As Nancy Hiller famously said, “It’s all problems.”
We will move the remainder of our inventory into the Anthe building during the first week in October. The three semis have been scheduled. We have a plan.
But until that moment the first truck arrives on Oct. 2, we have to move a few mountains.
It began when our walk-behind forklift was delivered. It was about 8” too tall to fit through our new $6,000 roll-up door. Yes, everyone measured the opening, including the salesman for Crown. Someone somewhere made a mistake.
So to fix that problem, we had to remove the new door, rip out the $400 plastic flaps that kept the AC in the building and hire a mason to remove three courses of bricks ($500) and rebuild the opening. Then order additional parts for the roll-up door ($1,900).
So last week, we rolled our brand-new fork truck through the new opening and we heard a quiet but terrible noise. Some of the old floorboards crumbed under the wheels of the truck.
Yes, a structural engineer inspected the building and green-lighted our plan.
But some of the floorboards were unexpectedly worn (some were 1/4” thick ) and fragile from 130 years of heavy use. (The joists were holding more-than-fine.) So we added felt and a thick tongue-and-groove OSB floor. The floor is designed to be removed by future generations if they want to return to the old floor.
We also added the OSB to the second floor to allow us to move pallets around more easily (there will not be a fork truck on the second floor – just a manual pallet jack).
Despite all this, we are making it, one unexpected problem at a time.
Note: Please do me a favor and don’t take potshots at our efforts here. These decisions were arrived at by professionals (not us) with decades of experience with old buildings. This blog entry cannot possibly give you all the information you need to have an opinion of what is happening on-site. If you’re gonna be a jerk, I’m not going to respond; I’m just going to delete your comment.
— Christopher Schwarz
Having renovated quite a few old buildings in my career, I feel your pain. As they say, if it’s not one thing, it is another. But in the end, it is worth it. Don’t get too discouraged.
Very sorry. I think the correct term is that sucks. Where is the location on your site for the Anthe Tools/Contribution Fund ?
I’m sorry to hear about your problems, I know how hard you all worked on the original floors, but some times there are unforeseeable issue. “Keep up the great work”.
Been there. Historic buildings are a labor of love.
Kevin McCloud describes old buildings as ‘greedy and ungrateful.’ Living in a 100 + year old home, I agree. I just want to know where you can hire a Mason for 500 dollars. That’s a screaming deal.
Moving from one place to another always manages to involve some sort of disaster or sh*tstorm, albeit large or small. Fingers crossed that you don’t run into any more problems.
But I’m unable to respond if I can’t be a a** hole about it. But seriously, if you still have your hair and can sleep at night without a 30 rack, you are doing much better than I. All of us are wishing only great things from this project.
Moving always involves some sort of sh*tstorm or disaster, albeit large or small. Fingers crossed that you don’t run into any more problems.
Overcoming obstacles makes us stronger.
Robert Burns: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.”
Admire your careful work as you renovate the Anthe building and the great lengths to which you have gone to retain original fabric. The old floor is still there and protected. The new one can take the brunt of the heavy loads. Look forward to a visit
Kudos to you and the team for finding last minute solutions to a very challenging problem.
No snark here, just best wishes that these prove the worst of the complications.
Been there. Done that. Only mine involved a 150 year old firehouse and a brand new 1500GPM La France pumper in a large metropolis 600 miles South of the Anthe. Nancy H. is always right. Even 40 years ago!
I agree with the other comments regarding renovating historical buildings. I have done several historical homes and mansions in New England. It should be called hysterical! Experts walk away and you pay.
Great.
Problems are made to be fixed no matter who is responsible. I think you are doing an incredible job, you and your team, don’t get discouraged, working with old building is like that. You will be very proud in the end.
Marcel
“Everybody has plan til they get punched in the mouth.” Mike Tyson
I have worked construction for years both new and remodels. No matter how carefully laid the plan is there are ALWAYS what I call “unforseens”. I think it’s a mark of maturity/professional that when one comes up against these problems to not waste time findings where the blame belongs and focus on the solution. Thank you for your honesty and the updates on the project. I guess we can choose to look at life as filled with a bunch of problems and get beat down or we can look at them as puzzles and rise to the challenge.
As we used to say while racing.
Pull up your pants and keep on sailing.
If you need anymore felt for floor backing.. i have two large rolls….720 sq feet of it, leftover from my daughters house where i overestimated the square footage…. and i cant seem to sell it… just say the word and ill bring it up!!
Occurrences occur.
Architect turned hand tool wood worker here. Have learned that one plays architectural jazz when working with historical buildings. Flexibility, innovation and inspiration take their turns as soloists
It’s what I call and live by, The One Step Method.
Chris… I hate to be the bearer of bad news… there’s definitely some “Murphy” things going on there… but bad things always come in threes. Forklift vs door equals problem number one. Flooring thickness to thin is number two. Brace yourself buddy… number three is about to rear its ugly head. Take a deep breath… patience and perseverance wins the race! Take some time to savor your progress so far. Best wishes dude.
Sometimes you just got to make it work.
I commend you for breathing life back into an old building!
Sometimes common sense and and being able to function in the most practical and efficient way rules the roost!
I hope to someday make the trip from central Kansas to Kentucky to see what you have done in person.
Keep up the great work!
OSB should be ideal for the use. Any plans to paint it, or is that against code or something?
Someday, yes.
Problems are not failures. It’s just life. In the end, it will all be worth it.
I love your new Crown jewel.
Every project comes with unforeseen problems. Main thing is that you keep going. It’s life!
I am impressed with your ability to respond to unexpected problems. Your creative problem solving is inspiring. Very nice job!!! I live in NE GA in the southern Appalachians. The wife and I want to do a Kentucky Bourbon distillery tour. Perhaps we will make your shop one of our stops. Take care and good luck with your new place.
In the immortal words of Marty Feldman/Igor, “could be worse, could be raining…”
If these “challenges” didn’t pop up, it just wouldn’t be any fun. It’s all part of the process. In the end, it will all be worth it. Old buildings are worth every dime. It just adds to the character and becomes part of the story. Well done!
We built out an old cooperage so I feel your pain! As the the saying goes “Best load plans of mice and men….”.
Good luck with the rest of the move I!
Oh man, I’m so sorry to hear this. The work y’all are doing WILL be appreciated by generations in the future. Thanks for being an example of how to do things in a way that makes things better (in so many ways). Keep up the good work. I hope to visit someday.
Hers’s to the brave efforts you are making, even with the hiccups you have encountered. And bravo on the way you handle the trolls. I have nearly worn-out my Delete button since the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Here’s to your determined efforts to make that old building work, despite the hiccups. Bravo too for the way you handle the trolls. I have nearly worn-out the Delete button on my laptop since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Better that than experiencing excess stomach acid.
Sometimes perseverance is one’s only choice. Sorry for all the hassles but kudos for working through them.
Looking good.
“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.”
(Saadi)
Cheers.
Among the best reasons for renovating an historic building:
To fill a need.
To preserve history.
To meet a challenge.
To have something “to story about.”
There is nothing better and more memorable than the smell of a red dirt road after a sudden shower on a very hot August afternoon
As we say in the Army, “no plan survives contact.” Sounds to me like you are doing great and I am crossing my fingers these are the last of your movement issues. Wish I was close enough to come help out.
With a fork truck, like yours, be sure to specify pallet sizes for all incoming orders/shipments, for peace of mind of your ability of your fork truck to handle them. Also make sure your pallet racking handles the pallet size.
It sounds like the laws of infinite regression are still in effect!
Years ago part of my job responsibilities involved leasing buildings for a truck leasing company. In Buffalo NY we leased a building with 7 drive thru bays for over the road rigs. Everybody and their brother measured the door height and gave their blessing. Move in day came and the doors were all 6 inches too short. That was when I began to believe in Murphy’s Law: if anything can possibly go wrong, it will.
Guess they all should not have used the same tape measure. Hindsight 20/20ish and all that. 🙂
Murphy’s law Chris, it always happens, but I believe you guys are on the right path. Best Luck
Managing problems, fun times… I think you guys made a good choice installing the t&g OSB. Super smooth, tough and easy to keep clean. Looks to me like things are moving along well considering the size of the project.
There’s a saying in construction. There are only two guarantees. One, there will be problems. Two, concrete cracks. Best of luck.
Whenever you go into battle, the first casualty is the plan.
Good to know that even professionals are all too human! May your progress continue!
You did have one big win – the floor joists were up to the task. Glad to see you worked through the problems, best of luck with the move. Love that building.
“there are no problems, only projects.” -David Allen
To have your very own fork lift is in some small circles the mark of achievement far above other status symbols, like driving a hot car. Kudos to you and your team!
“Stuff” goes sideways in new building as well – seen it all to often. Most folks have far to much risk aversion to attempt what you have accomplished. While you’ll never get any money back from the fork lift sales rep you might be able to swing some no cost service or maintenance or better yet a “no cost” service plan – the things are all internal money processes for most companies and and are fairly easy to pull off – you just need to ask.
Be patient, nothing that involves moving into or out of old buildings is without problems, regardless of how well you plan. Best of luck!!
I’m just amazed that at one time in the building history it was a Machinist shop. ON WOOD FLOORS! Granted, there wasn’t any humongous American Pacemaker lathe weighing in at 7,000 to 10,000 pounds sitting upon that floor. IF there was you’d be dealing with oil stained concrete. Applauding all you doin’.
As they say “the best laid plans…”
Who cares about the comments. Hang in there. This has been an exceptionally interesting remodeling journey.
Best
Bob Bell
I feel much better after reading this. I now know there are those who bought the same boat I did and are cruising down the same River of Problems. Smile it only gets better.
When I read the line about the forklift not going through the door, I had to remember the scene from ‘Germinal’, where they were lowering the baby colt down into the mine, as it barely fit. “How will they get it out when it has grown up?” the writer asked?
Wrong question…
I think Shakespeare once pondered “whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of rude commenters, / Or to take aim against a sea of haters / And by deleting end them.”
No potshots from me. Just a compliment for your continued preserving and innovating. As the late Jimmy Buffet sang….”Breathe in, breathe out, move on.” Keep up the great work!
Whats the old woodworking saying…measure twice cut once!? 😂 🤣
Great choice on the OSB – that particular brand has held up to a TON of abuse for us (pun intended) and its water resistance has saved us more than a few times.
It’s gonna be worth it in the end. Stay the course ! You guys will love having this expansion for the business.
Much Respect. Keep going.
Old buildings. If you’re taking one on there is almost certain to be something that will not go according to plan. My father, a master carpenter, was hired to renovate an old one story store front with wood floors over a basement after a problem developed. The professional inspector spent two days going over the building. The floor was deemed in excellent condition aside from putting down new floor covering. So the new walls, floor covering and paint were all finished. The owner had a break room in the back and had decided on a nice 18 cubic foot refrigerator which was delivered and placed. when they came in the following morning they found it went right through the floor into the basement. The professional inspector had not bothered to check the joists, which at that point were held together by spiderwebs and dust. My father went in the basement and checked all the joists to find that there were several other places where they weren’t safe. They ended up putting new joists in the whole place as well as new posts in the basement. I’ve seen the photos. It was a real mess.
Maybe it doesn’t have the charm of the original oil laden floor but for a warehouse you definitely made a great choice. You will thank yourself over and over!
Looking forward to seeing the new building ready to show the world. Thanks for the updates.
Was there any possibility given to tilting and moving (via ramps/egyptian rolling blocks) the forklift to get under the door and/or masonry works? Monday morning quarterbacking unnecessarily and not a bonded mover. All the love 🙂
Not if we wanted to use the fork to unload semis (which is why we bought it).
Nancy Hiller’s “It’s all problems,” is a brilliant, cleaned up, and more efficient restatement of the ancient vernacular version used almost everywhere, “It’s just one goddamn thing after another.” Thanks for the update. I can use it almost daily.
Nancy knew her stuff. I’ve renovated two 100+ year old houses in “teardown condition” on my property. Then I developed my shop, also acquired in teardown condition. I’m currently building my hand tool teaching woodshop… yes, starting with a teardown condition garage. Assume nothing, believe no one, expect the worst, add 150% to budget and timeline for “contingencies” and all will be a pleasure and go swimmingly! These old buildings need our TLC.
I’m surprised not that the problem occurred but that you could arrange a mason, a door guy and all the materials in what I assume was a matter of days? That is an accomplishment to be proud of!
Snort! – Marty Feldman indeed. I found out this AM that a 110 year old building I helped rehab to a lithography shop in ’75 was gutted in a 4-alarm fire Saturday night. It was close enough to downtown that I remember the Fire Marshal being involved in multiple construction details. Lots of other uses in the ensuing years, mostly restaurants (the fire started in a drop ceiling above the kitchen), plenty of opportunities for things to go sideways – but it still gives one pause. May Lord Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles, smile on your endeavors!!!
I feel ya! My go-to reply was always, “If it’s not one thing it’s two!” Also, “Whenever the day goes according to plan, you missed something.” LOL In the very near future when everything is humming along and you find yourself actually enjoying that second cup of joe that morning, you’ll remember when…
Man plans, God laughs. Looks like a potential book project.