5 Stories & Big Bedrooms = More Expensive Sprinklers

Posted on June 23, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

There’s been a lot of uncertainty for us when it came to sprinklers…

At first we were hoping we didn’t need them (’cause we were trying to stay on budget). But we were told we do need them.
Then we were hoping that we only needed to sprinkler egress areas. But we were told we had to sprinkler the entire building (minus closets and bathrooms). But that’s probably a good thing – I’ll sleep better knowing it will be easier to get out in a fire.
Then we were hoping we could save some money by using CPVC (it’s legal for townhouses), but the plumber isn’t comfortable with CPVC – so he’s going to use black pipe.
Then we were hoping we could get by with 30 or fewer sprinkler heads since 30 and under can run off the domestic water supply. The architect was pretty confident we could do everything in 29 heads, but he cautioned he wasn’t an sprinkler guy and so he couldn’t guarantee it. But when a mechanical engineer went over the plans he decided we needed 37 heads.

So how did we get to 37 heads?

First, 5 stories = more space and more rooms to sprinkler. The top floor alone has 6 heads on it.

Second, we opted for having big bedrooms and smaller bathrooms (all of our bedrooms are over 200 sq. ft.) Turns out they’re bigger than can be covered with a single sprinkler head. If we were an office building it wouldn’t be a problem. The issue is that residential buildings tend to have a lot more flammable items along the walls – art, wall coverings, furniture, etc. That means residential sprinkler systems are required to soak the walls, not just the floors (as is typical in office buildings). The architect suggested extended coverage heads that throw water over a bigger area, but the mechanical engineer determined that we didn’t have enough water pressure for those types of heads.

Cost-wise it turns out that our water connection was no good, so we have to do a new connection to the water main anyway. So going over 30 heads won’t be that much more expensive than what we would have had to do anyway. But I’m sure we’ll be seeing a change order for the extra heads…

BTW, I realized talking to some people a while back that some people don’t realize that sprinklers don’t have to be ugly any more. New sprinklers are usually just little discs on the ceiling like in the picture to the right.

Next the plumber has to figure out how he’s running the sprinkler pipes. We’re supposed to have recessed/concealed heads, but I’m not sure where the sprinkler pipe is going to go – there are drain pipes in the way in some places and dropping the ceiling isn’t an option in some places where we’re already at 8′ ceiling height. So the sprinkler drama isn’t quite over yet…

Renovation Is Disruptive To Your Life

Posted on June 22, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

I knew this was going to happen – it happened when we did renovations before… Renovations are a huge time suck. When you least want to be bothered there will be a call and you’ll have to run to the job site or do some research so the contractor gets the information he needs to keep working productively. It’s sorta draining.

If you’re considering renovations and have a demanding job and just can’t afford the disruption you have a few options…

An Owner’s Representative

The best option, IMHO, is an owner’s representative. They’re someone you contract to act on your behalf. When they say something it’s as good as if you said it. Needless to say you need to trust the person implicitly. If you have an owner’s representative the contractor would deal would deal with that person for all day-to-day issues and your owner’s representative would just pull you into the discussion as needed – the way one spouse would bring the other spouse into the discussion if they didn’t feel comfortable making the decision themselves.

A Project Manager

A project manager is less than an owner’s representative. They’re the go to person for day-to-day issues, but ultimately you have to tell the contractor what to do. Need someone to spot problems, check that things are being built according to plan, or pull spec sheets for the sub-contractors? A project manager is great for stuff like that. But then that project manager would present you with the problem and suggested solutions and you’d need to make the decision. Ultimately they can’t make decisions on your behalf.

A Construction Manager

Owner’s reps and project managers do not actually manage workers. In both of those scenarios the contractor is responsibile for the “means and methods” of construction. If you want someone who is part project manager and part contractor – that’s a construction manager. They’re sort of like a uber-contractor.

The Architect

Your architect should always be involved in construction to make sure things are being done according to plan, and be available to answer questions and fill in any missing details. They can be the project manager on the job, but when your negotiating your contract with him/her you need to be really clear about how much project management s/he’ll be doing.

Have Clear Expectations

Whether its your architect or someone else, project management isn’t a yes or no issue – it’s a sliding scale. For example on our project it helps to have someone to go by the place 2 or 3 times a week to really catch problems early, but our architect comes by once every week or two – typically when we’ve spotted a significant issue and want their input. If you want your architect there two or three times a week you’ll pay more for that.

All I can say is expect things to be more disruptive than you think they’ll be, and have the support you need in place to deal with the demands and questions your contractor will put on you. If you don’t have the time to do it, hire someone to do it for you…

“Body Block” Claims Another Victim

Posted on June 18, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

While our block is leaps and bounds better than it used to be, serious things still happen on the block and unfortunately it’s continuing to earn it’s nickname – “Body Block”…

Wednesday was Dan’s birthday, but we put off celebrating it until Thursday. We met a friend (who was celebrating his 50th – the same friend who was in the photo op last year) at the house at 6, showed him the progress, and at 7pm we walked over to Red Rooster for a drink. Apparently about two hours later there was a shooting – one guy was killed and another received a non-fatal wound. Here’s the police announcement about the investigation…

On Thursday 6/16/2011 in front of 135 West 123 Street, a young black male was shot multiple times. Responding officers of the 28 Precinct found victim in front of location where he was rushed to Harlem Hospital and was pronounced dead at 9:24pm. 30 minutes later a second victim walked into Harlem Hospital with a non life threatening gun shot wound. It was discovered by 28 Detective Squad that incident was linked to 123 Street shooting. This case is still currently under investigation by the 28 Detective Squad, any information please call 28 PDU at 212-678-1608. You will remain anonymous!!

I’ll post a picture of the building when I get a chance. It’s the 1930ish apartment building next to the old lodge (that’s now under construction). It’s roughly across the street from the place where lots of people hang out on the stoop (136 West 123). The guys were hanging out on the stoop when we went past. They never concern me – they all seem to be pretty nice. They’re older guys who are pretty mellow. But younger “thugs” are the ones who worry me. (If you don’t want to be called a ‘thug’ – don’t dress the part – or at a minimum look people in the eye, say hello and smile). Just statistically most hate crimes are committed by guys in their teens and early 20s who are trying to prove themselves. It would be interesting to find out more about the two victims and the shooter – to see if they fit the profile and to learn what triggered the shooting.

I’m not all that put off by the shooting. It’s a bit concerning, but especially with Windows on 123 selling well, it’s just a matter of time before things change. What’s really important it to just not put up with stuff, but also distinguish between things that are just unsightly (like guys hanging out drinking) and things that are dangerous (like drug dealing). It’s the stuff that leads to violence that needs to be stamped out…

If you’re doing a renovation make sure you have a security camera on the front of your building that’s aimed at the street. It makes a difference. With security cameras the police can solve crimes much more quickly and guys with violent tendencies find other, less visible, places to conduct their business.

UPDATE:

From the NY Post Police Blotter…

A dispute in Harlem escalated into a deadly shooting, cops said.

Kwabena Poku, 23, allegedly argued with a foe at 8:50 p.m. Thursday before returning to his apartment building at 135 W. 123rd St. to talk to his girlfriend.

He stepped outside moments later and was gunned down in a hail of bullets, cops said.

Poku, who had been arrested this month on marijuana charges, was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital.

Another victim, Tony Graham, 48, was shot in the leg, cops said, and was in stable condition at Harlem Hospital.

The marijuana charges are sorta expected – I was talking to someone who said he was hanging out with the victim a little before the incident and he said the guy was smoking up. I wasn’t exactly sure what drug he was referring to (and didn’t want to ask). I’m a little relieved it was just pot.

Apparently there are security cameras on the building, so hopefully they’ll catch the shooter quickly.

There’s an MMPCIA meeting tonight at 7pm at Rice High School where it will be discussed. We’ll be going. Hopefully we’ll learn more…

UPDATE #2:

Last night the police said they have clear video identifying the shooter and they know who he is, BUT they can’t make an arrest because no one is willing to step forward to be a witness. When we passed by less than two hours before there were probably 15 or 20 people hanging out across the street around #136. I’m sure a fair number of them were still there when the shooting happened and if nothing else the other shooting victim saw the shooter. IMHO, it’s sorta absurd that a murderer is walking the streets because people don’t want to talk to the police.

That said, the “good” news is that it apparently was not random violence. The shooting stemmed from a dispute over a woman. Still, a bystander did get shot, so there is an element of random violence.

UPDATE #3:

Dan was talking to someone on the block today and got a slightly different story. The person saw the shooting and said neither the shooter or the victim lives on the block or even in the neighborhood, though the victim was the “baby’s daddy” of a woman in the building where the shooting occurred. Apparently both were African guys (as opposed to African-Americans), and they both lived in the Bronx. He also said the dispute had something to do with rival bootleg DVD businesses in the Bronx. Given that the Police said the dirt bike guys who create problems are from the Bronx, it seems like crime from the Bronx is spilling over into Harlem.

The Bulkhead Gets Stucco

Posted on June 16, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

Things are slowing down just a little – mostly because there are a few critical things that can’t happen for a couple months (utilities and windows) and there’s no point in doing a “hurry up, then wait”. It’s better security-wise if they work a little slowly so someone is in the house every (week) day. They’re still making progress though…

Right now the critical path is the roof (when it rains we still get a fair amount of water in the building). To do the roofing all the stucco work needs to be done on the bulkhead and parapet walls. We were a bit nervous about the stucco color. We really wanted to see samples, but the contractor took our “sand color” comment and ran with it. Luckily he did a great job interpreting what we were looking for and we like the color…

The only question is whether the color is too yellow. We had an architect with us yesterday when we saw it and her first comment was “oh… yellow…” There are some pictures where it looks more yellow and others where it looks more tan. Thing is, if it weren’t at least a bit yellow it could look drab or dirty. Yellow is what gives it it’s brightness.

And one more, taken the next day (later in the day after I intially wrote the blog post)…

So as soon as the stucco is done the next job is putting 4″ of insulation on the roof deck, building up a cricket on the front roof, installing a drain pipe from the front roof to the rear roof, and then putting on the actual roofing material. The contractor is going with a seamless spray-on system – a Kemperdur sytem.

We want a fairly light color because it would be reflective and cool. The next issue will be the color of the roof. New York City is starting to require white roofs. At first I was thinking we’d be required to literally have a white roof. But when I went and looked into the colors that are available Kemperdur roofs it seems that somewhat counter-intuitively white is not the coolest roof color. On that linked page the higher the numbers the cooler the roof. So “Cool Adobe” is the most reflective and has the highest overall “SRI” score, while “Cool Mint” is best at giving off heat. I just sent off a request for samples so we can see the actual colors. Right now we’re leaning toward “Cool Mint” – so we’ll literally have a “green roof”. I’m hoping NYC law doesn’t literally require a white roof since there are colors more efficient (and attractive) than white…

Otherwise, we’re still working out the details for the windows and exterior doors. The architect pushed back a little on the contractor’s dimensions and installation methods plus there were details that had to be worked out with the manufacturer.

The (steel) staircase in our unit is also a point of active discussion. In the process of doing shop drawings we realized there were some headroom clearance problems for the first flight of stairs. So we’ve had to reconfigure things somewhat. The funny part is we like the new configuration better than the original one. The only downside is that the steps will be slightly steeper than we wanted (7.4″ rise per step instead of 7″) – but it’s necessary to get headroom in our powder room.

We also heard through the grapevine that a neighbor (on 122nd Street?) has been calling the police about our building. One time they said work was being done on the weekend when that wasn’t the case – maybe they just saw Dan and I in the building (but the police have never come by while we were there). Another time they said a fight was happening at the building when nothing like that was happening. Apparently the police are now pissed at the caller and want to figure out who they are so they can pursue the person for filing a false police report (multiple times). All I can say is… Seriously people… Do you want the neighborhood to get better or not? How is an abandoned building that would have had serious structural stability issues in a few years better than having us fix up the place?

Finishing The Bulkhead, Electical Progress & Windows

Posted on June 12, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

Progress was made on a few fronts this week. Before they can put on a proper roof they need to finish up the messy stuff up there – the parapet and the bulkhead. The parapet walls have been raised and around the area that will be a roof deck they’re making them look neat and uniform. Capstones will be put on top of what you see below.

I should also mention that we’re having to rebuild our neighbor’s chimneys. They were in horrible condition with (multiple) holes in the side. Rather than debating who should pay what since some of the holes were on our side of the wall (but their chimney) – it was easier to just fix it ourselves.

They’ve also started stuccoing the bulkhead. First step was putting up wood and wire lath. On the far side (along the alleyway) they’ve done the next step and put first coat of concrete (?). On top of that will go a finish coat.

Today we were discussing the color of the finish coat. Looks like we’ll tell the contractor to go with a sand color – light and neutral, though with all the soot in NYC air it’ll start looking dirty at some point and we’ll need to clean it.

The other thing that they worked on this week was wiring. They put in the casings for the electric meters, and started wiring the top few floors.

There was a little drama with the electrician. He needed plans so he grabbed the DOB approved plans off the wall. Thing is, they’re the originals that were signed by the plan examiner and they have to be available if an inspector shows up. Wouldn’t have been a huge problem except for the fact that he marked them up with all sorts of different colored markers. I’m not sure exactly how you replace original, signed plans… Needless to say there were some tense moments as I made it clear we weren’t happy that it had happened.

The other thing we worked on this week was the window order. We’re ordering from a manufacturer in Austria and being European they close the entire factory for two weeks in the summer. We were hoping to get the windows shipped before the holiday, but it turns out we were too late. 🙁 There’s just a lot of details to work out in the order and you gotta get it right – there aren’t really any do-overs with windows that are shipped from Europe. So it’s going to be a while before we get our windows…