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amazing that a 'castle' could be priced that way. Gotta love Essex taxes. Historically hovering around $70-80k. When Montclair re-assesses next year, this would potentially be 75%+ of PP x 3.6%+ rate = $95k+ tax. Even if you owned this debt free (which is likely the case here), your monthly nut would still be $8k/mo for taxes, plus utilities and maintenance.
That one is a bit to gaudy for my taste... Though I do really like the exterior of Thermon's place. So much character and class without any of the gaudy details.
amazing that a 'castle' could be priced that way. Gotta love Essex taxes. Historically hovering around $70-80k. When Montclair re-assesses next year, this would potentially be 75%+ of PP x 3.6%+ rate = $95k+ tax. Even if you owned this debt free (which is likely the case here), your monthly nut would still be $8k/mo for taxes, plus utilities and maintenance.
talk to the people in Westchester... i have a VERY distant relative that pays 6 figure property taxes a year... that's a whole year's salary for me...
westchester taxes are nuts. which is precisely why i opted to buy in NJ, not westchester. i grew up in westchester....it went from 10k/yr tax town to a 40k/yr tax town (for regular sized homes on quarter plots). Ppl got pushed out, and developers stepped in and started tearing down the 100 yr old homes and building new. i looked up my childhood house, and it was torn down last year, and the developer is building the largest house possible on 0.25 acre plot, and the taxes post construction will be multiples higher, and i would venture a guess and say 80-100k/yr in tax. The entire demographic has changed over, and it is all being fueled by wealther NYCers that justify the taxes by not paying NYC income tax and private tuition.
although i will say that my taxes are in the mid/high 20s, which is nothing to write home about.
Last edited by ThermonMermon; 04-26-2017 at 09:33 AM.
damn. We have over an acre with a decent house and we pay around $4600 year. there are areas that pay much more nearby but we chose this district because of the low taxes.
well an acre of land practically doesn't exist in that area. And those that do have that much land probably have a pretty nice house. But it is crazy if you thought about what it would cost for those very few oversized parcels
Damn, this old bathroom construction has 4" of concrete behind the walls, and concrete the thickness of the floor. It is basically a vault. Once you remove the tile, tub, and gain access to re-pipe. it requires a full blown gut renovation to remove all of the concrete, as it becomes beyond repair.. I am getting outrageous quotes, albeit it includes relocating a radiator, blowing into a bedroom closet, and adding a separate shower with custom glass surround.
Three quotes - $40k, $30k, $27k (including my estimated fixtures and tile). The labor plumbing, electrical, demo,custom glass shower surround, is $18k in the best quote. Basically, bring your own fixtures and tile. Tack on $5-8 PSF marble, soaking tub, vanity, hardware, and I zoom past $25k, while trying to be modestly disciplined.
I have about 4 other rough verbals, but no one is beating the $18k (all work plus custom glass surround, less fixture and tile) by more than a few grand, And they dont come off as very trustworthy to have free reign of the house during construction.
....Welcome to home ownership, huh?...
Last edited by ThermonMermon; 08-03-2017 at 03:03 PM.
The plan is to frame out a single skylight with window trim and fake interior mullions tight to the glass, to match the French casement windows, but I am unsure how that is going to look.
The plan is to frame out a single skylight with window trim and fake interior mullions tight to the glass, to match the French casement windows, but I am unsure how that is going to look.
thoughts?
I personally wouldn't do it. That would draw a lot of attention to the skylight and, unless you want it to be a feature on purpose, that's not something you typically want with a skylight. JMO
My other option would be to do two slim 14 x 46, side by side, with a quasi recessed divider. No interior grid. Or larger 21x56 pair of skylights. Or even a grid of four skylights, no interior grid. That way, I at least somewhat match the casement windows. But I am afraid that may look too modern. The handrail, for example, is 100 year old hand hammered iron, so I am trying to keep a somewhat classic look.
If you want to keep the same look then I'd go with no skylight. Why do you want one there anyway? There's a window right below it... I personally wouldn't put one on that wall at all, there's probably a better location just above where the photo was taken.
There is an open landing that feeds all the bedrooms, with no hallway window. It is the only area where I could puncture through to get some natural light. That lower window pictured doesnt cut it.
They need to rip out all the plaster and lathe for that sloped ceiling. I could put two 14x46 skylights, side by side. Traditional skylight install. Re-sheetrock. Then put slim, color matched beams to frame out those skylights, with two horizontal beams, and have that whole sloped panel in a 3x3 grid, with the skylighs framed out in the center. And have a secondary smaller "beam" divide up the two skinny skylights. That way it will be organized.
The bathroom looks good. Personally not feeling the skylight addition though. Just think it will ruin the look of the house. It is an older house it will never be as open and lit by natural light as newer designs.
maybe if i offset the new structural beams about 5" on all sides, with skinnier blocking inside to support the skylights...then I have some room to "step up" the molding. cove trim could be a possibility too. see the photo immediately above, with the iron mullions. Perhaps I could do something similar with the recessed molding look. a similar, albeit shallower, coving, with two rectangular skylights. One thing is certain, i should ditch the idea of the ~4"x10" fake french interior grid. that would look tacky.
no, this would still be on the sloped roof, and would double as a window for those standing on the landing....there is no area on the landing to have a skylight on the flat ceiling, and no exterior walls to puncture through. just the sloped roof above the stairs.
Last edited by ThermonMermon; 08-15-2017 at 02:55 PM.
Nah. I want something that could act as a window from the landing. Here are some more pics. The last photo is directly straight at chest height, facing the sloped wall. So you could understand that the intent is really more for a "slanted window" than it is a skylight. It's also an opporuntiy to replace that plaster panel with sheetrock. It is probably the worst condition plaster in the house...probably due to the difficulty to install it at the time.
Also, it faces due south and they don't sell screens. But velux has a low e laminate. Hopefully it doesn't get too hot.
Last edited by ThermonMermon; 08-16-2017 at 09:17 AM.
Ok. I think I'm done here. I'm going to go wider on the skylights and create a shallow soffit. The Sheetrock cutout will be the width of the existing window trim and the soffit ledge will be detailed 3 or 4 inch molding. Basically, it will be a shallow angled lightbox on the sloped wall.The sheetrock will be flush, and the molding will protrude out sideways. There would be two aperature, with the skylights sitting above it. The attention will be on the surrounding detail, not two modern skylights. And it will be a nice detailed mix of something classical. I would install larger crown molding on the upper foyer to tie it together.
Will keep you guys posted. Just waiting on permits. And need to make sure I could skinny up on the framing in between the two skylights.
^^this is far from an accurately scaled drawing. i need to take it over to autocad.
Last edited by ThermonMermon; 08-16-2017 at 10:54 AM.
Coming along. Found some water damage under the window and had to rebuild the exterior wall and replace clapboard and window trim for two windows. Matching the clapboard was a really pain but so far so good. Also all the old pipes had to be replaced down to the basement. The floor and walls were like a cement vault. This ended up probably being double of what a bathroom remodel would cost be in a more modern home. These old houses are never easy
So the clapboard was special ordered at 12 wide planks 8 feet long. Then we did the beveled wave cut on one edge. And installed them flipped over so the roughness would match the original. When we started pulling the original board they just shattered due to water, age, and the fact that they were in 18 foot planks. The two windows were removed and properly flashed with rebuilt trim and sill. Then the whole side was repainted.
Will keep you posted. Here are my CAD screenshots. We bumped into a closet to add a shower.
This is my first time doing major work. It was crazy. For two weeks, the contractor called every other day with a 1k-3k adder. He is great, and a lot of this is preventative stuff, but it just goes to show...
1. There is leakage under the window, we need to remove the clapboard to replace the exterior wall. The clapboard probably cant be salvaged. Yup, it shattered like glass.
2. The clapboard isnt sold anymore, we need to custom order, the size and custom cut.
3. The side window trim and sills are rotted, do you want to replace the trim and flash?
4. We should probably spot check and recaulk all other windows
5. The pipes in the walls and floors have been resting in 4" of poured concrete for 100 years. Once we remove the concrete, they may leak and need to be replaced. Yup, theyre leaking, we need to pull back all pipes to the riser.
6. The water heater has been replaced, but while we have the mechanical room open, do you want us to replace some original brass pipes?
We had a quote from a local contractor that does a lot of work in this older neighborhood, and told us all of this day one. He basically said when the dust settles, this will be pushing 40k to rebuild, inc labor and materials, and to really do it RIGHT. He was a bit pessimistic, or perhaps a realist? We didnt believe him and did not use him. This isnt even the master bathroom....But sure enough, our contractor (which is great), inevitably came across all of these things. On the bright side, given the town is of similar vintage, or older, these costlier reno jobs translate to more resale. If we were the only older house on the block, this would be much more unfortunate.
Last edited by ThermonMermon; 11-02-2017 at 08:35 AM.
Shit 40k and not even the master. Hopefully with this different contractor it at least isn't costing you as much as what the first guy estimated when he predicted all of this.
35k for the bathroom inc. fixtures tile, permits and exterior work; exc. water heater, stairwell work. Sounds crazy, but once you see the breakout, its not insane by any means, considering the house looked like a doll-house. For what it's worth that other contractor said 40k with BASIC finishes, and he probably wasnt counting on water damage in the wall, so he would have broke 50k easy.
$18k bathroom labor, closet demo, shower add, plumbing, electric, lighting, radiator, demo'ing a few thousand pounds of concrete, etc.
$2k custom glass shower surround
$5.5k exterior rebuild, custom clapboard material, cutting, window flashing, sills and trim, caulk all windows in house
$2.8k plumbing adder to replace all remaining pipes to riser
$7k marble tiling, cast iron tub, vanity, fixtures for tub, shower, etc (code now requires special tub filler with anti-scald valve, that the town enforces)
>>$35k
Last edited by ThermonMermon; 11-02-2017 at 09:16 AM.
04-24-2017, 09:33 AM
They let in a lot of light and have a small footprint. Don't leak like skylights.
Shit 40k and not even the master. Hopefully with this different contractor it at least isn't costing you as much as what the first guy estimated when he predicted all of this.