Gibbon, Cozad & Western - "The 100th Meridian Line"

[Specter3]

As mentioned in some other places, pics, or it didn't happen!

[C855B]

[Specter3]

 

[C855B]

Wow... two weeks since a report. Not like things aren't happening.

Demo and clean-up have been going hot and heavy. We finally have all the ceiling drywall and dirty insulation out of what we call "the back room", which is 3/8 of the layout space. Tomorrow will be the first dumpster pickup since starting the demo where it won't be packed to the rim. Removed the last of the plumbing and walls this evening from the former ladies' restroom, so that area of the art studio is getting pretty close to new construction.

Big project was getting a recirculation blower contraption out of the ceiling space above. There are/were three of these recirculators in the main rooms, designed to deal with the crowd of heavy smokers (do recall that it was a former AA meeting hall). The difficulty with this particular blower thingy was that it was on top of the light (2x4-framed) ceiling joists, and weighed 100 lbs., plus or minus. The ceiling framing wasn't about to hold this thing and two guys wrestling with it, that's for sure. Anyway, I disassembled the housing in place standing on a ladder, and rigged the squirrel cage and motor with ropes. Thankfully the other two recirculators are on the mezzanine and can be disposed of without any acrobatics.

Contractor progress to report. The last of the HVAC proposals came in on Tuesday, and while it's not cheap, this one seems more competent. I have to discuss with this guy why he spec'ed 25% less raw "capacity" than the others, but he made several quality, well-thought-out recommendations on the project walk-through, so once we iron that out we should be ready to start running ducting.

The metal building contractor came by yesterday for the big overview, and to look at some roof issues we had noted. He found a lot more problems with the roof and structure than I did - not that he was looking to expand his job, there were definite OMG!s that I had overlooked. Between multiple patch or repair situations and structure issues, he's going to work some numbers to where we may end up with a completely new roof. Robyn wanted a new roof but I wanted to not blow the budget like that. "I win!", she cackled. We're also changing some of the exterior mods, enough to run by the city for co-funding. We may end-up spending less by doing more.

We need to return some paint to Lowes, bought to start on the exterior. Our test patch was a huge disappointment given all the bluster about their "top of the line" primer/paint, and that paint came with all sorts of application restrictions and don't-do-this BS, much of it conflicting. Not worth the hassle for the price, or the end result. Sherwin-Williams store is one block north of us, so they get the biz once our color-matched metal samples are in. (As much business - in the $10's of K's - as we have given Lowes in six years, they are starting to pi$$ us off. The paint problem is one of many recent issues where they've come up short for us.)

Today's bigger project was mowing and generally cleaning-up the lot, now that the sidewalk has been back-filled. We thought best to get that done before Isaac hits us tomorrow and turns everything into a mud pit. 3-5" is projected as of a couple hours ago. Best part of the project was stopping multiple times to watch passing trains. Most fun was an NS work train heading east, with an SD40-2 leading long-hood first. They had been in town doing work on the north BNSF-NS junction, the most visible being new signals - and two more SA searchlights soon to bite the dust - and what looked to be a PTC node.

[Philip H]

Ney Mike,
you are going to put a TRW - Only webcam on the outside aimed at said trains, right?????????

[C855B]

Maybe not TRW-only, but, yes, a railcam is in the plans.

[mcjaco]

Used the Lowe's Primer/Paint for a small drywall project.  I won't use it again.  I think primer then paint is still the best way to go.  Now I've got a 7/8's full gallon sitting around.....

[C855B]

Well, Isaac sealed the deal. I couldn't believe how many leaks we had - little drips all over the place, a couple of puddles in uncomfortable locations. Like right in front of the new breaker panel. Place gets a new roof before I do any interior finish work.

Crap.

Contractor already hinted that it will be October before he can get to us. At this rate it is looking mid-winter to spring before the first rails go down.

[C855B]

Not much to report for the past several days. Big cleanup in the mezzanine - two dumpster loads' worth of junk, removed the two remaining recirculator blowers, a couple of dead mice (ew!), and then a good sweeping and vacuuming. While it seems silly to spend a lot of time cleaning up something about to be mostly demolished, I was getting tired of needing a shower after every time I dealt with the space.

Roofing/siding contractor passed the specs to the local metals supplier and we're waiting for materials pricing. We're not going to be able to get the exterior color we wanted (roughly a TP&W crimson) because we have an unusual (old) siding profile, and the only supplier with anything close has a limited palette. So we've settled on light gray with a white roof; I may do a two-tone gray on the front to dress it up a little. Contractor is also working up a bid to pour a new concrete floor in the back half of the layout area. It's currently asphalt painted gray - yes, asphalt - and about 4" below the floor in the front half of the building, so it should be an easy pour to match it up. I hope.

This week's plans are to talk to one more HVAC guy while we're waiting for the roof, stripping drywall off of one wall and possibly one ceiling area, and finishing the demo of the 2x4's that held up the ceiling mentioned in Reply #48.

It would be nice to start building a layout... :sigh: 

[Specter3]

Well, I suppose you have a good idea of the track plan already? Good thing to work on with all this "free" time.

[C855B]

Not much "free" time; we're only figuratively sitting on our butts waiting for contractors. Every daily visit there's something major to do. We're about to head over there in the next couple of minutes to wrangle a bunch of old florescent tubes for disposal - including a dozen 8-footers, which I hate to handle. Then we have more drywall to peel so we can at least get something into the dumpster for tomorrow's pickup.

But yes, I've started work on the plan, and have a little bit committed to electrons already. With this much space your head fills-up pretty fast, however.

[C855B]

I cannot believe it's finally gone:



We have been wrangling with the power company since July to get this light pole and wire taken down. It was in the way of doing the roof, and the façade, both themselves in the way of major inside work. They wanted a lot of money, paid in advance, to do the work. So we paid. And waited. And waited. For a month after they cashed the check. I was going to call and read them the Riot Act this morning, but hesitated, thinking to myself, "I haven't been over there today. What would be the odds that I would call to complain, and the work was done?"

Bingo. The crew was lowering the pole as I drove up. I didn't get a pic, but no biggie, we are just relieved that this is done and I can start badgering the roofers about "The pole is down. When can we start this?"

Other than that, just more demolition. I'm waiting for one last bit of ceiling and insulation to get torn down and cleaned up before a progress picture. Maybe this week.

[C855B]

A bit of a shock today. I was reviewing last month's gas/power bill for the building, and discovered one of the blah blah blah line items was $75 and pennies for a "gas service charge". I called to see if this was right, and was told, yes, it is the basic monthly charge for having a such-and-such sized meter on a commercial account. $75 a month, just for the meter. Considering the only thing we have on gas is a rather small furnace... still unused since we bought the building... I was astounded.

The new HVAC is going to be electric (heat pump) anyway, so I told them to shut it off and lock the meter. $75 a month buys a lot of electric heat here because we have unnaturally low rates due to coal industry lobbying, and then I don't have to pay for it when I'm not using it. Bastards. I should have paid more attention to the bill three months ago. [grumble]

[GaryHinshaw]

Model railroading is fun.

[MichaelWinicki]

Model railroading is fun.

Oh yes!

I remember when we purchased a commercial building for our business (at the time).

It was stunning the cost difference for having a commerical property as opposed to a residence. 

Insurance... utilities... taxes...

All that stuff seemed to have multipliers given to it just because you had a commerical property.  Of course it's going to cost more to heat a 5,000 square foot building as opposed to a 1,600 square foot house, but it's those "Hey you have a commercial building and we're going to sock it to you added charges" that suck like this $75 a month meter charge.