Bathroom Transformation

The owner of this old house in Fitler Square was a very old woman who was tired of her bathroom falling apart.  She had the tile redone a few years ago, then the wallpaper in the bathroom started to peel off.  This is what it looked like when we arrived.

It had simply been too long since anything was done.  The paper was falling off the ceiling and the walls.  There was no ventilation in the bathroom, and everything was crumbling.  The plaster wall in the shower was also crumbling.  

After stripping the wallpaper, replacing some plaster with moisture resistant drywall, skim coating the rest of the ceiling & walls, and painting the entire thing, it looked wonderful.  The room was really transformed into something nice.

The homeowner was more than delighted.  She even sent me a letter stating that she had trouble believing it was her own house.

Closet Construction

We finished this project a few weeks ago, but I am just getting to posting it here.  It is another unusual job or us, which is why I took it.  This was a small South Philadelphia home that had undergone many transformations of the years.  Our task was to move a wall in the hallway to square it off, close off a small built-in closet, and construct a new closet.

As you can see below, the hallway was made extremely narrow when someone angled the wall to make space for a closet inside the middle bedroom.  Then then door was moved to the middle of the hall where the handrail was.  

Built-in closet

Hallway

We went to work removing the hallway wall and immediately discovered a problem.  There were structural beams in the wall preventing us from going according to plan.  The door was supposed to stay in the same space, but we could not leave it there.  It had to move to it's original location, which was made into the closet, because the studs could not move.   After a brief conversation with the client, she was delighted to move it and have a longer wall inside the room.  The door would also no longer be awkwardly located in the center of the hall.

Inside the room

Hallway

So, we closed off the wall and moved the door.

Inside the room

Hallway

There are still some odd angles and curves in the walls, but that is the result of a 150 year old house.  Regardless, the homeowners were very happy with the necessary changes and the new closet.


The 2nd project in this house was in the same room.  Since we removed the small closet in the corner, the homeowners wanted a real closet with doors.  So, we constructed one.  They wanted maximum access to the inside of the closet (minimal space blocked by the doors) and an area to the side of it where they may be able to put a dresser, desk, or open shelves.  They got exactly what they wanted.

Back wall of room

New closet on back wall