The walls are going up

Posted by Charles Wed, 26 Oct 2005 06:42:00 GMT

We began putting up the office walls on Sunday. Materials were gathered in advance, to the best of our ability, to avoid trapping our crew in Home Depot Gridlock on construction day. We made two trips each with two pickups to get a days worth of lumber and fasteners, and some sheetrock and supplies for later. We moved benches and fixtures well out of the way so we could build the 15 foot high wall in sections on the ground, and then raise each section into place and attach it to the ceiling.

Careful measurements were first taken of the distance from floor to ceiling, which changes along the length of the wall. The roof and ceiling slope to the South for drainage, the roof sags a little in the middle, and the ceiling beams aren’t perfectly straight either. Standing each section up, however, we found Kevin’s measurements to put us within 1/4” over the 15 foot lengths, and in most places with a 1/16”.

We ended our workday with one wall standing, 40 feet long, and a good system to complete the rest of it as it winds is way around the corner. This wall will box in my office, the receiving area (behind the green door), and the warehouse.

On the outside, it will provide slatwall and other display space, and serve as a backstop for the component display cabinets, the Lista parts cabinet, and the lead work bench. High up on the wall, over the suspension forks, will be the North Shore Ladder diorama, a proud perch for big bikes. The North Shore ladder will branch out from what will then be a redwood tree, but now is just a square wood roof support. This last photo comes out of Patty’s CAD plan for the showroom floor. Wait til you see it in real life.