Final August Construction Update

Last report for August, because I cannot be in Columbus on Monday, so I went this morning. Some of our collegiate members did not waste any time in using the parking lot. Plenty of room for them now.

Everything got watered again today. There is not a lot of weekend activity happening. Saturday a lot of prep work was accomplished on the basement floors. It looks like that is all finished. Pretty smooth everywhere. Well maybe not everywhere. In the hallway that now goes from the chapter room over to the basement door, the old concrete floor is anything but level. I am sure that in the original building, the basement was a dirt floor. It appears the different sections were poured at different times with different levels and different textures. So it may be smooth in any one spot but it will probably wave at you when you see it.

Today tile was being laid in the basement. The stair covers for the basement stairs were cut this morning and ready for installation.

Yesterday Roland did a lot more clean up in the parking lot. The last big dumpster should be hauled away Monday. Today he finished up installing the hardware on all of the new windows. The carpenter intends to be there today to install all the hardware for the new door to the patio. This door somehow was not on anyone’s bidding list so it was late arriving. The old double doors that were there did not meet code anymore so they were replaced with a single wider door.

Across the street are some changes. The Sammy house has been closed for some time and is now scheduled for renovation. Based on ours, theirs would be a logistical nightmare. Up the hill, driveway under the house, impassable for most all equipment and probably not enough parking lot if they can get there. Next to the Sammy’s now is the $1.65’s. Across from us in what was the D Phi E’s in now ATO. I think back in my day they were down Iuka next to the Phi Delts. Next to ATO is Phi Sigma Kappa. Their letters just went up but there is still a for rent sign on the front of the house.

The grass blades keep getting a little longer. A few sprinkles of rain this morning. It was good for the grass but not enough for our new plants.  There is a green haze over much of the straw cover. By the time I am back Tuesday afternoon I expect a good part of the straw to be hidden.

A good day today except for the first theft that I know of. When I went to water the plants around the window wells on the church side, everything was not all there. All of the English Ivy plants were gone, I guess someone thought they needed them more than we did.

Harold Herd put in a full day riding herd (pun intended) on the installers for the window blinds. All done. They also hung the curtain rods in the living room for us. A washer and dryer were installed today. In accordance with the standards of OSU housing, the mini refrigerators were delivered today and put in each room. A city inspector came by to check the gas lines for leaks. They are all good, which we already knew, since the HVAC guys had already checked them. More painting accomplished today. One wall in the kitchen is about the only big area that I know of that is remaining. Lots of touch ups to do. The outside paint crew finished after 6 pm, they decided to stay and finish rather than come back again. That was an eleven hour day for them. Of course, Roland our superintendent did better than that, his was a 14 hour day. Without Roland, we would not be where we are today. The house certainly was in need of new paint. The front porch looks really great and the fire escape is shiny black. The striping crew was supposed to be on site about 2 pm. They finally arrived at 5, it seems they locked their keys in their truck. At any rate, the job got completed, parking blocks installed and lines painted. There were a few questions and decisions to be made and the job was finished about 8 pm and I called the undergrads to tell them they could now park there. I am sure they will be happy that they can get their cars off of the streets.

I do not remember which is which, but there are inspections scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The inspector who was there this afternoon started the process for us for our temporary occupancy permit. That is needed to allow us to move into the house. Floor tile work is scheduled for the weekend which hopefully should just about finish that process. A carpenter crew is also scheduled to continue work on installing doors.

The grass blades keep getting a little longer. As opposed to early in the year on our project, a rain would be welcome now.

Bill