Construction archives 2

From GreenGarageWiki

Construction reporting, week by week, from March 1, 2010 - August 30, 2010. For earlier reporting see construction archives. For later reporting, see construction archives 3 and construction archives 4.

Week of August 30

Work on alley entrance...wooden railings for mezzanines and stairways, new arborvitae for Motor City, water storage tanks delivered.

newly bricked alley entrance	greenhouse with new windows	Kirsten peeking out from the greenhouse, with Eduardo and Heladio	framing of front entryway
new front door made from fallen walnut tree	Jason Peet working on railing	reused wood from our attic makes a railing for the mezzanine	reused wood from our attic makes a railing for the mezzanine
natural light from Solatube lighting the stairway	new arborvitae outside of alley entrance of MCBW	alley entrance to Motor City Brewing Works	sunlight pouring into the front of the building in late afternoon
pulling the tank in (kidding, folks!)	how the tank really came in	southwest corner of the building	Mitzi using fertilizer spreader as wheelbarrow
Joe Pye Weed growing in alley	Wayne County Community College class in for tour Friday	Thomas and Vincent in town from Montreal for the Eminem/Jay-Z concert and a stop at the GG

Week of August 9

Construction focused on a new front door, framing of the front interior vestibule, window frames and glass for the greenhouse, dry walling continuing and building new back stairs. We also worked on keeping those plants in the alley watered, given the intense heat of the summer.

new front door made from fallen walnut tree	interior vestibule window - the frame is one of the original window frames in the building	window frames for the greenhouse	waiting for the hose
Juan in the greenhouse	plants progressing in the alley	framing and green pipe (which will carry water)	a peek at a front window (at least half of it)
drywalling back rooms	new back stairs, reconstructed do they meet code	Little Neil and his owner strolling through the alley on Friday	Volunteers from Quinn-Evans architectural firm glazing our greenhouse windows

Week of August 2

Since we began construction in October, we had never had a dumpster until now. This week marked the first and last time we needed a dumpster. The staircase and greenhouse were taking shape this week. We obtained tiles for our bathrooms from seconds collected at the Cercan and Beaver Tile. Some plants in the alley, just a month old, were beginning to bloom.

Sara Zoumbaris and her mom visiting Thursday	Our first and only dumpster	Front with the staircase	Greenhouse frame going in
Alley entrance	Donated tiles that will be used in our bathrooms	first black-eyed susan bloom	one of our groundcovers, mazus reptans, beginning to flower
switchgrass	marsh blazing star	potentilla	spiderwort

Week of July 26

More wood work for flooring; Kevin's wood wall is completed; Motor City Brewing Works adds to the beauty of the alley with raised beds bordered by rocks; windows going in at the greenhouse entrance; lunch in the alley.

Lon Ullman's solar kiln, where our wood is drying	Inside the solar kiln (temp:140 on Tuesday)	Laura posing in front of some of our wood (for floors)	Jesse posing for the pegarazzi
Catching Kevin in a contemplative mood Tuesday	Stones for raised bed in part of the alley by MCBW	The smooth blue asters enjoying the sun in the alley	Tom in greenhouse
Front inteior in late July	Christian Science Reading Room after demolition	Raised bed bordered by stones at Motor City Brewing Works	Kevin at the top of his wall
Kevin and his finished wall	Lunch in the alley on Friday	Spiderwort blooming in the alley	A little visitor to the alley
Eduardo Jr at our alley entrance

Week of July 12

Big construction week....wood wall construction; mulch, new bollards and power washing the bricks in alley; insulating and framing walls; greenhouse construction; preparing wood for flooring; harvesting pieces of limestone from the Christian Science Reading Room.

New stairway with wood wall	Pex tubing in foyer for radiant heating	building front in July	Alley with cocoa mulch
Tom in front of the building on July 11	hollyhocks next door	Foam insulation on west and south walls	Tom power washing the bricks
some of the bricks that have been cleaned	beginnings of a bathroom in the annex	cement in the vestibule, over the pex tubing	Drywall waiting for installation next week
Insulating and framing front	Cellulose insulation on annex walls	U-D Mercy engineering students workshop on Friday	Jesse and Jason framing front
Old window frames cleaned for reuse	Planters in greenhouse	New bollards in alley	Christian Science Reading Room, where we obtained some limestone
Limestone (we'll be using in the back of our building)	Laura and Lon working on wood for the floors

Week of July 5

The week we finally planted the alley!

Heladio's family planting	Peggy, Martha, Kelly and Laura, expert planters	the group on Friday planting plants	Planting in the permeable pavers
Tom Bradley planting in the pavers	Plants in the alley on Saturday	freshly planted alley

Week of June 28

front windows	Sam and Kevin with the wall they are building	outside stairway in back	permeable pavers going in
Framing interior rooms	Building front as of July 1	Entrance to North Cass Community Garden, where we are growing lettuce and cabbage

Week of June 21

The front windows went in this week! (Before being boarded back up so as to prevent breakage during construction). Walls were starting to be framed. Brick work in the alley. Ken tested for air leakage in the windows (so far, all thumbs up!).

Crews working on the front windows	Balancing the weight for Dan	Walls getting framed upstairs	Crew before filming a documentary at the Green Garage
Peggy being interviewed for a documentary on Wednesday	Mike Mancini of Redford Cement with his son Mark	The view from the inside	Laying bricks in the alley
Brick pavers in alley	Martha standing in front of new window	front windows going in	installing windows
first front window in	2 windows in	The alley as of June 24	piles of materials inside
Kevin with his wood wall	Framing out the back rooms	new front	archive group!
Sam and Paulo	Ken sealing door and applying air pressure	ken testing leakage from windows	new front and side

Week of June 14

Redford Cement came in again this week to lay down the cement portions of the alley. Kevin continued work on his wood wall, made from scraps of wood from our work. The big news, though, was the opening of the first historic windows out front. This was a banner week.

Kevin Gardner working on the wood wall for the new staircase	More Solatubes are in, making the one bulb you see here superfluous	Redford Cement trucks in front the of GG on Thursday	Cement going into the alley
Concrete alley sections with exposed aggregate look	Kirsten and Juan opening up the first window	watching the new window go in	Kirsten and Juan
Laurie and Max at the window opening	Watching the window open up	Window opening growing	Staircase with railing
Jason Peet on rooftop garden area	View of Solatubes and Duralast membrane from the roof	Peggy and Mitzi on rooftop garden area, with others on street	View of alley from rooftop garden
Kresge visit	Kresge visit	The new view from the inside	New window opening
New window opening	At the end of the day, sun pouring in from the west

Week of June 7

More window work. Classic Landscape came in this week to lay the foundation or larger and smaller stones. Lon Ullman visited us and described how he would take fallen trees from the area and turn them into our new floors. We developed a prototype for the new fence posts to determine if all specs were correct.

Joe, Eduardo and Heladio all on the phone at once	Pablo heating the coals for Kevin's birthday lunch - Heladio supervising	Juan and Felix opening space for windows	Sean and his crew working on the electrical
Pile of rocks at alley entrance on Thursday morning	Geo-textile tarp in alley before stones	Spreading stones	How the stones got moved
Stones almost all spread out	New windows to the alley	Western light coming into annex!	Working on alley windows
Kevin holding up a fence post prototype	Our garden at the N Cass Community gardens	Lon Ullman showing us samples of the wood he will make for us	Prototype posts for fence in front of building
Kevin holding up a fence post prototype	Annex front windows

Week of June 1

Work on the sewer and water mains were completed, so Redford Cement was able to come in this week and take out the existing cement. They then smoothed out the dirt surface. The first front window openings were done in the annex. Electrical boxes went in. We began collecting Arizona Iced Tea cans to use as shingles in the rooftop garden area.

Broken up alley	Broken up alley	Making front window openings	Back windows going in
The new view to the east	New electrical boxes going in	New electrical boxes	Sodering the stairway
The stoop is gone	West window openings in the annex	Windows in the back of the building	Looking outside from the back of the building
Opening the eastern windows	Joe and Eduardo having lunch	Open window	Open windows in back
Redford Cement truck Thursday morning	The alley as it looked on Thursday morning	Mike leveling the alley	Spreading dirt
At the end of the day Friday	Openings on alley side	Opening to the alley	Jason Peet with Tom
Kenco working behind plastic foaming corners	Still full!	Friday meeting on June 4	Kevin with Arizona can
Arizona Iced Tea can

Week of May 24

Work on the alley began this week, starting with repairs to the sewer, along with a new liner. The stairway leading to the rooftop garden was begun with Dormouse configuring the frame from our old steam pipes. New windows went into the annex.

Fiberglass liner going into the sewer	Lining the sewer	Lining the sewer	With all the sewer pictures, you also need to see the roses next door
Beginning the stairway	New windows in annex	Installing windows in annex	Inland worker heading in to repair the sewer

Week of May 17

Well, we bought another building. This is the El Moore, and it is located on Alexandrine, close to Second. Plans for the building will follow. We also planted our plot at the North Cass Community Gardens and began installation of the alley lights.

A photo of the El Moore	Brian and Tom working on the debris pile at the El Moore	Working on the pile	McDowell employee taking a break from the soil testing at the El Moore
Our garden at the Cass Community Gardens - purple theme	Planter at entrance to Community Gardens	Sean dare installing new lights in the alley

Week of May 10

Sewer work continued. We bought a couple of new saws off of Craigslist for work that will begin on the wood for the floor. New lights were elivered.

Alley marked for deconstruction	The alley on Friday, looking towards Second Ave	The alley ready for demolition	New saw for the wood - found on Craigslist.
Tom walking back to the GG	Kirsten watching the activity on Second St	Delivery of new lights

Week of May 3

This week most of the work took place in the alley, with repairs to the sewer.

Sewer repairs	Sewer repairs	Sewer repairs	A little head scratching while repairing the sewers
2 new windows	New window by Kelly Windows	wood scraps waiting to be placed in staircase wall	New alley entrance for Motor City Brewing Works
Jason and Billy of Dormouse arriving on Friday to build staircase landing	View outside through window opening	Eduardo and Heladio boarding up windows

Week of April 26

This week work began on the alley, with the water department fixing our leaking water main. Window openings continued to be developed. Work continued on the staircase.

Staircase wall being made from used lumber and our reused bricks	Water Department truck fixing our water main on Thursday	Water Dept trucks on Second	Juan drilling out window openings on north side
Opening in mezzanine, looking at neighbors	Window opening on north side	Another view of the staircase wall

Week of April 12

On Monday Tom and Peggy spoke at a conference for Chemical Engineering students at MSU. A group also attended the groundbreaking for the Midtown Green Loop. The base for our stairway was built. Eduardo and Heladio worked on digging a foundation for our greenhouse. Motor City Brewing Works began construction on the new entrance of their building.

Tom waiting to speak at the Chemical Engineering Symposium at MSU on Monday.	Tom, Joe, stairs, banana peel - uh-oh!	Eduardo digging base for greenhouse	At the Midtown Green Loop groundbreaking
Sue Mosey speaking at the groundbreaking	At the Midtown Green Loop groundbreaking	Lunch under the trees at the groundbreaking	John Linardos working on his new entrance
Felix building the base for our stairway	Sample permeable paver	Rendering of our greenhouse	View of building from SW corner, done by Joe Gallagher

Week of April 5

A couple of highlights from the week: opening up window openings in the back of the building, and a visit from the former tenants of the building, Frank Lucente and Bob Zukowski, along with Marilyn Beckham (granddaughter of Sam Kanners) and Marsha Kanners (Victor Kanners' wife and Marilyn's mother).

Opening up the back of the building for windows	Opening up window spaces	Light coming into the back (and wind!)	3 window openings in back of building
Opening up a wall to accommodate our new staircase	Bob Zukowski looking at old shoe products.	Frank Lucente and Bob Zukowski	Marilyn Beckham sharing stories
Marsha Kanners, Marilyn Beckham, Bob Zukowski and Frank Lucente

Week of March 29

This week we were visited by quite a number of representatives of the media. On Monday Tom met with people from HBO who are doing a documentary on Detroit. Wednesday brought the Free Press and Rudy Valdez, a free-lance photographer working on a documentary about clean energy and Detroit. We also began detail design meetings to ensure that the community has a say in what detail decisions are made before the larger construction crews come in. The archival group is working on cleaning up any materials found in the building that have historical value. We packed up a number of artifacts and are sending them to the Brennans' home until construction is over.

Getting ready for a photo shoot	Patricia Beck of the Free Press getting some shots	Rudy Valdez filming at the GG for his documentary on clean energy and Detroit	Mitzi, Martha and Helen after cleaning up the "Kanners and Patrize" letters.
Details meeting on the heating/cooling/vent systems in the building	Eduardo removing cement from blocks	Jon Koller going home on his bike	Eduardo and Heladio removing pavement
Cleaning up artifacts in the building	Dormouse, Inc, working on our new stairway, made from old steam piping salvaged from the building	Digging our first garden space	Making window sills on annex windows

Week of March 22

Our first Solatube has gone in. The arcival group is working on scanning documents that were found in the building, even the stickers from the 1990's. We viewed one of our new induction lights that will be lighting the alley, and it was a big week for visitors.

First Solatube	Insulation being put over the brick wall in the main building	Old radiator parts found during deconstruction	Some remnants of the building's 1990's history
Cupcake fest on Friday!	March 26 commissioning meeting.	Testing our new induction light (will be used for the alley).	Visitors from Lawrence Tech's interior design program taking the tour.

Week of March 15

First windows going into the building. These 2 windows are in the annex, and will be our test cases. Once we get these in and they are working well, we can repeat the process throughout the building.

Annex windows going in

Annex windows.

New windows in annex.

Week of March 8

Insulation is gong up on the annex walls. The sewers were scoped to see how healthy they are (they are). Tom and Peggy traveled to Logan, Ohio to look at some wood we might want to use for our floors. It comes from a building (formerly a pottery building) that they are deconstructing.

Commissioning group March 1	Cleaning Diamond T patterns for archive.	Insulation going up in annex.	Eduardo wins the first guacamole contest.
EC & Sons TV-ing our sewers	Picture of our sewers	In Logan, Ohio - old pottery building where we may get our wood for our floor

Week of March 1

Getting the walls prepped for insulation in the annex...window order in...final sketch of new stairway.

Cutting insulation into pieces to be used in ceiling of annex	Insulation pieces.	Pieces of insulation in ceiling of annex	Insulation ready for walls
Caulking the walls before installation of insulation	Kirsten by wall in annex being prepped for rigid insulation	Billy West's sketch of our new stairway made from old pipes retrieved from the building