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Archive for the ‘3rd old’ Category

The final countdown

Posted in 3rd new, 3rd old, dining room, livingroom on August 11, 2011|

The finishing touches are being put on the FIJI construction project. This week, rest of the carpet was installed on 2nd and 3rd floors, light fixtures are being hung in the building and various hardware is being installed (such as door handles, pulls, railing, etc).  This weekend the cleaning crews move in to get the house ready for move in on August 18. The AC was fired up for the first time – and it appears to be working as expected.

Next week the construction crew will finish up and the chapter property, currently in storage, will be returned. If any graduate brothers in the Lincoln or Omaha area would like to come down on Tuesday, August 16 to help move our property back – please email the house corporation.
3rd floor hallway — between the 1964 and 1931 building. The doors to left are the location of the new laundry facility.  If you look all the way down the hall — you can see into room 310 (use to be 312).

New carpet on the ‘old’ stairs — from first floor.  The railing is scheduled this week.

Living room – standing on the north wall – looking south to the fire place.

Living room — standing on the south wall — looking north (towards the front of the house)

Dining room floor has been installed and tables returned (they were refinished)

Detail of the new door hardware.  The chapter house will have a master-key system — so the house corporation will have a single key that will open every door.

The new fire alarm panel — this is the extent of the exposed equipment.

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Doors, carpet, trim – oh my! 14 days left!

Posted in 3rd new, 3rd old, basement, building codes, carpet, insulation, kitchen, mechanical systems, Uncategorized on August 4, 2011|

Carpet, doors, and trim – the chapter house is starting to look like a home.  The next two weeks are going to be a flurry of activity to finish by August 17.  This week carpet is being installed in the hallways of the 1931 building and in the rooms of the 1964 addition.   The living room and housemother’s floors are being sanded and finished.

New solid core doors are being installed throughout the house.   A master-key system will be installed that will allow the house corporation to have a single key that will open all doors.  Each student’s key will unlock their study and assigned sleeping room door.

Next week’s highlights include firing up the air conditioner for the first time, installing the wireless internet system and rest of the finishes. FIJI is hosting all the UNL fraternity and sorority house corporations next week during the greek house tour.

If you haven’t done so already — mark your calendar and plan to attend Pig Dinner on Friday, October 7, 2011.  The chapter house dedication ceremony will take place on Friday at 4.30 p.m. with the 106th Norris Pig Dinner starting at 7. This year’s keynote address will be by the Honorable J. Robert Kerrey (Nebraska 1965), Former United States Senator and Governor of Nebraska.

Painting starts in the kitchen.  The kitchen will get a new stove and refrigerator.

The old ice room will house a new residential refrigerator, microwave and new ice machine.  Late plates and extra food will be stored in this room for guys to have access to in the evening.  The kitchen will remained locked when the cook is not present.

The 1964 stairwell has been painted and new railing installed.  Code requires new railings in both the 1964 and 1931 stairwells.

New hallway carpet in the 3rd floor of the 1931 building.

New doors have been installed.

The 3rd floor bathroom in the 1964 addition is ready for its final finishes.

New main electrical service panel — this feeds each of the subpanels on each floor.

All of the heating and cooling plumbing was redone.  The boiler room ceiling is almost fully covered in insulted pipes.

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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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2nd floor walls going up – finishes selected

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd new, 3rd old, carpet, drywall, lighting, paint, tile on May 26, 2011|

Walls going up in what was room 212 – will be 210.

As quickly as the walls in the 1964 addition came down, they are now going back up.  Once again, cinder block is being used on 2nd floor and hopefully 3rd. While more expensive to install, the lifetime maintenance of cinder block is significantly less than drywall. Because the 3rd floor was built with wood studs and plaster, our engineer wants to make sure the floor can hold cinder blocks before they are installed.  We will know this early next week.

As of the end of this week, there will no longer be any asbestos in the building.  While the Board knew the building contained asbestos when the project started, its extent was not known.  The asbestos removal is significantly over budget, by $30,000.

Drywall crews are working on the 1931 side of the building and should finish up in the near future. The tile installation crews will start next week in the 2nd and 3rd old bathrooms.

The finishes have been selected.  Walls will be painted a shade of beige, carpets are shades of browns, bathrooms will be tiled in shades of grey and beige, and new solid core wood doors will be installed.  PLEASE NOTE: the photograph’s DO NOT capture the correct colors.  They are posted so you can see the general look.  As an overall package, the colors, textures, tiles and other finishes are stunning.

A special thank you, again, to Jerry Solomon (Nebraska 1951) for his help in identifying photographs of Lambda Nu’s Innocents and athletes.  There are still a handful of unknown graduate Brother photos – please take a look and post a comment if you know the identity of the Brother.  The House Corporation is still collecting composites. Email the House Corporation if you have copies of composites not included in this collection.

Entrance into the new room 210 (approximate location of the old room 212). This was taken standing by where the supply closet was located.

2nd floor — taken in the southwest corner (was room 209).

2nd new bathroom has been stripped.  The old cast iron waste stacks have been taken down and will be replaced to accommodate a new floor layout.

Cinder blocks awaiting approval to be installed on 3rd floor (room 312).

The windows on 2nd and 3rd floor of the 1964 building have been removed. New windows will be installed in the next few weeks.

What’s left on the 3rd new bathroom.  If you look carefully, you can see the remains of an old window on the east wall.

Educational area of room 300.  Drywall is up and the mudding is underway.

Sleeping room 300a — located on the north side of the 1931 building. This will sleep three men.

The women’s restroom on 1st floor has been demoed. The grey wall in the back is part of the housemothers bedroom. The women’s restroom will change to an ADA complaint unisex restroom. What was the men’s restroom on 1st floor will now house the electrical and computer equipment.

Finishes — please note that the following photographs do not do the actual colors justice.  These are posted so you can get a general idea of what the finishes will look like. 

Paint — the walls are a light beige, metal trim will be painted a light brown and ceiling white.

Carpet — sample on the left will be used in the hallways, the grey on the right will be in the study rooms and browns will be in the bedrooms.

Doors — new doors will be solid core oak and stained.

Bathrooms — tiles will be a grey; counters will be the darker piece of grey and the partitions between toilets is the sample at the top of the photo.

Examples of lighting that may be used in the dining room, living room and bathrooms.  All study rooms, sleeping rooms and hallways will use recessed lighting.

Not pictured — the living room’s wood floors will be refurnished.

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2nd and 3rd floor walls gone

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd new, 3rd old, 4th floor, building codes, Demolition, dining room, drywall, insulation, kitchen on May 19, 2011|

Cinder blocks from 2nd floor

The demo and asbestos crews have been busy – the first floor foyer, dining room, and hallway ceilings have been taken down.  The second and third floor walls have been taken down in the 1964 addition.  Demo has started in both bathrooms and should be finished next week.

Work continues in the 1931 building. Insulation is being installed on exterior and interior walls.  This will help with both energy efficiency and sound. Drywall and insulation has been installed on the fourth and third floors, including the third old bathroom.  The mason is building the new egress doors on second, third and fourth floors.

Next week the masons will start laying the walls on second and third floors of the 1964 building. Cinder blocks will be used which will help with longer term maintenance of the building (no more broken drywall).

If you would like to see the house in person, the House Corporation is hosting a breakfast next Thursday, May 26 at the chapter house.  The breakfast is from 7 to 9 a.m., with a short campaign update at 8 a.m. Please send an email if you plan to attend.  The cost if a suggested donation of $10.

Dining room, taken from the northwest corner looking towards the east.

The told tile has been removed in the kitchen. While the layout is not going to change, new appliances will be installed.

2nd new — taken from the northeast corner of what was the cleaning closet — looking towards the west.  The red wall on the right was room 206 and the red wall with the Husker N was room 210.  The cinder block wall in the middle of the photo is a load bearing wall and can not be removed. It was the south wall of room 210 and 211.

Hallway outside the balcony and 2nd new bathroom.  The ceiling has been removed.

2nd floor — taken from the southeast corner of room 206 looking to the west.  The purple wall was room 212.

Taken from the northwest corner of room 210 looking into room 211 and 212.

Standing in room 212, looking into the bedroom area of room 211 and 210 (the red wall).

Old side of the house — 2nd floor — this is where the window for the fire escape was located.  Code required a door be installed.

Southwest corner of 3rd floor (room 309) looking east.  The walls will be removed after the cinder blocks are stalled to hold up the roof.

Taken from room 310 – northwest corner looking into room 211 and 212.

A detail of the roof structure of the 1964 addition.

Demo in the third floor bathroom (3rd new)

3rd new bathroom — shower and toilet area.

Drywall in 3rd old bathroom looking at the area were the sinks will be installed. This was the area where the showers were located.

Interior insulation being installed in the new room 300 (approximate location is where the old room 301).

Drywall installed in the new room 301 (old 302). Standing in the educational/study area looking into the sleeping rooms.  These will both be private rooms.

Room 400.b — old 4South. This will be a bedroom for two brothers.

Goodbye 2nd new toilets — I think we’ve all cleaned these at one time or another.

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We’re rockin’

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd old, 4th floor, building codes, green building, insulation, lighting, mechanical systems on May 5, 2011|

Changes in the boiler room

As the undergraduates draw another year to a close, the project made progress this week. The insulation crews have been in and drywall is being installed. The project is slightly behind schedule as the City of Lincoln required and handfull of structural changes to bring the chapter house up to current building and safety codes. However, the project is still on schedule to be completed by August 15. Demolition begins on the 1964 addition on Monday, May 9.

The City required updates of the 1931 roofing structure. To accommodate the changes, the project was either going to have to remove and rebuild the entire roof to address venting issues or fill the roof structure with spray foam insulation. The second option was selected, even though it was a cost overrun of several thousand dollars, it was significant less than rebuilding the entire roof.

Insulation is also being installed on the second and third floor exterior and interior walls. The interior insulation will help keep the sound down between rooms, while the exterior insulation (including the spray-foam in the roof) will save the chapter funds on utilities for years to come – not to mention, make our building a little greener.

Recessed lighting is being used throughout the entire project. As these lights are recessed into the ceiling, it will be less likely they will be damaged and there will be no globes to break. For fire safety, the City required fire-proof covers to be installed around each fixture. These arrived and are being installed this week.

The mechanical contractor has stripped the boiler room of all the old pipes, tanks and pumps. The current boiler (installed in 1998) will be reused for the new fintube heating and air conditioning system using hot and chilled water. The old system used steam heat for the 1931 building and hot water for the 1964 addition. Switching to hot water for the entire system means it will cost significantly less to heat the chapter house, in addition to being simpler to operate.

Drywall has gone up in 3rd old. 

Interior and exterior insulation is being installed. This is a photo of standing in one of room 300’s bedrooms (approximate location is old 301) looking into the new room 301 (old 302). The interior insulation will help cut down on the sound transmission between rooms.

Spray foam insulation was installed in the attic last week, as required by the building codes. This photo is taken from south wall of the 4th floor looking into the room 401 (formerly known as 4-South).

Fire proof tents were installed around the new recessed light fixtures.

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Drywall to start next week, really.

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd old, 4th floor, building codes on April 28, 2011|

Drywall in 3rd old hallway - will start next week.

You may notice “drywall is scheduled to begin next week” in a few of the recent posts – the project ran into a few structural delays that caused this to be postponed – but next week, drywall will start on the old side. Really, it is going to happen.

The delays were caused due the notching that occurred in bathroom floor joists to accommodate various plumbing repairs and renovations over the past 80 years and fire safety code issues from the original 1931 framing.   These issues have been resolved.

Metal door frames and insulation was installed this week. The metal door frames will save a significant amount of money in future are easier to maintain.  The insulation will help with utility bills and help make Phi Gam a little ‘greener’.

Special thank you to Jerry Solomon (Nebraska 1951) for his assistance in identifying photos of Lambda Nu’s Lettermen and Innocents Society members. There are still several photos that are unknown. Please take a look and let us know if you recognize these Brothers.

A very exciting photo of a new metal door jamb installed for room 201. 

Insulation being installed in room 300 (northeast corner of 3rd floor)

Fireblocking installed in room 401 (old 4South).  This prevents fire from spreading in the walls and between floors.

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Rough-ins nearly complete!

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd old, mechanical systems on April 7, 2011|

1964 electrical service -- will be replaced as part of the renovation

Most of the electrical, plumbing and fire sprinkler rough-ins in the 1931 building are complete. Unless you are into photographs of wires and pipes, there isn’t that much to see. Inspections, insulation and drywall should start next week.

This project will completely update all the electrical service in the building. The existing service of 600 amps is not sufficient for modern needs. The large electrical panels in the back of what was room B2 will be replaced, along with the sub panels on each floor.

Shower stalls have been installed in the 2nd and 3rd old bathrooms. The bathrooms will have a new layout. Each bathroom will have two private showers stalls with private dressing areas. The 2nd floor bathroom will have two private toilet stalls and the third floor will have a private toilet and urinal. The 1964 addition will have two showers, two toilets and a urinal in each bathroom. These will be done over the summer.

Taken in the southeast corner of what was B2 – this will become the buildings electrical service room and a new study center/computer lab.

3rd old bathroom — the showers stalls have been installed. 

Taken in the northeast corner of 2nd floor — looking into the new room 200. The electrical and plumbing rough-ins are nearly complete.

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Permit in hand!

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd old, basement, Demolition, mechanical systems on March 31, 2011|

Late last week we received our building permit from the City of Lincoln. This week the contractors are finishing up the electrical and plumbing rough-ins to allow for insulation and drywall can start next week.

More demo in the basement – what was known as B2 is now gone – the wall between the living area and the beds has been taken down. The far back part of the room will become the new electrical service room. The front part of the room will be a quiet study area and possibly a computer lab. The basement bathroom was cleared and will be replaced with new water-saving fixtures.

Individual shower stalls will be installed next week in the 2nd and 3rd old bathroom. Each bathroom will have two private shower stalls and a small dressing area.

The electrician has been busy installing can lights. The Board decided to use can lights in the rooms and hallways instead of traditional light fixtures. This will avoid the constant battle of replacing broken fixtures.

What was Room B2 — standing in the living room — looking to the south (the old electrical panels are on the wall).  A new wall will be put up in the back to serve as the electrical room.  The floor will be leveled where the beds use to be and this will be a new study/computer room.

Basement bathroom has been gutted.

New shower stalls.  These will be installed next week.

Can light in the new room 200.

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Windows are wonderful!

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd old, 4th floor, fire sprinklers, livingroom, mechanical systems, windows on March 24, 2011| 4 Comments »

New windows on the old side of the house.

Dramatic changes this week – new windows were installed on the north, east and west side of the 1931 building.  The new windows will significantly improve the energy efficiency of the chapter house.  The existing windows were installed decades ago and had outlived their useful life.  Many of old window vinyl tracks had degraded to the point where it was a battle to keep the windows closed.  New windows are being installed in the entire building – from the 4th floor to the basement.  

The windows on the south side have not been installed. Fire code requires that any window within 10 feet of a fire escape be fire-rated.  These windows cost nearly four times of what the regular windows cost.  And, because it is an old building, everything is a custom size.

In addition to fire-rated windows, openings were cut into the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floor to accommodate exit doors. Current fire code requires doors be used instead of the existing windows.

Fire sprinkler rough-ins have been installed.

Sleeping room furniture will be ordered this week.  The order includes 28 extra long twin bunk beds, 6 single beds, 3 lofted singled beds, 30 wardrobes, 30 dressers, 65 mattresses and 25 desks.  The items are built locally and will be delivered and installed in August.

Next week includes inspections of rough in electrical, mechanical and plumbing; insulating; and, starting drywall.

New windows on the east side of the building — next door to ATO.

West side of the house — new windows (and the old windows in the red dumpster).

South side of the building (like the bathroom?) — all of these windows will have to be fire-rated. On the left side of the photo — opening have been cut into the walls to accommodate new exit doors.

New windows in B2.  This will be one of the few three men rooms.

FIJI graffiti – it has been interesting what has been ‘found’ under the walls – including a “More PhiGam, Less Self” bronze plaque. This is in the area formerly known as B1.

2nd floor — will be room 200, looking south into the future room 201. 

New layout for the 2nd old bathroom — the metal walls will house individual shower stalls. The stools will be to the left.  This is taken standing on the south wall (where the sinks will be), looking north (the stairwell is behind the wall).

Standing in the educational area of the future room 300, looking north.

Laundry will move from the basement to 2nd and 3rd floors.  This is where the old sauna was located and will house a washer and dryer.

 The item that started this entire process — rough ins for the fire sprinkler (red pipe).  The Board of Regents has required all student housing (including greek housing) be sprinkled by 2017 — Phi Gamma Delta will be well ahead of the game on this issue.

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