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Archive for the ‘4th floor’ Category

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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Progress made on 3rd new – six weeks from finish

Posted in 3rd new, 4th floor, dining room, drywall, livingroom on June 30, 2011| 1 Comment »

Framing on 3rd new

Wood studs and beams are being framed in on the 3rd floor of the 1964 addition. The original plan was to install cinder blocks, but the project engineer put a kibosh to that when the original manufacture of the floor joist system was not able to find records to confirm it the floor was designed to carry that kind of load. The modified plan calls for wood studs to be used, along with a handful of wood beams, to carry the load of the roof structure.

The heating and air conditioning work is being finished on the 1931 building.  For the first time, the entire building will be able to experience the joy of central air. Each room is equipped with its own fan coil unit — which will provide cool air in the summer and fall and heat during the winter.

The 1st floor and basement ceilings have been finished and painting will begin next week.  All of the rough-ins on the 1964 addition should be complete next week and ready for inspection.

Ceilings and drywall work is complete in the living room.

Fancoil units have been installed in the 1931 building.  This is taken in room 401 (old 4-South) — southwest corner.

Drywall will start next week in the dining room.

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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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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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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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Rough-ins starting

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd old, 4th floor, basement, livingroom, mechanical systems on March 15, 2011|

Mechanical rough-ins have started

Electrical and mechanical rough-ins started this week. The plan is to convert the existing boiler (installed in 1997) to hot water (currently hot water and steam) and install new air conditioning equipment. Each room will have their own heating and air conditioning units.

The exterior walls have been furred out to accommodate insulation. This will help with the overall efficiency of the building. There is currently no exterior insulation, other than air space. In addition, this will allow new wiring to be installed.

Asbestos removal continues in the basement.

New floor joists were installed in the bathrooms and the floor is down. Several of the existing floor joists had significant notches (up to ¾ the width of the joist) cut into them to accommodate different plumbing and remodels over the past 80 years. This was not safe to install the new bathroom without taking care of this structural issue.

Finally, a new subfloor was installed on the 4th floor. Several of the old floor boards were very thin or cracked. In addition, this separation was required for fire codes.

Next week, the windows for the old side should start to arrive and be installed. They are being replaced with a double pane insulated window.

The asbestos removal continues – this is the tent set up outside of B2.

Exterior walls are being furred out to accommodate insulation and provide a tight seal between levels.

2nd floor — north side — where the hallway continues to the new side. This will be the future site of a laundry room.

Taken in the new Room 200 — from the educational space looking into the two new sleeping rooms. 

The new 3rd Old bathroom — the floors have been replaced.  Plumbing should be installed in the next few weeks.

A new subfloor was installed on 4th floor. This is taken on the south wall — right next to the fire escape.

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Walls are up and the floor is gone

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd old, 4th floor, Demolition, livingroom, mechanical systems on March 8, 2011|

From the housemother's living room -- looking up into 2nd and 3rd old bathroom -- up to the roof.

If you walk into the chapter house today, the most striking thing you will find would be standing in the housemother’s living room and looking up and you can see the roof. The floors in 2nd and 3rd old bathrooms have been removed to accommodate a new bathroom layout – which will include private shower stalls and finally fix the flooding issue in the housemother’s room and B1.

At least twice a year, the housemother’s room would ‘flood,’ or more accurately ‘rain’ from the ceiling, which then would drain into B1 – often times damaging contents in both rooms. For the past several years, the flooding was due to pipes going bad inside the walls – both plumbing and heating systems. These are costly repairs, as the plumber would have to make a hole to fix the issue – often times several holes to find the issue – then the wall or ceiling would have to be repaired. Thankfully, ‘moms’ Engelhard and the residents in B1 have been good sports over the years.

The radiators have been removed and recycled – along with the old AC equipment in the basement under the kitchen. This is making room for a new heating and air conditioning system to be installed over the next several months.

The walls are framed on 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors.

Mechanical, electrical and fire sprinkler rough-ins are scheduled to begin this week.

From the 3rd old bathroom — looking into the housemother’s living room.

3rd floor — from Room 300 — looking to the south.

2nd floor — standing by the south wall (Room 203) looking to the north (200).

Basement ceiling is down.

The few items left from the old chiller equipment.

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Metal studs rock

Posted in 2nd old, 3rd old, 4th floor, mechanical systems on February 24, 2011| 4 Comments »

The rooms start to take shape. Taken from the southeast corner of 4South.

The rooms on the old side start to take shape as walls are being framed – 4th floor walls are up and 3rd floor is underway.  Metal studs are being used on the old side – a great fire safety improvement.  The new floor plan will be two or three smaller sleeping rooms off a central study room.

The boiler room saw some action with the removal of asbestos.  Thankfully, asbestos was only used on the joints and fittings of the 1964 heating system. The existing heating system is a combination of steam (for the old side) and hot water (for the new side). It will be converted to all hot water – which will allow for air condition to be installed throughout the entire house.  It will be a more efficient heating solution since we will no longer have to heat the water to the boiling point and will hopefully save on repairs (ask me about the $2,500 butterfly valve we had to replace a few years ago).

A little mechanical work happened early this fall when the bottom of the 1964 300-gallon hot water storage tank failed.  The house manager reported that a loud ‘hissing’ sound was coming from the boiler room and when they opened the door it was spraying water everywhere.  At the same time, our 1997 hot water heater went on the fritz (not surprising – it was nearing the end of its life). Thankfully, we were able to work with Tom Colvin, 1970, President of Colvin Engineering Associates in Salt Lake City to find a fantastic solution.  We now have a 100 gallon, 399,999 BTU hot water heater that can produce 514 gallons of hot water an hour – plus, it is 93% efficient!  Thank you Brother Colvin!

Oh, and 91 windows were ordered this week.

Standing in 4north, looking to 4south. 

3rd floor — standing by the south wall (room 302) looking to the north (room 300 – grey wall, 301 – red wall).  The new metal base plate shows the new layout.

Taken in the boiler room — the blue pipes used to be covered in asbestos.

OLD hot water heater and storage tank

The old hot water heater and storage tank — RIP (hot water heater 1997-2010; storage tank 1964-2010)

New hot water heater — no more storage tank! (Thank you again Brother Colvin)

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