Step Up to Greatness (Weeks 4-5)

Construction came to a halt when last week we hit (literally) an unanticipated steel beam in the subflooring. This surprise discovery had implications for our plumbing which had us a tad concerned: we might have to have a Step Up.

What's the big deal with a step? Well, the bottom line is: we don't like them. Not generally speaking--just as it applies to our future home. The vision we have for our apartment is of a big loft space where people can glide easily from one room to the next. Step free. Stairs, in our minds, represented a disruption to our nice expanses of floor, a potential obstacle that that some one could trip on, and just a general zit on our clean design.



The steel pipe however, mean that we had to rethinking the plumbing as it could now, not be laid in the floor. Steps was one option, but there were others...we explored them with gusto. We got very excited when ur downstairs neighbors graciously agreed to let us drop plumbing into their celing. But our coop board was less enthusiatic about that plan. And when we found out from the plumber the cost of doing this, we reconsidered. The Step Up plan looked to be our best bet.



And so this week, the steps went in. There are three of them and...we love them! They are very minimal step--only 4 inches high. They are in very natural places and, counter to our steps=zits theory of two weeks ago, they actually enhance the design, creating a nice threshold to the back area of the apartment.

Disaster averted. For now.

Here's our step up and the platform. (We're now considering making the whole back area a dance studio.)



(Just kidding about the dance studio.)