Update! Appliance Research: Chest Freezers
March 9, 2010 – 9:48 am | Comments Off on Update! Appliance Research: Chest Freezers

The decision (and purchase) has been made! In an earlier post (“Appliance Upgrade Research: Chest Freezers”), I checked to see if the chest freezers listed on the EnergyStar site were still offered by each of the manufacturers

Read the full story »
Conservation

Efforts and projects taken on to shrink a homeowners carbon footprint.

Contractors

Projects and experiences with local NYC contractors

Education

Avoid the school of hard knocks, these articles will help.

Improvements

Home improvement projects and upgrades all documented here.

Technical Difficulties

Necessary repairs, maintenance and… oversights.

Build It Green Warehouse (from Joey in Astoria)
January 28, 2006 – 10:37 pm | 2 Comments

Noticed this tonight on the Joey in Astoria site – Habitat for Humanity has a ReStore-Build It Green warehouse in Astoria consisting of building materials and salvage ordinarily destined for landfill. The warehouse, located at 3-17 …

Choosing a new Energy Supplier in NYC
January 25, 2006 – 10:12 am | 14 Comments

With each bill, Con Edison (my current gas and electric supplier), includes a customer newsletter. One of the constant features of this newsletter is Con Edison’s PowerYourWay program (poweryourway.com). Power Your Way encourages current Con …

Second floor deck leaking no longer!
January 21, 2006 – 8:31 pm | Comments Off on Second floor deck leaking no longer!

It’s been more than a month since spot patching this up during a freezing rain storm, but as of today the 2nd floor deck now has flashing installed, the supporting wall has been waterproofed and finished off with a bit of patterned stucco.
The only thing that …

Homes for sale: $1
January 19, 2006 – 8:23 pm | One Comment

Meg at Flip or Rent posted a link to an MSN/Bankrate story earlier on this month focusing on HistoricProperties.com. Granted if I missed the post title “Homes for sale for a Buck” I might have …

Dept. of Sanitation takes trash, misses recycling
January 17, 2006 – 11:31 am | 5 Comments

For the second time in as many weeks I’ve had to file an online complaint with the Dept of sanitation. I thought two bags consisting of nothing else but shredded paper, a bag full of …

What happened?
January 13, 2006 – 9:13 pm | One Comment

For roughly the past week, I had been in communications with another firm about another position to replace my main job. Today they accepted my requests and I accepted the position that they offered… I …

NYC Dept. of Sanitation fails (again)
January 9, 2006 – 10:47 pm | One Comment

Recyclable and refuse pickup: Monday & Thursday
Refuse pickup: Thursday
Special Christmas tree pickup: Monday (I believe today was the last day)
Well, they managed to get the refuse bag picked up, but missed the six foot tall …

Next up — forms and software
January 8, 2006 – 8:14 pm | 2 Comments

Repairing the damage done by the contractor enlisted to rennovate this place by the previous owner has been a convenient excuse to avoid looking for tenants. If half of the projects that have been redone or …

Resource conservation: water (DEP response)
January 6, 2006 – 10:50 pm | One Comment

I received the following to my very general email to the DEP, some additional research and more pointed questions should result help the people at the DEP point me in the right direction, but for …

Resource conservation: water
January 3, 2006 – 9:34 pm | Comments Off on Resource conservation: water

A few calls over to Mr. Rooter later and it seems as though they’re ready to start doing a bit of their own research into water conservation techniques. So far, I don’t have much for …

Great book for urban backyard landscaping
December 27, 2005 – 11:05 pm | One Comment

Small Space Gardens by David Stevens (Harper Collins)
Now if only I could get my hands on one of the NYC Art Commission’s decorative streetlights to finish off the design (New York City Art Commission Distinctive Light …

The NYC transit strike & what you can do now
December 22, 2005 – 5:59 pm | One Comment

While the union was supposedly fighting for the average worker, many temps and contract workers were left out in the cold without any way of making it to work. Again, many of these workers, like …

Heating system gurgles & croaks
December 21, 2005 – 4:10 pm | Comments Off on Heating system gurgles & croaks

After the wait to have the gas and heat service restored and the subsequent leaks fixed things have been somewhat quiet on the plumbing front. I was told that the gurgling that I was hearing …

The to do list
December 19, 2005 – 6:20 pm | One Comment

So close to being done with the repairs and the contracts:
Water/Sewer line charges: 

Switching over the water and sewer account.
Resolution of any payments due prior to closing. 
possible damage to water meter (cannot be resolved before January 30th …