While doing some demo of the 2nd floor this weekend, I ended up trapped in the freight elevator. I was about halfway between the first and second floors when the car lurched and then stopped. The light stayed on (fed through a separate circuit I learned later), but the motor which spins the wheel which lifts the car was unresponsive. It's an open car so I ended up climbing up and out the second floor door a few minutes later. After popping open the first floor door I could see that the flexible power cord attached to the bottom of the car got caught of part of the elevator rail mechanics and either loosened its wires or shorted out a fuse. When the icy roof thaws, I'll check out the fuses in the machine room and try and get things working. I should be happy to be alive right? Like other issues that have come up, throwing some more money at this problem should make it go away.
After that mishap, I continued on with the demo of the 2nd floor which I'll be doing myself. The former building owners finally finished moving out this week and they left behind a mound of debris. I've just about got that mess under control and am starting to rip down all the cubicles and partitions. Once those are gone and the drop ceiling comes down the place will really open up.
Back downstairs, one reason the electrical is being removed right away is so that the mason can open a big hole in the rear wall for the excavation work. Eventually he'll build a new wall a few feet in the building to leave a trash enclosure off the alley.
