May 19

Sheet rocking! Jerry and his partners are pretty amazing, the whole ceiling was done in a couple hours.

Hired a really great carpenter as well-Miguel spent a few days tying up loose ends and tidying up fraying ends.

May 17

And two more irritating parts of the build: The concrete on the patio ended up being very expensive, took a long time to organize, and wasn't the best job. We brought in Todd, owner/operator of the Concrete Kid, who spent a day trying to grind it down to mimic the existing terrazzo. The new idea is to patch the holes and then die the whole thing red, so it blends together. Despite the trials involved in the process (and the Concrete Kid's artist-like frustration over having his name attached to an imperfect product), it should look pretty cool in the end!

And the plumbing. Andrew (our plumber) and his gang are absolute superstars, but they're not the greatest at calculations, etc. This week was focused on passing the rough inspections-we breezed through all of them except plumbing. This had nothing to do with the quality of the work-the Inspectors commented on how tight it was. But we didn't have the calculations needed to support our work, so the week was spent feverishly trying to scratch together something adequate! In the end, we prevailed, and all relevant Departments signed off, allowing us to proceed with sheet rocking.

May 12

One of the big ticket items ended up being the ductwork for our two HVAC units. Expensive and time consuming!!

May 12

Windows are pretty much in. Don't think I would have picked the "Champagne" color (it matches the windows on the rest of the building), but I think it will look nice once we're finished with everything else. Thought I'm not quite sure how we'll dress that plywood around the windows!

And, one last time, our lovely plumbing in our backbar and underneath, in the basement.

May 11

Our crazy Copper Vent running up the future back bar and out to the back of the unit, providing a unique an quirky bit of character!

And the windows continue to go in.

May 10

Took a trip to see one of Eli's other projects-he's helped install a 50 ft statue of a dancing woman on Treasure Island-a permanent fixture and part of the island's redevelopment. Made from a ball-bearing frame, it took 55,000 welds to create. Stunning.

Another detour took us to his workshop, always full of surprises!

And later that night, Glenn gets in on the carpentry!

May 9

Vents go in bar, Bocce ceiling is dropped, and the frame for the windows installed!