Gravel and Frikkin Lazers

Now that the plumbing has passed inspection, the gravel bed was next on the list of things to do before we could pour the new concrete.

Dan busted out the Bobcat and got to work laying in the gravel.  To make sure it was level as possible, they used a frikken laser system that was checked the bed every few inches.

 

Checking the level.

 Even with the Bobcat, and believe me, Dan is an amazingly talented guy in that thing, this was incredibly hard work.  These guys busted their asses to get the bed as dead level as possible.  I hope they had a few days off after this!

Level, pretty and ready to go!

Infrastructure Begins

 Now that we have a nice big field of mud to play with, it is time to start getting some of the mechanical infrastructure dug in.


First up, Plumbing!

After the usual bid process, we opted to go with another local company for our plumbing work.  Fred Pflumm Plumbing came in well under budget and had by far the most professional walk through of the project.  We are thrilled to be working with them

As Tim and the guys started in, we ran into the usual oddball issues with our old building.  The main sewage line to the city was no where near where we suspected it was, and it turns out that some of the demolition work done back in the 1970s was just thrown in a hole and buried in place.  That meant Tim and the guys had to bust out a small digger to get through many feet of broken brick and concrete to find what they needed.

 Over a short weekend, the guys from Pflumm got the underground plumbing in and ready for inspection.  This part of the process went amazingly fast.  The process began on a Saturday and we had the inspection passed by Tuesday afternoon.  The drain system was fully tested.  A 10 foot standpipe was connected to the drains and filled with water.  As all the drains we capped off, any leak in the system would be revealed by this low pressure test.  After 12 hours, no leaks and the inspector passed us with flying colours.

 When we purchased the building, I knew there were a few oddities here and there.  One of the more fun things we found was this gem.  The old water line came out of the meter about 4 foot deep and some some odd reason, was bent up and put through the wall above ground level.  I honestly have no clue why this may have been done.  It makes no sense at all...

Tim and the guys buried a brand new copper line 4 foot down in the soil and penetrated the wall at that depth so freezing should not be much of an issue now.

I am still perplexed by this miracle of modern plumbing.  (Ignore my foot in the pic)

 Once the plumbing was tested and inspected, it was time for Dan and the guys to come back in and get the gravel down in preparation for the concrete. 

Clearing the Print Shop

The smaller addition to the main office space, we lovingly call the "print shop".  In the past, this space was used as a small mom and pop printing shop for the neighborhood.  We will use it as the kitchen and an education space.

We knew there was a lot of damage in this area, the leak in the ceiling was pretty obvious when we first looked at the property.

As we first started the demolition in this area, we found some nasty surprises.  Termites and mold.  Lucky us.

The termite damage looked to be fairly old and we found very few live ones in the wreckage. 

In at least once section, the damage had been confined to the multiple layers of wooden paneling on the walls.  The termites had eaten all of the organic substance from it all, leaving only the plastic layer on the surface.  Extremely creepy.

Our new open air bathroom.  TP will be stored on top of the ladder

Water and termite damage aside, we found little that disturbed us as we went.  We pulled the ceilings down and took apart the one and only remaining bathroom in the place.  Another dumpster full, we began to plan our rebuild strategy.

Breaking into AJs Office

Dan and the guys came back a few days after the bobcat rampage to break through the wall into the new office space for AJs office.

I removed the steel and glass window and the guys cranked up the saw and cut through the double thick brick wall.

He really is in there... somewhere.

After getting the door cut, they attacked the floor in AJs office so we can lay in plumbing to the 3rd ADA bathroom and the heated floor tubing





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Bobcat Rampage!

While waiting for our permits and plans to be completed, we interviewed several concrete contractors, plumbers and radiant heat flooring installers.

After weeks of conversations, one thing became clear.  The old, lumpy, oil stained floor had to go!

Between the new plumbing, the radiant hear floor system and other mechanical issues replacing the floor allows us a clean slate to build on.  Did I mention the radiant heat floor?  It is a hot water system(someday upgraded to solar assist) that will heat the entire concrete slab of the building, effectively turning it into a large radiator, evenly heating the space and everything touching it.

A very, very nifty piece of technology supplied and installed by ECS Geothermal.

We decided to use Dan Wilson Concrete and Construction for our concrete work.  After interviewing several, Dan came in and made some great suggestions and seemed to really understand what we are trying to do with the project.  Contract signed, he and his crew got to work tearing out the floors and a wall section.

On to the demolition!

First Nibbles

This turned out to be a very thick slab.  Over 9" in some places.

One little surprise we found was the old pneumatic car lift.  Dan was able to lift it out with the snoot of the jackhammer.  Good thing too, it was tremendously heavy and locked into the clay bed.  It would have taken us a week to dig it out my hand.

 90% broken out and removed, the office space feels more like a war zone than a construction site.

Next:  Removing the window to AJ's office and getting the print shop finally gutted.

Demolition, Plans and Permits

Sorry for the delay in posting, it has been a heck of a lot of work and running around the past few weeks.

Dad and I spend a solid week taking down the small office in the front part of the barrel vaulted office space.  As I have said before, it was built like  battle ship.  Some sections had multiple layers of plaster, wood studding, metal studding and about 30lbs of various glues and nails.

We nibbled at it, little by little, section by section till we were able to drop whole sections.  It was a ton of work and we more or less took a week off afterward.  That one little office was most of a 20 yard dumpster worth of debris.

They just don't build em like that anymore.  For a damn good reason...

While all this was going on, we had several meetings with our architect, mechanical engineers and countless contractors.  It was a bit frustrating at first, but I think things leveled out and things are looking up.

Next step is to get our plans finalized and officially sealed and then shipped off to various city and county administration offices.