Sunday, May 22, 2011

Stairway to...heaven!

Lots of "underground" work this week. Two new furnances installed, plumbing drain/vent system begun, and another round of visits to the Pikes Peak Regional Building department to have our plans reviewed. The most exciting progress was to see the framing for the loft finished and the stairway go in. We were pleased to end up with over 8' of headroom in the loft (which is to be the future home of comfy couches and big TV - it will also serve as balcony seating for the stage...I've even found a theater spotlight online that I plan to keep up there.) Framing around the entry to the kitchen, the family bathroom, and the half bath under the staircase was also finished. HVAC should finish up this week. We hope to have all our permits pulled (cross fingers here) and Mago's goal is to complete electrical this week.

A good time to explain some of the vision: The building is almost 6000 sq. ft. divided between a main floor and basement. The main floor was originally the sanctuary with a raised stage for the pulpit. With the pews removed, the sanctuary is divided to become great room and master suite with a loft above. 25 ft ceilings and the stage will stay in the great room. The former nursery becomes the kitchen, two classrooms behind beautiful wood accordion doors become two additional bedrooms. We also add a family bathroom and half bath beneath the loft stairs and laundry room in the basement. The first round of renovations cover the upstairs interior only. The exterior and basement are on somewhere in the long view.


Oh...and the pews have been sold.



Sunday, May 15, 2011

Furnace and Framing



With demo mostly complete, the removal and installation of the new furnace and water heater as well as the framing began last week. Removing the old furnace was no small task. The steel beast was the size of a small car and had originally been lowered into the building with a crane. It took Mago and our good friend Kevin three days weilding a demo saw to cut the thing into pieces and send it off to the scrap yard.





It was even more exciting to see the framing for the master bedroom, closet, and bathroom go up. The floor for the loft was also installed.





Monday, May 2, 2011

Going Green


It's the hip thing to do nowadays, right? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I learned just a couple of weeks ago that those three "r"s are in order of importance. So Mago and I submit in the "reuse" category: The Church!

Last Monday we closed on a 1894 church in Old Colorado City. The next six months will be dedicated to turning this historic property into the worlds coolest house.


Anyone need 20 Wooden Pews?