Breaking into Dumbwaiter and Air Shaft to Gain Space (and Venting Issues) - Feedback

I’m interested in feedback, pictures etc. from people who have taken over an inside airshaft and/or dumbwaiter to gain space for a kitchen (or perhaps bathroom).  I’m particularly curious how much extra it cost people to do that and how it impacted their layout.  We have a 3-story brownstone and are adding a kitchen back on the parlor floor and without taking over the airshaft we have a 10-foot wall for pretty much our kitchen counters and appliances (not including island countertop) which is pretty tight, but if we take over the airshaft we gain another foot or two of width and a few feet of depth (basically fridge space).  But it seems like it will cost a pretty penny  and I’m not sure how the kitchen even lays out well if we do it.  We would leave the pipes at the back of the airshaft near the rear wall which also means it’s not like our fridge would be flush against the back wall, so either it will be bumped out OR will face into the kitchen on a bit of an L.  Our alternative would be to use the former dumbwaiter space as a narrow pantry and perhaps build in shelving into the bathroom window where the air shaft is (around the pipes) which would certainly cost a lot less than taking out the ducting (but the ducting does seem like a waste of a lot of space, and outdated). The air shaft and dumbwaiter runs vertically the length of the house and has a relatively huge metal duct in the middle, compared to ducting these days which can be 6”.  We would need to vent the first floor bathroom differently if we remove the current ducting; the parlor floor bathroom venting could be built into the renovated kitchen; and I don’t think the third floor is even vented right now.  Since so many of these old houses had the utility air shaft and dumbwaiter, I’d love to hear how others have solved this design issue.

jeanmarine2

in Brownstoner Renovation 12 years and 1 month ago

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chemosphere | 10 years and 2 months ago

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I thought people might be interested to see our solution to this issue. We have a 1909 2 family row house which had the dumbwaiter shaft adjacent to the kitchen. The dumbwaiter door opened to the hallway. We sealed up the door, broke into the shaft from the kitchen side, built a floor an ceiling for it, and bought a 24″ wide refrigerator which fits perfectly in the opening, and opens to the kitchen. We plan on putting in an over the fridge cabinet for even more storage.

lebort | 10 years and 6 months ago

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I’ve been working this issue out with my building engineer & architect. I’m in an apartment building, so they are requiring me to seal the top & bottom with two-hour fire-rated materials and build a false wall at the back of the shaft, leaving a 4-inch space between that [new wall] and the original wall. They have gone back & forth on whether the dumbwaiter wall is load-bearing (it is not, but I can’t convince the engineer of this–even though others in my building have torn this down), so I am leaving the dumbwaiter side wall intact, breaking though the front and creating cabinet/shelving, etc. inside the shaft. Good luck!

chemosphere | 10 years and 6 months ago

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Hi Rick We’ve got the same kitchen layout as you and are considering uses for the dumbwaiter space. Our dumbwaiter shaft is basically a 30″ square. It’s just about the size of a refrigerator. Did you build a floor underneath the pantry? Did you consider putting the fridge there instead? It appears that your pantry is less than about a foot deep – does that mean you also reduced the size of the air shaft to give the entire kitchen more space?

macky | 11 years and 3 months ago

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I would love to hear from anybody who has had this conversion (dumbwaiter to pantry, closet, wine storage, etc.) done. Especially if you had it done professionally! Any stories, insights, and photos would be great appreciated! Thank you! (marazzi246(at)hotmail(dot)com.

brokelin | 12 years and 1 month ago

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Rick, your kitchen is beautiful. (As is your dining room.) The only thing I’d do differently would be to try to not have the oven right up against the refrigerator.  With a less wide sink and/or stove, there could be a separation. Though I can totally see why you wanted to keep the old sink and stove! To the original questioner – I do like having a sink and stove on the same wall, separated only by some counter. I find it makes cooking easier to get able to get stuff from the stove to the sink, for draining, etc.  Even when my galley kitchen is so narrow that I don’t need to walk anywhere to get from stove to sink, but just turn around in the space that is about 2 feet wide, I still like them on one side, if that helps any with your kitchen planning dilemma.  The fridge can be further away from the sink and stove and the kitchen can still function well.

Rick | 12 years and 1 month ago

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Okay, here’s a couple pictures of the kitchen and dining room. My kitchen is very old school. This is the back parlor. The wall was removed and a header installed with an island. I replaced a window with a door that goes to the deck. The dishwasher is hiding in a cabinet next to the sink. I am a contractor, if you would like to talk more about this you can reach me through my website, RickLaddBrooklyn.com

http://cdn.brownstoner.com/516433a2f2832-processed-IMG_0734.JPG

http://cdn.brownstoner.com/51643419126cc-processed-IMG_0737.JPG

Rick | 12 years and 1 month ago

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I took over the former dumbwaiter space and made a narrow pantry. I was able to gain a couple feet for the kitchen plus a little extra space for a pantry. This is on the parlor floor. The top floor dumb waiter is now a closet.  tur

http://cdn.brownstoner.com/51642a7851371-processed-IMG_0733.jpg

jjq | 12 years and 1 month ago

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http://cdn.brownstoner.com/5163f6c4a89be-processed-DumbWaiter.jpg

We have the same problem. As I mentioned in another post, I think we have the same type of Bay Ridge house.   Picture is from Dining Room, across aprox 3 foot hallway. Kitchen is to right. Removing the Dumbwaiter adds about 3 feet to the size of the kitchen lengthwise.