Bricks, tiles, electrical....work continues.

One crew is here working on ceiling grid installation today. The masons are outside doing brick work. The tile crew is making advanced progress in the kitchen as expected. The electrical crew has been pulling wire. Another crew came in to connect exhaust fan for storage room And then finally in the afternoon the concrete crew came in to set up the west side drive thru for concrete. The progress is very positive. The turn over date is quickly approaching. Vincent stopped by for a visit with the person that will be managing this location. Vincent is a wonderfully positive person that always brings much enthusiasm to the site. Whew.....it's been a great day.

Tile Crews determined to progress....

This weekend the tile crew chose to work both Saturday and Sunday. They've made great progress. By Monday they'll be tiling the kitchen. This crew is a crew that takes the whole whistle while you work concept to heart. They are always singing and smiling and tiling. The rythm is a good one because they've made great progress.

McDonald's building continues on Saturday!

The painting crew is the same crew that worked with us when we did the re-image in Albuquerque, NM. As a project management company Parkway Construction & Assocaites subcontracts all work. This means that we don't always work with the same crews at all locations. As a national builder they have crews in all states that bid on the work to be done. At this McDonald's we've worked with crews that did work on McDonald's at the Littlefield and Lubbock locations. We've also had the electric crew here that did an Arby's with Woody previously. This weekend we have the crew we used in ABQ Chili's doing the tape & bedding and the crew that did the tile work in Littlefield. This adds an advantage because these crews are already conditioned to work with Woody. They know what Parkway expects of them and they know what is expected of them from Woody as far as progress is concerned. Today not only is the tape & bed crew here, but so are the masons and tile crews. The masons came to move all the brick and place it around the building so that it will be ready for bricking first thing Monday morning. Everyone is in a great mood. It's a beautiful work day. The progress will be very visible by Monday morning.

Tile Work Begins at new McDonald's site

WOW....look at how the front counter area is taking shape! Painters have been doing tape & bed work. Electricians continue to work on overhead electric and mounting can lights. Today tile work started in

the dry goods storage. Below are photos of three of the walls already covered with tile. Due to last night's severe storm, the concrete crew and brick layers were unable to work on the exterior. The id boards were not blown over by last night's winds. The labor crew already cleaned up the job site by removing all debris that blew onto the site. Today the sky is blue and all is clear. A beautiful day for working. The sun has allowed the ground to dry out some.

Brick by Brick.....

Test site selected and test bricks in place. We'll have to see how they look in the morning before we proceed. The painters came in today and continue to do the tape and bed work in the dining area. The electricians did some cover up work in the west lot and continued indoor lighting work. The labor crew Woody has had on site has been cleaning up after last week's storm. That means that we now have the McDonald's banner up again! Yeah! But believe it or not another severe storm is expected tonight.....I hope it's still standing tomorrow.

McDonald's Beverage Bar & Cooler

Yeah, the beverage bar is finally taking form. They poured the 6" step up for the beverage center. Also, the concrete crew poured the cooler floor to be tiled later. The painters came in and started tape & bed work in the front dining area. City of Irving inspected the secondary electric work and we PASSED! Scaffolding was erected by the bricking crew today. The electricians continued working on overhead lighting and in the west parking lot.

McDonald's Site Inspection DAY!

Today Michael Sawyers, Project Manager, and Rick Mathews, McDonald's Regional Construction Manager, both came to the project site for an inspection. It's always a pleasure to have any of the McDonald's reps or Parkway reps come to the job. As we get closer to finishing we'll have more and more visitors and site inspections. Overall, Woody believed that they were pleased with the progress and we are still operating on schedule! WHEW!!! Actual onsite work today included having the hvac units properly placed and secured now that they are on the roof. The electricians not only worked on overhead lighting, but also worked on conduit in the drive thru on the west side of the lot. Plumbers worked on gas lines and the interior framing crew worked on hanging sheetrock! That is exciting because the sheetrock really gives a more defined view to the different areas of the building. The sand was delivered for the brick layers. While the crews are working on constructing the interior, we're going to concentrate our efforts on cleaning up the exterior. Tomorrow we'll be able to put our McDonald's banner back up after the winds blew it over last week.

This is where we initially placed the job trailer on the north east corner of the lot. We've now moved it to the southeastern corner of the parking lot....

Whew!....McDonald's from another angle

Come on out....The sun is shining and there are some new and clear visible changes. Today Woody and I moved the job trailer to the south east corner of the parking lot. I thought Woody was going to do it, but he asked me to back it up just a couple of inches the next thing I knew I'd moved it to the new location! We had a lot of moving to do before the lift was to be picked up by the equipment rental company. So it was a busy afternoon. The crane was brought on site to take the HVAC units from the truck up to the roof. The electricians are now working on overhead lighting! That is so great....because the progress just seems to go fast from this point to the end. The plumbers were working on vent pipes today & checking accuracy of other installs. Where-o-where is our concrete crew? Good question....but in great weather they have lots of work going on. That just means that when they get to our site, it's going to be BUSY! The city inspector came out today and passed our insulation and brick tie inspections. Won't be long before the brick starts going on the building! It's been a long day, but very productive. Now that the storm has passed and things are back to normal, our Project Manager, Michael Sawyers, has approved the request to have a clean up crew come out and clean up a lot of the debris left on the site.

Crews working Saturday

Working Saturdays is rewarding when visible progress is made. Today there was obvious visible progress....the glass crew installed the windows and doors. We now have keys to the building! The interior framing crew also came in to work on the walls today.

The electricians worked on overhead conduits while the framing crew started wrapping the building in Tyvek. The glass crew continued to frame windows. The city passed us on the framing inspection. Over all the work is progressing on schedule. Most of the delays are electrical is having to catch up to the schedule due to days they didn't show. Next is the concrete crew fell behind schedule waiting for the electricians. Both crews should be onsite next week making up lost days. OSHA came by for an inspection. Aside from having to stop all work while the inspection is in progress, work was able to continue after the inspection. The crew started insulating the unit and they were able to permanently secure the ladder inside to access the roof.

Windows & Doors being framed

The glass is delivered and the framing is being installed. Tomorrow they will finish the framing and by Saturday we should have windows and doors installed. Gas crew should be finished today. Interior framers are still working on walls. Electricians are doing rough in work and they passed the inspection with the city today. Rick Mathews came by for a site inspection. We received another shipment of brick and the trellises were also delivered. The storm last night was really bad. The blocks adjacent to us are still without power and a large portion of the road is closed off. Our site was largely untouched by the storm aside from the trash that blew onto the site and our McDonald's sign was knocked down, but not destroyed. Somehow we survived the night in the RV. Winds were 7o to 80 mph and they were harsh but the storm blew by quickly.

McDonald's Inspections are GREEN!

The developer sent out a crew to begin running gas lines to our unit. They will probably be onsite a couple of days. Interior framing crew is trying to finish up on walls today. The electricians are here to do top out. City of Irving came out today and gave us a passing grade for the exterior nail and the mechanical work. We've scheduled electrical top out inspection for tomorrow.

Light Poles Delivered

Today they delivered the light poles. They are pictured above which also provides a view of the parking lot that was poured. The painting company sent one guy to tape & bed the electrical wall. Interior faming crew finished the furdown. Michael Sawyers & Rick Mathews both came down for site inspections today.

Back to McDonald's

Well, all crews were off this past weekend. So Woody stayed at the Speedway all weekend, too. Last week was great. On Thursday we went to the Fandango, Friday was the Big & Rich concert, Saturday we didn't make it to the race. Woody gave our tickts away and opted for staying at the RV and setting up. A big group from Parkway came over after for a cookout. We had so much fun. Then Sunday was the main event. CARL EDWARDS came in first. The best part of the day was having so many of Parkway's people out to the RV for another cookout. Today we left the RV site at the speedway and moved back to Irving. The electricians came in today to continue with electrical boxes and conduit. The plumbers also came in to finish up running lines. It's a great day and overall the job is on schedule.

Electrical works get going....

Here is a picture of the parking lot poured this week. Storms were rough last night. Especially out in the open at Texas Motor Speedway. But we took down all the tents and outdoor decorations and made it through the night. But the race is this weekend and most of the crews are off for a long weekend. 1000's and 1000's of RV's are camping at the speedway. Here at the job, Woody came in without me again! The only crew on site were the electricians!!!! Yes, they are at work installing electrical boxes. Since they have the building to themselves they should make great progress.

McDonald's South parking poured

The trash enclosure and south parking lot were poured. Meanwhile, the plumbers had to move vent pipes. Terracon was onsite to test the concrete. NO ELECTRICIANS YET. But on the positive side the electricians did deliver materials.

McDonald's Roof is complete....

While the concrete crew prepares for the concrete that will be poured tomorrow, the roofers completed the roof work. Woody had to handle the job without me today because I was home packing up.....We are leaving our RV site today and going to Texas Motor Speedway for the rest of the week.

Overcoming Fears Takes Me To New Heights

WOW! The roofers did start today. So despite my fear of heights I went up to see what I could see. I only got one good picture of the actual roof work today. I'll get better ones tomorrow. So why go up for one picture? Well, to see what was being done and while there I did get these other pictures. One picture shows the Home Depo that is about two miles from here. The other roof top picture is of the I-635 & N Belt Line intersection as it looks from the top of the McDonald's! The other picture is a top view of the crew setting forms for the pouring of concrete in the south west corner which they are planning to pour Friday. It's been a great day. Plumbers are having an inspection tomorrow. Mechanical crew continued with the HVAC flex lines. Meanwhile, I finally found my way to ground level....!

Working towards Project Excellence Award

Today was beautiful & just wonderful working weather. We didn't have as many crews on site as we did last week due to the forecast calling for rain. The crew we can count on to work regardless of the weather is the plumbing crew.....And they were here bright & early. So early in fact the sun wasn't shining so bright yet. They are hoping to have a city inspection day after tomorrow. Next crew that came in was the HVAC crew. I call them HVAC, Mr Gibson calls them the mechanical crew. Either way, they were here and continued the flex line work. We got a surprise visit from the one and only Mr. Jason Byrd. Mr. Byrd is known for having the longest lasting erections. I have to admit their steel erection work is great. Good enough that he's a great team player when you are counting on making PROJECT EXCELLENCE. He later sent his crew out to come finish working on a window beam. Today we received the delivery of the roofing materials. That means the roofing crew will be here maybe as early as tomorrow. Our utility contractor came by with a semi & picked up their equipment. Woody treated me to a girlie girl afternoon at a great salon/spa while he went to the Parkway offices in Lewisville. So did it rain? No, it never rained at the job site. We did get a few sprinklings, but nothing that would delay work. The pictures from here on out get a little tricky because they are from inside and sometimes the work isn't at all visible. Take today for example, we had crews on site working, but the work they did is not the type of work that is visible for the most part. But their work is the type of work that if not done properly, per plan, and per Parkway quality expectations could cause big problems with the overall building. So that means Woody has to be look at all the progress before it gets covered up with plywood, sheetrock, concrete, etc. I'm happy to report that there is GREAT work going on here. (Pics: 1. Facing out the north corner window, 2. front counter progress, 3. SE entrance facing out the south east entrance.) We're another day closer to achieving PROJECT EXCELLENCE!