In related news, we got notice this week that the city is installing a green alley this spring behind our building. Now is kind of a tough time for us to lose access to the alley for two to three weeks, but overall it's a noteworthy addition. With our job and the Logan Square Kitchen to the north both in heavy construction, the alley is full of trucks all day long. Work is supposed to start Monday, but the CDOT engineer on site seemed pretty flexible to postponement, so we'll see how it goes. I'm driving to Bell's on Monday to pick up four more serving tanks we purchased, so hopefully I don't have to keep them in my backyard while the new porous asphalt cures.
On Friday, these guys were beaming as they delivered the steel superstructure for our brewhouse.
Although all our tanks sit on thick concrete pads, the kettle and mash tun apparatus known collectively as the brewhouse sits on the first floor. From what I've gleaned, it weighs about 8,000 lbs. empty and 20,000 lbs. totally full of liquid. We didn't get a manual with this system (the manufacturer is out of business and I don't think there ever was one) and my bathroom scale doesn't go that high. So, there is a series of steel i-beams below to carry the weight straight to some new footings in the basement floor.
The third big structural action is all the carpentry that is set to begin next week. We received a load of about 100 laminated veneer lumber (LVL) joists:
You would think that an old loft building like ours would be strong enough to hold a restaurant without too much extra reinforcement, but it isn't. To get the second floor up to 100 lbs. per square foot. to comply with the Chicago Building Code we need to make the main beam wider. We also need to add lots of structure in the roof to hold up the new AC units, and more LVLs in the floors around all the new openings and to beef up our 2nd floor grain storage area.
Although the volume of virgin, engineered lumber we are using is astounding, I'm doing my part to reuse a bit of the old stuff we had to remove. I've been making tabletops out of the old 3x14 old-growth douglas fir joists. I'm leaving one edge in its rough, 100-year old state but the planer and joiner make the wood look brand new. It's no burled walnut or tiger maple, but compared to the fir you can buy these days, it has a pretty, tight grain. Once again, this is also just an excuse to buy some cool tools, but I'm happy with the results so far:
