Last week, we took a look at the basement and bedrooms of the East Rockaway house we've been working on for the last two months. Clearing out the basement was more like an archaeological dig than a gutting, and the upstairs, as evidenced by the bedrooms, was not much better. Today, we're looking at the kitchen and bathroom which were perhaps even worse than the bedrooms when we arrived.
Would you take a look at that ceiling? The upstairs bathroom sits right on top of the downstairs kitchen and the cement from the upstairs has been weighing down on the wooden joists that are, as you can see, rotted almost entirely through. We've been replacing the joists before we completely redo the ceiling. You'll also see the rusty, rotted aftermath of removing the aged oven and cabinets. We're currently putting in new cabinets, appliances and a beautiful new sink, along with some stylish countertops that the client picked out.
Speaking of rotting away: the bathroom floors are getting a total overhaul, due largely to the fact that walking on the current floor makes every trip to the bathroom like that scene in any adventure movie when the hero is walking across a rickety rope bridge. But, as you can see, the floors are certainly not the only trouble here. The fixtures are way overdue for replacement and the pipes needed to be replaced with PVC. Patch-up and paint work is getting underway, after some extensive retiling and grouting. We also took out the old toilet and but a completely new unit in, seeing as I wouldn't be surprised if alligators swam out of the current one. I'll post pictures of the revamped place once we've completed; prepare to be wowed.