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Coming Up Next: Room Air Purifiers and choosing a Canister Vacuum

Air Filters and Purifiers for Urban Apartments:

• Why I went with a reconditioned BlueAir 501 for high traffic areas and an AirFree Onix 3000 for the finished basement.

Upright v.s. Canister Vacuum

• How choosing a Riccar over Miele, Hoover Platinum and Oreck ultimately made the most sense and saved a few bucks.

 

Equipment: M.A.B. Sea Shore Satin Paint

It’s been two years since the wooden railings that surround a second floor terrace had been stripped, sanded, resealed and painted and unfortunately, it shows.

The solution — called Mr. Handyman of N.E. Queens for the following project:

Project: Stripping, Re-sealing and Painting Second Floor Terrace Railings

General details:

• Scrape existing loose paint off the railings;
• Remove any remaining paint (mild soap/water);
• Apply supplied primer;
• Apply supplied paint;
• Remove any resulting debris.

Materials:

• M.A.B. Sea Shore Satin Paint [white, exterior, semi-gloss] – rated #1 by Consumer Reports in a Nine (yes, 9) year test.
• M.A.B. Sea Shore Primer

Resources and References:

• Consumer Reports Recommended exterior paints: www.consumerreports.org
• M.A.B. Paints (now owned by the Sherwin-Williams Company)
  11-33 50th Avenue
  Long Island City, NY 11101
  (718) 392-7680
  Worked with Jamel (Operations Mgr)

“Before” Project Completion Photos:

Terrace Railing before project completion (No. 1)

Terrace Railing before project completion (No. 2)

Terrace Railing before project completion (No. 1)

Terrace Railing before project completion (No. 1)

“After” Project Completion Photos:

[To Come]

 

NYC Contractors: Painters

From the no news is good news department, it’s been a while since I’ve had to consider bringing in someone to help with a project. However, it’s about time a few things outside the house were painted professionally.

Task #1: Removing rust spots and repainting iron gate and fence.

Task #2: Sanding, re-sealing and painting the second floor deck railings.

After reviewing the “Painters – External” category on Angies list, I wasn’t able to find a company with more than one review. Then I remembered that I had used Mr. Handyman for some work in the past. A quick check on their website verified that they do paint and handle fences.

The inevitable supersizing of the project happened, only this time just as I was reading through the list (and typing this up) I started thinking of some of the other projects I’ve been meaning to get to, such as:

• Ignore the somewhat destabilized back fence until it actually falls over
• Install and run wires for a T.V. antenna to all apartments

Think this post is going to end here, until I call and receive the first estimate. =P

 

NYC Contractors: Concrete Flooring

During the past few BuildingsNY conferences held in the Javits center, a few booths always grabbed my attention. Whether it was the flash of the presentation, the product or the snacks and free stuff (come on, who isn’t immune!) I usually left with some grand ideas such as installing things like “green walls” or adding extra EV shielding film to existing windows.

This summer I might have the chance to at least do one cool thing I initially saw at each of the last three BuildingsNY conferences — concrete flooring. I had been meaning to properly finish a basement and make it into a truly livable area. However the existing concrete floor was poured with the thought that it was eventually going to be covered in carpet (former owner’s idea, not mine). As a result, the floor needs not only cosmetic improvements but also some additional functionality built in.

Dreaming of features before the first estimate comes in typically results in grandiose wish lists like the one that follows:

• Overlay a levelled concrete floor over the existing concrete floor
• Pitch the new floor towards an existing french drain (just in case)
• Introduce concrete baseboard molding
• Refinish concrete stairs leading down to the basement

and of course, the wallet buster:

• Rremove existing baseboard heating (basement only) and
• Determine feasability and installation of a radiant heading system

So far, I’ve sent the following email to:

1. Acid Stain Flooring (http://acidstainflooring.com)
2. Extremem Concrete Design (as seen at BuilingsNYC) (http://extremeconcretedesign.com)
3. The Concrete Impressionist (http://concreteimpressionist.com)

[insert company specific intro here] 

If I’m in one of the areas that you work in, I would like to request a meeting regarding a basement improvement project I’m hoping to have completed this summer.
 
Core project summary:
 
Overlay a finished concrete floor over an existing concrete basement floor. The space consists of two main rooms and one hallway (no dividing walls):

• Room 1 dimensions: 18’10″ (w) by 15’6″ (l)
• Room 2 dimensions: 17’8″ (w) by 9’2″ (l)
• Hallway dimensions (connecting the two rooms): 8’1″ (w) by 7’6″ (l)

Additional Factors/Possible Extras:

• Baseboard heating near the floor
• French drain installed near the front of the basement
• Would like to determine feasability of concrete baseboard molding
• Finished floor would be pitched slightly toward a french drain
• Concrete stairs leading down to the basement from inside the house are uneven (depth between individual stairs and the length of each individual stair). I would like to know if this is something that could be corrected.
• Extra: Implementing a radiant heating system with a finished concrete floor.

Please reply to this email with any questions or possible appointment dates, or I can be contacted at… [insert contact info]

Contact Updates (5/19/2009):

• The Concrete Impressionist: Sent the email three times – the last two copies were sent after getting off the phone with them after being reassured I would receive a response, which so far, has not come.
• Extreme Concrete Design: Sent the email above twice and called twice, no response on the email, no callbacks from the voicemail.
• Acid Stain Flooring: Sent the email twice called once, no response.

Overall experience: I’m starting to look at using tile instead of using finished concrete. The companies listed above don’t seem ready to handle more work than they have right now and there don’t seem to be many more around to choose from.

 

NYC Contractors: Boiler Maintenance (NYC plumbers revisited)

After having the heating systems taken offline for the summer to conserve energy, I called Mr. Rooter to do a “pre-firing” inspection of the boilers and associated components. Throughout the past 3 years Mr. Rooter (specifically Gary Forbes) had done an outstanding job of maintaining and upgrading the plumbing and my heating systems. However, my appointment today seemed casually brushed aside due to another job that was “running long” (do they actually only have one technician?!). While they were prompt in letting me know they were delayed, the appointment was ultimately cancelled by Mr Rooter.

I’m “demo’ing” NY City Boilers (http://newyorkcityboilers.com/) specifically for this season opening and will write more after the appointment.

 

PFNC providing globally affordable housing

PFNC stands for “Por Fin Nuestra Casa.” Translated in English this simply means “Finally, a home of our own.” These words are the foundation of PFNC, whose goal is to provide housing to those who most desperately need it around the globe.

PFNC utilizes surplus shipping containers resulting from the United States’ consistent trade deficit.  These containers serve as the building block of PFNC housing, but go through an extensive conversion process to make them a home.  PFNC offers an affordable housing solution that is scalable and fully portable. Each PFNC unit includes 1st world amenities for a price of less than $10,000 (US)*

http://www.pfnc.net

 

Appliance Upgrade Research: Chest Freezers

The 4.1 cubic feet offered by the ‘fridge just doesn’t cut it anymore (thanks Costco, family gatherings, holiday dinners and ice cream cakes), so I’ve started doing some research on chest freezers and discovered a suprising lack of centralized information/reviews.

The rough aproximation of additional space required is about 2x to 3x the current freezer capacity of 4.1 cu/ft.

Stop #1: EnergyStar.org

According to EnergyStar.gov’s Refrigerators & Freezers page, EnergyStar qualified freezer models use 20% less energy than required by current federal standards. After downloading and sorting the Product List excel sheet only a few chest freezer units in the 10-12.9 cu/ft made the cut and not all of them had a recent “Active Date”.

Brand	Model	Volume in Cu/ft	kWh/year	Federal Standard (kWh/year)	Percent Better	Active Date
Danby	DCF10**WE	10	282	315	10%	8/24/2004
Danby	DCF1014WE	10	282	315	10%	8/12/2005
Danby	DCF1024WE	10	282	315	10%	8/12/2005
Maytag	MFC10***EW	10	282	315	10%	8/17/2005
Whirlpool	EH101*	10	282	315	10%	7/9/2003
Woods	C10**E	10	282	315	10%	1/2/2003
Woods	C101***	10	282	315	10%	12/22/2005
Woods	C101**E	10	282	315	10%	8/17/2005
Crosley	WCC12/E	12.2	298	352	15%	1/2/2003
Woods	C12**E	12.2	298	352	15%	8/24/2004
Frigidaire	GLFN1326GW*	12.9	326	364	10%	9/21/2007
Frigidaire	LFFC1367FW*	12.9	326	364	10%	4/2/2007
Kenmore	14372	12.9	326	364	10%	1/24/2008
Kenmore	15302	12.9	326	364	10%	4/2/2007
Kenmore	16342	12.9	326	364	10%	8/17/2006
Kenmore	16352	12.9	326	364	10%	8/17/2006

Step #2: Brand Website (to see if they still support the listed unit)

So far, I’ve only been able to find the following models available and current:

Whilpool/W.C. Wood EH101*
http://www.wcwood.com/cgi-bin/displayproduct.pl?option=feature&model=EH101FXR

W.C. Wood (Woods) C1011*
http://www.wcwood.com/cgi-bin/ListModel.pl?loc=usa&prod=chest&model=C1011W3

Frigidaire GLFC1326F
http://www.frigidaire.com/products/freezers/chest_freezers/large/prod_GLFC1326F.asp

Kenmore 16342 and 16352 (both appear to be the same unit)
http://www.kenmore.com/shc/s/p_10154_12604_04616342000P?keyword=16342
http://www.kenmore.com/shc/s/p_10154_12604_04616352000P?keyword=16352

While the EnergyStar list is a good starting place, for some reason not all appliance manufacturers are listed.

Haier, for example has a 10.6 Cu/Ft unit that supposedly uses only 212 Kilwatt hours per year (less than every single one in the above table).

Haier HMCM106EA
http://www.haieramerica.com/en/product/HMCM106EA/specs

Step #3: Locate Retailers

I’m guessing that due to the weight and nature online (e-)retailers are reluctant to carry such a large item. I’ve started checking local stores.

Step #4: Enjoy the Additional Storage

I’ll update this post when I get here =)

 

Apartment Advertising Online

For me, developing an online portal has been a gradual process of evolution. Layout creation/modification, images, additional description pages, content, links and promoting the site have taken more than a year of taking 20-30 minutes here and there to accomplish small milestones. Today’s 30 minutes was spent registering my marketing site with many of the popular search engine’s “local” search directories.

Google Maps, Live.com and Yahoo all have options that allow people to search for businesses in a specific area. Results from these searches display more information about a selected business or service provider than the listing in a standard search result.

Typical registration will ask for contact information, hours, website etc.. and depending on how you verify your business (via phone or mail) it could take up to a week to activate your site in each of these local listing areas.

Tips before registering:

• really refine the keywords you want associated with your site, just in case a spider is sent out upon registration;
• make sure you have as many descriptive “alt” and “title” attributes as possible in your images, links and flash animations;
• if registering your site with multiple search engines, make sure you’re using the same information for each engine. =)

In addition to marketing sites and “local” listings, many of the larger firms (and some individual owners) have started posting video walk-throughs on YouTube (and cross posted on their own sites) of the apartments they have to offer. While not search engine friendly on their own, properly tagging videos can also generate quality responses.

 

Equipment Maintenance: Enerjet Boilers

This is really to help my memory than a functional post that explains functionality. 

From time to time, it’s a good idea to flush the heating system – not only will this reduce (or temporarily eliminate) the amount of gurgling and noise when the heat goes on, it will also save you a few bucks on gas.

These are the steps taken to drain the water from our Enerjet powered heating system (this is not from any documentation supplied by Enerjet and gleaned only via experience — if you’re not sure what you’re doing, it’s best to call a plumber):

You will need to know which way the water is flowing through your heating system prior to doing anything. If you’re not sure where the water in the system is coming from and where it’s going, again call a plumber.

1. There will be a few spigots on and near that allow you to drain water from the system. To drain the pipes in the heating system, hook a hose up to the spigot that’s installed between where the hot water leaves the boiler and enters the heating pipes.
2. Next, close the ball valve (typically just before the spigot) that normally allows water to pass through into the heating system.
3. Open the spigot that has the hose attached to it, allowing water to pass through and drain through the hose.
4. Flip the pressure valve “up” or open the system up to receive water from the city water system.

When finished follow these steps from 4-1 to get everything back to normal.

 

NYC Contractors: RoofMaster Re-Org (Roofing Contractor)

Just a note that RoofMaster, one of the companies listed on “Contractors Used and Recommended” started a process of a reorganization in late 2007 (before Oct) and might be focusing on green and solar roofing in the future.

RoofMaster performed the installation of a cold applied SBS white roof which utilizes a true white granule based roofing material. As seen on 31-81.com, the new roof now delivers both long-wearing reliability and energy savings. Among other benefits realized after installation, the building is cooler in the summers, cleaner and as a result, consumes less energy.  Additional details on the heat island effect, white and reflective roofs and the resulting energy savings from cool roof installation can be seen on the “Apartments at 31-81” website.

While originally covered by a warrantee, if the company is dissolved next year, so is the warrantee. Granted the work they did was outstanding, it still is nice to know that coverage is out there when you need it.

 

Quitting the day job

As of October 25th, I will no longer be the Director of Information Services for a small Manhattan based publisher, nor will I be able to enjoy this view:

Now down to just two fields (financial publishing and being the small time landlord at The Apartments at 3181).