With only 2 weeks before Bridge Day it has become obvious that we’re not going to achieve our original goal of being open for guests to stay with us for the big party.

Quinnimont should be done by Bridge Day and Nuttall shouldn’t be too far behind, but there is just too much to overcome to get all the details wrapped up in two weeks.

Even so, we though we would provide a construction update so everyone can see where we are right now:

Rough plumbing is finished as of two weeks ago, and HVAC was finished the week before that. These two systems are the primary reasons we fell behind on the schedule: The thick concrete floors and tough plaster made everything take longer than we could have ever anticipated. The two new bathrooms required a lot of ingenuity and brute force to rout the plumbing and took about 3 weeks longer than we expected. Installation of a new water line had to be done before we could finish the plumbing, and the water company moves at their own pace – which meant that we waited on them for 3 1/2 weeks.

Now that the major systems are all in place, the interior is starting to be finished one room at a time (you might have seen the teaser photo we posted last week of Quinnimont’s bathroom). We finally found a drywall guy and once he gets going then we can start getting get rooms ready for paint soon.

Now that Quinnimont’s is operational, we can finally tear out the one in Eddy (that had been up to now the only working bathroom in the building) so we can replace it with one that meets Lafayette Flats standards.

We still have four windows to replace and a good bit of trim carpentry to be done; kitchens and bathrooms to install and then floor covering can go down. Then Amy will be able to begin the part she enjoys, bringing the flats to life with the furnishings and decor that she has been designing and procuring since April.

So, as construction projects often go, we’re going to run past our original completion target. At this point we’re reluctant to pinpoint another, but suffice it to say that we are still working hard to get open as soon as we possibly can.