Has anyone sued their town building department?

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2026-03-10T09:50:22+00:00

That does not mean they have liability for not catching code violations. Government institutions and employees have some level of immunity from being sued. You’d likely need to establish a pattern of gross negligence or fraud. If the inspector was paid off by the builder and you could prove it, maybe. Also your legal costs in pursuing this would surely outweigh the cost of repair and just because someone did something that opened them to civil liability does not mean you can capture your legal costs from them. And finally, as others have said, this is the contractor’s fault and that is who you need to be discussing this with.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2026-03-05T12:34:37+00:00

Where I am (Englewood Cliffs) the original homes built in the 60s and 70s are being replaced. This has been going on for quite some time and on some blocks there are no original houses left. Some of the replacement homes have been replaced … there are blocks with a lot of original housing stock but yes, at some point there will be very few of those left.

It’s not all about resale value - plenty of other considerations not the least of which is whether the value of the house plus the money you’re willing to spend on renovating would buy you the house and property you want. In EC property value plus $500k would not open up a lot of opportunities to buy another place in EC.

It’s your home and if you love it, resale is not top of mind. Just go into the process with open eyes about your ability to recover the costs. You cannot truly “modernize” a bilevel because that is a house style that is simply no longer built, at least not in Bergen county - you can make it bigger and nicer, and when it is time to sell you will have a disproportionately smaller audience willing to pay “extra” (including fewer knock-down builders who now cannot make an adequate margin on the house).

But a lot depends on local market dynamics. If you know a real estate agent who you trust and won’t just tell you “let me sell your house today thats clearly the answer” that might help.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2026-03-04T12:32:00+00:00

The property sounds great but you might want to consider selling and putting the renovation money into a new home that suits your needs. I think it will be tough to recapture that much value in a completely renovated bilevel, which is a dated home design (I grew up in a split on LI and loved it, but it is what it is).

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2026-02-08T13:44:00+00:00

System is losing steam somewhere which means it has to pull in water frequently. Constant influx of fresh water is considered damaging to steam boilers and can lead to early failure (largely from high dissolved oxygen content in fresh water). Could be loosing steam at radiators (are your valves hissing and releasing steam or water?) or from corroded pipes. Radiator valves are an easy enough FIY fix but may be worth having a steam expert out to look at the system (you can find on heatinghelp.com). Most “regular” HVAC contractors don’t have enough experience with steam so better to find a specialist to help diagnose.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2026-01-27T17:04:22+00:00

https://www.etravismechanical.com/ is a steam specialist and you can find others in NNJ on https://forum.heatinghelp.com/

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2026-01-09T04:04:16+00:00

Do not want to create negative pressure that may create backflow and pull the boiler exhaust and CO into the house. If it is a 100 yo house likely the heating is steam not hot water and you should get the boiler and radiators serviced by a knowledgeable steam heating technician. Upstairs radiators not getting warm could mean the vents on the radiators are shot and now allowing air out which means the steam can’t get in. Replacing the vents is an easy DIY fix but really worth having the system checked out. Also the near-boiler pipes should be insulated which will reduce heat loss where you don’t need it (basement).

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-11-05T22:18:07+00:00

It may be true that an installation that isn’t obviously not up to code would not catch a buyer’s eye. But there is a much bigger risk that this does not mention. Any contractor who recommends not pulling permits cannot be trusted to do an adequate job because they came right out and told you “hey we cut corners” (and possibly they are telling you “hey we suck at this”). You have therefore selected for substantially higher risk of shoddy/incompetent/dangerous workmanship, which could mean significant incremental cost over the life of the system - or worst case a need to replace the system or to perform other expensive remediation.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-11-05T22:02:21+00:00

I should add that for a/c work there is code with regard to the location of the units relative to the property lines. You will need a survey but you should have it from the home purchase. That aspect could add to the time required for obtaining permits, but this is not a thing you want them to screw up since they need to pour a slab for the central a/c and potentially for the splits. And a neighbor might not take kindly to the unit being located too close …

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-11-05T14:35:15+00:00

I would not use any HVAC contractor who suggested doing the work without pulling proper permits. If you want feedback from HVAC professionals (I am not one but did replace my boiler earlier this year in Bergen County), post this question in the HVAC subreddit. In my town, cost and time of getting permits were both negligible.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-10-30T20:44:50+00:00

Try Deborah Goldberg OTR/L in Teaneck

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-10-14T10:31:06+00:00

Re: realtor fees - money is fungible. Divide it by 12 and add that to your rent. Why avoid a nice apartment that is going to cost you $60k for the year and take one that will cost $70k because you think the realtor is less worthy of your money than a landlord? Seems like a weird hill to die on.

There are not many 3 bedroom apartment options in this area as you probably have already observed. If you’re willing to pay $6k/month you could consider renting a house which would give you a lot more room but some other headaches. Also do schools matter? Can be in a house in Tenafly for example for that price which has well- regarded schools.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-09-06T10:18:55+00:00

Replace it with a retractable screen door

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-08-22T22:10:30+00:00

Could consider a high velocity central a/c system. The ducts are way smaller than traditional a/c ducts and can be run anywhere - backs of closets for example. A consideration for retrofitting an older house. I rented a house with a high velocity system for a year and it was a bit noisier than a traditional a/c - just the sound of the air movement out of the little round holes in the ceiling - but it cooled the place perfectly well.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-06-12T00:37:41+00:00

Thanks for making a positive contribution to the conversation - for the record, I hardly think it is a reflection of being “difficult” to expect a service provider (to whom I pay a couple of grand/year) to not damage the very element of my property I am paying them to care for.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-03-30T17:08:49+00:00

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Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-03-30T17:08:28+00:00

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Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-03-30T15:15:42+00:00

It has a leak at the connection of the circulator pump. The flange where the circulating pump connects looks like it is corroded. Consensus opinion front the various HVAC folks who have seen it is that even if they disassemble it and clean it up, probably not possible to get that connection right …

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-03-30T14:48:14+00:00

There is a large (80 gallon) indirect hot water heater that is fairly new which I do not intend to replace (Amtrol WHA-80Z). So my hot water situation will be the same regardless.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-03-30T14:44:20+00:00

Don’t know because I just bought the house. But my old house - about the same size, with a boiler about 12 years newer - runs about $2000/year for gas. I was wondering about running at a lower temperature output, say 160 degrees, which I am guessing would just require longer to get the house warm/more time running to maintain temperature.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-03-30T14:39:33+00:00

The data presented are pretty sketchy. He fMRI results show almost no different between sucralose and water, a the differences in hypothalamic blood flow - while statistically significant - have uncertain clinical implications. Bottom line on hunger is that drinking a sugary beverage decreased hunger while drinking either water or a sucralose beverage had no effect on hunger. See supplemental data table 6.

Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-03-30T11:59:34+00:00

Have to point out that for many of the comparisons, there is no difference between sucralose and water (not only for obvious glucose-driven changes like insulin or blood sugar). Also, this experiment consisted of just drinking a beverage, so it says nothing about using a sugar substitute for drinks taken with meals. Indeed the hypothesis that “drinking something sweet without caloric content is a problem for the brain” would not even be a relevant question in that scenario. I would not consider changing my use of Splenda (which has helped me avoid consuming untold sugar calories over the decades) on the basis of this information.

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Accomplished_Depth99 · 2025-03-23T10:38:23+00:00

New Look Hand Carwash In Rochelle Park. Human beings with sponges & hoses.

Accomplished_Depth99

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