Renovation of Existing Property - Our Way to the House

I am also very happy about the contributions. Two years ago, we turned a small settlement house inside out in (almost) the same area in Lower Saxony. Your thread is like a journey into the past!

Now that the tiles and wall are gone, the construction debris container is all the more full:


The only way to remove the mortar from the sand-lime brick walls was a very dusty and very abrasive method for the diamond grinding disc:


But the result is visible:
(17.01.2019)

Next comes a primer:
(28.01.2019)

And a coat with a roller plaster (Knauf EasyPutz Color)
(30.01.2019)
(03.02.2019)

Detail view:


Next door in the laundry room, a bit more work was needed:
(10.02.2019)

Here the Easyputz in white:
(15.02.2019)

The walls are finished, the pipes can come.

PS: I hope I am not overwhelming anyone with the number of pictures; there’s still more to come from what we accomplished in the first 4 months before moving in. The apartment was terminated, so it had to be finished.

Status as of mid-February 2019:
In the sauna room and laundry room, tiles and old pipes were removed, walls sanded down and replastered, old electrical wiring removed.
In the process, interesting things from the predecessors were found. This is the busbar on the ceiling to the three-phase socket of the washing machine. Presumably, the aluminum anchor was live for years.


The damp corner and outer wall to the stairs in the laundry room have not yet been plastered until the moisture problem is resolved.

Core drillings through the concrete ceiling were carried out with an anchored (not so easy) stationary drill. The borrowed 100mm crown was clearly out of balance. My own 65mm crown ran very smoothly by contrast. The drillings in the walls (calcium silicate brick) I did by hand with the 65mm crown (normal Bosch hammer). With an attachment (extraction) on the angle grinder, the walls were worked on with the grinding discs.

Adapters clay pipe->DN90 were applied in the two corners of the downpipes in the laundry room. The old water pipe passage from hallway to laundry room was reused for the power supply.

Next up are the new wastewater pipes:
(17.02.2019)

And the first water pipes are hanging on the wall:
(19.02.2019)

(22.02.2019)

To the right the still unplastered wall area, above are the future heating pipes (the old ones are still in the way, so this is a provisional stop). Below is the temporary garden water connection, since work on the wall cannot continue yet. In the middle, hot/cold for the washbasin and cold for the washing machine.
(24.02.2019)

View into the sauna room; here too, there is initially no space for the heating pipes because the old ones are in the way.


Work continues through the fireplace room, where it initially ends.


I’m slowly needing the basis for "new" electricity. We had a simple task for the electricians: new meter cabinet with fuses, surge protection, grounding/potential equalization, relocating the meter into the new cabinet and connection to the old one while keeping the old installation. Of eight companies contacted with two pictures, only two replied :-( One decline due to lack of capacity and one on-site inspection for an offer. This company was happy about a mini-job. They can always use that if other trades on a construction site cause delays for them. As long as we stay flexible, they can handle it quickly in one day.

Suddenly the day before was here, so the wall where the new meter cabinet should go was quickly prepared. In the fireplace room, on the back of the wall from the old position.
(11.03.2019)
You can clearly see how much a bit of white paint can already make a difference.

At eight o’clock the two electricians arrived, and shortly after the new cabinet was hanging:
(12.03.2019)

After four hours, they finished the wiring. (Materials and labor: €2,800)

The electricians are at home, the cabinet is operational. In the old one, I tidied up and removed everything for things that were no longer there due to the work in the house (instant water heater, washing machine, sauna, stove connection)
(12.03.2019)

Later I was able to further reduce the old fuses, so that a shift to the other side was possible: (11.05.2019)

Documentation!
(13.07.2019)

The only reasonable way from the fuse box to the laundry room and further to the kitchen/bathroom led along the wall in the fireplace room and briefly through the hallway. Only the chimney was in the way there – no problem for the Bosch hammer:
(24.03.2019)

Yes, the power line to the old instant water heater ran through the stove


Cable tray in the hallway, the old water pipe is still in the way to lay a cable duct.
(29.03.2019)

Time to switch the cold water, disconnect old connections. Install backflow preventer, filter/pressure limiter, reconnect old line provisionally (still supplies the guest WC in the entrance). Connect new line in the fireplace room.
(31.03.2019)

Laundry room with new electricity and water taps.


The further work in the basement was limited to replacing the electrical wiring in the sauna room and fireplace room and pulling cables towards the kitchen and bathroom. Within the first four months, we had three loads of junk (comparable amount as in the photo above). One bulky waste collection, two vans full of waste (non-bulky wood etc.). One 7m³ green waste container, 1 van of green waste, and a 7m³ construction debris container.


The water pipes used are PEXa pipes with aluminum cladding and PE sheathing. Here is a cross-section so everyone can get an idea:


Many have asked us why we replaced the pipes first instead of making everything look nice. It can’t be that bad, and iron pipes last longer than 60 years.
Well, here’s why: I don’t want to drink this.

(first kink after the water meter)

If pipes go up from the basement and down from the bathroom, they must be routed through the ground floor. However, the kitchen is in the way there. So far, the pipes have been mortared into the wall. But the recess in the wall would be too small for all the new pipes in one spot. Therefore, they have to be placed in front of the wall towards the hallway. This also allows a door to be installed in the opening to the hallway, which was removed by the previous owners.

The same applies here: the kitchen furniture remains in place for now, the new electrical wiring is surface-mounted and will only be embedded in the wall later with the complete kitchen renovation. The tiles on the wall and floor are glued onto the old ones as in the bathroom. Previous condition:


Kitchen dismantled:
(19.12.2018)

Core drilling done
(29.12.2018)

Tiles and wallpaper partially removed
(16.01.2019)

Laying pipes
(18.02.2019)

Lightweight wall profiles with sliding door system placed in front of the wall
(01.03.2019)

Pipe insulation, drywall paneling, and electrical flush-mounted box, so that new lines do not have to be laid into the basement during the later renovation.
(09.03.2019)