Experience with renovating old building condominiums

Exactly your questions are also the ones we ask ourselves: How do we determine whether there is lime, gypsum, or cement plaster under the wallpaper? How do you check that?

Plans provide more clues than a layperson imagines. I expect that the walls are not as homogeneously "uniformly old" as their plaster might suggest. If no one before you was interested in the plaster, it can certainly be "patchy" and follow only the single requirement of being ready for wallpapering.

Year of construction approx. 1905, but not a tenement with a bathroom on half a floor, rather a three-family house and even back then each apartment had its own bathroom. I suspect the building was constructed for somewhat better-off civil servants or the like.

Then I have to ;-) quote Albert Borland again: "I don't believe that, Tim." Back then, those would have had to be ministerial officials of Her Majesty. An ordinary district court director or senior school counselor would still fetch his bathwater at the crank fountain in the street.

Hello everyone,

a small update and new questions derived from it:

Unfortunately, the old terrazzo floor is not in the kitchen.
The floor in the kitchen is, as far as we can judge and after consultation with the previous owner, constructed as follows, from top to bottom:

[*]Simply laid a thin layer of vinyl,
[*]Also simply laid a relatively thick layer (approx. 5-7mm) of an unknown material to me (cork? vinyl?)
[*]Beneath this layer lies the old wooden plank floor
[*]The original wooden beam ceiling including the original sand and straw filling

We are currently quite unsure how to proceed. Our thoughts with a request for input:
a) We do not like the top vinyl layer and definitely want it removed.
b) We could imagine sanding and oiling the original wooden planks. Visually, we would like that. However, we worry about the "tightness" of the floor. What if more water spills over from a pot? Wouldn't it then seep through the planks and the old filling directly into the ceiling of the apartment below us?
c) Is there a cost-effective method to obtain a stable surface for laying tiles? Or do we have to give up this idea?
d) If tiling is not a reasonable option, do you have any good ideas? Click vinyl on OSB boards?

As always, a big thank you!

Also simply laid out a relatively thick layer (approx. 5-7mm) of a material unknown to me (cork? vinyl?)

I rather suspect linoleum; moderately confusable with vinyl, even less so with cork.

I suspect rather linoleum; somewhat easily confused with vinyl, even less so with cork.

Thank you for the feedback!

Is there any further feedback regarding my questions about the floor?

b) We could imagine sanding and oiling the original wooden floorboards. That would appeal to us visually. However, we are concerned about the "tightness" of the floor. What if a bit more water spills from the pot? Wouldn't it then seep through the floorboards and the old filling directly into the ceiling of the apartment below us? c) Is there a cost-effective method to obtain a stable surface for laying tiles? Or do we have to abandon this idea?

ad b): The water thing is a problem. But not if "the pot just overflows" on you. It takes larger amounts, which you rarely spill in the kitchen. And even if the paint bucket tips over, it’s not a huge drama. The neighbor below you will then have brown spots on the ceiling – let it dry and paint over twice. Then you won’t see anything anymore, I speak from experience! We even did this in the bathroom, reviving the old herringbone parquet that was revealed during the renovation under the tiles and double chipboard panels. which brings us to c): In our bathroom, as mentioned, double chipboard panels were laid (just screwed into the parquet with Spax screws). On top of that, tile adhesive and tiles. So it works – but in your kitchen, I would definitely remove the floorboards, sand, and oil them.

ad b):
So it works - but I would definitely take out the floorboards in your kitchen, sand and oil them.

Thank you very much for the quick and detailed reply!

Of course, we want to avoid exactly those brown stains. They only cause trouble in the community of owners.

Did you not have any problems with broken tiles then? The wooden floor does expand a bit, despite the chipboard, right?

And for better understanding: What exactly do you mean by "take out the floorboards"?
Removing the old floorboards in the sense of taking them out? Or "getting the best out of the floorboards"?

Thanks!