Glass Block Windows Are In!

Cool, huh?


Although there is still no trim around the windows, and they need some caulk, the overall look is there.

The same effect will be used in the office suite conference room to allow some natural light into the interior room.

Progress note: on the main floor, for as long as there has been construction activity, there have been "doors" where the last stud in the common walls were omitted so materials and people could pass from one unit to the next easily. Today, Commercial 3 was officially cut off from the traffic flow. If we want to go into that unit, we have to go outside and use the door. We're expecting the same act of completion between Commercial 1 and the Office Suite next week.

Apartment For Rent

Those of you in the local area know how to get in touch with one of us, and we'd love to show it!

When you visit, you can see just how spacious the living area really is. The ceiling is 12 feet high, the arched windows are 10 feet high, and the total area of the apartment is just over 1400 square feet. Because the windows face north, with a view of the Court House, the natural light is gentle and steady.

What else can I tell you? I could mention the five closets and the kitchen pantry. I suppose I could remind you that there's a place for a stacking washer/dryer. Maybe you didn't know that there's a new roof with R-30 insulation. Did I tell you about the cool kitchen cabinets - the ones with the drawers that can't be slammed shut? and the pull-out lower shelves? and the spice rack? and the extra deep, double bowl sink? What about the seated shower in the bathroom - did you know about that? and the lavatory that's actually human height so you don't have to stand on your head to brush your teeth?

Gasoline! This might seem somewhat off the topic, but if you lived in this apartment, you could walk to the grocery store, the post office, several churches, city hall, and numerous other offices and stores. You might have to start you car once a week just to keep the battery alive!

Stick 'Em Up!

Tim and Mike have started the slow, overhead task of rehanging the metal ceiling in the basement. It's one of those jobs that works best if there are a couple of people helping prepare the 2 x 4 foot tiles, and a couple of people on ladders fastening the tiles to the ceiling. They have to work when the regular crew has gone home for the day, so they start about 4:00 hint, hint!

One More Surprise

Just when you think that there isn't any place in the building where we haven't looked, here comes another discovery.



This wooden barrel was found in the cavity under the stairs that run from the back of the mezzanine up to the second balcony. Penneys kept the money up there, as many of you have recalled for us.

The barrel nearly escaped discovered, but just at the last minute, a carpenter spotted it and rescued it before he attached the piece of sheetrock that would have imprisoned it for another l-o-n-g time. We're guessing that it might have held nails, but there was no label and no evidence of what it might have contained.

Apartment Floors

The view from the kitchen in Apartment 2 has changed dramatically!


That big piece of equipment belongs to the floor sanding crew, who started the final transformation on Tuesday.

They have uncovered some beautiful pieces of maple. This close up view is just one example.

The darkness will disappear as the work progresses.

Scott finished the room divider just in time. This side is the china cabinet, and the other side is a book shelf.

It still needs its top, and the post that it surrounds isn't enclosed yet. Eventually, there will be electricity on the post so it can be used as a party buffet.

We Reach a Milestone

Three Alliant trucks



Two hardhats



and a partridge in … uh … nevermind.

After weeks of anticipation, we finally have full power. That means we have hot water in the apartments, and heat, and air conditioning (yipee?), and will be able to have the maple floors sanded and finished, and the power saws won't compete with drills and the grinders, and the lights and the fans will all work at once!

Progress Check

Sorry - Apartment 1 is taken.



In the basement, the drywall is beginning to show us the outlines of the room. Doesn't it look different without the stone walls, pipes, wires, and rafters?


The corner in the distance is where the stage will be.

What Did You Do This Week?

We had a full crew working on every aspect of the project this week, and I can imagine the conversations over Friday night pizza sound something like this.

"That basement ceiling is about half finished, but the parts that are left will take a lot of fitting."





"Getting all those feed lines installed for the sinks means we're almost finished with the rough-in work."

"We worked hard getting the electric panels into the main floor and basement, and made the primary connections between the new main panel and the individual units. It sure was tight in that little utility corridor!"



"Those new back stairs were great for bringing in materials. I'm really glad Troy's crew finished them before we got here."



"I can't believe how much sheetrock we lugged up those office stairs, but it really looks nice now."





Doesnt' it look great!!

This Way Out

Tough enough just climbing those tiny little steps, right?

Now bring this 1927 iron boiler upstairs with you! Fun.



So much fun, in fact, that this father & son team spent Saturday morning completing the task. The best part is that this is one more item that isn't going to the landfill. Instead, it will be refitted to heat a new house using a mix of really ancient, rather old, and modern technologies.

Step by Step, Things Are Coming Up

Troy is just removing the last of the floor joists to make headroom for the new exit stairs.


Outside, the last of the paint is about to disappear forever! There is still some touch up removal to do, then the final rinse for the whole building, and tuck pointing to do, but the end is in sight.

The area over the new doors and windows which is still painted white will be covered by an awning and a sign for the businesses that occupy these units.

Progress in the Basement

I'm happy - no, thrilled!! - to say that the mud in the basement has been conquored by concrete. There are still small traces of it all over the floor, but it's not grabbing people's boots around the ankle and pulling them to a standstill. It's not accumulating in clumps the size of baseballs on the steps leading upstairs. It has been removed, leveled, drained, sumped, tamped, and buried under a new floor.



This view shows the drains for the women's and men's restrooms, along with the chalklines for the restroom walls. In the background you can see the height of the floor when we started this mess. That area will remain like it is and be the prep area for the Soup Kitchen.
OH! Yes, it will have walls and a ceiling, and be clean - oh my yes! I mean the floor level will remain the same.




This stack of lumber will become the exit stairs, and when that's ready, I'll show you how it connects to the new exit.

The New Exit to the Alley

Part of the remodeling for the Soup Kitchen in the basment includes lowering the exit to the alley.



The blue arrow shows the how high the floor was above the alley. The foundation was removed from that level down to alley level, a new floor will be poured (Monday, I think), and then stairs will be built from the basement to the new exit.

Also in progress this week ~

Johnson Controls spent time on the roof getting the air conditioners ready.

Insulation was installed between the basement ceiling and the main floor, primarily as a sound barrier. We hope to see sheet rock on the ceiling next week.

Zager's labor force dug in the drains and lift station for the basement restrooms.

Another section of paint was removed from the north wall.

Everyone went home tired every night. I call that a successful week!