The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

    
    
Wew! It's been a long week and a half since my last post. As promised, I've razed the storage room at the front end of the space, leaving for your visual stimulation a decrepit, but usable network of plumbing, an ancient sink and water heater, and an oh so beautiful aged "beech" paint color...Eeee! I really hope that it's not lead based paint. The chipboard (1/2" OSB) is covering what was the door to the former storage room. I've meticulously sealed all gaps and crevices with expandable foam spray before covering the inside and outside with OSB. In order to remove the old sink mounted to the outside of the storage room without cutting the water main, I cut around the hot and cold water lines, leaving, in my humble opinion, the first piece of art to come out of this room: A sort of Picasso face or a hot and cold Laurel and Hardy duo...In the coming days I will be sorting out the plumbing, reducing the existing pipe to the main water line with a master valve and a hose bibb. This will remain until I begin framing the walls to the kitchen and bathroom which will determine where the runs will go. I will also begin clearing out any redundant electrical conduit and sorting out how I will run the circuits. As you can see, the photo of the mains box is not a pretty site.I believe there is only one 35 amp circuit running into my room - I'll need three 20 amp circuits minimum. Once I've sorted out the plumbing and electrical basics, I intend to fll any holes and cracks in the walls and ceiling and spray a coat of white primer over the entire room. This will leave a clean slate on which to start the build-out.

Countdown to ecstasy!

    
Well, finally got the keys today after a couple days of massive cleaning. The gracious and scholarly building manager, Mark Cornley, allowed me the keys a couple weeks before my lease downbeat. Until now, this unit has been an uninhabited storage space for the building owner's business. Needless to say, there was a lot of accumulation - both of random industrial items and, well...DUST! During the cleaning, i was able to procure a few useful items: including two barrels of wheels and casters - which will come in handy, as I wish to have much of my furniture, et. al. on wheels - and a table saw which will be invaluable during the build out. If you compare the above photos to that from my first post, you'll notice that it's beginning to feel a bit more like a spacious 1100 sq. ft. of loft space. The drab colors don't reflect the light well, so I expect the ambient light to increase markedly once the walls get a fresh coat and the concrete floor is treated with a wet-look sealer. By the time of my next post, I'll have razed a 7'x17' storage build-out at the far end of the loft. This area will become the Kitchen, Bath and loft areas. A water line and vertical sewer main that will serve these amenities run behind a wall in the corner of this storage space.