Skip to main content
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
RECOMMENDED IN RENT
Moving to NYC after college? Here's how to find a rental apartment
RECOMMENDED IN BUY
How buying real estate in NYC is unlike anywhere else
RECOMMENDED IN SELL
A guide to using a no-fee renovation loan from a NYC real estate firm
RECOMMENDED IN IMPROVE
How to make your NYC renovation more pet-friendly
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE!
National Association of Real Estate Editors
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE! National Association of Real Estate Editors
Brick Underground
Social Links
follow:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flipboard
  • search
Brick Underground
☰ Brick Underground
Brick Underground
Brick Underground
☰
Brick Underground
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
    Haley and JP move to Prospect Lefferts Gardens
    New Construction + Condos
    From Prospect Heights to Prospect Lefferts Garden: We wanted three bedrooms so we could each have a home office
    An image of the top of a brick New York City apartment building, including its parapet.
    Design + Architecture
    Parapet inspections: What NYC boards and building owners need to know about Local Law 126
    one-bedroom condo at 702 Hancock Street
    The Search
    7 reasons why ground-floor apartments are desirable—instead of dealbreakers
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
    Midtown Manhattan seen from Roosevelt Island tramway
    The Market
    Manhattan median rent spiked 6 percent to $4,500 in April
    Tenant protest outside Rent Guidelines Board preliminary vote
    Affordable Housing
    Rent Guidelines Board intends to raise stabilized rents for a fourth time
    A beautiful pink flowering cherry tree next to an old brick residential building with a fire escape in Astoria Queens New York during spring
    The Search
    A wet, hot, broker fee-free summer? A major change to rental broker fees is supposed to start in June
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
    Madison avenue and East 67th Street, Manhattan, New York City
    Sell
    Median sales price for Manhattan co-ops and condos jumps to $1,165,000
    new condo building and older co-op buildings in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
    Sell
    Brooklyn median price nears $1 million but the spring market is a question mark
    View of NYC condo buildings from New Jersey
    Sell
    Private listings: What NYC sellers and buyers need to know about the off-market controversy
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    big apple moving NYC
    Troubleshooting
    How can I save money when hiring a moving company in NYC?
    Sponsored By Big Apple Moving
    Houses and apartment buildings in Queens, NYC
    Troubleshooting
    Mayor Adams is bringing the tax lien sale back. Here’s how to get your property off the list
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
    An image of the top of a brick New York City apartment building, including its parapet.
    Design + Architecture
    Parapet inspections: What NYC boards and building owners need to know about Local Law 126
    solar panels on a small house roof
    Design + Architecture
    Simple Yet Powerful Steps To Turn Your Apartment Eco-Friendly
    Sponsored By Ecoflow
    This is a photograph of a street in the Upper West Side in NYC viewed from the Summit in Central Park through bare tree branches.
    Renovation
    Fewer buyers, steeper rents, and costlier renovations: How tariffs could impact NYC real estate
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
    Burned and Boarded Up Windows
    When should your board hire a public adjuster?
    Manhattan GM
    What should we consider when renewing insurance for our building?
    Facade of NYC buildings
    How much is insurance on a NYC co-op or condo building?
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    Apartment buildings at Grand and Crosby streets in Soho, Manhattan
    Affordable Housing
    Ask Altagracia: My mom is moving out of our rent-stabilized apartment. How do I take over the lease?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
    big apple moving NYC
    Troubleshooting
    How can I save money when hiring a moving company in NYC?
    Sponsored By Big Apple Moving
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
  • About Us
Email Address
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
New Main menu
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertise
  • About Us
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER →
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Renovation [ SPONSORED ]

Why Brooklyn townhouse owners turned to Bolster for just the build portion of their renovation project

  • Build-only is best for owners and architects who already have building approvals in place
  • It's also a good fit for owners who may be worried going over budget on design
By Bolster  | January 10, 2023 - 12:30PM
image

The homeowners invested over $100,000 in high-quality millwork, which went towards custom cabinetry and storage, a dining room credenza, and staircase system.

Bolster

SHARE:
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Print
More...

When a couple bought their Crown Heights townhouse, they began to reimagine how it could best function for their family. They wanted a beautiful, design-minded home that would serve as both a stunning and welcoming space.

In 2022, the Brooklyn homeowners decided it was the right time to begin their renovation. They engaged the architectural team at NAINOA Architecture & Interiors for the design portion of the project. The architects referred them to Bolster, a data-driven design-build firm in NYC that has experience with brownstones and townhouses, for the build portion of their project.

This is the type of project that Bolster refers to as Build-Only, an exclusive service for vetted architects and homeowners who have a full Construction Documentation set and full building approvals. Build-Only is different from Bolster’s Design-Build process in a few key ways. Build-Only with Bolster is a good fit for homeowners with the following:

1. The right documents: Build-Only is best for architects and homeowners who have a full Construction Documentation (CD) set and full building approvals in place.
2. Budget concerns: The project has a CD set or a Design Development (DD) set, and homeowners may be worried about the design going over budget.
3. Need for a true renovation partner: Homeowners who want a risk-free renovation with a firm that can focus on the project’s planning and delivery, in partnership with their architect.
4. Bid clarity: Comparing multiple bids is hard and time-consuming.

Anyone exploring this type of service with a traditional contractor (known as design-bid-build) is familiar with the lack of standardized and detailed pricing. Bolster’s Build-Only process is designed to promote alignment between the homeowner, their architect, and the Bolster team. Bolster’s data-driven Build-Only approach demystifies construction costs to help homeowners break ground risk-free by performing a detailed review of homeowners’ architectural documents to avoid information gaps (and added costs). Bolster provides side-by-side bid comparisons to other contractors’ estimates, and together, the three parties work together to find areas of opportunity to reduce costs and scope.

With Bolster on their side, the homeowners signed a Build agreement with Bolster in April 2022 and the team was able to break ground on the Build portion of their renovation the following month.  

 

image
Caption

The homeowners wanted to draw attention to the fireplace and added a modern staircase with floor-to-ceiling steel beams.

The renovation process

The homeowners worked with NAINOA to design a space that was open and inviting with striking design details, such as bold wallpaper for their powder room and a small section of their dining room, as well as stunning light fixtures. The homeowners also chose to draw the eye to the fireplace in the living room and added an on-trend staircase with floor-to-ceiling steel beams.

With design locked in, the Bolster team got to work on the build phase of the project. The homeowners chose to keep their floor and kitchen untouched, which helped them prioritize their budget for the things they really needed and wanted.

Millwork is an item where homeowners can choose to go high or low with their investment. In this case, the homeowners elected to invest a decent portion of their build budget in high-quality, custom millwork ($101,200), which went towards custom cabinetry and storage, a dining room credenza, and staircase system.

The homeowners also invested heavily in doors, windows, and walls ($72,800) which included the fundamentals like sheetrock as well as the finer touches like wallpaper, molding, and tiling.

Finally, the homeowners invested intelligently in upgrades to their home’s electrical ($31,850), plumbing ($10,800), and mechanical systems (namely, adding HVAC, which totaled $21,650).

Throughout their renovation, the homeowners received regular updates from the Bolster team via a customized Slack workspace as well as Bolster’s proprietary Homeowner Portal.

 

image
Caption

The homeowners worked with NAINOA to design a space with striking design details, such as bold wallpaper for their powder room.

The final cost

The total cost of this Crown Heights townhouse renovation was $423,890, or $414 per square foot.


The Bolster Smart Renovation Zero-Risk Guarantee

How can a design-build firm guarantee a Zero-Risk renovation?

Bolster has pioneered Smart Renovation. We apply quantitative analysis along with our proprietary technology solution to identify and quantify the performance risk on every renovation project. The result is a personalized strategic approach to each renovation that allows us to absorb 100 percent of the homeowner’s risk. Your home will be beautifully designed, and delivered on-time and on-budget. That is our guarantee.

Smart Renovation & Zero-Risk means that Homeowners are now free to dream.

To start your major home renovation project visit bolster.us

The Bolster Promise video

You Might Also Like

image
Renovation The pros and cons of starting a NYC renovation project in the winter months
image
Renovation The must-have items for your renovation are not readily available. Here’s what Bolster recommends
image
Renovation Need a lot of design for your renovation project or just a little? Bolster gives you a choice of plans

 

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

topics:

architects Crown Heights interior design Renovation townhouse
SHARE
TWEET
BRICK’S PICKS
Historic brick facades of NYC apartment buildings
Getting overcharged by a landlord? Here’s how the Tenant Protection Unit helps rent-stabilized tenants
Apartment buildings in Soho
New Rent Guidelines Board report justifies a rent freeze, tenant advocates claim
Brooklyn apartment buildings
Understanding net effective rent: Here's how to calculate your real monthly rent
image
How much should you renovate your NYC apartment or house before selling?
Council Member Shahana Hanif hold press conference before the City Council vote on Arrow Linen spot rezoning.
City Council signs off on 10-story towers for Arrow Linen site
couple standing close, only jeans-clad legs showing
Can my boyfriend claim ownership of my condo if we break up?
Follow Brick on Instagram
@brickunderground | #brickunderground
Brick UndergroundBRICK UNDERGROUNDREAL LIFE. REAL ESTATE. REAL NEW YORK.
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Main menu footer
  • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide

Get more news you can actually use...

The subscription service is currently unavailable. Please check again later.

Delivered to your inbox weekly - for free.

*By signing up you agree to receive occasional emails on behalf of our sponsors

Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Advertise

Copyright 2009-2024 by BND Ventures Inc | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Ad Choices | Login