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Remodeling Flooring Design Dilemma

condo building, six tenants, small entrance remodeling. $100k budget

2 years ago

Old brick building in need or new front door, flooring for small lobby, attractive wall mount mailbox for 6, smooth & paint all wall surfaces, all new moldings, new staircase material and railings, replace hallway windows, flooring in front of all 6 condos. white walls....neat, sleek remodel. It's an old historic brick building in Boston.

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Comments (13)

Mary Lowery
Original Author
2 years ago
Not sure this applies, these condos are each privately owned.
M Miller
2 years ago
What is your question?
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Low condo reserves- deal breaker for small building?
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While some condo boards hold too much in reserve, having nothing would be a big turn-off for me. Our Maui AOAO has only assessed us once in 15 years -- when every second-story lanai (150 units) needed a pair of 8-foot long planter boxes replaced and re-planted. (This is a shared expense because the plants are a major factor in the overall appearance of the complex.) Our long-range budget shows every aspect with the number of useful years remaining for each thing estimated -- with reserves in place to do the work before anything becomes a problem. Re-roofing, painting, resurfacing, pool and tennis court repairs, etc. are undertaken on schedule. Ours is a 316-unit complex. If one or two owners defaults, it's not a disaster. With a 6-unit building...a single owner's default would be a big expense for the others.
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If you feel you need to renovate in order to keep your condo rented, or have some other reason for wanting this done sooner rather than later, here's what I can offer. What do people think of pass-thrus? Pass-thrus are a bit passé. And are white cabinets at the end of their popularity run? White cabinets will never go out of style. That said, you have many other options. Are full-overlay cabinets pretty much standard now? Full overlay is pretty standard. What about inset doors? You will pay a premium for inset doors - beautiful but expensive, for the most part. What would you value more -- more cabinets or a two person eat-in kitchen? If there is another eating space in the condo, I'd want cabinets in the kitchen. Besides, there's really no view in the kitchen as is. What else are people putting in these days? The trash cabinet is a nice idea, but the biggest change for you would be drawers. In a newly renovated space almost all of your lowers would be drawers nowadays. I get that you might want to use the same guy your neighbors have used, but the layouts and finishes are really not that nice. Tray ceiling is fine, layouts and cabinet choices are not that great.
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Comments (26)
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Our architect designed, with builder input, a house WAY over budget
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Comments (78)
Yes take a comb through the materials and price them out. Have at least 4 builders price out your project with all the trades. Sometimes GCs that offer a level of self performance like carpentry can avoid double mark ups. Did you see any of the major quotes like excavation, framing, plumbing, etc? I'm doing a lower level finish. One bid was 60% over budget....another 44%....then with due dillengence we ended up 4% over budget but went with the contractor that was 10% over budget. Pricing wasn't the only varible at the end of the day. I'd hold the line and get more bids if you can - too much time and money vested - but if the bids come back similar time to cut the cord unless the redesign to meet budget is free.
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roarah
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
When in college I lived in an old brownstone apartment. These pics resemble the entrances that I so loved.

I always think of neat tile or beautiful wood floors and dark wood work. Spaces that are kind of moody by always stunning when i think of historic apartments.

I would source vintage apartment mailboxes.
Mary Lowery
Original Author
2 years ago
thank you very much roarah. Im looking for suggestions in color and materials...would LVT that looks like wood hold up in an building entrance lobby...it's a small area right off the street.
ci_lantro
2 years ago
Local WalMart installed vinyl plank flooring in one section of the store quite a number of years ago. Still looks good.

All about the quality of the flooring & the wear layer. Start looking at the commercial products, not the residental lines.
ptreckel
2 years ago
The bottom step is a trip hazard because of what appears to be a build up of layer upon layer of flooring, now topped with terra cotta tile. Paint chips on the window trim signal potential lead paint. I doubt that the railings are to code. Listen to the Pros here. This isn’t a decoration project. It is potentially an expensive updating/remodeling job.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
Who is paying for this rehab? That is who decides what to do. As much as I love LVP I would not use that in this case since the building is a heritage one you need to get someone who understands the building and keeps the integrity of the building . Yes you as the person doing this can be sued. . IMO what you want in Boston is not going to happen with that budget. It look slike no one has cared for that building for a long time and once you start ripping out the mess that is there there could be all kinds of surprises .
Janie Gibbs-BRING SOPHIE BACK
2 years ago
Hi Mary,

We also live in a 6 unit condo building (120 yr old rowhouse) and in addition, we just last month returned home from subletting a *gulp* 4th-floor walkup on Irving and Cambridge, downtown Boston.

FWIW, back home a few summers ago, (we only have 1 renter, the other units are primary) we took about 1G out of our reserves, painted all 3-floor hallways ourselves, updated all the old horrid lighting with LED simple light fixtures from Amazon (which made a massive change..for the better!) and had our carpets professional cleaned and just those simple fixes were amazing.

All of this was planned in advance, we all voted on it, my husband is the Board President, if we had hired outside resources this would have cost us a fortune.

The renter joined in on the fun, we had a beer and pizza party afterward and everyone felt they were represented and adding much-needed sweat equity.

Steps in Boston are so narrow and steep in historical buildings.

Would start with your interior lighting and step management.

New windows will be extremely expensive.

Changing the front door will also require wiring for the doorbell.

Honestly, before coming up with a color scheme, perhaps create a punch list and have everyone vote on this.

100G for all you're mentioning will not cover this amount of work.

Please let us know what happens, will be very interested in your project!
chiflipper
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
This REQUIRES a consultation with a design & build firm who specializes in commercial projects. What you have now is "grandfathered in"...the minute you touch it you run the risk of having to meet current codes. Spend $1k now and avoid future headaches.
PRO
Beth H. :
2 years ago
^,,,,this.

if you touch the railing or stairs, they now have to be brought up to code.

ditto anything w/the flooring. (ADA complient)

Paint? did you test for lead on the old stuff first?

are you goverened by your city to adhere to restoration and preservation of old buildings?

these are all things that need to be addressed by a pro who does these old building all the time.
PRO
User
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Double your budget or more than halve the ideas. Get with a design pro to do all the required legwork. Lots of safety considerations here.
SJ McCarthy
2 years ago

Remember to budget for lead and asbestos remediation. That alone can eat $10k - $20k oh your budget.
mainenell
2 years ago
Doesn’t Massachusetts require lead paint to be REMOVED anytime a child lives in the building? Does the building fall under this requirement?

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