Today, Karl's at the bar supervising the installation of the final truss that should have been installed four weeks ago. Why is Karl supervising? Because the contractor apparently doesn't supervise his own employees and with the changes made to the framing plans specific strapping and connectors are required to help prevent the roof from flying off in the event of, let's call it, a "wind event".
And it's a good thing Karl's there. Demo Guy had given his crew the wrong information on how to install the truss he should have installed four weeks ago. They were doing some kind of bizarre plan to make the studs in the wall line up with the vertical members of the truss instead of what the engineer designed, we (the client) agreed to, and the city approved.
Had Karl not been at the bar to stop the (unsupervised) crew, either Demo Guy would have to come back out again and fix what he had done or we would have had to go back through the process of revising the plans again. One wonders if this guy is trying to keep this job going forever.
There are other issues with this contractor that we will get resolved on Monday. If all goes to plan, that is. If all doesn't go to plan, it'll be resolved within 45 days or so.
We think it'll be resolved on Monday; it's in everybody's best interest. We'll be done with this guy and he'll be done with us. I'm sure we'll all be happier for it.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Fiberglass Filled Fortifications
The City of Fresno requested (Ok, required) us to install insulation in the fire-damaged wall. We wanted to do it anyway to help reduce utility costs so it's not a big issue. First off, we had to rip off the old interior drywall.
Both Karl and I are bemused by the rather strange pattern of studs and related bits. But, as I mentioned earlier, the "framing" does lend credence to the belief that the bar used to be some kind of housing. Regardless, here is the wall newly fortified with fiberglass.
Karl's been climbing the walls lately.
Both Karl and I are bemused by the rather strange pattern of studs and related bits. But, as I mentioned earlier, the "framing" does lend credence to the belief that the bar used to be some kind of housing. Regardless, here is the wall newly fortified with fiberglass.
Yes, the cutting of the insulation gave Karl Blisters.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Equal Permits
Well, that's one more Magical Hoop™ we've jumped through.
But this one pretty much stayed stationary and was actually pretty easy. We received our Reseller's Permit from the State Board of Equalization late last week. Next is getting set up with accounts with the vendors and such.
And why is it called the Board of *Equalization*? What exactly is being equalized?
But this one pretty much stayed stationary and was actually pretty easy. We received our Reseller's Permit from the State Board of Equalization late last week. Next is getting set up with accounts with the vendors and such.
And why is it called the Board of *Equalization*? What exactly is being equalized?
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Workin' on the Fence Line
We've begun the final work on putting in the rest of the replacement fence. Last week, we got the materials to complete the fence.
Then, on Monday this week (after our visit to City Hall), we dug the post holes and set the posts.
The pickets will be nailed up soon. The concrete hasn't quite set well enough just yet.
Karl has wood
I should probably help with the concrete rather than just taking pictures...
Here's what it looked like before we started doing anything.
(Someone really oughta paint this place.)
Then, on Monday this week (after our visit to City Hall), we dug the post holes and set the posts.
Dig, Bryan! DIG!!!
What? I'm diggin' here!
Karl beginning the Anvil Chorus.
No, he didn't miss. This was after he hit the metal thing with the other metal thing.
The pickets will be nailed up soon. The concrete hasn't quite set well enough just yet.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
"Return to The City; The Stamp of the Approver"
Our "back check" appointment with the City for the revised truss plan was a bit sooner than I had expected it to be--it was yesterday. It all went fine and we got the new stamp of approval (really. It says "Approved") and now we can proceed. We next need to have the roof framing contractor install the truss he should have in the first place and then get the framing job inspected and approved (there's that word again). We're not sure yet when that will be. Hopefully sometime this week or early next week.
Also on our agenda for yesterday was a new site plan revising the parking situation. The original site plan (which was approved) showed 19 spaces including two accessible stalls. We had to show a "path of travel" from the accessible stalls to the main entrance. There are rules about where that path of travel can go (which I've now become reasonably well-versed in). Since we showed two accessible stalls, the "path of travel" had to be in front of the two spaces which put them 5 feet further out into the parking lot than the non-accessible stalls and that was just, well, weird. (And probably would have caused some minor accidents in the parking lot.)
But, I learned after reading various parts of the building code that for the number of spaces we have in the lot, we only need one accessible stall and that the "path of travel" can be behind a person's own vehicle but not someone else's. So, we reduced the number of accessible stalls to one, moved it back in line with the rest of the parking spaces, moved the "path of travel", reduced the total number of indicated spaces to 13 and all is right in the world.
(In practical matters, the amount of parking has actually increased from what you may remember from The Den. The storage units are no longer sitting in the parking lot and the stage has been removed so that space is now available again.)
Also on our agenda for yesterday was a new site plan revising the parking situation. The original site plan (which was approved) showed 19 spaces including two accessible stalls. We had to show a "path of travel" from the accessible stalls to the main entrance. There are rules about where that path of travel can go (which I've now become reasonably well-versed in). Since we showed two accessible stalls, the "path of travel" had to be in front of the two spaces which put them 5 feet further out into the parking lot than the non-accessible stalls and that was just, well, weird. (And probably would have caused some minor accidents in the parking lot.)
But, I learned after reading various parts of the building code that for the number of spaces we have in the lot, we only need one accessible stall and that the "path of travel" can be behind a person's own vehicle but not someone else's. So, we reduced the number of accessible stalls to one, moved it back in line with the rest of the parking spaces, moved the "path of travel", reduced the total number of indicated spaces to 13 and all is right in the world.
(In practical matters, the amount of parking has actually increased from what you may remember from The Den. The storage units are no longer sitting in the parking lot and the stage has been removed so that space is now available again.)
Friday, April 22, 2011
...Often Work Out Just Fine
Yesterday, we got the revised plans from the engineering folks. We'll have to do some strapping to the south wall of the building to help prevent the roof from being ripped off in a tornado or hurricane (!?) but it's pretty easy. It involves knocking off some of the stucco (but not all of it, Phew!) and having the contractor do what he was supposed to have done in the first place--demolish the old south truss and install the new one. We'll have to add some metal strapping that is similar to the earthquake strap around your water heater tank only thicker.
On Monday, we have an appointment with The City to get the revised plans approved. (The "Back Check" appointment.) The correct truss should be installed sometime next week. Should. ("Shouldn't it have been installed weeks ago??")
I'm not sure if I should be but I'm kind of happy that Demo Guy is getting annoyed at this job. He should have done it right in the first place, don't ya think? Maybe he'll learn. ("Why hasn't he learned already??")
On Monday, we have an appointment with The City to get the revised plans approved. (The "Back Check" appointment.) The correct truss should be installed sometime next week. Should. ("Shouldn't it have been installed weeks ago??")
I'm not sure if I should be but I'm kind of happy that Demo Guy is getting annoyed at this job. He should have done it right in the first place, don't ya think? Maybe he'll learn. ("Why hasn't he learned already??")
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Best Laid Plans
If I were baking a cake and left out flour, it would not turn out to be a cake. And if I did, I could not go back later and add flour to the mess and call it cake. This is the type of problem I was facing yesterday. One ingredient was left out of our plans and since then many solutions have been put forth about how to fix the problem. "We could put this here, and that there, and then these could go here, and you would only need a few of these..."
Some of them sound like feats of engineering. Consider that the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, The Hindenburg, and the Chevy Vega were also feats of engineering. Others sound very "rednecks with duct tape". Before anyone objects, I know that NASCAR has made great strides with duct tape, but it hasn't yet been approved for new construction. If it was, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be selling it on TV.
But after careful consideration Bryan and I have reached the exact solution to this problem. READ THE PLANS.
Wow that sounds simple. Now let's see if we can get them to do it. Your favorite soap operas may be going off the air,... but stay tuned for Crisis with the Contractor!
Some of them sound like feats of engineering. Consider that the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, The Hindenburg, and the Chevy Vega were also feats of engineering. Others sound very "rednecks with duct tape". Before anyone objects, I know that NASCAR has made great strides with duct tape, but it hasn't yet been approved for new construction. If it was, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be selling it on TV.
But after careful consideration Bryan and I have reached the exact solution to this problem. READ THE PLANS.
Wow that sounds simple. Now let's see if we can get them to do it. Your favorite soap operas may be going off the air,... but stay tuned for Crisis with the Contractor!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Correcting the Corrections
We got the revised plans back from the resubmission (or whatever the real thing it's called) to the city yesterday. There's a list of corrections. It's a short list, but a list nonetheless.
And this whole thing is just $%@! annoying. We were told we could get any truss company to build the trusses for us; so we did. We found a company that would do the trusses cheaper than the company the engineering firm had recommended. What nobody told us, though, was that we had to inform our engineering firm that a different company was making the trusses. (If they're made to match the approved truss sheet, why does it matter who makes them???). That omission of information is costing us time and money.
Now, we have to wait through this ridiculous and slow back check bull$#!& to have corrections made that, quite frankly, make no sense to me.
And I question the thoroughness of some of the people doing work at various places. We were asked to move the insulation from on top of the ceiling to directly below the roof. Why wasn't this requested during plan check and back check two to three months ago? Why do we have to pay for this? Who the #*&! dropped the ball two months ago?? And how many more times are we going to have to go through revisions and spending more and more money to get new things approved that should have been caught in the first place?
I'm sure I'm just ranting and raving out of sheer frustration with dealing with something I have no experience in. But, fuck! Make it logical!
And this whole thing is just $%@! annoying. We were told we could get any truss company to build the trusses for us; so we did. We found a company that would do the trusses cheaper than the company the engineering firm had recommended. What nobody told us, though, was that we had to inform our engineering firm that a different company was making the trusses. (If they're made to match the approved truss sheet, why does it matter who makes them???). That omission of information is costing us time and money.
Now, we have to wait through this ridiculous and slow back check bull$#!& to have corrections made that, quite frankly, make no sense to me.
And I question the thoroughness of some of the people doing work at various places. We were asked to move the insulation from on top of the ceiling to directly below the roof. Why wasn't this requested during plan check and back check two to three months ago? Why do we have to pay for this? Who the #*&! dropped the ball two months ago?? And how many more times are we going to have to go through revisions and spending more and more money to get new things approved that should have been caught in the first place?
I'm sure I'm just ranting and raving out of sheer frustration with dealing with something I have no experience in. But, fuck! Make it logical!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
"Saving" Money
Later today, we're headed back to City Hall to pick up our revised plans because of the truss manufacturer "issue". (We didn't know we were supposed to have told the engineering firm that we'd have someone else make the trusses.) In the end, we spent a little more than $300 in order to save $100.
But, we learned a valuable lesson. Ask questions like, "How much is this going to cost us if we do this?" and "Is there anything else we'll need to do if we do X?"
On the plus side, the trusses should be inspected tomorrow and be ready for a roof to be installed.
But, we learned a valuable lesson. Ask questions like, "How much is this going to cost us if we do this?" and "Is there anything else we'll need to do if we do X?"
On the plus side, the trusses should be inspected tomorrow and be ready for a roof to be installed.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Were We Raised in a Barn?
Over the weekend, we got the siding put up.
First, the old falling away, burned stucco was removed:
The going theory is (I haven't bothered to verify for certain) the bar used to be some sort of housing for agricultural employees back when it was built. We believe it was built in the 1950's. The somewhat bizarre door-shaped and window-shaped framing lends credence to that theory so we'll go with it.
And, now the siding:
This isn't quite what we expected even though it matches exactly what our engineered plans show. We thought it would be vertical rather than horizontal. We're not complaining -- the siding is a lot more secure than the plain wallboard you see in the "Before" picture -- but it really does make the bar look like a barn. A bright, sunshine yellow barn.
Next on the list: Buy paint that isn't bright, sunshine yellow.
(The grey paint on the door is covering even more graffiti. It was just a tag and nothing like the graffiti that brought ABC 30 out earlier.)
First, the old falling away, burned stucco was removed:
The going theory is (I haven't bothered to verify for certain) the bar used to be some sort of housing for agricultural employees back when it was built. We believe it was built in the 1950's. The somewhat bizarre door-shaped and window-shaped framing lends credence to that theory so we'll go with it.
And, now the siding:
This isn't quite what we expected even though it matches exactly what our engineered plans show. We thought it would be vertical rather than horizontal. We're not complaining -- the siding is a lot more secure than the plain wallboard you see in the "Before" picture -- but it really does make the bar look like a barn. A bright, sunshine yellow barn.
Next on the list: Buy paint that isn't bright, sunshine yellow.
(The grey paint on the door is covering even more graffiti. It was just a tag and nothing like the graffiti that brought ABC 30 out earlier.)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Oops Number 2
Here's another "Oops".
We were told we could have any truss company build our trusses for us. So we found one. They were cheaper than the others so we had them build our trusses for us. We had the city inspector out on Tuesday to do the inspection for the roof framing. Turns out, we needed to let the City know that we had a different truss company build the trusses than the one who was listed on the truss sheet for Plan Check.
So, we had to do another truss sheet and submit it to the City as an addendum to the plans. We can't get the inspector back out until that truss sheet has made its way through the inboxes it needs to. We're waiting for that to happen before we can move forward with putting the shingles on.
In the end, we could end up spending more in the addendum fees than we saved with the cheaper trusses. It's still cheaper than having a general contractor do all this for us but is still annoying.
We were told we could have any truss company build our trusses for us. So we found one. They were cheaper than the others so we had them build our trusses for us. We had the city inspector out on Tuesday to do the inspection for the roof framing. Turns out, we needed to let the City know that we had a different truss company build the trusses than the one who was listed on the truss sheet for Plan Check.
So, we had to do another truss sheet and submit it to the City as an addendum to the plans. We can't get the inspector back out until that truss sheet has made its way through the inboxes it needs to. We're waiting for that to happen before we can move forward with putting the shingles on.
In the end, we could end up spending more in the addendum fees than we saved with the cheaper trusses. It's still cheaper than having a general contractor do all this for us but is still annoying.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The New Ceiling
If you've been following this delightful process of opening a bar, you'll know that way back in December we posted some really bad renderings of the new ceiling. Much concern was expressed by many people about the ceiling. And, finally, we can see how well my crappy renderings match up with reality.
Behold! THE NEW CEILING!!!! MARVEL in its loftiness! REJOICE in its completeness!
Well, it doesn't really do justice to the sheer impact of having the higher ceiling. I tell ya, I absolutely love and am thrilled with the way it looks.
Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do on the ceiling itself. For starters, it needs to be a ceiling and not open trusses like that. (Which was our original idea; we like the look of the open trusses. We kinda wanted a "light construction" theme for the bar. Like it wasn't quite finished. Like you were walking into a construction site. But that was going to be expensive for various reasons.)
So, there ya go. Now on to the next bit of stress. The interior construction work. (When do I get a vacation, anyway?)
Behold! THE NEW CEILING!!!! MARVEL in its loftiness! REJOICE in its completeness!
Well, it doesn't really do justice to the sheer impact of having the higher ceiling. I tell ya, I absolutely love and am thrilled with the way it looks.
Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do on the ceiling itself. For starters, it needs to be a ceiling and not open trusses like that. (Which was our original idea; we like the look of the open trusses. We kinda wanted a "light construction" theme for the bar. Like it wasn't quite finished. Like you were walking into a construction site. But that was going to be expensive for various reasons.)
So, there ya go. Now on to the next bit of stress. The interior construction work. (When do I get a vacation, anyway?)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Not-So-Lovely Rain and Other Bullstuff
(It's a long one; better strap yourself in.)
As you know, we got our building permit on Monday, March 21. That week, it rained pretty heavily so construction couldn't begin immediately. We had been in contact with the Demo Guy (our demolition and construction contractor; not his real name) and he said he'd be ready to start on March 28.
Well, March 28 rolls around and he's not done with the previous job. He blamed it on the rain the previous week. Seems fairly reasonable. Said he would be able to start on Wednesday and that he wanted to meet with Karl on Tuesday to go over the job one final time before getting crews there.
Also on March 28, the A/C guy was going to come and remove the on-roof A/C unit for cleaning and storage during the demolition. He comes with a crane and removes the unit. And that took pretty much all day so it's probably good that Demo Guy wasn't ready to start on the 28th.
Demo Guy and Karl meet on Tuesday to go over the job and Demo Guy says he'd have his crew start on Thursday. On Wednesday, Karl spent a lot of the day at the bar doing "stuff". Fixing stucco problems, building fences where there weren't fences before and that sort of thing.
Thursday rolls around and Demo Guy still isn't ready to start and he'd start on Friday. We start to see a pattern.
That pattern is reinforced on Friday, April 1, as well. He's still not ready. But he will be most definitely, positively, absolutely be ready and start on Monday, April 4. Careful readers will note that's one week after he first said he'd be able to start.
Early Friday afternoon (April 1) Karl heads from home to the bar to do some work (I forget exactly what). Later that day, the truss company called and told us the trusses would be ready for delivery on Monday, April 4; the same day that Demo Guy was to finally begin work demolishing the roof. That seemed perfect to Karl and me but the Demo Guy wanted us to delay the delivery of the trusses until April 11. This said to both Karl and me that the demolition would take a week. (Considering the work, a week always did seem a little long; Demo Guy originally said the entire job would take two weeks. But I digress.)
Karl spent the weekend in Fresno doing various work on the bar. Monday morning rolls around and Karl heads to the bar in the early morning and meets Demo Guy and his crew. They start removing the roof and its trusses and, after a while, Karl leaves to let them do their work.
Later that day, Karl returns and finds the demolition complete. All of it. Trusses, old metal roof, old shingles, old sheathing all ripped off and put into a dumpster. The process that we thought would take a week took a single day. (A very long day, to be sure, but a day nonetheless.) This was a nice surprise! (But then why did Demo Guy want to wait a week to start putting up the trusses and why did he have us delay the delivery of the trusses a full week?)
The demolition broke a few things in the bar--glass counter top, a mirror, a speaker, drink rail, things like that--but that was nothing compared to the problems that were about to occur.
Since the bar was going to be without a roof for so long (upwards of two weeks) Karl wanted to sit at the bar over night to help prevent any vandalism that might occur if nobody was there to watch the place. So, Karl spends the night on Monday sitting in his car staring at the bar. Fun.
On Tuesday, we ask Demo Guy why he is leaving us without a roof for a week. Turns out Demo Guy was doing two jobs at the same time; ours and someone else's. I'm sure Demo Guy has his reasons for leaving us without a roof for a week but I don't know what they could possibly be. Looks to me that this guy seems to have a scheduling problem. It seems more logical to me to knock out one job before starting another. Is this guy so good that he's in this much demand? (Quite frankly, I doubt it; in my opinion, his attention to detail and concern for his clients seems a bit lacking.)
On Tuesday afternoon, we received the lovely "homo fagét" graffiti. And that was annoying and disturbing. I also see that there's a 30 to 70% chance of rain on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. No roof and rain do not mix. Demo Guy has his guys off on his other job and I have no roof. We get in touch with the truss folks and they can deliver the trusses Wednesday afternoon. Why Wednesday? We want to try to get Demo Guy to start work on Wednesday afternoon in preparation of the 70% chance of rain on Thursday and we figured he'd be concerned about his client's project being damaged by rain. It was too late on Tuesday to get a hold of Demo Guy so we have to wait until morning.
For various reasons, we couldn't get a hold of Demo Guy Wednesday morning to see if he could start that afternoon. When we finally contacted Demo Guy, he said his crew could not work on our roof on Wednesday but would be working on our roof at 7:00am Thursday and, unless there's a downpour, they'd continue working to get us a roof. And, even if there was a downpour, we were assured that the crew would resume work when it cleared up.
Wednesday night, it rains. The bar gets wet. All of the bar gets wet. And Demo Guy didn't even bother to try to protect the interior with tarps or anything and didn't even offer to come help put up any sort of protection. (To be fair, we didn't either but that's not the point. The point is he didn't even seem concerned for anything but the pool table.)
Well, on Thursday Demo Guy's crew shows up at the crack of dawn again and beings working. A couple hours later, there was a 45-minute downpour and the crew left. Since Karl had been spending his nights at the bar keeping tabs on the place, he couldn't stay at the bar during the day; he had to sleep at some time, right? Before the downpour and after Demo Guy's crew had installed one truss, he went and took a nap. Mid afternoon, he gets up and heads to the bar to see what progress had been made after the rain had stopped. There was no crew working. The work had stopped, no progress had been made despite having no rain during the afternoon.
We called Demo Guy and asked him where his crew was. He did not know and could not get a hold of them! That's right, he did *not* know where his crew was and could *not* get a hold of them. To say that we were furious is a gross, massive understatement.
Demo Guy assures us up and down that, despite not knowing where they are, his crew will be there at 7:00am Friday to continue working and that his crew didn't come back on Thursday afternoon because "every time they picked up a saw, they were getting shocked" because the equipment was so saturated. (I thought, "SO IS MY BAR!!") (I don't mean to say that I wish his crew to be placed at risk of electrical shock, mind you.)
We have serious doubts about whether or not Demo Guy can even try to make good on his word about showing up on Friday morning; his track record is not exactly stellar in that regard. But, we can do nothing--literally--but believe him. What else could we do? Hire another contractor to finish the job? The place still had no roof. I'm sure we could have hired another contractor to finish the job but the annoyance of doing that would be unfathomably stressful for both of us.
Friday comes around and Demo Guy's crew shows up. I guess he finally figured out how to get a hold of his employees. Karl goes and lays down for his daily rest. Later that afternoon the crew finishes with the trusses and sheathing. The construction is complete in one day.
Also, ABC 30 comes out and does their piece on the graffiti. The police show up and assure us that they do, in fact, care about the (legally defined) hate crime of the graffiti. Ultimately, Friday ended up being a pretty great day for the bar. We simply love the vaulted ceiling (pictures coming tomorrow of that) and are thrilled to finally be at this point in the process.
In the end, Demo Guy scheduled two weeks for a job that only took two and a half days. Why he couldn't have just had the whole thing done by Wednesday before the rain started is simply beyond my comprehension. EVERYTHING was ready for him and he chose to delay things. He is the one who had us delay delivery of the trusses. He is the one with the apparent scheduling problems that made him unable to start when he first said he could. He is the one who couldn't communicate with his employees at a crucial time.
In all, the bar survived. The rain didn't cause too much obvious damage; there could still be some moisture problems with the drywall in the future but we're taking some proactive steps to help slow--if not prevent--that. It could have been a lot worse if the floor hadn't been concrete. But the problems and delays this guy caused for us are reprehensible and wholly unprofessional.
As you know, we got our building permit on Monday, March 21. That week, it rained pretty heavily so construction couldn't begin immediately. We had been in contact with the Demo Guy (our demolition and construction contractor; not his real name) and he said he'd be ready to start on March 28.
Well, March 28 rolls around and he's not done with the previous job. He blamed it on the rain the previous week. Seems fairly reasonable. Said he would be able to start on Wednesday and that he wanted to meet with Karl on Tuesday to go over the job one final time before getting crews there.
Also on March 28, the A/C guy was going to come and remove the on-roof A/C unit for cleaning and storage during the demolition. He comes with a crane and removes the unit. And that took pretty much all day so it's probably good that Demo Guy wasn't ready to start on the 28th.
Demo Guy and Karl meet on Tuesday to go over the job and Demo Guy says he'd have his crew start on Thursday. On Wednesday, Karl spent a lot of the day at the bar doing "stuff". Fixing stucco problems, building fences where there weren't fences before and that sort of thing.
Thursday rolls around and Demo Guy still isn't ready to start and he'd start on Friday. We start to see a pattern.
That pattern is reinforced on Friday, April 1, as well. He's still not ready. But he will be most definitely, positively, absolutely be ready and start on Monday, April 4. Careful readers will note that's one week after he first said he'd be able to start.
Early Friday afternoon (April 1) Karl heads from home to the bar to do some work (I forget exactly what). Later that day, the truss company called and told us the trusses would be ready for delivery on Monday, April 4; the same day that Demo Guy was to finally begin work demolishing the roof. That seemed perfect to Karl and me but the Demo Guy wanted us to delay the delivery of the trusses until April 11. This said to both Karl and me that the demolition would take a week. (Considering the work, a week always did seem a little long; Demo Guy originally said the entire job would take two weeks. But I digress.)
Karl spent the weekend in Fresno doing various work on the bar. Monday morning rolls around and Karl heads to the bar in the early morning and meets Demo Guy and his crew. They start removing the roof and its trusses and, after a while, Karl leaves to let them do their work.
Later that day, Karl returns and finds the demolition complete. All of it. Trusses, old metal roof, old shingles, old sheathing all ripped off and put into a dumpster. The process that we thought would take a week took a single day. (A very long day, to be sure, but a day nonetheless.) This was a nice surprise! (But then why did Demo Guy want to wait a week to start putting up the trusses and why did he have us delay the delivery of the trusses a full week?)
The demolition broke a few things in the bar--glass counter top, a mirror, a speaker, drink rail, things like that--but that was nothing compared to the problems that were about to occur.
Since the bar was going to be without a roof for so long (upwards of two weeks) Karl wanted to sit at the bar over night to help prevent any vandalism that might occur if nobody was there to watch the place. So, Karl spends the night on Monday sitting in his car staring at the bar. Fun.
On Tuesday, we ask Demo Guy why he is leaving us without a roof for a week. Turns out Demo Guy was doing two jobs at the same time; ours and someone else's. I'm sure Demo Guy has his reasons for leaving us without a roof for a week but I don't know what they could possibly be. Looks to me that this guy seems to have a scheduling problem. It seems more logical to me to knock out one job before starting another. Is this guy so good that he's in this much demand? (Quite frankly, I doubt it; in my opinion, his attention to detail and concern for his clients seems a bit lacking.)
On Tuesday afternoon, we received the lovely "homo fagét" graffiti. And that was annoying and disturbing. I also see that there's a 30 to 70% chance of rain on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. No roof and rain do not mix. Demo Guy has his guys off on his other job and I have no roof. We get in touch with the truss folks and they can deliver the trusses Wednesday afternoon. Why Wednesday? We want to try to get Demo Guy to start work on Wednesday afternoon in preparation of the 70% chance of rain on Thursday and we figured he'd be concerned about his client's project being damaged by rain. It was too late on Tuesday to get a hold of Demo Guy so we have to wait until morning.
For various reasons, we couldn't get a hold of Demo Guy Wednesday morning to see if he could start that afternoon. When we finally contacted Demo Guy, he said his crew could not work on our roof on Wednesday but would be working on our roof at 7:00am Thursday and, unless there's a downpour, they'd continue working to get us a roof. And, even if there was a downpour, we were assured that the crew would resume work when it cleared up.
Wednesday night, it rains. The bar gets wet. All of the bar gets wet. And Demo Guy didn't even bother to try to protect the interior with tarps or anything and didn't even offer to come help put up any sort of protection. (To be fair, we didn't either but that's not the point. The point is he didn't even seem concerned for anything but the pool table.)
Well, on Thursday Demo Guy's crew shows up at the crack of dawn again and beings working. A couple hours later, there was a 45-minute downpour and the crew left. Since Karl had been spending his nights at the bar keeping tabs on the place, he couldn't stay at the bar during the day; he had to sleep at some time, right? Before the downpour and after Demo Guy's crew had installed one truss, he went and took a nap. Mid afternoon, he gets up and heads to the bar to see what progress had been made after the rain had stopped. There was no crew working. The work had stopped, no progress had been made despite having no rain during the afternoon.
We called Demo Guy and asked him where his crew was. He did not know and could not get a hold of them! That's right, he did *not* know where his crew was and could *not* get a hold of them. To say that we were furious is a gross, massive understatement.
Demo Guy assures us up and down that, despite not knowing where they are, his crew will be there at 7:00am Friday to continue working and that his crew didn't come back on Thursday afternoon because "every time they picked up a saw, they were getting shocked" because the equipment was so saturated. (I thought, "SO IS MY BAR!!") (I don't mean to say that I wish his crew to be placed at risk of electrical shock, mind you.)
We have serious doubts about whether or not Demo Guy can even try to make good on his word about showing up on Friday morning; his track record is not exactly stellar in that regard. But, we can do nothing--literally--but believe him. What else could we do? Hire another contractor to finish the job? The place still had no roof. I'm sure we could have hired another contractor to finish the job but the annoyance of doing that would be unfathomably stressful for both of us.
Friday comes around and Demo Guy's crew shows up. I guess he finally figured out how to get a hold of his employees. Karl goes and lays down for his daily rest. Later that afternoon the crew finishes with the trusses and sheathing. The construction is complete in one day.
Also, ABC 30 comes out and does their piece on the graffiti. The police show up and assure us that they do, in fact, care about the (legally defined) hate crime of the graffiti. Ultimately, Friday ended up being a pretty great day for the bar. We simply love the vaulted ceiling (pictures coming tomorrow of that) and are thrilled to finally be at this point in the process.
In the end, Demo Guy scheduled two weeks for a job that only took two and a half days. Why he couldn't have just had the whole thing done by Wednesday before the rain started is simply beyond my comprehension. EVERYTHING was ready for him and he chose to delay things. He is the one who had us delay delivery of the trusses. He is the one with the apparent scheduling problems that made him unable to start when he first said he could. He is the one who couldn't communicate with his employees at a crucial time.
In all, the bar survived. The rain didn't cause too much obvious damage; there could still be some moisture problems with the drywall in the future but we're taking some proactive steps to help slow--if not prevent--that. It could have been a lot worse if the floor hadn't been concrete. But the problems and delays this guy caused for us are reprehensible and wholly unprofessional.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Lovely Sky Light
Now that the roof structure has been replaced and the building is once again as secure as it used to be, I think we can start showing what it was like with no roof on.
This is a lovely panorama of the "interior" from the front door. (Notice the grafitti on the mirror from the guy who doesn't know how to spell the things he hates so much.) This image was captured one week ago today.
(I'm starting to really like the panorama mode on the smartphone...)
Tomorrow's post deals with the sheer pain and suffering of not having a roof on the bar in the middle of rain storms and assorted, well, BS. It will go a long way to explaining why last week really, really sucked so badly.
This is a lovely panorama of the "interior" from the front door. (Notice the grafitti on the mirror from the guy who doesn't know how to spell the things he hates so much.) This image was captured one week ago today.
(I'm starting to really like the panorama mode on the smartphone...)
Tomorrow's post deals with the sheer pain and suffering of not having a roof on the bar in the middle of rain storms and assorted, well, BS. It will go a long way to explaining why last week really, really sucked so badly.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Roof Framing Completed!
Phew!
The new roof is on. We still have to have the shingles put on but the major construction and destruction is complete.
Last week, we avoided saying much of anything about the roof demolition and rebuild. We didn't really like keeping y'all in the dark so much but we thought it would be best to not put on the internet the fact our roof was completely gone and it was really easy to get into the "building" and really wreak some havoc. I'm thinking broken mirrors, broken glass, destroyed bar, and the like. Not to mention it would have been really easy to knock down at least one of the walls and cause a huge headache for us.
We'll be posting pictures of what the process looked like in the next several days. We're both glad to have this part done.
The new roof is on. We still have to have the shingles put on but the major construction and destruction is complete.
Last week, we avoided saying much of anything about the roof demolition and rebuild. We didn't really like keeping y'all in the dark so much but we thought it would be best to not put on the internet the fact our roof was completely gone and it was really easy to get into the "building" and really wreak some havoc. I'm thinking broken mirrors, broken glass, destroyed bar, and the like. Not to mention it would have been really easy to knock down at least one of the walls and cause a huge headache for us.
We'll be posting pictures of what the process looked like in the next several days. We're both glad to have this part done.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Spray on "Hate" in the News!
It's been a surprising couple of days.
On Wednesday, we posted the picture of the "homo faget" graffiti that the bar was tagged with the day before. I added links to it on our Facebook page. That Facebook posting was shared by Michael Esswein to ABC 30 news. And, yesterday, Tommy Tran came out and interviewed Karl on camera and talked to both of us about the vandalism and the bar itself. He did an excellent piece. (Here's a link to the video: Gay bar vandalized in Fresno.)
He contacted Police Chief Jerry Dyer for comment. And Mr. Dyer apparently sent a couple of squad cars out to investigate the incident. The cops who showed up were, quite frankly, wonderful to deal with. We got assurances from them that, yes, they do care a great deal about the graffiti (regardless of what it says), and that they are, indeed, interested in helping to stop, what I'm going to call "Blight Crime" (Graffiti, prostitution, vandalism, etc.), in the area. Turned out to be an excellent introduction to the local officers. Both Karl and I look forward to working with them.
And, on top of the tremendous response, the roof trusses were installed and sheathing all put on, too. (Pictures of that in another post.)
All in all, it was a near perfect ending to one of the most imperfect weeks I've ever experienced.
On Wednesday, we posted the picture of the "homo faget" graffiti that the bar was tagged with the day before. I added links to it on our Facebook page. That Facebook posting was shared by Michael Esswein to ABC 30 news. And, yesterday, Tommy Tran came out and interviewed Karl on camera and talked to both of us about the vandalism and the bar itself. He did an excellent piece. (Here's a link to the video: Gay bar vandalized in Fresno.)
He contacted Police Chief Jerry Dyer for comment. And Mr. Dyer apparently sent a couple of squad cars out to investigate the incident. The cops who showed up were, quite frankly, wonderful to deal with. We got assurances from them that, yes, they do care a great deal about the graffiti (regardless of what it says), and that they are, indeed, interested in helping to stop, what I'm going to call "Blight Crime" (Graffiti, prostitution, vandalism, etc.), in the area. Turned out to be an excellent introduction to the local officers. Both Karl and I look forward to working with them.
And, on top of the tremendous response, the roof trusses were installed and sheathing all put on, too. (Pictures of that in another post.)
All in all, it was a near perfect ending to one of the most imperfect weeks I've ever experienced.
Friday, April 8, 2011
We have a roof!!!
Details will come later but the new roof is up!! Still need shingles put on but the trusses are up and the sheathing is on.
When You Hit Rock Bottom
For reasons that I hope will become clearer to you next week, this week has been truly one of the worst--if not the worst--of this entire project. We think it's getting better today, right now, as I type this. We hope. Again, I'm sorry for being so cagey about this week but I think it may be for the best.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Taxes and Other Oops's
Sometimes in being prepared as I like to be, I forget or just don't know to do something. That thing gets delayed until it's pretty much late and causing delays in doing other things. (You remember the electrical plans I mentioned some weeks ago?)
Well, the current one relates to taxes and the California Secretary of State. Turns out we need a "Secretary of State File Number" which is something like a Social Security Number (I guess). Nothing in my preparations (book readings, website goings-over, etc.) made me think I needed anything like it. Until I started to do the taxes for the bar and there on the form is a space for entering the Secretary of State File Number. The alert in the software was yellow--caution--so I didn't think it would be a problem and just submitted the return. Not surprisingly, it was rejected by the state (and the crap software I used for this doesn't give a reason why, just the figurative big red stamp "REJECTED"). Seeing as that's the only error the crap software finds, I assume that's the item that caused the return to be rejected.
So, $70 more out the door and another couple of weeks waiting for yet another number. Yay.
Fortunately, California gives an automatic 6 month extension and no taxes are due so we're still fine. It's just a little annoying is all. Oh, well.
(And what is the plural of "oops", anyway?)
Well, the current one relates to taxes and the California Secretary of State. Turns out we need a "Secretary of State File Number" which is something like a Social Security Number (I guess). Nothing in my preparations (book readings, website goings-over, etc.) made me think I needed anything like it. Until I started to do the taxes for the bar and there on the form is a space for entering the Secretary of State File Number. The alert in the software was yellow--caution--so I didn't think it would be a problem and just submitted the return. Not surprisingly, it was rejected by the state (and the crap software I used for this doesn't give a reason why, just the figurative big red stamp "REJECTED"). Seeing as that's the only error the crap software finds, I assume that's the item that caused the return to be rejected.
So, $70 more out the door and another couple of weeks waiting for yet another number. Yay.
Fortunately, California gives an automatic 6 month extension and no taxes are due so we're still fine. It's just a little annoying is all. Oh, well.
(And what is the plural of "oops", anyway?)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Spray-On "Hate"
This was the first thing I saw when I got to the bar yesterday afternoon. I'm not exactly sure what to do about it and, believe it or not, this is not the worst of what happened. (Pictures of that will have to come later for reasons that will be explained at that time.)
My inclination is to just shrug it off and paint over it. But then I wonder if the fact it's a gay bar (or will be) elevates this to something more than just vandalism. Should I contact the police? Will the police care? Will the grafitti abatement team care a little more than the cops?
All that being said, what happened yesterday, while not pleasant, could have been much, much worse, trust me. (Again, that'll be explained later. I'm sorry for being so cagey but I think you'll agree my reasons for being cagey now will be apparent later.)
My inclination is to just shrug it off and paint over it. But then I wonder if the fact it's a gay bar (or will be) elevates this to something more than just vandalism. Should I contact the police? Will the police care? Will the grafitti abatement team care a little more than the cops?
All that being said, what happened yesterday, while not pleasant, could have been much, much worse, trust me. (Again, that'll be explained later. I'm sorry for being so cagey but I think you'll agree my reasons for being cagey now will be apparent later.)
Monday, April 4, 2011
DNI
I think I'm pretty good at solving problems with (sometimes) unique solutions. One of the things I'm bringing into The Phoenix is an inventory system that (I think and hope) will work for everybody. Needs to be fast enough for a bartender or barback to use and it's also gotta be easy and efficient enough for Karl and me to make sure we order what we need when we'll need it.
Over the past several months during the periods of boredom and patience that happened in between the bouts of panic and terror Karl and I have hammered out what this process will be. It involves smartphones and barcodes and scanners and spreadsheets and color coded tags. And, believe it or not, despite that list of things that may seem complicated, we think it'll be all the things we need it to be for everybody who has to deal with it.
(FYI, DNI = "Do Not Inventory"; often used for displays in retail stores like Costco.)
Over the past several months during the periods of boredom and patience that happened in between the bouts of panic and terror Karl and I have hammered out what this process will be. It involves smartphones and barcodes and scanners and spreadsheets and color coded tags. And, believe it or not, despite that list of things that may seem complicated, we think it'll be all the things we need it to be for everybody who has to deal with it.
(FYI, DNI = "Do Not Inventory"; often used for displays in retail stores like Costco.)
Friday, April 1, 2011
The News on Time!
We've been holding off on making this announcement but we're ready to make it now that we've received all the appropriate approvals.
Back in December when escrow closed for us and we knew we were going to be opening a bar called The Phoenix we contacted our Congress people, Representative Nunes and Senators Boxer and Pelosi, to discuss the possiblity of being exempt from observing daylight savings time.
We reasoned that, since we're named The Phoenix we we own the property and don't have a landlord and Phoenix is in Arizona and Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time, we shouldn't be subject to daylight savings time, either. We argued that if we didn't have to move our clocks twice a year we could easily provide more jobs to the community for more hours. Surprisingly, all three congresspersons agreed! (Probably the only time they've all agreed on something.)
All three bound together and worked with the Bureau of Time Administration inside the Federal Office of Weights and Measures to get us a waiver.
And, just now, I got off the phone with our contact at the Bureau of Time Administration with the good news. Our waiver was approved! We are not subject to daylight savings time at the bar!
There was a lot of red tape involved in this but I think it'll all be worth it in the end. We had to agree to get special clocks that are only made in Arizona as well as agree to air our television ads only after 11:00pm. (11:00pm for the rest of the state; not for us.)
Further, we had to find technology (that came from China) that will automatically adjust the times on our customer's watches, phones and other time-keeping devices to the correct time inside the bar. So, if you have a watch with a dial on it, the second you step through the door, you can watch the hands adjust themselves for you! I've tested it at home and it's pretty cool! I can't wait for everybody to see it.
This animation shows what it looks like on my watches and clocks. In real life, it's much, much smoother.
Anyway, this is wonderful news for us! It's something we wanted to make sure was done so we can set ourselves apart from everybody else in Fresno and even from the rest of the state!
Back in December when escrow closed for us and we knew we were going to be opening a bar called The Phoenix we contacted our Congress people, Representative Nunes and Senators Boxer and Pelosi, to discuss the possiblity of being exempt from observing daylight savings time.
We reasoned that, since we're named The Phoenix we we own the property and don't have a landlord and Phoenix is in Arizona and Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time, we shouldn't be subject to daylight savings time, either. We argued that if we didn't have to move our clocks twice a year we could easily provide more jobs to the community for more hours. Surprisingly, all three congresspersons agreed! (Probably the only time they've all agreed on something.)
All three bound together and worked with the Bureau of Time Administration inside the Federal Office of Weights and Measures to get us a waiver.
And, just now, I got off the phone with our contact at the Bureau of Time Administration with the good news. Our waiver was approved! We are not subject to daylight savings time at the bar!
There was a lot of red tape involved in this but I think it'll all be worth it in the end. We had to agree to get special clocks that are only made in Arizona as well as agree to air our television ads only after 11:00pm. (11:00pm for the rest of the state; not for us.)
Further, we had to find technology (that came from China) that will automatically adjust the times on our customer's watches, phones and other time-keeping devices to the correct time inside the bar. So, if you have a watch with a dial on it, the second you step through the door, you can watch the hands adjust themselves for you! I've tested it at home and it's pretty cool! I can't wait for everybody to see it.
This animation shows what it looks like on my watches and clocks. In real life, it's much, much smoother.
Anyway, this is wonderful news for us! It's something we wanted to make sure was done so we can set ourselves apart from everybody else in Fresno and even from the rest of the state!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)