Projects › Brooklyn › 353 4th Avenue
Completed project · Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY
A kitchen renovation that set out to keep everything that still worked: all four appliances, the floor, and every fixture position. It took seven weeks of correspondence with the building to establish what a job like that is still required to replace, and the answer was more than anyone expected.
Job record
- Location
- Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY 11215
- Building
- 353 4th Avenue
- Scope
- Kitchen renovation, cabinets, counters, backsplash and painting
- Kept
- Refrigerator, range, microwave, dishwasher and the existing wood floor
- Approval
- Condominium board approval, March 2022
- Completed
- 2022
A cosmetic kitchen, and why a building may disagree
The scope of work for this apartment is unusually short, and the reason is a list headed Keeping: refrigerator, range, microwave, dishwasher, and the existing wood floor. Everything plumbed or wired stays where it is. The sink, the dishwasher, the range and the faucet all go back in their existing locations. The kitchen floor is kept. The light switch and the outlet are replaced in position. What actually changes is the cabinets, the counters, the backsplash, the under-cabinet lighting, the ceiling fixture and the paint.
That was put to the managing agent in January 2022 as a cosmetic kitchen project, on the basis that no pipes were being moved and no wires run, and therefore no permits were needed. The reply set out the building’s own precedent: in other kitchen alterations here, all branch piping had been required to be replaced back to the risers, and the renovated kitchen area fully waterproofed.
Waterproofing a kitchen floor means taking the floor up. Keeping the floor and waterproofing it are mutually exclusive, and the request to keep it went to the board as a question in its own right.
Seven weeks of correspondence, in order
What follows is the actual sequence, because the shape of it is more useful than any summary. Every date is from the email record in the job file.
12 January — the opening request
MyHome sends the scope of work and asks for the alteration agreement and the insurance requirements. The managing agent replies the same day: the building has no formalised alteration agreement, the scope is going to the building’s architect, and meanwhile they need certificates of insurance, licences, any permits, the expected duration of the job, and confirmation that a water shut-down will be needed.
18–20 January — the submission
Insurance requirements arrive. MyHome submits the scope, the anticipated time frame, the trade licences and vaccination certificates for every worker, with the position stated plainly: this is a cosmetic kitchen project, no pipes are being touched and no wires run, so permits should not be required, and all appliances will remain in place.
20 January — the building’s precedent
The agent answers within two hours. Other kitchen alterations in this building have been required to replace all branch piping back to the risers and to waterproof the kitchen area completely. Keeping the existing floor would prevent the waterproofing being installed, so the board will have to rule on it. If the answer is no, a set of floor plans showing waterproofing details and saddle locations will be needed. In either case: an LAA filing for the plumbing, an electrical permit, and a written statement on whether the electrical load increases.
27 January — a conditional yes on the floor
The board votes that the existing floor can remain, subject to the other conditions, but wants verification that waterproofing was installed when that floor was laid. MyHome replies the same day that the floor was changed in 2010 and is not original, and sends a photograph.
11 February — nobody has the records
The agent has no records from 2010, having taken over management of the building in 2018. Their conclusion is practical: a section of floor will have to be lifted during demolition to find out. The remaining conditions are restated — confirm the branch piping replacement, file the LAA and the electrical permit, and state the electrical load.
16 February — confirmed, point by point
MyHome answers each condition in the agent’s own wording: the branch piping will be replaced, an LAA and an electrical permit will be filed, there is no increase in electrical load, and a section will be lifted at demolition to confirm the waterproofing.
2 March — approval, with a contingency
The board approves the work per the architect’s latest review, with two additions. If waterproofing is found to be missing or compromised once the floor is opened, the flooring must be replaced and waterproofing installed. And an apartment shut-off valve is to be installed along with the branch line replacement.
Seven weeks, from a request for paperwork to an approval, on a job whose visible output is cabinets and a countertop.
What the building added to a cabinet job
The plumbing that came out of that correspondence is worth setting against the original position of no pipes being touched. A licensed master plumber’s proposal covers new shut-off valves, check valves and water hammer arrestors, and new hot, cold, waste and vent lines from the fixtures’ existing connections, serving the kitchen sink, the dishwasher and the gas range. Plumbing permits were pulled, inspections performed, and the work signed off with the Department of Buildings.
None of that is visible in a photograph. All of it is behind the cabinets in the pictures below, and all of it was added between the first email and the last.
The part that was actually the design
With the layout fixed by what was staying, the work the eye sees is material. White shaker wall and base cabinets on a plywood substrate, with crown and baseboard molding. Black granite counters templated to the run. A backsplash of cut stone hexagons, each one carrying its own grain, which is what stops a single-colour kitchen from reading flat. Under-cabinet lighting on both runs, two new GFCI outlets in the existing positions, and a new ceiling fixture on the existing point.
Materials and finishes
Kept in place
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Refrigerator | Existing, retained |
| Range | Existing, retained and reconnected to the gas line |
| Microwave | Existing, retained |
| Dishwasher | Existing, retained and reconnected |
| Kitchen floor | Existing wood floor, laid in 2010, retained by board approval |
| Sink position | Existing corner location |
Cabinets and surfaces
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Cabinets | White shaker wall and base cabinets on a plywood substrate |
| Molding | Crown and baseboard molding to the cabinet runs |
| Countertops | Black granite, templated to the run and reinforced at the cabinet tops |
| Backsplash | Cut stone hexagonal mosaic, grouted |
| Sink and faucet | New undermount sink, faucet, spout and drain in the existing location |
Electrical
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Outlets | Two GFCI outlets replacing the existing outlets in position |
| Switch | New light switch in the existing position |
| Ceiling light | New fixture on the existing point |
| Under-cabinet lighting | Installed to both runs of the kitchen |
| Load | No increase; confirmed in writing to the managing agent |
Plumbing added by the building
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Branch lines | Hot, cold, waste and vent replaced from the fixtures back toward the risers |
| Valves | New shut-offs and check valves, plus an apartment shut-off valve |
| Water hammer arrestors | Installed on hot and cold |
| Fixtures served | Kitchen sink, dishwasher and gas range on the existing roughing |
| Filings | LAA plumbing filing and an electrical permit, with inspections and DOB sign-off |
Finishing
| Element | Specification |
|---|---|
| Protection | Hallways and common areas prepared, vents and radiator connections taped, apartment plastic-sheeted |
| Painting | Kitchen work area, primer and two coats, no skim coating |
Dates and conditions are taken from the email record between MyHome and the building’s managing agent held in the job file. Materials are from the signed scope of work and the plumbing proposal.
The result
More MyHome projects in Brooklyn and Manhattan
Questions this project answers
Can I renovate my kitchen without moving the plumbing or replacing the appliances?
Yes, and this job is the clearest example of it. The scope carries a list headed Keeping: refrigerator, range, microwave, dishwasher and the existing wood floor. The sink, dishwasher, range and faucet all went back in their existing locations, the outlets and switch were replaced in position, and the ceiling fixture went back on the existing point. What changed was the cabinets, the counters, the backsplash, the under-cabinet lighting and the paint. Keeping working appliances and a sound floor is the single largest saving available in a kitchen renovation, because it is what keeps the job out of the floor and out of the walls.
If my renovation is only cosmetic, do I still need permits and board approval?
Very often yes, and the building decides that, not you. MyHome put this job to the managing agent as a cosmetic kitchen project needing no permits. The building’s answer was that other kitchen alterations there had been required to replace all branch piping back to the risers and to waterproof the kitchen floor, and that an LAA plumbing filing, an electrical permit and a written statement on electrical load would be needed regardless. The finished job included new hot, cold, waste and vent branch lines, new valves and water hammer arrestors, permits and a DOB sign-off. Ask the building what its precedent is before you price the work, because the precedent is what you will be held to.
How long does condominium board approval take for a kitchen renovation?
Seven weeks on this project, from the first email on 12 January 2022 to approval on 2 March 2022, and none of that time was wasted. It went: request for paperwork, insurance requirements issued, submission of scope and licences, the building setting out its precedent, a board vote on keeping the floor, a four-week gap while the agent searched for records that turned out not to exist, a point-by-point written confirmation of every condition, and then approval. Build that into your schedule as real time before demolition, not as an administrative formality that runs alongside the design.
Can I keep my existing floor in a kitchen renovation if the building wants waterproofing?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking rather than assuming. Waterproofing a kitchen floor requires taking the floor up, so keeping the floor and waterproofing it cannot both happen. Here the board voted that the existing floor could remain, on the condition that it could be verified as having been waterproofed when it was laid in 2010. When no records from 2010 could be found, the practical answer was to lift a section during demolition and look, with a standing condition that if the waterproofing was missing or compromised, the floor would have to come out and be done properly. That is a reasonable way to resolve it, and it is worth proposing if you meet the same wall.
What is a stone hexagonal backsplash, and does it date?
It is a mosaic of hexagonal tiles cut from stone rather than moulded in ceramic, supplied on mesh sheets and grouted like any tile. The reason to use it in a kitchen of white cabinets and black counters is that stone carries its own grain and colour variation, so the backsplash is the one surface in the room with movement in it. That variation is also what makes it more forgiving than a flat-colour tile: marks and shadows read as part of the material. Sealing matters, since stone is porous in a way that glazed ceramic is not.
