MULTI-FAMILY APARTMENT HOUSE RECONSTRUCTION

In May of 2010 the third floor of a four-family apartment house was completely destroyed by fire as a result of a lit cigarette that was thrown into the gutter with dry leaves. The fire also damage part of the second floor apartment and left the entire structure inhabitable. Shortly after the fire the owners were referred to ProCAD. Within a week ProCAD was on site taking field measurements of the existing conditions in order to start the design of the reconstruction.

ProCAD was responsible for providing contract documents for the reconstruction of the third floor apartment, egress stairs, and partial remodeling of the first and second floor apartments. During the design process ProCAD worked with the owner through the design while educating the owner at the same time.

The third floor apartment is directly under the roof. As such, space planning was critical to provide the three to four bedrooms required by the owner, as well as meeting code requirements for minimal rooms sizes and egress requirements. The new roof is constructed with ridge beams which allow the owner flexibility with the floor layout. There are no load bearing walls inside the apartment, only the exterior walls upon which the roof rafters are supported.

The first and second floor apartments (identical floor plans) were partially re-designed to open up the two rooms on the north side. A non-loadbearing wall was removed to provide a large multi-use room that will contain the new kitchen and living room area. A peninsula counter top with ample cabinet space underneath will be built. The counter top will allow bar stools to be utilized for eating and working.

The design of this project took two months to complete. The local building and fire marshal reviewed the plans with only one comment that was easily addressed by ProCAD. Construction will start in September 2010 and is planned for completion in late 2010.

Download PDF of Plans 4.62MB