All Forum Posts by: Stephen Talaber

Without pictures it's hard to know how bad the masonry is and how much work it would take to fix. Your shouldn't spend a whole lot on materials, most of your cost will be in labor.  Labor rates vary greatly depending if you are using a licensed insured contractor or not.  In my area it's around $25-$50/hr depending on the contractor. If you have Angie's list you could try that, I have used it before and had good results finding contractors.  

I found this link doing a quick google search that may provide you more info http://www.howmuchisit.org/repointing-a-chimney-co...

Best of luck, 

Steve

I agree with the two above posts. Taking the mantle out will most likely result in you damaging it. You could try slowly working it out from the wall with a pry bar but to remove it without damage will be extremely difficult. 

@Kurt F. Thanks he seemed very happy with it. 

@Mark Del Grosso  I like the vine idea.. Like @Mary B.  said  your welcome to come by and plant some for free if you would like hahaha 

My plan is to leave it open in the summer. For the winter, yes I plan on covering with a tarp because it will be used to store firewood. @Mary B.   

Nice I have never thought about painting a counter top before this. 

Here are some pics of my latest project, I'm pretty happy with the way it came out so I decided to show off a little.  My dad wanted something to eat under during the few nice weather days we have in new york, so this is what I came up with. He wanted it to have a pitch so he can throw a tarp over it and store wood under it in the winter but still have sunlight come through in the summer. It still needs a few finishing touches but its 95% there. 

Material: around $800.00 (Lumber, screws/bolts, etc..) 

Time: Took me and a friend about a day and a half to complete. 

Enjoy!

@Chris G. 

Great transformation, looks like a whole new home. I'm sure your happy to be finished. 

I think the little details like the tech upgrades are great.

I'm just curious why did you do copper plumbing instead of pex? 

@Account Closed 

I run into this same problem with subs that I haven't used before.  It's very frustrating when you are trying to get work done and no one will return your calls. 

Personally I blame it on a lack of organization. I think a lot of contractors get distracted with what they have going on currently and forget about getting future work.  It truly amazes me that contractors who don't return calls are able to stay in business. 

 If a contractor doesn't call me back after I have tried contacting them twice then I cross them off the list. If you can't communicate with me then I do not want to do business with you. Eventually you should be able to weed out the ones that won't call back and be able to find responsible contractors that return calls/emails in a reasonable time. 

Best of luck, keep trying different contractors 

Steve 

@Christian Lincoln 

I had an offer in on a property for $40,000 (1608 Violet Ave Hyde Park) but found some structural issues upon a second inspection and had to pull the offer out.   I'm not really a big fan of Hyde Park anyways. Seems like everyone is moving out of that area. The next two I have put offers in on have been outbid. 

I don't have my own personal money to invest, I work for investors that pay me a salary and a % of the profits.  That would be a great situation if I could find deals to make a profit on. They look for a 20-30% return on their money. 

I have not done any marketing to find homes, right now I just use MLS which is part of the problem. A lot of foreclosures don't go low enough for me to make a good profit on. I have looked at beacon but it seems that everyone knows its hot so again a lot of competition to deal with. I know il have competition no matter where I am but some investors don't look for as big of a margin as I do.

Best,

Steve