This week we finally started the ground floor apartment renovation in earnest. We are now digging holes in the ground floor apartment backyard to investigate old drainage and plumbing systems.
Large supporting beams were installed in the ceiling of the ground floor apartment to support the weight of the upper floors. This is a crucial step to ensure the structural integrity of the building.
The drainage and plumbing in both the backyard and bathroom areas are being carefully examined. I'd like to say that the camera inspection went smoothly, but removing the floors and digging out pipe intersections just is a better option if you want a true picture of the actual state.
As I might have indicated before, the original plumbing system was expected to be quite outdated, but I would like to go to some length in order to keep the original cement tile floors. However with the opening of the kitchen towards the living room, would give a patchwork like flooring - so that fact did make the case against keeping the original art-deco floors.
That was a factor, but at the end of the day we decided that it would be more important to have a functional and modern plumbing system that meets current standards and requirements, rather than trying to preserve the floors, at the cost of potential issues down the line.
Between the courtyard, digging and plumbing work, then biggest task completed in the ground floor apartment this week was doors opening towards the kitchen and the living room - the expansion giving the feel of stepping into a large open space (despite it being a kichenette).
The biggest installation work was the large supporting beams in the ceiling, where the hallway walls were partly removed to open up the kitchen space.
