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Loft Conversion > Episode 4: Elevating the Kitchen and Bedroom

Fire Codes and Installing Fireproofing Material

Project: Loft Conversion, Episode 4, Part 3

Bob gets a progress report on the common areas in the building from the developer, Neal Gold. In the project unit (on the sixth floor), Bob Ryley and the carpentry crew are building a specially designed platform that will dramatically raise the kitchen and bedroom areas above floor level. Also, local realtor Kim Zekis gives Bob a tour of her elegantly finished loft.

Part 1: Progress Report on the Loft Common Areas
Part 2: Loft Living Discussed
Part 3: Fire Codes and Installing Fireproofing Material: Bob and carpenter Bob Ryley review the interior construction, which must meet the requirements of stringent fire codes. While the building is predominantly concrete and steel, wood joists are used to create the raised floor.

The crew is using Southern Yellow Pine, less combustible than its standard counterpart, as its open grain allows it to accept pressure treatment better than other woods.

Also, Chuck (from Essex Construction) joins Bob and Ryley to discuss the construction. Chuck remarks that, because the joists vary in length, they must be cut on-site to come out even.

The crew installs plywood over the joists with panel adhesive and nails. The fireproof plywood does not have a tongue-and-groove edge, so a second layer is put on top of it with staggered seams and panel adhesive to avoid squeaks.

Bob Vila highlights the world of stylish city living by chronicling the conversion of a loft apartment in Boston's Leather District. This unit is getting a top-of-the-line treatment: cutting edge design, custom-made furniture and casework, sleek modern fixtures, and up-to-date appliances.

Also from Loft Conversion

Episode 1 - Loft Conversion Initial Tour
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Description:
Bob takes a walking tour of some of Boston's best-preserved antique commercial buildings in the Leather District with architectural historian Brian Pfeiffer, ultimately winding up at the gracious brick front of the project building on Atlantic Avenue.<br> <br> The developers, Neal and Ron Gold, have gotten started converting this old fur storage building to residential loft space. Architect Greg Rochlin and carpenter Bob Ryley are on-site to consult about the possibilities for this unit.
Episode 2 - Plumbing, Heating, and the "Big Dig"
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Description:
Window installation gets underway in the project apartment, six stories above Atlantic Avenue, after Bob inspects the basement to see how the plumbing and heating installations are coming along. Also, Dan McNichol takes Bob down into the bowels of the earth to see how Boston's famous highway project, the "Big Dig", is progressing.
Episode 3 - Plastering the Loft
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Description:
The plastering crew is hard at work on stilts, while Bob goes on a field trip to Cambridge, where world-renowned landscape architect Martha Schwartz has made a spacious, and imaginative, home and office out of an industrial building on the railroad tracks. Back at our site, the architect and designer have modeled some intriguing ideas for Bob.
Episode 5 - Paint and Plate Glass Windows
Episode 6 - Framing a Wall With Built-In Cabinets
Episode 7 - Installing Plumbing Fixtures
Episode 8 - Installing Stainless Steel Countertops
Episode 9 - Drywall and Plastering Tips
Episode 10 - Installing Track Lighting
Episode 11 - Building a Closet System
Episode 12 - Kitchen Work and Shutters
Episode 13 - Loft Conversion Final Tour

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