Kitchen & Bath Business - February/March 2016 - 24

Solutions

Condo Crises

team encountered a number of issues when renovating the kitchen and bath in this space.

Obtaining permits, competing for
parking spaces and removing asbestos
d i d n ' t h i n d e r t h i s p r o j e c t 's s u c c e s s

BY CHELSIE BUTLER

A CONDO ON THE TOP FLOOR of an Atlanta midrise recently received a much-needed makeover -
specifically, the kitchen and master bath. Located
in a property built in the 70s, the unit was laid
out as a "flyover," which meant that it had views
from both sides of the building. Unfortunately, the
original kitchen was located behind the laundry
room with absolutely no view of the skyline.
According to Jennifer D. Reed, CMKBD, a
remodeling consultant with Atlanta-based MOSAIC Group, the main goal of the renovation was
to maximize the view by removing as many walls
as possible and bringing the kitchen into the living
space, which features a whole wall of windows.
"My client wanted to be able to cook and see
the skyline," she added.
He was highly involved in making selections
with Reed, who said that aesthetically he wanted
a more traditional look with warm woods, which
made sense with his woodworking background.
"His partner is very artistic and creative as well
but liked more modern elements, so they needed
to decide on a style they could blend," she explained. "They did a phenomenal job."
But before the project was complete, the design

ABOVE Lighting in this condo

was limited to can lights where
necessary, as the homeowner
did not like overhead lighting
and preferred lamps. Because
the ceilings were concrete,
can lights were only possible in
certain areas.

RIGHT The kitchen cabinets
feature a maple Shaker door
with white paint to make the
space feel light and airy and
not closed off.
FAR RIGHT, TOP The team took

out the mirrored closet doors
and added built-in custom
closets with shoe racks and
shelving. They added function
by removing all of the full-height
closets. The bathroom tile is
neutral to allow the rich stone
countertops to shine.

ASBESTOS REMOVAL

According to Reed, asbestos most often
shows up in insulation, spray foam around
pipes, popcorn ceilings and flooring. It is not
harmful unless the fibers are disturbed, and it can
be left in place in areas where there is no work
being done.
"This condo unit had asbestos present in the
popcorn ceiling material that coated the concrete
ceilings, as well as in the spray foam insulation
around the pipes," she explained. "Because the
plumbing pipes could not be moved, and because
they would be covered up and left undisturbed
behind the walls, the asbestos was left in place, but
the owner had it abated from the ceilings before
the renovation began."

KEEPING UP/KNOCKING DOWN WALLS

The design team could not remove the
wall in the former 5-ft. by 8-ft. kitchen
area to open it up and make it larger, so they
moved the laundry room to that space and repositioned the new kitchen so that it could maximize
the city views.
"High rises are built of concrete and steel,so some
walls couldn't be moved because of mechanicals,"
explained Reed. "In high rises, most ducting 
and plumbing is shared from floor to floor.

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Kitchen & Bath Business - February/March 2016

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