Home > Video Channel > Loft Conversion Plans

Loft Conversion Plans

We meet the developers, Neal and Ron Gold, and take a look at how they've started converting this old fur storage building in to a residential loft space.
Get Adobe Flash Player to see this content.

Chapters from this episode

Clip Transcript For:

Loft Conversion Plans

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Let's talk a little bit about this particular building. How big is it. The feeling is slightly under 60000 square Newton. How about 45000 square feet of living area of usable spend usable space for the fifteen -- candidates yeah staircase I think that's which reason in the eighteen hours how many units are we getting referring to an extra four per floor. So -- what have you done in here from the builder's perspective so far. Well which we try to maintain as much of the original buildings we can on the modern codes -- you can see we've sand blasted the outside walls of the building your original brick walls were trying to retain the original wood flooring. But all the new top partitions that go in our steel. All the new guts are copper cast iron et cetera right we're trying to meet the existing doing most of fires and right and what about the elevators this -- the original. Commercial holiday isn't -- it well actually these are new doors that are being added again to meet -- safety requirements. These sorts of course of the outside with the original freight elevator doors. And I think we'll leave them intact. Just just to retain the original appeal of the loft type of right -- the flavor of what was here. But in fact this will be a residential access to all the upper miles technically it's a freight elevator but the occasional personal fused to that's as the -- OK and then as part of meeting code requirements I assume you had to put in this new staircase that's over here. True the host and record the building was eliminated actually from the basement to the story. And we've moved quite a bit -- free from the property out into the wood and steel structure but all the terracotta and concrete it would lead to. Yeah has been removed so you can put in a whole new shaft there that's true. And then what's what's towards the back into the building and one more unit back in here there's nothing on the back there."

" So then on the backside of the building you've got to lost one you entered through here and this is the front door and another one. That's right and it's all of this base and -- all that space about a -- repeat lot of."

" Thousand square feet teaching -- what's the deal was always Dorsey. Well originally this from the loading dock on the building and these doors -- the access to the back of the building."

" And they're about ten behind. Wired blasted ratings it. Maybe more than that three feet there's about a twelve by ten foot opening so you can really get a lot of loading and unloading the right -- it's been changed hasn't -- and you know this block in the slab here. Well originally of this -- didn't exist in this event at grade. That's available -- loading dock yeah on the concrete block of that that I would during the nineteen wounded this. Leaving and if you well that."

" Actually supports the rest of the building above us we're the first clue there are seven more floors and because this is -- additionally the entire believe cantilever out over it and that's this edition."

" These are cast iron -- concrete concrete insides and and then when they changed the back into the building like this -- you're saying -- he raised the the the floor level so there's just one. Loading dock entrance vehicles necessary a lot of them. But this gives you an idea what the original design would have been like always open bays right up to the -- exactly. Can we take a look upstairs to the floor. Where these doors -- something else what's the story without all this -- well."

" The other door was for security -- fur coat storage and handle our refrigerator door all occupants written or because spaces were used for refrigeration. Tell us this was added in the thirties the forties -- don't know exactly went and forty's yet. -- what else to be doing Daniel to turn it into a cool well these the whole face was a who was refrigerated actually not never heated as far as we can tell. And also they enclosed all of the windows and three courses of brick."

" So every single opening in the building was pricked up brick but -- biggest and hardest -- so far in this building was to remove those courses of brick so you've done stuff like Stan blasting the terracotta -- which is if you were compared to. Breaking the opening. No that's that's what have been built after a fireproof. Building back around the turn of the century. That's true I mean is very little wood in the building to -- everything is either basic products or concrete yeah and which you've had to do it. Break open. The masonry that was in here right -- The two of them are with the old record was this. It actually the inmates to remove with three courses that yes one thing where you've got a window like this but these windows these enormous. Thermal windows this must've been upbeat job I think in the old days that was probably single glazed would. That right. We're going to be replacing that with a modern. Window reminiscent of the old style what let's talk a minute briefly about the layout you gotta plant yet elegant. What does. What does this unit looked like. See now we're currently staying right here."

" Until we came in they'll became -- the stairs and the old elevator -- we came in through here that's right so what you've got is on the big bathroom area in this corner. In the kitchen area here and then the rest of this is one big loft area. -- square footage. Searching under the -- can prevent -- minimize the adjoining unit age. Is almost 1500 square feet and it you know wandering through the back again passed the bath and kitchen into another big space. So essentially you've cut the building and two big units in the front overlooking the station and two smaller units in the back right that's right."

" Going to pretty ambitious true. -- ambitious project but without the market try and apparently people want to live in this kind of housing."

 [-]


More Videos »Related Videos

Restoring the Guest Cottage
Restoring the Guest Cottage

Bob checks progress in the basement and attic of the governor's mansion before going on to the guest cottage where he meets Luis Knuckles and Mike Wescott to review the work on restoring the guest cottage. They end the tour with a discussion of handling lead paint.

Restoration and Preservation of an Old Brick Home
Restoration and Preservation of an Old Brick Home

Bob visits the Sumner Mansion with UVM professor Tom Visser to learn more about the proper restoration and preservation procedures for an antique brick home. The original early 1800s brick has been sandblasted - removing the outside fire skin of the brick to reveal the soft inner core - leaving the brick permanently damaged. The only option now it to re-point it up and re-paint it. Care should be taken with masonry sealers as they can often trap moisture in the wall and lead to accelerate spalling of the bricks. If you have paint on old brick walls, your best option is to use a commercial paint remover such as a caustic soda, a Peel-Away type product, or even a solvent-based stripper. As for repairing the mortar, very often people patch and re-point using a Portland Cement mortar. This is not a good choice as it stands out like a sore thumb and is too hard for the bricks - putting stress on them and causing them to fail. To select the right mortar to use, loosen a sampling of the original mortar with a mason's chisel, crush it with a geologist's mortar and pestle, and then dissolve the lime binder with household distilled white vinegar. What will settle in the bottom of your jar is the sand from which the mortar was originally made. You can then take the sand to a mason and match its color and texture and make up new lime and sand mortar to match the original.

Rebuild a Wall
Rebuild a Wall

In a restoration project, reusing original brick is a great idea. Water damage and neglect can destroy the mortar in a brick wall. For repairs, reuse your original bricks with new mortar to strengthen and rebuild the wall. Use tinted mortar to match the original foundation. Recycled bricks create a new wall without sacrificing an historic look.

How to Repoint Bricks in a Wall
How to Repoint Bricks in a Wall

It takes only a few tools and some mortar to make an old brick wall look like new.

Related Products & Services Showrooms

Prefinished Hardwood Floors
Prefinished Hardwood Floors

…radiant American Cherry flooring matches perfectly the leather furniture in this living room. Bellawood offers over 120 wood flooring varieties, including different wood species, grades, widths, cuts, and thicknesses. We have our own manufacturing facilities…

Hardwood Flooring for Less
Hardwood Flooring for Less

…Bolivian Rosewood flooring from Bellawood gives this family room a warm glow. Enjoy the durability and ease of living with wood flooring from Lumber Liquidators. See this product on Home Again! Bellawood Hardwood Flooring Installation Season…

More Content »More Content

Pergo Wood Flooring
Pergo Wood Flooring

Pergo Original and newly introduced Pergo Select consist of planks measuring approximately 47 inches long and 8 inches wide. The planks are glued together to form a "floating floor," which can be laid directly over almost any subfloor.

Concrete, Block and Slab Foundations
Concrete, Block and Slab Foundations

Concrete, Block, and Slab Foundations A slab…
…concrete layer has already set. Concrete, Block, and Slab Foundations A block…
…the holes or cells and filled with concrete. Block walls can also be used to form stem…

Fixing Wood Flooring
Fixing Wood Flooring

Wood flooring can range from 3/16 to 3/4 inch in height. Periodically clean wood flooring with a product made for the type of finish…
…stained, oiled, or polyurethane. Wood flooring comes in solid and laminate versions…

Wood Flooring Installation
Wood Flooring Installation

Next, Howard Brickman explains different methods of flooring installation before beginning a gluing and nailing process in the kitchen.

Browse Topics

Click on a letter to browse content by topic alphabetically.



About  | FAQ  | Contact  | Sitemap  | Privacy Policy  | Terms of Use  | Help

© BobVila.com 2009