Things are coming along nicely. There have been a few additional surprise delays that have the potential to throw off our carefully constructed schedule. Mainly delays that could cause our inspections to take a day or two longer than expected. We're trying to get it right the first time now rather than doing what we think will pass and correct it later if asked.
The light fixutres are up and the A/C registers are in and the walls are mostly painted. It really is starting to look like a bar! And our LED pool table light looks quite nice!
The insurance adjuster has been out for the vandalism and I believe we're only waiting for a final determination which I expect to be favorable.
This weekend, we have friends coming by to help paint the rest of the place.
Next week, there's more clean up work to do and orders to place and inspectors to call and a bunch of small touches to finish up the job. And I think you'll find all the diamond plate you see on our sites will begin to make a little more sense. (It looks pretty darn cool if ya ask me!)
(And, ya know what? I kinda envy you guys (and gals) who will walk into the bar and get the impact of all these changes all at once. I've (obviously) been living with it for months and months so I've seen it change over time. We really think what we've done with the place will impress you. At least we hope it does.)
Showing posts with label Construction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Construction. Show all posts
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Chugging Along
Wow....
I just updated the status page on our website. I was struck by how damn close we are to finishing up everything that's required of us. We're nearly done!
It's been an unusual time for both Karl and me. Periods of massive stress followed by periods of major relief. Whatta rollercoaster this has been!
I just updated the status page on our website. I was struck by how damn close we are to finishing up everything that's required of us. We're nearly done!
It's been an unusual time for both Karl and me. Periods of massive stress followed by periods of major relief. Whatta rollercoaster this has been!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Passing Gas
It's been a long damn day. But we're closer to opening.
We were up and out of the house at 7:00am this morning and got back home about 8:00pm.
We had a plumbing and mechanical inspection today. Part of the plumbing inspection is a pressure test on the line. The gas line passed inspection. And, we passed the rough electrical inspection as well as the mechanical inspection. (That's the A/C and duct work.) Indeed. We passed gas.
All we have left to do for the city is get the dry wall up and the finish work for the A/C and the electrical. Then it's Final Inspection time. And final inspection could happen as early as June 9. (There will probably be a few issues that need to be addressed so we'll probably have a final final inspection on the 13th; which still gives us some time before opening on the 20th.) Unless we're misreading something, this is the final Magical Hoop™ we have to jump through for our building permit! (Thankfully, the Magical Hoops™ have stopped moving quite so much...)
We also figured out what to do with the bar wall coverings that the health department wants us to put up on the server side of the bar. (Ok, it's not a want; it's a requirement.) And we picked the fiberglass reinforced panels we need back there today as well.
And the final milestone passed today was we got our phone line installed! Our Phone number: "A.K.A. Buzz" which is pretty darn awesome if you ask me.
We're looking forward to Pride this weekend. You'll probably see Karl and I handing out little fliers about the bar. We would have done a float or something (Karl even toyed with the idea of just walking around with signs like those you'd see at a protest) but, quite honestly, we've had other major issues on our minds lately.
And that's today in a nutshell.
(P.S. The posting I made earlier today was done with the voice recognition thing on my phone. It doesn't capitalize anything and you have to speak the punctuation. It's a little annoying but it's a little faster than the on-screen keyboard and it does work. Mostly.)
We were up and out of the house at 7:00am this morning and got back home about 8:00pm.
We had a plumbing and mechanical inspection today. Part of the plumbing inspection is a pressure test on the line. The gas line passed inspection. And, we passed the rough electrical inspection as well as the mechanical inspection. (That's the A/C and duct work.) Indeed. We passed gas.
All we have left to do for the city is get the dry wall up and the finish work for the A/C and the electrical. Then it's Final Inspection time. And final inspection could happen as early as June 9. (There will probably be a few issues that need to be addressed so we'll probably have a final final inspection on the 13th; which still gives us some time before opening on the 20th.) Unless we're misreading something, this is the final Magical Hoop™ we have to jump through for our building permit! (Thankfully, the Magical Hoops™ have stopped moving quite so much...)
We also figured out what to do with the bar wall coverings that the health department wants us to put up on the server side of the bar. (Ok, it's not a want; it's a requirement.) And we picked the fiberglass reinforced panels we need back there today as well.
And the final milestone passed today was we got our phone line installed! Our Phone number: "A.K.A. Buzz" which is pretty darn awesome if you ask me.
We're looking forward to Pride this weekend. You'll probably see Karl and I handing out little fliers about the bar. We would have done a float or something (Karl even toyed with the idea of just walking around with signs like those you'd see at a protest) but, quite honestly, we've had other major issues on our minds lately.
And that's today in a nutshell.
(P.S. The posting I made earlier today was done with the voice recognition thing on my phone. It doesn't capitalize anything and you have to speak the punctuation. It's a little annoying but it's a little faster than the on-screen keyboard and it does work. Mostly.)
Friday, May 27, 2011
Giant Silver Octopus
The bar was recently attacked by a giant silver octopus missing half of its legs.
HELP! We're being attacked!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Way It Should Be
We have a roof.
We spent all day yesterday at the bar with the roofers. And, despite having to provide our own generator for them (for which we nicknamed the roofer "Blanche DuBois") the work was done and completed exactly as we expected to be. THIS is how hiring a contractor should be. Why couldn't Demo Guy have done the same?
Finally, aside from paint, the outside of the bar won't change very much from here on out. (Well, that you can see from the street anyway.)
Here are several progress pictures taken throughout the day.
We spent all day yesterday at the bar with the roofers. And, despite having to provide our own generator for them (for which we nicknamed the roofer "Blanche DuBois") the work was done and completed exactly as we expected to be. THIS is how hiring a contractor should be. Why couldn't Demo Guy have done the same?
Finally, aside from paint, the outside of the bar won't change very much from here on out. (Well, that you can see from the street anyway.)
Here are several progress pictures taken throughout the day.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Lessons Learned (So Far)
Now that the roof framing has finally passed inspection and we're done with Demo Guy for ever (unless something awful happens in the next ten years) here's a few valuable (and the occasional expensive) lessons we learned the hard way when hiring contractors:
Check the contractor's license three different times: When you get the bid, when the contractor is hired and again before work is started.
Lots of things can happen between the time you get the bid and the time work actually starts. For example, the contractor might come onto hard times and have his contractor's bond cancelled and therefore have his license suspended.
Demo Guy's license was valid when we hired him but by the time work started the state's website for checking licenses said it was "under Contractors Bond Suspension". That means it was illegal for him to be doing contracting work valued at more than $500. (It also provides information to help determine if the license is no longer suspended.) And, to be fair, we don't know what happened with Demo Guy's bond and, frankly, it's none of our business what happened to cause the bond to be cancelled.
In construction (at least this project) there is not much worse than having problems with a contractor and then seeing "SUSPENDED" next to his license on the official site to check licenses. Your jaw drops, your heart falls into your butt and you stop breathing for a few seconds. (At least that's what happened to me.)
We're somewhat embarrassed by this. We really should have checked before he started work. It could have been one of our biggest mistakes. (In our defense, it seems the incidence of this kind of thing happening is fairly rare.)
As of today, the contractor's board website shows Demo Guy's license back in the "Active" category with a bond effective May 6, 2011. So that's good. Despite the problems we had with him and despite never recommending him to anybody ever for even so much as hammering in a nail I'm glad he got that SNAFU sorted out.
Take high quality pictures of the areas your contractor is going to work on.
Having documentation of what things were like when the contractor begins helps avoid the contractor saying "It was like that when I started." Here's the story.
Demo Guy claimed that some of the damage caused to the building was actually caused by the fire fighters who worked on the fire back in September, 2010. Specifically, the weather head that connects the electrical service box to the utility pole in the alley.
During the days the bar was without a roof, the weather head was left unsupported for four full days(contrary to what was agreed to) and was pulled away from the wall by the weight of the line to the utility pole. Being pulled away from the building cracked the electrical box which then had to be replaced at a cost of over $1,000 including materials and labor.
We didn't have to take Demo Guy to court to recover these costs but we were prepared to. Despite having what we believe would have been a solid case, we weren't really looking forward to small claims court. Part of that solid case is the pictures we had taken of the bar. Of special note in this case is a picture of the bar we took in February that just happened to show the weather head still attached to the roof; it was not removed by the firefighters as Demo Guy said could be a reason why the weather head was broken.
Keep a Blog
I suppose it doesn't have to be a blog, per se. A journal (which is like a blog) would work just as well.
This blog proved to be a valuable source of information in making the time line of what happened. For example, the "Vandals? Shocking!" post pin-pointed a time that we had PG & E out to fix some damage. (They never mentioned anything about a broken weather head.) Without that post, that part of the time line was "On or around February 2011". Changed it down to "Week ending February 18, 2011".) The more documentation you have in court, the more likely you are to win.
Don't pay the contractor until the job is finished.
Seems straight forward but it isn't necessarily so. By "Finished" I mean "Passed inspection".
We paid Demo Guy what he asked before the final roof framing inspection had been done since we thought it would pass easily the second inspection but it did not. (The first inspection brought up issues that seemed to be easily and relatively quickly corrected.)
What we should have done was pay him half of what he asked for at that time. And then paid him the other half when the roof framing passed its final inspection. In this case, this weakened our bargaining power with Demo Guy to eat the cost of his negligence with the weather head and delayed getting the final truss installed correctly (you know, like he should have done in the first place.)
Take clear pictures of the work.
This is especially true of any abandoned or incorrectly completed work; it'll help your small claims case should you have to resort to that.
Remember this: your camera's macro setting (the little flower; see my crappy example to the right) is your best friend in these cases. If you don't have good photo editing skills, make sure the lighting is clear in what you're photographing. And, if you're photographing small items, include something to show scale. If you've watched CSI, you've probably seen those little white "corner" things with rulers on them. That's what I'm talking about. It doesn't have to be a forensic-quality thing; lots of other things would work just as well for these pictures: a quarter, your finger, library card, your keys, etc.
I really don't mind learning new things but I hope these are the only lessons we learn from this project. They weren't massively expensive lessons (aside from delaying our opening date and the weather head problem) but they added far too much tension and anxiety to an already anxious process.
Check the contractor's license three different times: When you get the bid, when the contractor is hired and again before work is started.
Lots of things can happen between the time you get the bid and the time work actually starts. For example, the contractor might come onto hard times and have his contractor's bond cancelled and therefore have his license suspended.
Demo Guy's license was valid when we hired him but by the time work started the state's website for checking licenses said it was "under Contractors Bond Suspension". That means it was illegal for him to be doing contracting work valued at more than $500. (It also provides information to help determine if the license is no longer suspended.) And, to be fair, we don't know what happened with Demo Guy's bond and, frankly, it's none of our business what happened to cause the bond to be cancelled.
In construction (at least this project) there is not much worse than having problems with a contractor and then seeing "SUSPENDED" next to his license on the official site to check licenses. Your jaw drops, your heart falls into your butt and you stop breathing for a few seconds. (At least that's what happened to me.)
We're somewhat embarrassed by this. We really should have checked before he started work. It could have been one of our biggest mistakes. (In our defense, it seems the incidence of this kind of thing happening is fairly rare.)
As of today, the contractor's board website shows Demo Guy's license back in the "Active" category with a bond effective May 6, 2011. So that's good. Despite the problems we had with him and despite never recommending him to anybody ever for even so much as hammering in a nail I'm glad he got that SNAFU sorted out.
Take high quality pictures of the areas your contractor is going to work on.
Having documentation of what things were like when the contractor begins helps avoid the contractor saying "It was like that when I started." Here's the story.
Demo Guy claimed that some of the damage caused to the building was actually caused by the fire fighters who worked on the fire back in September, 2010. Specifically, the weather head that connects the electrical service box to the utility pole in the alley.
During the days the bar was without a roof, the weather head was left unsupported for four full days(contrary to what was agreed to) and was pulled away from the wall by the weight of the line to the utility pole. Being pulled away from the building cracked the electrical box which then had to be replaced at a cost of over $1,000 including materials and labor.
We didn't have to take Demo Guy to court to recover these costs but we were prepared to. Despite having what we believe would have been a solid case, we weren't really looking forward to small claims court. Part of that solid case is the pictures we had taken of the bar. Of special note in this case is a picture of the bar we took in February that just happened to show the weather head still attached to the roof; it was not removed by the firefighters as Demo Guy said could be a reason why the weather head was broken.
Keep a Blog
I suppose it doesn't have to be a blog, per se. A journal (which is like a blog) would work just as well.
This blog proved to be a valuable source of information in making the time line of what happened. For example, the "Vandals? Shocking!" post pin-pointed a time that we had PG & E out to fix some damage. (They never mentioned anything about a broken weather head.) Without that post, that part of the time line was "On or around February 2011". Changed it down to "Week ending February 18, 2011".) The more documentation you have in court, the more likely you are to win.
Don't pay the contractor until the job is finished.
Seems straight forward but it isn't necessarily so. By "Finished" I mean "Passed inspection".
We paid Demo Guy what he asked before the final roof framing inspection had been done since we thought it would pass easily the second inspection but it did not. (The first inspection brought up issues that seemed to be easily and relatively quickly corrected.)
What we should have done was pay him half of what he asked for at that time. And then paid him the other half when the roof framing passed its final inspection. In this case, this weakened our bargaining power with Demo Guy to eat the cost of his negligence with the weather head and delayed getting the final truss installed correctly (you know, like he should have done in the first place.)
Take clear pictures of the work.
This is especially true of any abandoned or incorrectly completed work; it'll help your small claims case should you have to resort to that.
I really don't mind learning new things but I hope these are the only lessons we learn from this project. They weren't massively expensive lessons (aside from delaying our opening date and the weather head problem) but they added far too much tension and anxiety to an already anxious process.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
On the Plus Side....
It looks like we may have temporary electrical service sometime this week; it depends on how quickly PG & E can make it out to connect things up. And that will make construction work go a lot easier for everybody.
And, Jeff of Club Legends stopped by with a small entourage to take a look at the place. (I assume he was driving by and saw Karl's car.) He had some excellent advice that might save us a bunch of money. (Which may go a good distance to making up for the costs of completing Demo Guy's work.)
And, Jeff of Club Legends stopped by with a small entourage to take a look at the place. (I assume he was driving by and saw Karl's car.) He had some excellent advice that might save us a bunch of money. (Which may go a good distance to making up for the costs of completing Demo Guy's work.)
"Is There a Lawyer in the House?"
Turns out, it wasn't all resolved on Monday.
As I mentioned very briefly yesterday (it was a mobile blog posting) we met with Demo Guy yesterday afternoon. And it turns out we're going to have to take him to small claims court to recover the costs of repairing the damage we firmly believe beyond any shadow of doubt to have been caused by his construction crew and his own negligence.
Rolled into that claim is going to be money to finish the job correctly. We discovered yesterday that the two guys Demo Guy sent on Saturday did not install the truss correctly at all. Even after Karl had shown the crew the plans which clearly show the proper way to install the connectors they were not done correctly. At all.
We're considering naming names here with this contractor. We don't want to get caught up in a libel or slander lawsuit for defamation of character so we have to tread carefully. That's not too difficult; we just have to make sure that our opinions are clearly stated as opinions. There can be no defamation of character or libel or slander if what is said is true; the problem becomes being able to prove in court that what we present as fact is, indeed, factual.
As I mentioned very briefly yesterday (it was a mobile blog posting) we met with Demo Guy yesterday afternoon. And it turns out we're going to have to take him to small claims court to recover the costs of repairing the damage we firmly believe beyond any shadow of doubt to have been caused by his construction crew and his own negligence.
Rolled into that claim is going to be money to finish the job correctly. We discovered yesterday that the two guys Demo Guy sent on Saturday did not install the truss correctly at all. Even after Karl had shown the crew the plans which clearly show the proper way to install the connectors they were not done correctly. At all.
We're considering naming names here with this contractor. We don't want to get caught up in a libel or slander lawsuit for defamation of character so we have to tread carefully. That's not too difficult; we just have to make sure that our opinions are clearly stated as opinions. There can be no defamation of character or libel or slander if what is said is true; the problem becomes being able to prove in court that what we present as fact is, indeed, factual.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Finishing the Job
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.
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.
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.)
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!
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?)
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.
Friday, March 25, 2011
On your mark,... Get set,...
Everything is now at the point of being ready but the weather. But good news is on the horizon. Clear weather is forecast for Monday. Can we believe the forecast? They have been wrong so many times before.
The construction people are what I consider vague. There are many calls back and forth about when they will start. I am told something could start happening Monday. At least we will get a big trash dumpster and the A/C unit will be taken down.
Just seeing the outside of the building change will be such a joy. This excludes the changes that were made by graffiti taggers. Those changes we could do without.
The construction people are what I consider vague. There are many calls back and forth about when they will start. I am told something could start happening Monday. At least we will get a big trash dumpster and the A/C unit will be taken down.
Just seeing the outside of the building change will be such a joy. This excludes the changes that were made by graffiti taggers. Those changes we could do without.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Lights are On....
...but nobody's home. At least in the bar, anyway.
Over the weekend, decided on what we're gonna have for lighting in the bar. It took a trip to Fresno to the hardware store but we got it figured. And we'll be well below the Title 24 requirements for wattage used for lighting. Picked out some nice LED lights along with some immensely flattering fluorescent lights. Got a few new track lights, too.
Overall, the shopping wasn't nearly as awful as I thought it might be. It's not that I dislike shopping it's that I didn't relish the figuring of wattages and locations and a bunch of other stuff. But it's done. And our electric bill will thank us, I'm sure.
So, we've sent the list to the engineer guy who should have them implemented sometime today (if not yesterday; we'll have to check on that) and then it's back to City Hall where the second-to-last Magical Hoop™ can be cleared.
(Hmmm... If all goes well, construction may commence the week of March 28. Cross your fingers and hope I didn't just put myself too far out on the limb there...)
Over the weekend, decided on what we're gonna have for lighting in the bar. It took a trip to Fresno to the hardware store but we got it figured. And we'll be well below the Title 24 requirements for wattage used for lighting. Picked out some nice LED lights along with some immensely flattering fluorescent lights. Got a few new track lights, too.
Overall, the shopping wasn't nearly as awful as I thought it might be. It's not that I dislike shopping it's that I didn't relish the figuring of wattages and locations and a bunch of other stuff. But it's done. And our electric bill will thank us, I'm sure.
So, we've sent the list to the engineer guy who should have them implemented sometime today (if not yesterday; we'll have to check on that) and then it's back to City Hall where the second-to-last Magical Hoop™ can be cleared.
(Hmmm... If all goes well, construction may commence the week of March 28. Cross your fingers and hope I didn't just put myself too far out on the limb there...)
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Status Update
Earlier this week, I quietly put up a new page on our web site sort of giving a rough-to-detailed outline of where we are in the process. It gives a quick look into the current state of affairs as well as what needs to happen before we open and what has already happened.
It's the Building Status page. Give it a look-see.
(There has been a lot that has already been completed. Since I made that list at the end of February, I'm certain I forgot things that had to be done but have been completed. The "Not Yet Begun" parts should be fairly complete, though.)
It's the Building Status page. Give it a look-see.
(There has been a lot that has already been completed. Since I made that list at the end of February, I'm certain I forgot things that had to be done but have been completed. The "Not Yet Begun" parts should be fairly complete, though.)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Don't Fence Me In
No, actually, go ahead and fence me in.
I mentioned earlier the world's tiniest homeless encampment behind the bar and that we were going to put in a fence to help them move on with their lives. This is what the "fence" looked like before Karl and David started working.
Lovely, ain't it.
And here is after.
Karl loves the fence.
Cheesy pictures aside, the fence has already had the desired effect. The patio has not been touched since the fence went up. In my mind, this was money well spent.
(And don't worry, the fence is not complete. We need to leave the side of the building accessible to the demolition crew for the dumpster. The rest of the fence (down the side of the building) will be constructed after the roof work is complete.)
I mentioned earlier the world's tiniest homeless encampment behind the bar and that we were going to put in a fence to help them move on with their lives. This is what the "fence" looked like before Karl and David started working.
And here is after.
Karl loves the fence.
Cheesy pictures aside, the fence has already had the desired effect. The patio has not been touched since the fence went up. In my mind, this was money well spent.
(And don't worry, the fence is not complete. We need to leave the side of the building accessible to the demolition crew for the dumpster. The rest of the fence (down the side of the building) will be constructed after the roof work is complete.)
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