Comprehensive reform in Vitoria. Basque country capital city. Between the neighborhoods of Arana and Santiago

The apartment is located in a popular neighborhood in the center of Vitoria, Basque Country, close to the old Cathedral and the old bus station.

The buyer had doubts as to whether or not he should acquire the property given the terrible condition of the apartment. It is a building of more than sixty years, whose construction dates from the fifties. Although it is a concrete built structure (and the elevator is also installed since the zero level) the inside state was deplorable: "economic" coal kitchen, original doors and floor, lead drains, 125 volt electrical installation adapted... comprehensive refurbishing is required.

The buyer was encouraged by our budget, made in advance, before taking the last step to buy, without any commitment, adjusted in price, to his needs and to reality. So he, finally, made the decision to buy. Both, the purchase price of the apartment finally negotiated by the client and our tight budget made possible to sign the purchase document. The result was the begining of an exciting project.

Demolition.

We protect the lift and the entry door to the building. We also regularly sweep and clean the common areas. We want to avoid inconvenience to other neighbours who may in turn inconvenience the owner.

Redistribution of the apartment: originally there are three bedrooms, kitchen, living room and bathroom distributed in not too many square meters. Therefore, taking into account some of our proposals and the real needs of the client, the owner decides to assign one of the rooms in favor of expanding one of the rooms and the only bathroom. So we have to break down some walls and build others.

The new distribution is made with bricks. We could have done it with plasterboard, but the customer prefers the traditional material.

Once the distribution is defined, we focus on plumbing and electricity.

Plumbing.

We installed a new gas heater, with new copper or multilayer pipes embedded in the walls. We also install new lacquered aluminum radiators.

Electricity.

The existing electrical installation is obsolete and dangerous because it does not comply with current regulations.

Regarding the new electrical installation, We start with the installation of new corrugated tube throughout the apartment (an independent and direct line for each service, be it this lighting, general plugs, oven, washing machine, etc.), embedded by the walls and hidden in the false ceiling.

We never use old conductions (sometimes in lead material) because we have neither guarantees of their condition or thickness, nor that the electrical wire can be torn, ripped or damaged when inserted through the old tubes.

Subsequently we introduce the new electrical wire, with different sections depending on its destination (lighting, oven, etc.).

Regarding the electrical panel, we install a new one with a differential circuit breaker (to protect people’s life) and its independent magneto-thermic circuit breakers(to protect electrical installation and household appliances) for each service, according to regulations.

Masonry.

In bathrooms and kitchen, we gave the customer freedom (as we always do) to buy the tile and bathroom supplies (shower tray, bath screen, lavabo, wc, etc.) at the distributor that he preferred, so he could benefit from advantageous discounts. We take care of the haul (transportation to the house) and its subsequent installation. We make a completely new plumbing installation. In buildings of this age it is very common for the sanitary supply pipes been rusted and completely corrupted. In addition, many times, the drains are lead and/or fibrocement (containing asbestos) made. We replace them and install copper pipes for sanitary supply and PVC for the drains.

Carpentry.

We have installed an AC-5 laminated wooden floor, chosen by the customer. Before, we installed underneath the so-called "blanket", a thermal and acoustic insulation.

We have also installed the doors and the new pre-frames to adapt to the measurements of modern doors were installed.

False ceiling.

It is our recommendation in all works of refurbishing, comprehensive or partial, (provided the inside height of the ceiling allows us) install a false plasterboard ceiling. And this due to two reasons: first, it gives us absolute freedom when designing the lighting with embedded spotlights (combining or not with lamps and wall lamps); Secondly, In addition to the aesthetic factor, there are the thermal and acoustic factors: we introduce in the space between the plasterboard and the ceiling "rock wool" or other similar materials (depending on the insulation needs of each case) as a thermal and acoustic insulation, which gives to the apartment a plus of comfort.

Windows.

The windows, wooden made and original of the apartment, presented a pitiful state. We changed them by modern PVC windows (inner white color and wood color on the outside).

As said, we have also changed the windows throughout the apartment. We have installed PVC windows of the SCHÜCO leading brand with 5 insulating chambers, galvanized steel reinforcements and double - glazed. Turn and Tilt wigwag system, hinges, ironworks and fittings Roto Frank of the highest quality that guarantee its perfect operation for decades with a very high degree of comfort.

To reduce the heat input from the outside we have installed glazing with low emissivity treatment (glass treated with silver oxide) that reduce up to 80% the amount of heat (infrared rays) that enters the apartment. This treatment blocks the infrared radiations, that are the ones that transport the energy of sunlight, without limiting the amount or tonality of light that enters.

In addition we used double-glazed with ARGON gas, instead of air in the sealed chamber among the two glass sheets, in order to obtain a noticeable decrease in the μ coefficient. The explanation is simple physics: the transmission of cold - heat from one glass sheet to another is produced by the internal currents that exist in the sealed chamber among glazings. Argon is a heavier gas than air and, therefore, the time required to heat up or cool down, currents and termal transmittance will be lower. The result is that we get a coefficient μ significantly lower.

Painting.

The apartment featured multi-layered mixture of gotelé, wallpaper, paint upon wallpaper, etc. In addition, the walls were curved, with concavities and convexities, and misaligned.

For decades, the gotelé has been used to conceal the finishing imperfections. But the current style of clean walls and straight lines requires a perfect finish.

We decided to remove the old coats of painting, apply plaster on the walls to cover imperfections and cracks, polish and smooth them in order to obtain a completely homogeneous surface. Previously, we have plastered all the gaskets of the plasterboards and the ceiling of the apartment, sanding everything afterwards. To carry out this work we have used an electric device called the giraffe.

And then we apply a primer. Afterwards, we paint all the walls and ceilings with three mate white painting coats to achieve a perfect finish.

When choosing the color of the paint we offered the customer a table of colors - from which two or three were chosen - and a sample was applied on the wall so that the customer got a plausible idea of the colors and made the final choice.

End of work.

Finally we deliver the apartment to the client completely clean. Ready for start living.

The customer was completely satisfied with the final result, the fulfillment of the promised deadlines and the treatment received by our company.