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Daycare community facility in residential neighborhood
I wanted to convert the first floor of an existing 2 family house to daycare facility and leave the 2nd floor as dwelling. An architect told me I might have an issue with side yard because community facility requires 8' on bothsides. Is that true? My sideyards are currently 5' and 8', and I dont see why that's an issue for the conversion. Thanks for any suggestions. More»
6:56 PM 03/24/2012
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Your architect may be interpreting the zoning laws too strictly. For a conversion of a two-family home to a day care you usually need two forms of egress, a floorplan that is legal and makes sense (e.g. child toilets) and all open violations cleared. Side yards and other set-back requirements usuall...... See More » -
PLG Legal Two-Families w/Basement Apartment
My wife and I are looking for a two-family with a legally-zoned basement apartment in PLG. Now, the zoning and legal use laws are complicated enough-- ie ceiling heights, egress, stoves, tubs, etc-- But to complicate matters PLG is comprised of an historic district which makes the process doubly hard to figure out where the legal two families are located. So to cut to the chase, I was wondering if anyone can point me to blocks which may be zoned for two-family use with a legal basement apartment. I should mention, I have tried the CO route, ... More»
9:48 AM 03/19/2012
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Lefferts Manor, with it's single-family deed covenants and R2 zoning, is the ONLY part of PLG limited to gned as two familyone family use. The rest of the PLG Historic District [the north side of Lincoln II and all of Lefferts and Sterling II and III] can have two family houses, as can the blocks ou...... See More » -
Exact Shade of Red Paint for Sprinkler Pipes?
We need to paint our exposed sprinkler pipes in the public halls red (lovely...). I tried getting an answer from NYFD but they weren't helpful. Is there a specific shade of red that is required for the paint job? We don't want to paint them "red" only to have the reinspection fail because the red is not the right shade or glossiness or who knows what. Also since it is now illegal (as far as I know) to use oil-based paints indoors, we can't just go with a Rustoleum Safety Red. Thanks. More»
12:58 PM 03/10/2012
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Since when are oil based paints illegal??? See More » -
Legal Recreation Room: Needs Window?
Duplexing an apartment ino the basement creates a "recreation" room. Do recreation rooms require any sort of a window to be legal? Thanks. More»
1:15 PM 02/18/2012
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I am in the process of doing this. It doesn't require windows, but does require ventilation to be installed, if no windows. No partitioning is allowed, just one room. A closet is a posibility. 2 egresses required, no drop ceiling, must be sheetrocked ceiling (I assume for fire). Minimum 7ft. cei...... See More » -
Moving storefront entrance
I want to move the existing front store entrance about 2 feet to the right, do I need to file an Alt 1 or Alt 2? Does this become change in egress according to the code? Thank you.
More»5:20 PM 01/26/2012
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Alt II. If it is staying the same but just moving over that is it. See More » -
Do I REALLY need permits to rebuild addition?
Sunset Park
Ok, so here goes... My Family owns a brownstone that was bought by my grandfather in 1965.My parents bought said house form him when they got married and started their own life in it .A few years after I was born,and thus began my journey of fixing my childhood home . the Previous owners had allowed it to turn into a dump over time .So,for years ive been fixing it by myself and with the help of friends starting with the two top floors I rent to payoff the beast of a mortgage i have left on it.For many of these years my father had a basement full... More»
11:30 AM 01/03/2012
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Yes, you need a permit. You're kidding yourself if you think you can build a 20 x 20 extension without someone noticing. Sure, you can go ahead and try to get it done without someone noticing, but if someone does, you could be hit with thousands of dollars in fines, possibly tens of thousands if a...... See More » -
Adding a full bathroom in the cellar
We just purchased an one family house in Queens, and we are thinking for putting a full bathroom (including shower) in the cellar for guest use. Somebody told me it's not legal to add the shower, but the toilet and sink are okay. Has anyone done this in the past? Thanks! More»
7:49 PM 12/29/2011
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To elaborate on Jock's post, it's perfectly legal if the rest of the space is open, except for small closets, nothing that can be used as a bedroom, and no kitchen, as well as a few other restrictions. There's a new DOB memo stating the requirements: http://on.nyc.gov/vnqtjh See More » -
Converting from an illegal use
I am looking to buy a building listed on HPD as 5 units, but is used as 4 units. I think an owner did an illegal combination some time ago. There are no jobs or permits listed and no C of O. I want to keep it in its current 4 unit state, but for various reasons wish to legalize. What is the process? It is in a landmark district. Do I need a full set of drawings, City and Landmarks sign offs, etc. or is there a simplier way to do this? Are there any unintended consequences -- like the DOB asking for full house sprinklers or other stuff? Thanks as always.... More»
6:16 PM 12/10/2011
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You will need an architect. A submittal to DOB and Landmarks will be required. See More » -
Going from a 3-family C/O to a 2-family
Sunset Park
Hi--my family and I have brownstone in Sunset Park. The C/O is for a 3-family, but it was renovated to function as a 2-family (duplex and garden level apts). We didn't bother to change the C/O when we renovated, because our architect advised that it was a huge hassle. Now, I'm wondering if we should bite the bullet and make the change. We can't refinance at a lower rate because it's a 3-family, and that has me wondering about the mortgage rate a buyer might be able to get when we go to sell it. Thoughts or advice about the hassle and/or cost of switc... More»
9:38 PM 11/08/2011
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Wow, bad advice. Was this person licensed? Give me a call. See More » -
Does any one know the building code re legality of large chicken coop close to back property line?
Park Slope
Our neighbors have a large chicken coop and moved it close to our back property line. It is a wood and screen structure - I'm guessing it might be a bit more than 6 ft. high as roof is slanted, looks like it might be 2 feet from our back property line and almost spans about 2/3rds width of the back yard. Does the structure comply with the buidling codes? Their property is about 4 feet higher than ours, so our view are now this large structure. Is such a structure in line with the building codes? More»
8:16 AM 10/22/2011
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If your neighbor keeps the chicken coop clean and looks after the hens properly what's the problem? We live in NY city, I can tell you I have smelled things a lot worse than a chicken coop since moving here, including: rotting garbage, broken sewers, a subway station that smelled of brain matter for...... See More » -
Legal two family ok without dividing wall?
I just looked at a small three story townhouse that’s listed on DOB website as B3 TWO FAMILY CONVERTED FROM ONE FAMILY.The garden/parlor floors have a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom with own electrical and gas meter. The third floor has a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom, and has its own electrical meter and own gas line (though the gas meter itself has been removed). However, it’s clearly still like a one family in that there’s no official dividing wall that would keep me from going into the tenan... More»
10:21 AM 10/03/2011
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As far as the DOB is concerned, there needs to be a fire rated separation between each dwelling unit. If the top floor apartment has entry doors from the hall that can be closed and locked, then it's generally ok to rent that way. However, the hall and any doors leading to each dwelling unit need ...... See More » -
Using 2 family townhouse as a 3 family
Bedford Stuyvesant
Hello everyone!I am in the process of shopping for a townhouse in Bed Stuy. I came across a house that tickled my fancy that is officially a 2 family, but has been used as a 3 family. They ripped out the extra kitchen before putting the house on sale. There are 2 gas lines, but there might be 3 electrical meters.If I were to purchase this house, I thought I might follow the current owner's footsteps, and put the kitchen back in, live in one unit and rent out the other 2. I have a fear that renting out a duplex (rather than 2 units) in Bed-S... More»
6:02 PM 09/26/2011
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I changed my house from a 2 to a 3 during a gut renovation and seem to remember the fees being somewhere in the region of $12K. That was the least of the expense though - plumbing has to be iron instead of pvc, fire escape (and these days sprinklers), 36" doors for wheelchair accessibility, fire rat...... See More » -
building code for insulation?
Park Slope
I've looked high and low for info about NYC building code for insulation. Is there a place this can be found online? Anyone have any idea what is required to pass inspection and gain C of O for modern multifamily?Thank you brownstoners. You are always generous sharing your experience More»
10:35 PM 09/20/2011
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Your architect can provide you with this info. It should be listed on the drawings. A program is used to input all of the project info, which produces a print out showing the project passes and meets code. The architect or someone needs to be making inspections as required by code and paperwork w...... See More » -
Fire door between units
Crown Heights
The door that separates our garden level rental unit from the stairway to the rest of our house doesn't appear to be a fire-rated door. It's pretty new, wood, and seems hollow core. I'm not familiar with the different varieties and fire ratings for these doors (other than steel ones), so:
- is there any way to tell if the current door is fire-rated (didnt see any labels or markings on it)?
- if not, is replacing the door with a steel firedoor a difficult job, or can it be a DIY project?
- what fire rating is required for an interior door b... More»12:42 PM 08/19/2011
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The door and frame would have a label on it. See More » -
DOB Sprinkler worktype and Schedule B
We are currently in a struggle with our plumber who recently installed a sprinkler system in our house and according to him it is filed as a separate line from our domestic service. In order to install a new water main we filed a schedule B as a service off the domestic and we were approved. Plumber is insisting we need an SP Worktype or we cannot get a sprinkler inspection and as a result we can't get gas service. If he is correct this will have major implications including getting an engineer as well as add considerable time to completion. Does anyone ... More»
1:44 AM 08/09/2011
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How did you get it approved without an engineer on board? How many heads are you installing? If you have a certain amount of heads then you need a SP worktype. See More »
