors about your kitchen and bathroom, and each one gives you a range rather than a number. It can feel like nobody wants to commit. Usually the reason is simpler: none of them has enough information yet to name a price they can
Can You Live in Your Apartment During a Renovation?
Almost every owner asks this before the contract is signed: can we just stay in the apartment while the work happens? In a house the answer usually depends on how many floors you have. In a Manhattan apartment it comes down to two rooms and one door.
Can You Put a Washer and Dryer in a NYC Co-op or Condo?
Few things change daily life in a Manhattan apartment as much as a washer and dryer of your own. No more carrying bags to the basement on a Sunday, no more waiting for a free machine or a trip to the laundromat. It is also one of the most common thin
Water Damage Behind a Pre-War Wall
It usually starts small. A faint brown ring on the plaster under a window after a stormy week. A closet that smells like a basement every time the heat comes on. Paint that bubbles in one spot near the radiator and nowhere else. In a pre-war apartmen
The Wiring You Inherited With the Apartment
You bought the apartment with a finished kitchen, extra outlets along the counter and a row of recessed lights in the living room. Two years later you decide to redo the bathroom, and the electrician you hired opens the wall behind the vanity. Inside
Cabinet Hardware Sizing Starts With the Door
Cabinet hardware is bought last and installed last, usually after the cabinets are hung and everyone is tired. Then the installer holds a pull against a door, and it does not sit flat. The base of the pull is wider than the flat face of the stile, so
The Quarter Inch That Decides Whether Your Shower Has a Curb
On the drawings a new bathroom usually looks like this: one stone floor runs from the vanity straight into the shower, nothing to step over, a thin slot against the far wall to take the water. It looks like a styling decision. On site it is a height