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Archive for the ‘2nd new’ Category

New back lot and trim work starts

Posted in 2nd new, 2nd old, dining room, livingroom, paint on July 28, 2011| 3 Comments »

Updated 1st floor fire place and woodwork

New cement has been poured for the back lot and the DMZ. The original back lot was in disrepair, and the large trench that had to be dug to accommodate the new electrical service put the final nail in its coffin. While they were pouring the back lot, they also graded the DMZ and poured cement as well. This should solve the water issues for years to come.

Other finish works continues – including installing crown molding and baseboard in the living room, bathroom sinks, toilet dividers and tile work in the 1964 addition bathrooms. Painting and carpeting continues. The original 1931 wood floors are scheduled to be refurnished next week in the living room and tile installed in the kitchen and dining room.

Living room furniture has been ordered, 65 extra-long twin mattresses should arrive next week along with 90 window blinds. The next few weeks are going to be highly organized chaos, but the project is on schedule for an on time opening.

Living room trim work has been installed.

Foyer, looking from the dining room into the living room.

Dining room walls have been painted – ceiling is done.  Floors will be installed in the next two weeks.

2nd floor bathroom of the 1931 building — the sinks are located where the showers use to be.

2nd floor bathroom of the 1931 building — individual toilet stalls have been installed for privacy, shower curtain rods will added in the next week.

The study room for the new room 208 (old location of 208 and 209).  There are two bedrooms off this study room that will house two students each.

The 2nd floor hallway — going from the 1931 building to the 1964 addition.  A new door jamb has been installed for the balcony door.

New back lot!  The old surface needed to be replaced, but when the new power lines were buried, that sealed the deal.

The area between the ATO and FIJI house (known as the DMZ) has been paved.  This will help with basement water issues by getting water away from the building.

Phi Gamma Delta’s very own power transformer. The power lines are buried from the transformer to the house.

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Finish work begins on 1964 addition

Posted in 2nd new, 2nd old, furniture, paint, tile on July 21, 2011|

With less than a month before the project is scheduled to be complete, the finish crews have moved to the 1964 addition. Drywall has been hung, ceilings are up and bathrooms are ready for tile.  It will be a very busy month to meet the August 15 deadline.

Final finishes are in progress in the 1931 building – light fixtures, switches, plugs and plumbing fixtures are being installed. The house will have a new power service this week – which will allow us to fire-up the air conditioner for the first time to cool the property down.

In addition, the first shipment of dorm room furniture has arrived. Each sleeping room will have solid oak bunk beds, a dresser and wardrobe.  The study rooms will have a desk.  Living room furniture was ordered this week and will arrive August 16.

Stall dividers being installed in the 2nd floor bathroom of the 1931 building.

Drywall is up in the 1964 addition — this is the study area for 308 (formerly rooms 308 and 309).

2nd floor bathroom in the 1964 addition — tile work will begin next week.

Tile work in the housemother’s bathroom — new floor and fixtures are being installed.

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Old side upstairs painted, carpet to be installed

Posted in 2nd new, 2nd old, 3rd new, 4th floor, carpet, dining room, fire sprinklers, kitchen, paint, plumbing, tile on July 7, 2011|

Refinished dining room tables

The painters have finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of the 1931 building. The camera is not doing the colors justice – the hallways and individual sleeping rooms are light beige with the study rooms a light brown.  Carpet should be installed next week.

Mechanical and electrical rough-ins continue in the 1964 addition.  Fire sprinklers are being installed in the entire building.

Lincoln Electric System buried the power line last week.  While it is nice to have this line concealed, the downside is the back lot took a beating.  Luckily, as they dug a trench from the pole to the back of the 1931 building, no surprises were found (such as a buried fuel tank).

A new stove and refrigerator has been ordered to replace the 1964 appliances.  The fraternity’s freezer is relatively new and will be reused.

The board was able to contract with Cornhusker State Industries to custom build dorm room furniture (will be installed in the completed rooms next week).  CSI also refinished the dining room tables and a few other wood pieces from the chapter house.  The dining room tables look brand new and are ready for another 50 years of FIJIs celebrating lunch and dinner together.

Room 200 — the study room and sleeping room has been painted.

Room 401 (old 4 south) — the hallway that leads to the main study room. The sleeping rooms  are off to the right. 

The bathroom on the 1931 building — 3rd floor — ready for final finishes.

Mechanical and electrical rough-ins. Photo is taken on 2nd floor — looking west into room 210 (old 212 and cleaning closet).

3rd floor bathroom, 1964 addition — plumbing rough-ins are installed.  Drywall should start soon.

Fire sprinkler rough-ins on the 3rd floor, 1964 addition.

The 1964 appliances have been removed and new ones are on order.  The kitchen layout will remain relatively the same.

The poor back lot has seen better days — LES dug a trench from the pole in the middle of the photo to the back of the 1931 building to install a new power main.

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Is FIJI building a pool?

Posted in 2nd new, 2nd old, 3rd new, building codes, drywall, fire sprinklers, mechanical systems, paint, plumbing, tile, windows on June 16, 2011|

Passersby on R Street may be wondering what FIJI is doing with all the digging?  Is it a pool?  Nope.  Is it a ditch? Nope. Is it a moat? Nope (but I wish). It’s the primary reason this entire project started – fire sprinklers.  A dedicated water source is required for fire sprinklers and was installed this week. The fire sprinkler equipment will be located in the old bomb shelter.

The 1931 side of the house is nearing completion. The drywall crews moved to first floor and basement this week and painters have been to work on 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors.  The tile crew has finished the ‘old’ bathrooms.  The side of the house should be finished in the next few weeks.

The 1964 ‘new’ side – that’s another story. Third floor framing is currently on hold while the architect and structural engineer address existing structural concerns based on the original construction.

Next week ceilings will be installed on 2nd floor, new electrical service is being brought into the building and hopefully, the 3rd new framing will begin.

New windows have been installed in the 1964 addition.

Ceiling is up in the basement.  Fire code required the old exposed beams to be covered.

2nd ‘old’ bathroom — tile work is complete.

The entire house has new plumbing — this is take in the house mother’s living room — looking up to the plumbing for the 2nd old bathroom.

1931 building hallways have been painted.

Plumbing rough-ins have started on the 1964 addition — this is taken in the 2nd new bathroom — looking at the west wall (where the trash can use to sit). This will now be where the sinks are located.

Our trouble child – the 3rd floor of the 1964 addition — Now, I’m not a structural engineer – but it appears that the quite a bit of the roofing structure is resting on the interior walls.  This has caused challenges as the House Corporation changes the layout to the new suite style floor plan.  Stay-tuned on this one…

 

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Fire-rated windows arrive

Posted in 2nd new, 3rd old, basement, building codes, mechanical systems, plumbing, windows on June 9, 2011|

1st floor fire-rated window -- contains a wire mesh to prevent the window from breaking

When you start an extensive project – you expect there to be issues that will have to be addressed.  Sure, we knew there was asbestos that needed to go, fire sprinklers had to be installed even a few ADA issues that would need to be addressed – but, we did not know that we would have to install special windows on the fire escape. These fire-rated windows are specially designed to contain a fire inside the building. In addition to the new exit doors on each floor, these help ensure the safety of our Brothers in the event the building would need to be evacuated. Let’s just say, they cost a pretty penny – but, like the asbestos, it had to be done. 

New windows were installed in the 1964 addition on 2nd and 3rd floors. With these energy-efficient windows and all the new insulation, the chapter should save hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars each year in energy bills.  Last school year, the electricity bill ran between $1,000 to $1,400 a month and gas was $600 (without the boiler) to $3,000 (with boiler). It will be interesting to see how much these decrease.

Painting started on the 1931 side of the building this week.  All rooms are being painted the same color. To help keep the property looking nice for years to come, the house corporation is making several changes to the rental agreements – one of them being that undergraduate brothers will no longer be able to paint their room. 

The tile is down in both ‘old’ bathrooms and rough-in work continues in the ‘new’ bathrooms.

Rooms will be heated and air-conditioned using fan coil units, which arrived this week and will be installed on the 1931 side over the next few weeks.

New windows installed in the 1964 addition.  The 1st floor windows will go in next week.

A fire-rated window is ready to be installed in room 209 (was room 210).  Any window within 10′ of a fire escape must be fire-rated.

Painting has started in the 1931 building. This is room 300.A (north side of old room 300) and will be a sleeping room.
 
New windows in room 310 (was room 312).
 
Tile work is nearly done in the 3rd ‘old’ bath.
 
Rough-in’s continue in the ‘new’ bathrooms — this is 2nd new — standing at the door — looking to where the toilets use to be located.
Boxes of fancoils are stored in the dining room.
 
Bye-bye old door out of what was room B1 — it has now been bricked up. The stairs are scheduled to be removed when the new pad for the air conditioning equipment is poured.

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Finish work starts on the “old” side

Posted in 2nd new, 2nd old, 4th floor, history, kitchen, livingroom, mechanical systems, tile, windows on June 2, 2011|

Tile floor has been installed in the 3rd old bathroom

Finish work started on the “old” side of the build – old is in quotes, because after this project is compete both the old, 1931 building, and the “new,” 1964 addition, will be virtually the same.

Tile work started in the 2nd and 3rd old bathrooms, ceilings are done and painters should move in next week to start painting walls on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of the old side of the chapter house.  Windows are also scheduled to be installed next week in the 1964 side of the building and the fire escape windows of the 1931 building.

The City of Lincoln will install a new water line to the building tomorrow for the fire sprinkler system.  The air conditioner compressor unit has arrived.  The 1964 chiller equipment was removed as part of this project. The old chiller has not worked for at least 20 years. The chiller room, located under the kitchen, will be used for storage.

Special thanks to Walter Gerlach (Nebraska 1958) for helping solve the mystery of the brass “More Phi Gam, Less Self” plaque that was found during demolition last February.  Brother Gerlach made two of these plaques (one for each door of the second and third floor bathroom) in the foundry located in the basement of Richards Hall.  One of the plaques has been mounted to an exterior column for the Undergraduate Brothers to see as they leave the house and to remind them of this fraternity creed. Thank you again Brother Gerlach for helping solve this mystery.

Windows will be installed next week on the 1964 addition.

Living room ceiling has been installed and will be finished next week.

Patch work will need to be done in the kitchen. Thankfully, the entire ceiling did not need to come down, just select areas to gain access to the heating system. The kitchen will also receive new appliances. If anyone wants to buy the old fridge (heck, if you want to get it out of there) drop the house corporation an email. It works fine, however, the bottom is starting to rust away.

Study area of room 200. The ceiling is done.

Room 210’s (formerly room 212) study area.  This room has two sleeping rooms of this shared area.

New windows in room 400 (formerly known as 4-North).

The study area of room 401 (formerly 4-South).  This is looking at the south wall of the chapter house.

Walls are going up in the new basement study room (formerly B1). The old stairs will blocked off.

All kinds of new pipes and pumps in the boiler room.

And, the new air condition compressor unit. This will be installed in the next few weeks.

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