January 29, 2011 -On Saturday morning the cleaning crews from Blackmon Mooring arrived in mass. At times there were at least 25 people working on all areas of the building. The company was also hired by Silver Rock Productions to clean their offices (first and second floor). They did a really good job by removing the small objects and cleaning them by hand. The walls and furniture were cleaned and the rugs shampooed.The air ducts were also cleaned.
They also has an technician who is an expert on cleaning and servicing electrical equipment. They cleaned the Silver Rock computers, and he looked at some of the epic gear that was in the studio and just feet from where the fire started. On Friday I took some photos with the camera and many of the photos were out of focus. The technician said the electronics in the equipment were compromised by the smoke and heat, and they will all be declared a loss. We will meet with the Hartford adjuster tomorrow to determine the amount of loss.
Posted by on January 29, 2012
January 27, 2012 - Tough day today. We had a fire in the epic Creative Co-Op. The good news is no one was hurt, but the studio portion of the building suffered extensive damage.
The day started off fine, but at 8:45am, Mike Huffine of Silver Rock Productions arrived and saw smoke coming out of the back of the building. He entered and realized the smoke was indeed from a fire inside the studio. He immediately came to my office, called 911 and he and I went out to see what we could do to stop the fire. Mike opened the studio doors and I got a garden hose. With the door open, we sprayed water onto the flames coming from the north west corner of the studio. The spray from the hose knocked the fire down, and several local fire departments arrived minutes later.
The fireman entered the building and with their hoses, and other tools quickly got the fire under control. The damage at this point was not bad – but it would get worse later.
Posted by on January 28, 2012
January 20, 2012 - For the past two weeks we have been working on the lighting grid in the studio. This is a precision job with lots of moving parts (literally). Adam and Cliff began by fabricating the individual trusses they built in late December. Metal elbows and tees were welded in place. 3 inch heavy duty utility straps were affixed to turnbuckles connected to metal bars running across ceiling joists in the attic. These joists were engineered to take the weight of the grid (right now about 1000 lbs).
Electric wires were installed to power the boat lift motor. After some adjustments were made, Adam threw the switch and the grid moved off the ground - it was pretty exciting to see this monster move from the floor to the ceiling in less than 2 minutes! Now that the unit was working properly, it was time to come up with a way to make it safer.
Posted by on January 23, 2012
January 2,2012 - Happy New Year! It is really amazing that a year ago we had just finished setting the 11 cargo containers, and today we are down to just a short punch list of items to get the building finished. Over the past couple of weeks we got the rest of the trim done, and turned our attention to installing gutters and downspouts and building the lighting grid for the studio.
The Aluminum Composite Panels from Mitsubishi and Grupo Daissa.made a great deal of difference to the building. We have learned to work with the material and have devised ways to use it for all kinds of things. For example, with the two panels we had left over from the job, Adam and Cliff fabricated a custom gutter system designed to channel all the water from the big roof away from the building. This is actually a big deal as we learned the hard way.
Posted by on January 07, 2012
January 5, 2012 - Ready or not the epic Creative Co-Op hosted its first video production shoot for KHOU Channel 11 (the CBS affiliate here in town) for a commercial this week. Although we still have work to do on the overhead lighting grid, the folks at the station said it was not a problem. When they arrived, I understood why - they came with an over sized truck loaded with all kinds of gear. To say it was impressive would be an understatement!
Chris, the Director of the shoot for KHOU quickly put his crew to work. The electrician checked out the power panel to insure it would be adequate for their lighting (it was, but he made some excellent suggestions which we will implement for the next shoot). The DP (Director of Photography) set up his camera (a Canon 5D), and the grip set up the lights and got the sound curtains placed around the studio. The teleprompter operator got his gear set up, and the script loaded into the computer for the shoot. This was one well oiled team, and I was humbled to watch it all come together so smoothly.
Posted by on January 07, 2012
December 18, 2011 - Following up on the work we started last week, this week we finished using the Armorpoxy products on both the exterior wood surfaces and the studio floor. ArmorTex was used to coat the wooden decks and ramp while Armorpoxy II was used on the studio floor. Both products were easy to apply, and we are confident will provide us with years of great service.
We covered the application of the ArmorTex product in our previous blog entry, so in this one we will focus on the Armorpoxy II product. This is one really tough product, so it is easy to see why it is most often used in military or heavy industrial applications. We were glad we had all the right tools on hand as a result of ordering their "Job on a Pallet" kit. We also took advantage of their free technical phone support by asking several questions we had during the installation process.
Posted by on December 16, 2011
December 4, 2011 - This blog post will be dedicated to the Armorpoxy Company of Union NJ. The company has been very helpful in working with us to select the right protective coatings for the studio floor and the wooden decks/ramps. Turns out that they had products that were perfect for both applications. Their ArmorTex acrylic latex paint was used on the wood ramp/deck, and their Armorpoxy II concrete coating was used on the studio floor. We worked closely with Dan Blum, President of the company, who was very generous with his time and advice.
The Armorpoxy products were shipped directly from their manufacturing plant in central, NJ to our jobsite in The Woodlands,Texas via common carrier. Armorpoxy features it's "Job on a Pallet" service. They work closely with the contractor or homeowner to insure you have everything needed to prep, apply and install their products on our job. Let's take a closer look at how these products were used on the epic Creative Co-Op.
Posted by on December 05, 2011
November 27, 2011 - This week we focused on getting the interior rooms in containers 9 and 10 done. We finished the walls, and painted them along with the ceilings. We put down a hardwood floor that came from the dining room in my house. We had some damage from Hurricane Ike a couple of years ago, and the settlement covered a new hardwood floor. We were able to salvage enough good wood from the old floor to recycle it into this project.
We also needed to get the studio ready for a music video that Silver Rock shot just before the Thanksgiving holidays. They projected photos of the singer on the walls, and used a Red One camera to film her singing the song. The lighting was awesome, and the video came out great.
Posted by on December 05, 2011
November 20, 2011 - This week we turned our attention to cleaning up the site, and even made a little money taking some of the iron scrap to the recycling yard in Houston.We also talked with a prospective tenant for units 9 & 10, and decided to build out one interior room for the unit. This required we clean up and organize the materials left over from the build.
Throughout the project, when we cut out walls it resulted in drops from the corten steel. We also had drops from the tubing and pipe we cut for handrails and supports. We put the iron into two separate pile. One pile contained materials that could possibly be used somewhere else on the job, and the other pile was for scrap that was too small to reuse. We did this with both steel and wood. This week, we culled through the piles and took our first load of steel to the recycling yard and disposed of the wood that was not possible to reuse.The trip to the scrap yard was really interesting.
Posted by on November 20, 2011
November 13, 2011 - We are making great progress on checking off the items on our punch list, and this week we worked on organizing the building. Now that we have a concrete floor under the ramp, we were able to move the Silver Rock utility trailer out of the studio and into this secure area. We also cleaned up in and around the building, getting our tools and materials organized. It is important from time to time, to stop and organize the site. Soon, we will start to formally show the building and look to lease out the remaining spaces.
We continued work on the summer kitchen, and got the plumbing installed and working. We added concrete pavers in front and to one side of the counter, and painted both the inside and outside of walls. Next week, we will add a footrest (a 2" OD steel pipe) to the front wall of the summer kitchen, and finish trimming it out.
I visited Southwest Building Products and picked up a small sample of FuzeGlass counter top material. This product is really amazing. It is lighter than I expected, and the imbedded glass really bring the surface to life. Next week we will detail the installation of this low carbon cement and recycled glass product.
Posted by on November 14, 2011
November 06, 2011 - Try as we might during the planning stage, there have been a number of things we had to fix once the building was built. One of those items was the amount of flatwork needed around the building. Flatwork includes concrete walks, driveways, patios, and floors for the storage shed. This week we poured another 9 yards of redimix concrete to places we came up short on when we did our initial pours in August.
For example, ADA codes required a 36 inch sidewalk around the building. We made ours 48 inches, but did not take into account that when the doors are open, they block most of the sidewalk. This caused people to walk in the dirt around the doors. Not good. For our wet bar area we thought we would use some old pavers, but that made for a less than smooth surface to walk on. So, we decided to pour a thin concrete slab on top of the pavers to make for a nice floor. Perhaps the most challenging pour came with our decision to pave the area under the ADA ramp which has become an important storage space.
Posted by on November 07, 2011
October 30, 2011 - This week the weather turned great and it was nice enough for Scott of Silver Rock to take his computer outdoors and do his work from a second floor deck. Part of the dream of this building is for creative people to work in ways that are not possible in conventional/traditional office buildings. There are several private decks around the building along with one very public meeting area.
And work continued on that public area with the summer kitchen build out. The framing work was completed, and we were able to get the walls, counter top, plumbing and electrical rough work done. We also had an unexpected visit by Brian Egan, the President of Southwest Building Products who stopped by early in the week. He was impressed with our project, and mentioned his company distributes a variety of masonry building products. He told us about a very unique counter top he offers called FuezGlass which is a fusion of low carbon cement & 100% post consumer recycled glass.This material is very cool - let me explain...
Posted by on October 31, 2011
October 24, 2011 - This week we revised the punch list of things we need to do for the construction of the project to come to and end, and the good news is we are down to 3 pages of relatively minor items. Most of the things on the list are from the outside of the building - trim, painting, deck and ramp coating, summer kitchen, and some flat work (concrete walk extensions). One item that was nice to check off was the large picnic table we built between the epic studio and the Creative Co-Op. This table will serve as a meeting and break area where we can socialize (without sitting in front of a computer).
Posted by on October 24, 2011
October 16, 2011 - We continued our work this week on adding exterior trim, getting the picnic table and benches ready to be tiled and putting in some plants in the first phase of landscaping the property. We have also had several folks interested in leasing the space (even though we have not advertised it anywhere to date!).
We began work this week by taking up the 3/4" exterior plywood outside the 2nd floor of the Silver Rock Deck. Silver Rock wanted something special there, and we installed 6" exterior deck boards which look great. The plywood decking we removed was re-purposed for the picnic table and benches. With this wood in place, the picnic table is ready for a tile top, and staying true to form, we found some awesome porcelain tile at Emser Tile in Spring for just $.79/sq. ft. (reduced from $3.50/sq. ft.) . We also used some recycled brick pavers and AC unit bases for the floor of our outdoor kitchen.
Posted by on October 17, 2011
October 9, 2011 - It is amazing how some simple trim around the exterior of the building can make such a difference in how it looks. Each piece of trim has to be carefully cut, routed, bent, fabricated and installed. It is time consuming work that has to be done with precision, but it is well worth the effort.
Other work we accomplished included getting the picnic table and benches installed, and we used the skid steer to move and shape the dirt around the building.
Posted by on October 10, 2011
October 2, 2011 - By the end of the week, we put the last aluminum panel on the front wall of the building and it came out awesome! During the construction of the wall, we did a time lapse so you can watch the wall take shape over the two weeks it took to build. We have some editing work to do on those photos, and as soon as they are ready, we will post them to this blog. With the big 3D wall out of the way, we turned our attention to the trim work on the building, and the large picnic table that goes between the epic Studio and the new Creative Co-Op building.
We opted to use some of the Blue APOLLIC aluminum composite panels for the trim on the ramp.In addition to being decorative, the trim was designed to meet ADA standards (it has to be enclosed by a 4" high wall around the base of the ramp), and will also help channel water down the ramp and away from the building. We also had a surprise visit by the Mitsubishi ALPOLIC salesman who was very pleased with how we were using their product in a wide variety of applications.
Posted by on October 03, 2011
September 25, 2011 - We made great progress on the 3D ACM (Aluminum Composite Material) wall this week, and only have a couple of panels to go to finish the entire east wall. Each of these boxes has to be carefully measured, scored, folded, and held together using corner clips. The box then has to be installed on the wall exactly 3/4 of an inch from the panels all around it.
What makes it really challenging is the east wall of the building is not perfectly straight. As the wood used for the walls dried out over the months, it has changed shape. This has made it even more difficult to get the panels aligned. Adam and Alan are doing an excellent job on a wall that will help make this building even more special then a simple steel building. One example is our treatment of the large studio doors.
Posted by on September 26, 2011
September 17, 2011 - The last major construction item on the epic Creative Co-Op is the trim work on the exterior of the building. We got almost 50% of the Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) panels built and applied this week - and they look great! In the last blog post we took a look at how the panels were fabricated, so this post will focus on the east wall and application of those panels.
The panels we are using are manufactured by the Mitsubishi Company under the trade name ALPOLIC. Aluminum and Metal Composite Materials (ACM) offer superior flatness, vibration dampening, durability and ease of maintenance. ACM is produced by continuously bonding two thin sheets of aluminum on either side of an extruded thermoplastic core. The aluminum surfaces have been per-finished and coil-coated in a variety of paint finishes before bonding. ALPOLIC ACM offers the rigidity of heavy-gauge sheet metal in a lightweight composite material. It is an awesome material to work with.
Posted by on September 19, 2011
September 10, 2011 - Well, we are down to the last major job on the building - the creation of a 3D sculpture wall on the east side (front) of the building. This wall will be made from a series of aluminum panels arranged in a pattern similar to a Mondrian painting. We wanted to make a statement on the front wall , and worked on literally dozens of patterns until we came up with one we all agreed was the winner.
Before we go into more detail about the wall and the panels we are building for it, our good news this week was the completion of the Cyc wall. The most difficult part of any infinity wall is the corner where all walls meet. It has to be perfectly round, that is not an easy task to achieve. In our case it took 5-6 coats of Sheetrock mud applied over several days. Before a new coat could be applied, the previous coat had to be sanded. The results were worth the work - we can't wait to shoot video and photos in the studio.
This week we also installed 3 interior doors, completed some work on the exterior walls, did some interior painting and got to check off several items on our punch list.
Posted by on September 12, 2011
August 28, 2011 - When the thermometer hit 109 degrees Fahrenheit, and the newscaster said "...we have just tied the highest temperature ever recorded in Houston", we knew it was time to call it a day. Fortunately, when the temperatures gets too hot to work outside, we have enough work to do inside to keep busy. And this week (like the last couple of weeks) the workers came in an hour early and left early as well in an attempt to beat the heat. Even so, we got the outside stairs installed, (and partially painted), added a garage extension, finished installing the remaining plumbing fixtures, added some moldings, and began work on the cyclorama (cyc) wall in the studio.
We needed a place to store a 7 foot by 9 foot utility trailer and realized we could easily extend the ADA ramp using some of the left over steel walls from the containers to build the roof and walls of the garage. By the end of the week the guys had the roof of the garage up along with one wall and the two front doors. Next week we will get the remaining wall up and the addition painted. The ADA ramp was expensive to build, and getting this extra storage space from it has eased the pain (somewhat).
Posted by on August 29, 2011
August 21, 2011- The record for consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees for Houston was set in 1980 at 21. Yesterday, we broke that record, and this has been a summer we won't soon forget. Our building workers continued to install the Aluminum Composite Panels on the roof walls 20-30 feet in the air with temperatures sometimes as high as 105 degrees, and little or no wind. The good news is the last of the roof panels went up on Tuesday, so another big job is checked off the list.
Posted by on August 22, 2011
August 14, 2011 - We made great progress this week on the last remaining major job on the project - the installation of the Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) Panels. We also worked on adding some side walls to the ADA ramp, installing the metal handrails, and sealing the plywood decks. Silver Rock Productions moved in, and even did a video shoot in the studio which still looks more like a workshop then a production studio.
The heat also made news this week as well. The record for Houston for 100 degree plus days was 10. Today, we hit that record, and are set to break it tomorrow. Now when the thermometer says 102 degrees, it actually feels like 105-107 because of our humidity. When installing panels, you may also be working in the direct sun light combined with the hot metal surface and weight of a large aluminum panel makes it very hard work. It just comes down to putting up one panel at a time - each one representing a small victory.
Posted by on August 15, 2011
August 5, 2011 - Our awesome news this week came with the return of the Montgomery County Fire Marshal and his follow-up inspection of the building. His second visit took only ten minutes and we passed with flying colors! We had five items to complete (exit signage, installing six automatic door closers, Knox box keys, weather sealing the studio doors, and installing several outlet cover plates), and all were made to his satisfaction. We now have a Certificate of Completion, and with it, our tenant, Silver Rock Productions, started moving in.
Throughout the construction process, our Engineer (Ron Saikowski) and Project Consultant (David Cox) made sure we were following all commercial code standards.That work really paid off when it came time for inspection. As we toured the building we pointed out to the Fire Marshal how we complied with each item on his list, and that made the process go smooth.We also communicated with their office when any major changes on the building were introduced, so there were no surprises on either side.
Posted by on August 06, 2011
July 30, 2010 - This week we had the Fire Marshal come to the job site for his inspection - and all went well. He toured the building and we had five minor things we needed to correct. They included automatic door closers on all exit doors, weatherstripping around the large studio door, mounting the address signs on the building, installing some missing outlet covers, and adding some signs to the exit doors. We got all of the items corrected, and next week we should have our Certificate of Occupancy. With that, our anchor tenant, Silver Rock Productions, can move in. The timing was perfect since this week we got the carpet installed, the trim work done, and the interior of their space cleaned and ready to go.
Posted by on August 01, 2011
July 24, 2011 - The epic Creative Co-Op passed a huge milestone this week with the final inspection and approval by Ron Saikowski, our project engineer. A couple of weeks ago Ron visited the building and we went through it inch by inch. Ron gave us a list of things we needed to do before he would sign a form required by the Fire Marshall needed to request their inspection. On Friday, July 23, we again walked the building with Ron and we pointed out to him where each and every one of the items on the list has been addressed and he agreed they were done to his satisfaction..
Ron signed off on the project, and hand delivered the form (with his seal on it) to the Fire Marshall's office. We will call their office on Monday and ask to set a time for the inspection. If we pass that review, we will get a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), and our tenant (Silver Rock Productions) can move in.
Posted by on July 25, 2011
July 17, 2011 - We started the week by updating and posting a check list of all the work remaining on the project. This 4 page sheet was divided into A, B and C list items. We need to get all of the A items on the list done before we can call back our engineer to sign off on the job. Once he signs off on it, we will send the sealed document to the Fire Marshall's office and set a time for them to come by for a review.The A items on the list include a number of safety code requirements (hand rails on the stairs, fully working entry way door, and fire extinguishers to name a few). B and C list items can be worked on after we get a certificate of occupancy that is required for Silver Rock Productions to move in.
For the past 5 months, every morning we would open the temporary OSB panel door that would become the main entry to the Silver Rock offices. This was a pain, but necessary because Silver Rock had plans for a very special entry way door, and there were always other more pressing jobs that had to be done. Last week we sent an ACM panel out to a local sign shop where they used a CRC router to cut out their logo. This week we got rid of the temporary door and the new entry door is now in place. Here is how it was done.
Posted by on July 18, 2011
July 10, 2011 - With most of the heavy lifting out of the way, we turned our attention to completing the installation of the floor tiles, installing the laminate counter tops, painting several walls and ceilings, installing the toilets and we even took some time to visit two of our vendor companies. By far, the most exciting work was getting the laminate counter tops installed in the kitchens and bathrooms. If you have not used laminate in a while, you might be surprised by the number of new styles and edge treatments available.
I grew up with laminate counter tops, and came to appreciate their relatively low cost, the ease of maintaining them, and the fact that with the right tools and patience, they can be installed by most DIY'ers. Even so, I was really surprised when I visited with WilsonArt web site and paged through the new patterns and textures to see just how closely they mimic a variety of natural materials.
Posted by on July 11, 2011
July 1, 2001 - Well, you didn't need to be much of a weatherman to know that we have been going through a hot spell even by Houston standards. Last night it was made official - the past month was the hottest June on record! There were so many days that the mercury hit 100 we stopped counting. And the days when it was just under 100, the humidity made it fell like a sauna. Working in it has been miserable, but we got a great deal of work done in June and are on track to have our anchor tenant (Silver Rock Productions) move in on August 1.
This week we got some relief from the heat by being able to work indoors.Over 1000 square feet of porcelain tile was installed in the hallways, bathrooms, kitchens and entry areas.Some of tile came from a storage unit of a contractor who bought it for an upscale condo project that was cancelled. Most of the tile was purchased at the American Tile store on FM 1960, Martin, the manager of the store, and Lynn, an interior designer helped us select a really nice tile. We learned some things about tile I will share with you.
Posted by on July 01, 2011
June 24, 2011 - This week the ready-mix cement truck showed up for the second time and now we have our driveway and walks completed. Does it ever feel good to walk on a finished surface. We also had our first significant rainfall on Wednesday - almost 2 inches! That gave the new cement some additional time to cure and it allowed us to do some painting on the interior walls and trim. We also were able to get all the remaining wall penetrations sealed with Rectorseal's Metacaulk Firestop product. We also had a chance to work with Tightbond 4319, a super strong construction adhesive by Franklin International.
But the week was not without some moments of drama - here are the details.
Posted by on June 26, 2011
June 19, 2011 - For the third straight week, temperatures reached 100 plus degrees in the shade with humidity levels at 30% - I don't even want to think how hot it was in the sun which is where most of the work took place. The challenge was to keep hydrated while working to meet some very tight deadlines.
Cement is something you don't get a second chance at getting right. That is why we hired Jeremy Crow of Crow Contractors (who did such a nice job on the ceiling of the big room) to take care of the flat-work for us. Jeremy showed up on Monday morning with Aaron the head of his flat-work crew, and they began to lay out the string lines for the forms around the building and the driveway. David Cox, our Construction Manager spent a great deal of time during the foundation stage to insure that everything would come together in the later stages of construction, and everything went as planned.
Posted by on June 19, 2011
July 11, 2011 - With afternoon temperatures up around 100 degrees each day (that is 10 degrees above normal for this time of year), and no rain in the forecast, we were still able to make some great progress both inside and outside the building this week. We added an additional 115 feet of steel to the ADA ramp, and by the end of the week had reached the second floor. Since the ramp is on the west side of the building, we tried to get most of the work done in the morning, but once the guys get going they don't want to stop.
We got 8 more loads of fill dirt which was needed for some low spots in the front. The dirt had lots of organic material in it (sod) which we removed by hand and planted around the sides of the building. This left clean fill dirt which is just what we need for under the concrete walkways. We had Alfredo Gusman from Goosestone Construction come out to knock down the pile and begin the excavation work on the drive way, and entry ramp.
Posted by on June 11, 2011
June 4, 2011 - On Saturday Alfredo Guzman from Goosestone Construction Company came by with his 35hp tractor (with front end loader and box blade) to knock down some of the dirt piles that had been delivered to the site last week. Alfredo arrived right on schedule at 7:00am, and immediately went to work. Within 3 hours he had most of the dirt leveled around the building, and spent the last hour moving dirt from the back of the property for driveway ramp to the building.
Jeremy Crow from Crow Construction returned to the site to finish some touch-up work on the wallboards. He also helped grind down the cement threshold area of the large doors to the big room. The weight of the doors made them rub against the concrete and they were hard to open. Jeremy took off about a half inch of concrete and now the doors are ready for the remote control door opener we will install later.
Posted by on June 06, 2011
May 30, 2011 - For the past 4 months we have been hanging wallboard, and this week we hung the final piece. The last major area to be covered was the ceiling in the video production studio. The ceiling is 19 feet high, and a 4; x 8: sheet of 5/8" wallboard weight right at 100 pounds. Cutting the wallboard to size, lifting it in place, and screwing it to the roof trusses was a job we felt should be left to the pros.We placed an ad in the "Gigs" section of the Houston Craigslist, and were flooded with contractors looking for work. We had over 15 responses in less than 24 hours. Prices for the most part were good, but one company really stood out from the rest.
Jeremy Crow of Crows Construction company replied to our ad by showing up at the job site the morning the ad run. He walked the site and in the process told Adam how he would handle the job. Since he was the first contractor we met, we were not ready to make a decision. Several other contractors showed up, and when the dust settled, we gave Jeremy the work. His price was competitive (not the lowest), but we liked his attitude and felt confident that he could get the job done safely. But before he could get started, we had some insulation work that had to be completed.
Posted by on May 30, 2011
May 27, 2011 - This week Centerpoint returned to our job site and approved the changes we made to the main electrical service boxes we built for the new building. The installation of the three electric meters took just over an hour to do. We had been using power from the temporary electric pole we set up back in February. Every morning we would have to drag out 100' of heavy electrical wire and literally plug it into an outlet on the pole for power. When the Centerpoint electrician flipped the switch - everything worked perfectly!
We have Brian, Alan and Lalo to thank for that. Lalo, a licensed electrician, began working with us last month and has gone over every inch of wire in the building to make sure it works as designed. He has made a number of improvements over our original plans, and I would say we are about 80% done with the electrical work on the building. We have a lot of fixtures and emergency lighting to do, but that is relatively easy work compared to what has been done.
Posted by on May 28, 2011
May 20, 2011 - With most of the Sheetrock up and floated (by the way, the difference between Sheetrock and wallboard, is Sheetrock is a brand name and wallboard is the generic term), we turned our attention to texturing the walls. Some contractors use wallboard mud for texturing, while others buy a special texture mix and blend water with the white gypsum powder in the bag. We decided to mix our own.
We purchased an inexpensive texture gun and hopper from Harbor Freight (on sale for under $20), hooked it up to our compressor and began spraying the walls.Texturing requires a lot of air, and our compressor had a difficult time keeping up.We would do a section of the wall then wait a couple of minutes to let the pressure build back up in the air tank. While it is not as fast as we would like, we were able to get all the walls textured in two containers in about 3 hours. Some contractors "knock down" the spray texture using a wide flat blade. We liked the way it looked right out of the gun.
Posted by on May 23, 2011
May 15, 2011 - The big news this week was the installation of the two, 5 ton AC units on the roof of the building, and getting started on the kitchen in the Silver Rock unit. We also got all of the wallboard installed (except for the ceiling in the video production room), and second layer of mud on the walls that were taped and floated last week. We picked up a load of steel for the ADA ramp and got a close out inventory of Italian ceramic tile delivered to the epic Creative Co-Op at a great price.
Fernando Sanchez of Flex Builders came by with two 13 SEER AC units that will cool the Silver Rock units and the big video production room. During the design phase of the project he suggested we place the units on the roof for security and aesthetic reasons. We used Mike's bucket truck (Gulf Coast Graphics) which quickly lifted the units to the roof. Each unit was positioned on the platform we built and bolted down several weeks ago. We also did some things to insure the AC units will provide years of uninterrupted service.
Posted by on May 16, 2011
May 8, 2011 - This week we got much of the wallboard up, and by Friday we are about 20 sheets short of having all the walls done. We still have our work cut out with the most demanding wallboard job ahead of us - the ceiling of the video production room. We will have to rent a scissors lift to safely get the 50 or so 4' x 8' sheets of 5/8 inch wallboard affixed to the ceiling. Each sheet weighs over 70 pounds. Once the ceiling is in place, we can have ComforTemp back to blow in the insulation in the attic - it will be nice to check that off the list.
We also got a great deal of the electrical outlets and switches on the second floor working. One room at a time, Lalo was able to get the wiring completed and the lights on. He also ran some of the wiring we added to the big room. Each bank of lights has its own set of switches and dedicated breaker which should really help during video production shoots. We fixed some of the wiring and conduit on the panel boxes, and with some luck, should be able to have the electric company back out later next week to power up the building.
Posted by on May 09, 2011
May 1, 2011 -This week the crew from ComforTemp returned and finished blowing in cellulose insulation into all the walls of the studio. They will be back next week to add cellulose to the attic (as soon as we get the ceiling up in the video production studio). We also got most of the wallboard up on all the container walls. Most walls have been taped and floated at least once, but a second layer will be added next week.
We also got started on installing wallboard in the video production studio. This is a VERY BIG job, as the walls are 19' high and the walls are 44' x 28'. The ceiling will be especially challenging. The entire north wall, half of the west wall and the floor will be painted a special shade of green. When we shoot a video against this "green screen" we can remove the green color and add a background photo, or video of our choice. Building this wall (also known as an infinity wall, or cove wall) is tricky, but we had some help from videos posted on YouTube.
Posted by on May 01, 2011
April 23, 2011 - For a project like the epic Creative Co-Op, you try to plan for as much as possible in advance, but when something unplanned that is good comes along you would be foolish not to include it to the project. That kind of serendipity happened to us a couple of months ago when we met Chris Larimore, president of Grupo Daissa. Although the company is headquartered in Mexico, and does much of it's business in South America, Chris lives a short distance from our studio.
Chris had been watching our building go up, and decided to stop in one morning to talk. He asked me what we were planning on using for the roof decking and siding, and I told him R-panel, which are the pre-formed steel sheets popular on metal buildings (and what we had used on the epic studio). Chris had a material with him I had never seen before (or at least never really paid attention to). His company manufactures ACM or Aluminum Composite Material. ACM as I was about to learn, is one amazing product.
Posted by on April 24, 2011
April 17, 2011 - With the exterior painting behind us, we turned out attention to getting everything ready for the insulation crew from ComforTemp. Many of the questions we've had over the past several months had to do with our plans for insulating the epic Creative Co-Op, so we have created a separate blog entry just for that purpose. Running wires and pipes are relatively easy to install when there is no insulation in the walls. Once insulation is added to the wall cavities, things get much more complicated.
Posted by on April 17, 2011
April 15, 2011 - This week the folks from ComforTemp came to the job site and insulated 9 of the 11 containers. Over the past year we interviewed almost a dozen companies trying to determine what kind of insulation system we would use, and who we would choose to install it. Last week we selected ComforTemp after several meetings with Paul Adamoli the General Manager. We were most impressed with the questions he asked and his ideas on how to provide the best building envelope at the lowest cost.
ComforTemp is a unique company in several ways. They install the three most popular kinds of insulation - fiberglass, cellulose and spray foam. When it comes to cellulose, you won't find a better price because they not only install it, but manufacture it in their plant here in Houston, TX. It is also a family owned company that understand the importance of great customer service. In this post we will show you how their crew tackled the insulation challenges of this unique structure.
Posted by on April 17, 2011
April 9, 2011 - Our goals for this week were to get the building painted, get the water and sewer lines working, install the main electrical lines, and get started on the HVAC installation. By Sunday evening we had met all of our objectives.
Glidden was kind enough to extend a professional discount to us, so we opted to go with them for the exterior and interior paint on the project. We visited the local store and met with Jack Biggs, the Field Service Rep for Glidden who has years of construction experience, Jack asked us a number of questions about our project, then suggested a Glidden formulation that was developed specifically for external metal surfaces. This paint is not cheap, but we wanted something that will give us years of service and not fade. Mike Huffine of Silver Rock spent a great deal of time trying to get just the right color for the containers. We decided on blue, but were not sure of exactly what shade of blue we would go with. Jack gave us 3 samples of paint and suggested we do some tests. He offered to come by after the paint has set up (72 hours) to see the results.
Posted by Vic on April 11, 2011
March 31, 2011 - One of the most challenging aspects of building with large metal boxes is how do you keep the inhabitants cool in the summer and warm in the winter? We spent quite a bit of time looking at insulation systems for the inside and the outside of the building. For the exterior of the building, we found people saying good (and not so good) things about insulative paint coatings. We met with several vendors and had a difficult time believing some of their claims.
I wanted an external coating that would reduce heat load along with the chance of condensation forming on the inside walls of the containers. The differential in temperature on the outside and inside can be quite dramatic. We actually watched it "rain" inside the container on one cold January morning when a "Norther" blew in early one afternoon. We opted to use a radiant barrier on our roof deck, so I felt like we needed one on the walls as well. The heat load in the summer on the west and south walls will be substantial, and anything we can do now to help our HVAC system, will be returned in lower AC bills, and happier tenants.
Posted by on April 01, 2011
March 27, 2011 - We tackled a couple of major jobs this past week including the trenching work on the water, sewer and electrical lines to the building. We started trenching by hand, but David Cox (our Construction Manager) had me add up the cost for the 4 guys digging the trench and it quickly became obvious we had to find a less expensive (and easier) way to do this. The world is just too big to move dirt one shovel full at a time. Since we had over 250 feet to trench, it was time to bring in a piece of equipment better suited for this type of work.
A quick call to a friend at Sunbelt Rentals got us a mini-excavator (with the trailer) for $195 for a 24 hour period. When we arrived at their yard we were told we had the wrong size bumper and ball hitch on our truck. We needed to get a 2-5/16 inch ball to haul the large construction trailer at Sunbelt. We used Mike Huffine's Suburban which had the 5000 pound load capacity receiver hitch needed to haul the trailer. We began trenching at about 2:00pm, and decided to work until dark. By 7:00pm, we had all the lines dug, and Alan began running the 4 inch PVC schedule 40 pipe. The pipe has to go into the ditch as a specific slope and in a special way as we found out when the MUD Inspector came by to check out our work.
Posted by on March 28, 2011
March 20, 2011 - Work began last week on the installation of the R-Panels for the roof. The industry trade name is "Galvalume" and they should provide us with years of service. We purchased the materials along with all of the fasteners, flashing and trim from Triple S Steel. We had the panels cut to 27 and 28 feet in length so we would only have one overlap per panel. The overlap on the panels were 12 inches, and under each panel is a strip of butyl rubber mastic tape placed their to insure that water would not work its way under the panels.
At the ends of each panel we used a flexible rubber strip that matched the profile of the R-Panel. This will help to keep bugs and driving rain out of the attic. Getting the panels up to the roof was a labor intensive task. To insure that the panels would not be damaged, one man on the roof hoisted the panel up, while two others on the ground pushed it up their respective ladders. Luckily, wind was not a factor on any of the days of the build.
Posted by on March 21, 2011
March 14, 2011 -This week we got the siding on the roof done, got the safety rails welded in place, and began the exterior painting. It is wonderful to begin to do some of the "finish" work on the project. Danny Spann (our Framer) came back to tackle the siding this week, and the R-panel roof (which is now on order) will be done next week. He and his crew started by building some temporary scaffolding which they walk around like they were on the ground. We chose Hardi Cedarmill for the soffits and facia. Hoisting these heavy cement panels up 30 feet in the air is hard work - add in a 10-15 mile an hour wind and it really becomes a challenge. It was a 4 day job, but it looked great when he drove off last week.
Adam turned his attention to welding the railings on the second floor balconies. He added 2" x 2" tubular foot rails (people just love to rest a foot on the lower rail while leaning on the upper rail). Alan then cleaned all the tubing with acetone, then gave it a primer coat using Glidden's Hydrosealer, followed by a coat of their industrial grade black enamel paint. These paints were also used to paint the metal pipe locks we removed from the doors of the containers. Both rolled on great, and dried quickly. Even so, we will be giving all the surfaces a 2nd coat before the project is done.
Posted by on March 14, 2011
March 4, 2011 - We just had a great week and in this blog entry we will provide some details about the interior plumbing, electrical, sheet rock, and exterior siding work that was done. With some jobs - like electrical for example - a lot of work goes into it, but the actual job site does not change much. With others - like welding, sheet rock, and siding, when new work is done you can really see a difference in the way the building looks. Even though they are hidden behind the walls, things like plumbing and electrical work are on the critical path to getting the job done.
We made a trip to U.S. Fence early in the week and purchased just under $2,000 in structural steel and metal. This material was used to fabricate the large, second floor 44' wrap around balcony on the North side of the building. That balcony continues around to the west side of the building and becomes the walk that connects the units on the second floor. It will become the ADA ramp that allows wheelchair access to the upper units.
Posted by on March 04, 2011
February 20, 2011 - We finally had a great week of weather, and got a number of things done on both the inside and outside of the epic Creative Co-Op. The metal frame structure for the outside deck was installed early in the week. Deck work was also done on the balcony outside the Silver Rock conference room at the east side of containers 3 and 4. With the decks in place, we can start next week on the ADA ramp and exterior stairs.
We also commenced work on the electrical lines, switches and power outlets for the project. As Tony installed the main panel boxes under the stairs, Adam sprayed the ceilings black in all the Silver Rock containers. Being a video production studio, Silver Rock wants their edit suites and interior rooms dark. This will keep the reflections down, and reduce eye strain from the monitors. Based on a recommendation from the Behr paint sales rep, we selected a deep black latex enamel paint. This looks like it was a poor choice. It has now been five days since the paint was applied, and it still has not fully cured. We have a call into Behr and will wait to see how they handle the problem.
Posted by on February 20, 2011
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