Sunday, July 1, 2018

Problem solved........................


The best laid plans..............So, we are closing in on finishing the Old School project - with the exception of the old boiler room.   The old boiler room, affectionately called "the dungeon" by My Sweetie, is an 1,800 square foot multi-level space at the rear of the building.   While it is more than just a basement, it passes for the basement.  Not all, but much of it is well below street grade.  For a number of reasons, its redevelopment into a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom apartment has trailed the rest of the project. Given its general separation, including its private entrance, from the balance of the 30,000 square foot building, we can get occupancy permits for the other 28 units before this last unit is completed.  And we have proceeded accordingly.
      Anyway, last Thursday the plumbers approached me with a look on their faces that typically means "we have a problem."  Said problem was that "there is NO WAY we can get the 5' one-piece fiberglass shower unit into the master bathroom of the basement apartment."   The two doorways they have to navigate to get the the master bathroom are too small for the shower unit to pass through.   As this is the second time they have tried - the first unit turned out to have a crack in it.  No word on whether the crack was pre-existing or occurred in the attempt to jam the shower unit through a too-small opening.   While I like people who offer solutions when they bring you problems, the solutions they proposed didn't pass muster.  The first idea was using a four-piece shower unit instead of a one-piece (not acceptable to me).  The second idea was building the shower out of ceramic tile (too expensive).  Hmmm.   What to do, what to do?
        To provide a window for the master bedroom of this apartment, we had to cut out an old make-up air vent and replace it with a double window.  The recently installed window had not yet been caulked in.  A quick call was made to the the glass company asking that they come finalize the job and caulk this window, with the suggestion that before they do that, they first take the window all the way out first and then re-install it.   What?  Once the situation was explained, they had a crew on site within two hours.    The whole process went something like this:

A short section of the newly installed wrought iron fencing
had to be removed to provide access to the window


window carefully removed


Window set to the side

why carry when lifts are around?


This better fit



Of course it does




Final resting place for the shower

window back in place




























































The whole process, from problem presented to problem solved, took four hours and cost about $400.  If only all problems were as amenable to solution.


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