Stage Side Picture Update

PC pointed out that we didn't have current outside view pictures posted here on the site.
He took a few and I'm posting these 2:





The loft is open, too, so I should be posting some of those pics soon.
Also, the back patio concrete will be poured this weekend, so private outside seating is soon to come...

Bathroom wall progression (scramble continued)

Around the 25th of June, the inside space of the lower floor was wide open concrete. Following the plans we'd devised for the bathrooms, I laid ceramic tile in a 12x12 foot area so that the bathroom walls could be built on top of the tile (it's much easier than piecing in the tile around the walls later).


The following picture was taken on July 1st, the day after the bathroom walls were built:


Electric and plumbing were installed before this next picture was taken on July 3rd:






This next picture is taken from a higher angle (on the stairs), but it shows the bathroom wall with drywall. It was taken on July 4th:


The drywall was mudded on July 5th, painted (primed white) on the 6th. Bathroom doors, toilets, and sinks were installed on the 7th. Switches, outlets, lights, and ceiling fans went in on the 8th.


On the 9th, the stage was built and temporary lights and sounds installed:

This is Skip from Mirage Sound Company (THANK YOU, Skip!). By the time this picture was taken, it's already the 10th, but it's about 1:00am. Skip not only installed a temp system, but painted the beam he's hanging the lights on (How's that for service?)!

This is a pretty good crash course in what it took to make it happen, but there's a ton of little things that need done along the way. We had quite a few friends who stopped in at odd hours and helped out. If it wasn't for all their help, this never could have happened. For all your help, we are truly grateful. I hope you all come to relax and enjoy the music often. Thank you!

The scramble to get ready for live music...

PC's been hard at work getting the lower floor of the new addition ready for live music. There was a ton of work to be done when I scheduled T. Mitchell Bell and the Wandering Coalition for Friday July 10th (we made it, too! I'll post about that soon, too...)

Let me show you some pictures...

I think the last construction pictures I showed you were of the incomplete stairs. Here's a picture taken on June 25th that shows a complete, but unfinished, set of stairs. It also shows the bare stud walls and how far we had to go before July 10th:

This next picture was snapped on July 4th. There's a new window installed above the staircase landing, insulation on the walls above the stairs and drywall below the stairs:

I'll start another post to make it easier to add more pics....

WOW!

What a week!
It's way past my bedtime, so this has to be short (I promise a longer post in the next couple of days):

THANK YOU!
I am very thankful for all the wonderful folks who have made this an amazing week!

Stairs

Here's a shot of the stairs (PC's camera; mine's still not working) during construction.
They don't go anywhere yet:


But thanks to these guys, Charlie and his son Chuck (Charlie's wife keeps a blog here), they go all they way up:


The stairs are sure a lot easier to go up and down than the ladder.

Expansion - Construction Progress

There is progress, but you can't see it here because my camera quit working.
A few highlights:

• Stairs! Yay! Thanks to Carpenters Charlie and Chuck we have stairs in the new addition! We've gotten so used to going up and down the ladder, it's going to take a few days to remember to use them.
• Tile in the bathrooms. No walls or anything else, but the tile is laid and the grout will finish it off by Monday.
• Windows. The windows are now installed in the first floor, too.

So, yes, definite progress!

Now that we're so close to having the first floor usable, there's some progress on getting some good music on the event schedule, too, so keep checking back....

Adding On: Progress Pics

Ridgepole construction is almost complete in this picture:



Here's the "topping off" flag:





'Topping off' is explained well in this article:
http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/news/stories/topoff/
“Topping off” a building is an old tradition among construction workers. When the topmost structural element of a multi-story building is in place, workers signify the occasion by placing a small evergreen tree or flag on top. The new ARC building has both. Often, construction workers sign the last steel beam before it is hoisted into place.
"According to some traditions, the tree symbolize that construction so far has occurred without injury or death to the workers, while others say it provides good luck to the future inhabitants.
"Scott L. Melnick wrote in the December, 2000, issue of Modern Steel Construction that the origin of the practice is uncertain but likely traces back thousands of years to either Scandinavians or Germans, who often built with the plentiful evergreen trees scattered throughout northern Europe. Some legends, Melnick said, even date the practice back to early Romans. "

I've seen PC 'top off' quite a few buildings. He's used both evergreens and flags. It's almost Memorial Day in the Memorial City, so the flag seems appropriate.

The roof rafters begin (yep, the flag is still there, just hard to see):

Adding On: Progress Pics

Adding On: Progress Pics

First wall on the second floor:


South wall, second floor:


The sign doesn't look nearly so high now:

I love this view, looking up the Tygart River Valley:

Adding On: Progress Pics

Second floor rafters:

Looking up:

Stairs:

Adding On: Progress Pics

Adding On: Progress Pics

Like normal, these are old pictures.
Here's the excavator:


that dug a big hole in the hillside:


Here are a few of the bottles that were dug out of the hillside:


More concrete for the footing boxes in the hillside:

Excavation

Second Floor Beams

The 3 main beams for the second floor:


Off the ground where they belong:

Adding On: First First Floor Framing

PC builds sections of the wall on the floor and then lifts each piece into place.








It's almost starting to look like something.
Wait until I post pictures of the big dig on the hill! That got people curious, because all of a sudden it's apparent that this is no small addition....

Adding On: Progress

(As usual, I'm at least a couple of weeks behind with the pictures.)

Window framing, the first of the wood structure, from the inside looking out:




And from the outside looking in: