We built the first walls!!! (Rescuing a 120 year old house) 

I think Laura's love for these aluminium boxes has gone a little overboard

In the bathroom you kind of want a Sound barrier, and those metal boxes have holes in them, also certain smells are in the bathroom, that you don't want your towels to smell like

Hi Laura, I love your videos so much and am so grateful for them! I just wanted to say about the storage boxes in the bathroom wall-- my parents' current house had a decorative hole in one of the walls in the bathroom. I won't go into detail, but there were some issues with *sounds* and *smells* that frequently occur in a bathroom, so they had to find a way to sound proof the hole and make it airtight so the *smells* didn't leak into the rest of the house. You were probably already considering that, but I thought I'd share just in case!

Loving this series. I really hope they're going to hide some treasure so the next people who work on the house don't get as disappointed as Laura & Felix have been!

Here for everything but the aluminium boxes! I love the idea of the storage nooks, but I really wish you’d do them in wood joinery.

I love Laura's decision to go with transom windows. It's a great option for getting incidental light into an interior room.

About the aluminium boxes. They sit on untreated wood. Even if painted it's still not enough to protect from moisture ingress. Moisture plus untreated wood equals mold. Mold that now has free access to a damp dark and warm inner wall where it can spread to anywhere in the entire house. All this work only to risk ending up on square one again?

open holes in the aluminum boxes . great view into bath room and ventilation into kitchen

A window above a door is a transom window, they can also be hinged to open and aid air flow in the house.

have the strength to say no to aluminium boxes in the wall taking up valueable space.

Hate the boxes in the wall. Make the wall solid and mount the boxes on the kitchen side of the wall. You can still use them as a coffee bar. Put sound deadening insulation in the bathroom walls. And install an exhaust fan. 😊

Laura, when I saw the title, I thought, "Oh, interior walls... these will be masonry walls or drywalls." But no, you turn even ordinary walls into designer furniture and art. That's so amazing and inspiring! Thank you!

An idea with the aluminum boxes. If you put the bottom box facing inward, then you can store your toilet paper and extra towels and stuff and then have the top one facing outward for your coffee maker.

Transom windows and the first wall, whooo!! AND - more exciting - the FIRST ALUMINUM BOX!!!! GEIL!! :D

I am always excited when I have the opportunity to view your videos. I've been told "Oh! I see you are watching that woman again. Come interrupt me when you've finished the viewing." Thank you , Laura!

"Vom Stöhnen wirds auch nicht kürzer!" Felix is the best!

Like many peoplee said, 1. Please no Toilet/Shower next to a kitchen ! 😆 2. Please no Electrical wiring next to a kitchen and Toilet/Shower/water/oil ! 😆 3. Transom window sure, but not opening to a kitchen or toilet/shower ! 😆 Entertaining video of building walls! 😀enjoyed it !

There is something deeply satisfying about seeing a level's bubble showing up perfectly after getting something setup.

It's a test of a YT personality's appeal whether I can tolerate watching them flex their home ownership. Laura I like more than enough to appreciate her success. Not just because she is so hands on and has shown all her strife and stress, but most especially because she's a genuine delight and positive maker role model.

Folks have some good thoughts. If the toilet could be on the wall where you want the sink would be better so when the door is opened you see the sink vice the commode, but it could be where your sewer line is the deciding factor. If the toilet is next to a more shallow storage cabinet ( not sure what the metric standards are, but 18" to 21" deep is ideal for both -45 to 55cm? -) its a good way to isolate it and have quick access to paper and cleaning materials. I don't know why people are concerned about the placement of the room. Even older homes in the US have convenient baths near the kitchen. I agree a vent fan would be needed for those times one is not going to make it to the isolated toilet. A fixed window is best, and the door should open against the kitchen wall.

So fun to see walls going in rather than coming out! 😊❤️👍

This is the first time I would have done something different. I am not clear on the floor-plan of the ground floor, but I would try and avoid at all costs building a toilet right next to the kitchen. Perhaps there was no choice, but that would be my 5 cents. Also, I'm super happy that you started some more rewarding phases of the house re-build. You guys need that and you have worked so hard, it's motivating.

Design idea: maybe it would be a nice idea to add translucent PC sheets behind the little holes of the aluminium crates and place LED's behind it so you have a nice lighting effect inside the recesses.

The aluminum boxes are an impulsive idea that will be become a regret.

Hi Laura! It's probably too late, but, if I may: I would not hide any plumbling or electricity again. I restored an old house few years ago and I regret to have hidden everything. There are a lot of ways to keep technical stuff visible AND beauriful. It really helps to see where a problem could come from. By the way, I love your project and the choices you make in terms of ecology. And the aluminium boxes meme gets me every time XD

Watching Laura measure everything and use a laser level, while in half the German houses I lived in back in the day there wasn't a right angle in the whole house outside of the window- and door-frames. 🤣🤣🤣

Good work as usual. Small tips as interiørdesigner -1. do not overcrowd the bathroom/toilet. Please remember - bathroom/toilet is the place in the house where most serious accidents might happen. Plus it's a place where electricity and water is in the same room. Plus if you planning to live in this house to your high age bathroom/toilet should be spacious. Good thing to have inbuildt shelves in the kitchen, but maybe not so deep as those metal boxes. A bit smaller perhaps. Do you plan to have washing machine in the house (where then? bathrooms or basement?). 2. And your bathroom is rather close to the kitchen (I understand you have small house there), so perhaps good idea to invest into good ventilation for that room with air channel that takes air out of that room without that air mixing with the rest of the house(bathroom bacteria are air-born, unfortunately). In Norway we have very strict rules about bathrooms. 3. Whatever you do - do remember you might want/need to sell this house at some point. In that case your ideas should appealing to other people as well and to construction requirements. Otherwise you will be stuck with it forever whether you like it or not, or will have to redo stuff later on. 4. Think through how the water will be taken inn and out of your water zones. Bathrooms should be one above another (God forbid toilet leakage, even membrane is not always absolutely tight). Waste water out of the house usually comes out from the house into the city system in one pipe. That means all your "water out" pipes should meet together at some point inside the house and pipes should have angle to run down whole the way to the city pipes (there is no pressure in those pipes - only natural angle to run down)(this is already not my area of knowledge. just saying could be an issue(that's what my plumber explained to me, and we have relatives which once had water running slightly other direction outside of their house, and into theirs - lots of "fun")). Have a good plumber before next move and electrician to consult. By the way plumber and electrician at some point better to be synchronized together. And they do love drawings or at least marks on the walls where's what. And you will need ventilation pipe for actually drain/sewage pipe (it's a different ventilation then before mentioned), without it drainage of the toilet will stop working very soon, even vertical (it has to do with physics). That pipe should be attached to both toilets if you having two and goes out through the roof. And then it's better to have one toilet set above the other, and that pipe usually hidden in the wall. Well, plumbers know better, ask them, but this should be at very early stage of plumbing planning. Sorry my comment gets longer and longer. Good luck. Looking forward for more. P.S. I'm doing my own renovation right now as well, I'm a woman too, also doing it alone (my husband has no time for it). And when I relax from my renovation I watch yours as a form of relaxation. ♥😁😁😁

Wenn Sie wieder einen Sturz montieren möchten, klemmen Sie 2 Blöcke (Oberseite des Blocks auf Höhe der Unterseite des Sturzes) an die Pfosten, legen Sie den Sturz darauf und Sie haben beide Hände frei, um wieder zu arbeiten ;-)

Finally a house that is built around aluminum boxes.

Not just rebuilding, but building!

As a friend of an electrician, and a plumber complaining about the framing guys, and engineers not making space for plumbing, and wiring. Thank you for being thoughtful and taking their job into consideration. (I wish I didn't have to hear their mumbling all the time. I get it though, not many decent people anymore.)

Using the leftover materials for the wall frame: Excellent! Creating the nooks for the kitchen opposite the bath: Excellent! Creating the windowpanes (called transoms in the USA) above flooding light into the bath: Excellent! I have to say that your "on-the-fly" design skills are genius. You have the best personality for this kind of work. I watch many channels on youtube which deal with renovation. Many of them seem to inject unnecessary drama into their content in an all too obvious way. Not you! You are honest, funny, creative, highly skilled, and I love your attitude when you make a mistake or something malfunctions. The ability to laugh at yourself is an extremely valuable personality characteristic in my opinion. You are simply on a wonderful journey, and you are simply sharing that journey with us! I have been in construction and design for 55 years, and have done many restorations/remodels of centuries-old buildings Even my own home is tucked inside a 78 year-old store building on Main Street in my hometown. Much, much work and design to get it to where it is, but definitely worth all the effort. I wish you luck and success and good health with all your endeavors and look forward to seeing your dream home become a reality! 🙂

Absolutely thrilled that the aluminum boxes are dictating the wall structure - a true Laura Kampf project 😂❤

With the boxes intruding into the small bathroom space it makes the bathroom smaller similar to the bathroom you removed. I like how those wood pieces look. How they went together with symmetry. I am happy to see you adding to your house now. Hopefully no more demo. I appreciate how well you and your cameraman work and talk and laugh together. You are blessed with great friends.

"a coffee machine could go here" I like how you think. Priorities!

When putting in trimmer timbers at an awkward height, screw temporary blocks onto the studs to sit the timber on, then remove the blocks once it’s fixed off.

Love watching Laura apply her usual "build as you go" skills in a home setting. Only question I had was with the aluminum case... What are you planning to do as far as wall treatment? you made the studs fit the box exactly, so you won't have any room for drywall, stucco or whatever you plan to apply to the inside of the studs.

The window transoms over the door are my favorite! I was so stoked when she said she was gonna do that!!

Lining a bathroom or toilet wall with plywood or OSB makes it easy to mount toilet roll holders, towel rails or hand rails for disability access. Service passages / cupboards make it easier to fix things later, but use up space.

In that beanie, Laura looks like an elf in the most positive sense 😊

Maybe two aluminium boxes too far! I’ll be happy to be proven wrong when we see the finished product. I just can’t see these working for a downstairs toilet 🤔

Felix, always a true aluminum box connaisseur

I'm thinking the aluminum boxes will not be as appealing if they are covered but they will need to be otherwise you will see right into the bathroom and orders will escape . Also they seam to take up a lot of room inside the bathroom. I'm sure you have thought about all of this and I can't wait to see the ideas you come up with . Love your creativity.

Feels good to finally see you building something instead of tearing it down!

So ein schööönes Haus!!! Die Blechkisten müssen sein, damit man jeden kleinen Pups oder anderes Plätschern im Esszimmer hören kann??? Das wird ein Spaß😂😂😂

Hi Laura You should think twice about building a Toilet within a close area of your kitchen as bowel bacteria can contaminate your food preparation surfaces suggest you research the standards regarding safe distances.

You could use the crate space for spice storage, build small shelves into the space. It would perfect for holding all the little bottles, and there wouldn’t be any space loss in the bathroom.

Windows above doors is a great idea. But maybe not for the bedroom. We have those windows here, and end up putting something to block out the light.

Great to see the start of rooms popping up =) I have to ask tho, I might have misunderstood. Are the metal crates gonna be the structure for the storage you wanted there? It just made me think there would be a lot of sound leaking through that area so you might want some wall structure behind it into the bathroom? I'm just thinking that a crate with holes would let sound of people being on the toilet echo into the kitchen and other rooms. Plus you probably don't want people pooping there as you're about to cook, might not prefer that smell entering the kitchen.

Put some lights on the outside of the aluminum crates and let the light shine through the holes, give a little ambiance!

I dont have that much of experience as other in the comment section but a toilet right next to the kitchen is not that good of an idea for many reasons. Since you've already built the room you could maybe turn it into a food storage cabinet.

Are there Building Codes and Inspectors in Germany? So far, nothing in the build process seems to be done to some sort of building codes. Just curious!

You know a project is really coming together when you can start to put the aluminum boxes in

Nur eine Anmerkung, der Einfachheit halber auf Deutsch: Ich bin zwar keine Experte aber versuche Wasserrohre (egal ob Zu- oder Abwasser) so wenig, wie möglich horizontal zu verlegen. Das kann ziemliche Schwierigkeiten machen. Die Sanitärer beraten Dich da natürlich besser. Das so von Häuslebauer zu Häuslebauerin. Du hast wunderbare Ideen. Weiterhin gutes Gelingen!

Thank you for another great video! Glad you asked for help.

As someone who spents alot of time with older people maybe reconider adding a shower in the bathroom. I know now it might seem not needed but as you get older or an injury happens you will be very thankful to not have to climb stairs to get to your only shower

Did you consider turning the boxes around? Even though it’s a small bathroom with toilet paper, towels, etc the storage could be more convenient in the room rather than losing the square meters to a built in accessed from another room and then having to put an additional cabinet in the bathroom.

How cool is it that for the rest of this house's future, these videos exist to see it's new lease on life and everything that went in to giving it that? I'd feel like I won the biggest jack pot to have something like that exist for anything I've lived in or owned.

I wish we had those I-beam studs in America. Such an elegant solution. Also, love your utility vest.

I'm not sure, but aren't the aluminum boxes to deep...? Because the floor will be much higher when it's finished. I recognize a high gap/step to the corridor and I thought, that the complete floor will be on one level?

Transom windows were used in the US, before central heat and air came along. The transoms were hinged at the bottom and tilted outward, into a hallway, allowing air circulation between rooms.

I love the window. I'd put a second one over the door as well.

Having those really solid wood walls is great also for age proofing your house. With Rigips walls and metal framing, it is a lot of work to install handles or any kind of support for using a toilet or shower after they've been built. So this is great for leaving all possibilities and every kind of adaption open you might need in the future.

Measure twice, cut once. Or three or four times 🙂 Just teasing - I love that you show us everything, and appreciate you sharing your journey with us!

It's fun to a see interior walls framed with wooden I-beams and screws vs the US standard of 2x4s and framing nailers. I love how you are building your space as you visualize it.

Great video..consider a bidet if there is space..they are so hygienic that they can literally save a shower sometimes, add to your lifespan and minimize laundry..

I have really enjoyed watching your channel. Your house renovation is what got me hooked. I watch all of your videos and have gone back to watch old ones from years ago. I understand your desire to reuse things and I fully supported using the aluminum bins in your tiny house, but I don’t think you should use them in your house. Your storage areas should be built with wood. My opinion. Keep up the videos. I look forward to them every week.

I love that you used the extra materials from the outside and floors, and also, you absolutely MUST have the aluminum boxes!!

*** Laura *** The window above the door is called a transom. Often they had stained glass in them. 😊

Prior to homes being heated with central furnaces, windows were placed over doors to allow warm air to circulate even if doors are closed for privacy. Conversely, in warm months, outside air could be circulated from rooms with windows into the house interiors. Regarding the aluminum box controversy; Laura suggested using the upper one for storage of towels and bathroom needs, the upper box will need to be reversed and open into the bathroom. Alternatively, a cabinet or linen closet could be fabricated to allow access from either side, with or without an interior wall separating the rooms. Enjoying the evolution of this house and its blank slate of opportunities. Laura, enjoy your days and the opportunities to create your dreams. Peace

Great video as usual! Side note: I really enjoyed hearing the church bells in the background at one point. There aren’t so many here in my town on the west coast of Canada. Thanks for leaving them in the video!

I love watching the joy you bring to this very difficult work. But, I worry every time I see you running a saw, breaking a wall down, etc. without safety glasses. EEK!

Nice! Oddly, I thought it most satisfying to watch how smoothly your pencil writes on the wood. Wow. It just glides. Nice dark, thin line. Woo! My dull pencil does not compare!

When putting horizontal beams between verticals, easier to put screw or block of wood so held up while attaching. Sometimes clamp also works. Keep up the great work!!

Großartig - Danke für die BauShow;-)

Things are coming together! I grew up in a house with transom windows, made it easy to get around at night without having to turn on all our lights, made it hard to sleep longer than anyone else in the family lol. I loved having the windows though, great for an old house

I’ve never seen anyone so obsessed with aluminum boxes before. And I am entertained 😂

Love transom windows over doors 😍

I would not use an aluminum box between the bathroom and kitchen... so many holes. A pantry would be good though! Just made of wood!

Love the house series! I think the boxes might end up needing liners to avoid noises (and visual) in/out of the bathroom.

Momentous occasion!! I remember when you first walked up the street to show this house you had just bought. who would have thought the journey you had in front of you. thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing what comes next 🥰

Love the videos Laura, and I’m really impressed with your skills and determination. We built a house five years ago and made it airtight, super insulated, triple glazed windows imported from Germany. To reduce bathroom noises we used cast iron drainpipes, and rockwool sound insulation in the walls. For ventilation without heat loss we used an HRV . All works , very comfortable , no moisture problems. Very low energy consumption. Good luck. John G Canada.

Congrats on the fist wall...its comming together!

Your rescue of Haus Lise Lotte is going great! ⭐ We can really start to see your vision taking shape in each video now. About the boxes, I adore them. Buuuut I would use only one if any. Storage is good and you want to have a usable shelf-thing inside the bathroom like you said. With two boxes height you lose that. And consider how to keep them clean with stuff falling through the holes. Maybe build a standard cupboard/shelf/hole that a box fits in?

I love that you recycle so much but those aluminum boxes don't do much for the space in the bathroom. Definitely wasted space. I hope you pull out your woodworking skills and make a nice cabinet or shelves.

Hey Laura Congratulations on your wedding. My wife is really observant and saw the wedding band 😂 🎉🎉🎉

When I saw the sparks from your angle grinder I wondered how many fire extinguishers you keep at your old house/job site? Fires are a hazard at construction sites and I’d hate to see so much blood sweat and probably tears be destroyed. Keep one on each level if you can!

Between the aluminium boxes would be an ideal spot for a small drawer from the bathroom side.

Not just geil, but SUPER GEIL!

I'm happy to watch this next phase. You are a gifted and creative person.

Watching your channel always puts me in a good mood! Thank you Laura!

Yes a couple of plugs for "coffee central", and kettle for tea so they don't take up too much counter space on the main kitchen counter. Guest are more likely to feel comfortable making their own.

how is it still so sunny and so green outside in like december im so jealous

love watching that look of achievement on your face . really well done 😁

You really need to plan for where you want your outlets to be before doing all the walls :P

I've been binging your videos for the last couple of weeks and I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing each step of your process. I'm so amazed at your efforts every week! Thank you!!

I did enjoy, thanks

We call those transom windows it's becoming a popular thing in New construction as well as its popular in most victorian homes

I love the inclusion of the awkward moments that always accompany projects.... the retracting tape measure.... wrestling a beam of some sort on top of a ladder.... missing the mark by a meter... Been there done that, and worse. Good luck to you friend.

I hope you're not working yourself too hard, Laura!