WATER+WORKS

I went out to the project to visit the boys and see what they’d done this weekend.  JP spent all weekend helping Matthew with the tail end of the demolition… now, that’s a good friend.  They cut huge holes in the slab of the master bathroom to make room for the new plumbing.  And then they tackled the concrete and steel bases that the motors used to sit on in the tank room.  It was taking the combined use of the jackhammer and a torch to take those suckers down.  They had them nearly defeated when I finally ran out of there covering my ears.  That jackhammer is LOUD.  The guys had ear plugs, but I didn’t because I thought I’d just poke my head in for a couple of photos and then head back to the air conditioning.  You’re thinking, “she’s got it easy”…  and you’re not wrong. 

These are the original light switches from the Water Works building.  I was actually sad to see them go.  I’ve never seen anything like them.  They would have been distinctive reminders of the transformation from industrial space to cozy home.  But Matthew was afraid that they wouldn’t meet code, so we didn’t get our hopes up that we would be able to reuse the switches.  Then, during the demolition, Matthew took one of them apart… and realized it was just a simple light switch cover! We get to use them after all!

And if you think I sound excited over light switches… wait till we get to tile samples!

All progress halts when flakes start to fall in Alabama - or at least it did for us.  We spent the day playing in the snow instead of working on our house.  But we did make it over to the project for Matthew to load up the Bobcat and for me to take a few pictures of my snowy future backyard.

Matthew rented a Bobcat for the weekend to clean up the demolition mess.  There were tons (literally) of rubble lying around the site, but it’s looking very tidy now.  It’s been a long time coming, but Phase 2: No More Demolition is right around the corner.  (Have I said that before?)

Matthew was having a little trouble maneuvering the Bobcat, so he had to call in a professional driver to assist him.  After I showed him how to do it properly, he was good to go.  Sunday he gets to try out the jack hammer attachment (?) that he rented to dig up some of the concrete for new plumbing.

Finally! The tanks are GONE!  Matthew knew they would be a challenge, but I don’t know if he imagined they would be quite so reluctant to leave their home.  Several people have attempted to slice them up over the past months with very little success.  So when everyone else had given up and gone home, Matthew didn’t.  He worked long hours to cut the tanks down to little nubs and then called on the aid of (get this) TWO cranes to pull the remains out of the house.  With all the pieces loaded onto the trailer (thanks Steve!), Matt hauled nearly 3 TONS of steel to the recycling center.  Steel prices are terrible these days, but at this point - we just wanted the tanks to go. 

The cranes had to be used because those tanks were full of surprises.  They were not (as everyone had speculated) full of sand.  The top layer of the tanks revealed that they were filled with a brown, fluffy, filtering material - we called it coffee grounds, but still don’t know what it was.  But underneath the coffee grounds Matt found a layer of gravel.  And beneath that there were large smooth white rocks (which were actually kind of pretty!).  And then, at the very bottom, the tanks were filled with concrete… yep, uh oh.  So the dream (ha) of cutting them completely up and carrying them out was shot, and we started making peace with the idea of hiring the crane guys to come out and finish the job.  It took them one day, and they were worth every penny.  I was beginning to think we’d have to plan the living room set around their hideousness -but now the tanks are GONE! 

The tanks were the last big item on the demolition checklist!  Matthew is spending today jack-hammering the floor to make room for the new plumbing… (or something like that, it’s possible I wasn’t paying attention very well when he told me his plans).  And when he’s done with that project, the “tearing down” phase ends and the “building up” phase begins!  We’ve found a great guy to pour the concrete floors, and he’s going to help us to see if we can pull off radiant heat! 

I realize that we might be the worst bloggers on the planet - but we will try to get better at updating!  Here are some photos from the tank removal!

I found this post in the “unpublished” section of our blog today.  Matthew wrote it months ago and forgot to publish it.  So I’m posting it now, because the title he chose makes me laugh.  This ”victory” is awfully small compared to what comes next! -Mikel

as for the latest developments, much of last weeks energy went to removing this wimpy little door and window frame from the front of the building so that we could create our own new entry and change some of the proportions. 

well, the wimpy little window frame almost beat me.  almost.    there were a couple of little hiccups that made the removal a little more challenging than i expected.  firstly, was the discovery that the frame was structural.  it was the only thing holding up that concrete beam that goes overhead.  so while inserting a new steel column wasn’t a huge deal, cutting the frame vertically proved to be.  i employed the torches, bandsaw and eventually a small grinder, to remove what i needed to get the column in place.  at which point i assumed the hard part was done and i would be able to simply hook the ‘ol truck up to the window frame and rip ‘er out.  no such luck.  after snapping a tow strap and a steel cable i began to wonder if a new approach was neccessary.  (i still had yet to try the chain but was beginning to wonder if i was going about this all the wrong way.

 since i had been making all off these attempts after work, the emphasis had always been on speed.  since that approach wasn’t working, i had to try a more turtle ish course.  the opening is nine and a half feet across so i began to use the cutting torches to cut the frame free across the top.  turns out when you torch steel- with concrete behind it- it pretty much just shoots flaming hot bits of sand back at you.  fun.  so i used the grinder on the oustside. 

And that’s where he gave up writing… needless to say, the door frame came out! We’ll get better at this blogging thing… maybe. -Mikel

I have been slacking in my blog-duty.  But that is no indication of the amount of work that has been going on over the last couple of weeks - no slacking there!  I visited the site last week to take some photos and was FLOORED by the changes.  Matthew and Will have created new openings all throughout the house.  Sunlight is flooding in the house from all sides and you can begin to feel its homeyness.  Don’t buy that?  Ok, so we’re not quite to “homey”… but we’ve definitely begun to make our way to “cool”. 

They created 7 new holes in the walls of the building.  The entryway was incredibly stubborn, requiring a torch, two tow straps, a chain, and a three-quarter-ton truck before it was willing to give in to the beautiful opening that you see today.  It’s still kind of a sore subject with Matthew.  The hole in the office area will become a doorway to the outside, so that Matt and Will don’t have to traipse through my house to get to their workspace.  The dining room hole will be a huge window overlooking the backyard.  It is the same size as the entryway window and will provide a line of sight through the house from front door to backyard… I’m beginning to pick up on a trend here, GBW… and I like it!  The hole in the kitchen will have a staircase to transition from the foyer and dining area above. The kitchen will open up to the living room.  The den hole shown is the beginning of that opening, and only hints at the vast nature of the hole to come.  The master bathroom will have a large window above the sinks.  (It won’t be a floor to ceiling window, though it appears that way now.)  I have saved my favorite opening for last… the master bedroom.  I’ll admit it’s been difficult to picture the sunlit-room-with-a-view that Matthew described when he showed me the dark and creepy room at the top of the stairs.  But as I walked up the stairs this time… everything felt different without that wall closing in the space.  The room is bathed in sunlight and has a view of the soon-to-be master garden.  Yep, I said garden.  Now it may have to be a rock garden since I can’t even keep wheat grass alive, but I will still call it a garden.  Will cleared out the entire area behind the master suite and I had no idea how flat and large that space was.  The fact that Matthew came home with poison ivy 3 times didn’t encourage me to explore the overgrown yard before now. 

Needless to say, we are very excited by the progress.  We’re still in the early stages of this project, but it’s beginning to take shape… and FAST.  I know I’m getting ahead of myself, (I mean… the tanks are still hanging out in my living room) but I’m tempted to start packing for the move now!

to clarify from the previous post(s), by ‘find a man’ to remove the filtration equipment, mikel is referencing my craigslist add which advertised free stuff if you provided the means to remove it.  twenty four hours and SEVENTY FIVE emails later i was starting to wonder if there was some value in all of that stuff that i was overlooking.  but, i ended up deciding that having the stuff out quickly was more important than the time it would take me to remove it and find an appropriate buyer.  so in the interest of fairness i responded to the emails in the order they were received and the first one ended up getting the nod.  when he showed up that first monday morning i must say that there was very little that was confidence inspiring about the scene, however i decided to let them have a go at it.  turns out they can spin a wrench.  as you can now see from the pictures below all that remains are the tanks themselves.  all the pipes, pumps, motors and fittings have been removed (by hand) and carried or dragged out of the building.  he has assured me that he is interested in and capable of removing the tanks and plans to start this morning.  he has yet to decide through what method they will be meeting their doom, there has been some talk of torches, saws or a combination, so we’ll see……

We toyed with several ideas which involved keeping the tanks in the house… hot tubs, half baths, planters.  Nothing was quite right.  Sadly, the verdict was that the tanks have to go.  It was sure to be a tedious and challenging job, so we wanted help.  Matthew found a man who was willing to take them apart and the destruction of the tanks began last week!  It’s going to take some time, but he’s getting them out.  So here are a few photos of the progress from last week. 

Matthew had our floorplans printed last week to have them approved by the city.  I commandeered his computer for long enough to load the plans onto the website.  You can see them by choosing the “Plans” tab at the top of the page (or click here).  Please note… Matthew reserves the right to change any and all plans before he begins… or even after he’s begun.  I learned that the hard way.