Halloween No Tricks Just Treats

Enjoying a little down time between projects.

Notice the strawberry cheesecake.

It's our fright night treat.

Pulling out of Lewisville, TX

Leaving Lewisville, TX today.  Going to stay the weekend in Oklahoma.  Come Monday we can remain in OK, return back here, or move on to our next project.  It all depends on contracts, agreements, and weather.

Front Steps Poured at BRIO Tuscan Grille

Welcome, JIM DOYLE

The new superintendent for this project has arrived.  We look forward to a smooth transition from one superintendent to the other. 

Progress has been on schedule.  The project is expecting to proceed seamlessly. 

Tomorrow our Director of Construction, Ted Young, will be on site to overlook the transition & make himself available to both superintendents and any subcontractors that may have questions. 

Brio Tuscan Grille, Houston, TX

Footers at Front Entrance

• Concrete crew continued removing concrete at Bar Patio #1 & setup footers at main entrance
• Plumbers working on under slab in restrooms
• Schedule confirmed to start retention wall in the morning.
• Passed footing inspection & poured footers

Pictures of Exterior of Brio Tuscan Grill

• Jim Doyle arrival date moved up to the 21st of October
• Scheduled footing inspection for tomorrow afternoon at the outside front door
• Concrete crew is now removing concrete at Bar Patio #1
• Plumbers digging out restrooms

Plumbers Digging Out Lines

• Concrete crew cleaned out the rest of the concrete debris.
• Plumbers digging out restroom lines
• Plumbers digging out beer lines

Beer Lines & Restroom Lines

• Concrete crews continue to remove concrete
• Plumbers digging out for r/r lines & beer lines
• Received portolet
• Received roll off

First Week at Brio Complete

• Concrete crew saw cutting at bar area to include the area for the electrical conduit
• Plumbers running soda line from bar to the back of building
• Went on upper floors found NO access to grease duct shaft
• Received plumbing & framing materials
• Received POs for portolet & roll off
• Rained off and on through out the day

Sawcutting at Brio in Houston

From Brio Pix

You will need to turn down the sound as the equipment noise is very loud.  The concrete sawcutting work is progressing.  This includes the removal of the concrete debris.  We are running on schedule.  It is a very hot and humid day today.  The electricians are working on getting us some temporary power.  The plumber stopped by to check out the site.  Plumbing crew will start in the morning.  Brio Project Manager visited the job site today.  He was checking to see if we were able to start and inspected progress made so far.

Brio Tuscan Grill Job Site

From Brio Pix

This is where we'll be working over the next few weeks.  Thought the video would give a good overall view of what it looks like now.  We'll video off and on while hear to mark our progress.

View of Houston, TX from Westin Oaks Hotel

Yesterday, we went into the middle of Houston.  This photo was taken by Woody from the 9th floor of the Westin Oaks Hotel at the Galleria.  This is the view we had across the way.  The traffic down below in front of the Galleria was nonstop bumper to bumper.  When we left around midnight the traffic had not died down at all.  As usual the Texas skies were beautiful.  As much as we travel across the USA, neither of Woody or myself have ever been to Houston. Aside from the humidity, we've enjoyed our visit so far.

City of Houston Code Offices

We arrived in Houston late yesterday evening.  We decided to wait on unpacking at the RV Park today so that we could go to the Houston Code Offices.
Thank goodness for our GARMIN.  It made it a breeze finding the offices where we were to pick up the plans and permits.  It was an extremely busy place.  As you would expect we were sent from one office to the next, until finally we were in the plan library.  We were able to get the plans for the Brio Tuscan Grill approved by the City of Houston.  After waiting and talking with a couple of different people, we were informed we can pick up the permit tomorrow. 

Let's Go Racing....Nationwide Races Tonight

Woody is still not liking the news that Petty Motor Sports is going to FORD in 2010. But he'll enjoy watching the Dodges race in the Nationwide & Sprint Cup Series tonight & tomorrow. He will need to decide to cheer for FORD or follow Kurt Busch & Sam Hornish a lot closer. He's a huge Kasey Khane fan and drives a Dodge. It'll be interesting to see what he decides

Woody's Video of Cliff's Check Cashing

Woody has been enjoying capturing video of many of his projects. Recently, we made a decision to begin sharing those videos here and at youtube. So I call Woody and ask him to shoot a video of the project & post it from his phone on youtube. He calls me a while later & says well, I tried to but the file was too big to send. I then said, "Woody you don't need to send over a movie. Perhaps you can shorten it to a trailer. " The trailer to this video is on youtube. For our blog followers, I am posting the full feature here.

Pictures Are Good, Video Is Better

Woody captured this footage, last night & early this morning. It's a tour of the BLACK FINN in Arlington, TX. Looks like tonight MAY be the final 24 hour session.

Day Six, Friday

Richard & Woody are working through the weekend continuing the split shift of the 24/7 in order to meet their deadline. The progress over the past days has been remarkable. The quality of the work is also great. Richard was able to find another crew of trim carpenters to come in and continue when the first crew finished the first shift. This allows them to have trim carpenters around the clock. During the day the millwork company delivered more wood trim. All MEP crews worked today.

Day Five, Thursday

The morning started with the glass subcontractor needing confirmation of window sizes. Plumbing & Electrical inspections are called in for Wednesday. So project new end date is listed as the 27th now. Millwork arrived in the afternoon as did the roll off for all debris. Plumbers installed all water lines at bar & turned water back on. They also did the top out plumbing work. Concrete was poured & finished in the bar. Electricians worked on installing outlets and fans. Framers finshed frame work on bar drop down. Trim carpenters did trim work at glass & booth walls. Meanwhile the mechanics worked on A/C drops. BUSY BUSY BUSY.....That's Progress.

Day Four

Framed ceiling over bar, applied sheetrock at bar & glass wall. Electricians added electrical boxes & lights in bar ceiling. Painters continued stain work & did first coat of mud at soffit. Plumbers came in to repair a water line at the bar. Trim work was continued by trim carpenters at glass wall and bar. Also, the tile crew set bar tile & put down floor leveler. Plumbing & Electrical inspections passed today. FRP work behind bar is complete. As for Richard & Woody, they are hanging on for the ride. It's going at a fast pace and it's hold on or get left behind. Those two aren't getting left behind.