The main problem of apartments in old Soviet houses is, of course, the lack of space. This is especially true for bathrooms. A little to expand the bathroom in some typical old houses is possible by dismantling the plumbing. To remove this, in most cases unnecessary, design, if desired, of course, you can do it yourself.
What is santekhkabin
It's no secret that in Soviet times, the main emphasis in our country was not on the comfort of housing, but on the speed of construction of houses. Sanitary ware cabins in those years were also used to reduce the construction time of multi-storey residential buildings. In fact, such designs are a large box with a washbasin, a toilet bowl and a bathtub mounted in it already at the enterprise. When using plumbing, builders simply no longer need to distribute plumbing to apartments and waste time installing it. Such boxes were simply delivered to the construction site with special equipment and lifted into the bathrooms through a faucet.
Prior to 1998, plumbing booths were made from asbestos cement, for example, in the form of Aceid planks. Later, reinforced gypsum concrete began to be used to assemble such boxes. In any case, the base for cabins in Soviet times was poured using cement mortar.
Demolition pros
Some apartment owners, of course, doubt whether it is necessary to dismantle the plumbing in an old panel house. Perform this operation, experts in the overhaul of the apartment are advised necessarily. This procedure actually has many advantages.
The main advantage of dismantling the plumbing in the house, of course, is the expansion of the bathroom. Such boxes were installed in Soviet times in such a way that between their walls and the panels of the high-rise building there was a space of 10-15 cm. That is, after removing the plumbing, the length and width of the bathroom can increase to 30 cm. Also, demolition of such a design will make the bathroom more high ceilings (up to 20 cm).
The space between the plumbing and the walls of the bathroom in the past has traditionally been clogged with mineral wool. Due to the increased humidity, such material, unfortunately, acquires a not-so-pleasant smell of mustiness and “old age”. So by dismantling the plumbing you can make the air in the apartment cleaner.
Another reason why owners of old houses prefer to demolish such structures is their not too smooth geometry. Bathtubs with sanitary ware look out-of-date, among other things, also because the walls in them are located at any angle, but not at 90 degrees.
Asbestos structures installed in apartments before 1998, experts advise to demolish necessarily. The fact is that this material is very harmful to human health. Dust from the walls of a plumbing made with asbestos can even cause cancer.
Nuances of dismantling: alignment
Demolition of plumbing, therefore, has many advantages. However, according to housing law, this procedure is considered a redevelopment. That is, before dismantling the plumbing with your own hands, the owner of the apartment should definitely contact the BTI to obtain an appropriate permit.
In this case, the owner of the apartment will most likely be able to go through the approval process quickly and without any problems. After all, the demolition of the plumbing does not imply a violation of any supporting structures of the building or transfer of engineering systems.
Also, the owner of the apartment, who decided to dismantle the old asbestos box, should definitely warn the neighbors about the upcoming work. The fact is that the demolition of such a design is a very noisy procedure. In Moscow, for example, it can only be performed from nine in the morning until seven in the evening with a break for a quiet hour from one to three.
What else needs to be done
A lot of construction waste is generated during the dismantling of the plumbing. To take out such a quantity of concrete, asbestos and waste of other materials just in the trash in the yard and, moreover, it is impossible to fill the tanks with their residues. Before starting the dismantling of the cabin, you should definitely call the company involved in the removal and disposal of waste, and agree on vehicles - a truck and a loader. Of course, the owner of the apartment will have to pay separately for the removal of construction waste.
Demolition in stages
Actually, the dismantling of a sanitary cabin from acide or gypsum concrete is a laborious operation, but technologically not too complicated. Before the demolition of such a box in the bathroom, of course, you need to close the general valves for supplying hot and cold water to the apartment. Also in the bathroom should be dismantled and removed from it all the plumbing and furniture.
Dismantling of sanitary ware in a panel house is usually carried out in several stages:
- clean tiles from the walls, ceiling and floor of the bathroom using a punch and a chisel;
- dismantle the asbestos-cement or gypsum-cement sheets of the ceiling of the plumbing using a hammer or grinder;
- dismantle the walls of the structure using the same tool;
- dismantle the steel frame of the plumbing;
- destroy the concrete base of the box.
Features of dismantling: expert advice
The walls, ceiling and frame of the plumbing in the bathrooms of prefabricated houses are usually quite simple to disassemble. To dismantle asbestos sheets, experts in such buildings recommend using a hammer or grinder. Work with a sledgehammer in a panel house, of course, is not worth it. With careless work with such a tool, repairs may have to be done to neighbors from adjacent apartments.
The most difficult procedure during demolition is the dismantling of the floor of the plumbing. Judging by the reviews of the owners of apartments, in Soviet times, the foundations of such boxes were made very high quality. You can try to break the floor of the sanitary ware during its dismantling, of course, with a puncher. But, most likely, such a tool simply "will not take." Therefore, experts recommend that apartment owners who decide to demolish an asbestos box in the bathroom on their own should also stock up on crowbars. With such a tool, you first need to tear the plate from the frame. Then with a crowbar you just need to beat off the small pieces of the slab in stages.
Final step
After the cabin is dismantled, you can proceed directly to the arrangement of the expanded bathroom. If the union of the toilet and the bathroom was not agreed in the BTI, after demolition of the box in the bathroom, you may have to erect a new partition. For its construction, experts advise using lightweight foam blocks. The partition from such a material will turn out to be quite strong and durable, and at the same time it will not overload the floor slab of the house.