Climate control systems activated

Report by Dennis Casebier

It was a busy day at Goffs today.

Brandon the painter had stayed overnight in the Dutchmen Trailer. Phil Motz provided him dinner last night and they sat out under the Green Tree working on the world's problems until a late hour. Indications are they made a lot of progress. Brandon finished up his painting and was gone by about noon today. I believe that's the last we'll see of the painter.

General Contractor Dan Cordova was here this morning. He got the plywood backboard mounted on the north wall of the north Freight House room and Brandon painted it. This backboard will be used for centralizing the phone, data, Internet, and CATV wiring.

Donnie Millard of "Desert Air" showed up during the morning and was here until 4:00 PM. He activated the heating, air conditioning, and humidity control systems. Just before he left, Jo Ann, Phil and I assembled over there. The whole building was chilled. On a day with the humidity standing at 35% and the temperature at 104 degrees -- it was wonderful.

Inspection and phones

Report by Dennis Casebier

Inspector Steve Given was on site today with general contractor Dan Cordova developing a list of final items needing to be done before finalization.

The phone rang just now in the Casebier house. It was Phil Motz calling from the Library Depot! Then he called back on our second (fax) line! So the Library/Depot is in communications with the rest of the planet! All thanks to very hard and hot work by Mr. Motz with a little help at times.

Odds and ends

Report by Dennis Casebier

General Contractor Dan Cordova and two of his crew arrived at about 7:00 AM this morning. They are working on Library/Depot odds and ends. Finishing up!

Here are some upcoming activities;

• Tomorrow 9 July the safety glass will be put into three upstairs windows as required.
  
• Thursday we are scheduled to have the final inspection on the building (we have a bottle of champagne chilling in the frige.
  
• Next Tuesday the HVAC guys will be out and fire up the air conditioning systems.
  
• That leaves the one door that needs to get painted green. Dan said Brandon & Co will be out to do that.

It is 110 degrees out there on our front porch at noon. Phil Motz is out in the heat working on the electrical for the water system.

Ditch dug for the phone lines

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

Much hard work has been accomplished over the past few days in getting the phone lines to the new building. It wasn't until mid-week that we were able to settle with Dan Cordova on a point to bring the phone lines into the building.

In order to accomplish it we had to dig a ditch a little over 200 feet long to carry the line from the Power House to the northwest side of the building where the line will enter. But the job is done and Phil will now be able to get the phones through into the building before he leaves on the 17th.

I say the job is done but it isn't exactly. We still have to string the line from the Power House to the power pole near Lanfair Road. Phil and I can do that.

This important and difficult work has been accomplished over a holiday weekend in intense heat - by Phil Motz, Hugh Brown, and myself. It was very hot working out there on that ditch!

Baseboards and clean-up

Report by Dennis Casebier

Dan Cordova and two of his guys showed up at about 8:00 AM. They will be putting in the baseboards and cleaning in and around the building. He figures they likely won't get done today and will be back tomorrow.

One of the on-demand water heaters in the Lounge/restroom isn't working. The plumber will be coming out next week to replace it.

Phil has procured all the materials he needs to complete the phoneline to the Library/Depot.

Finishing touches on the water system

Report by Dennis Casebier

There have been no workers here yet this week. Dan Cordova and crew are expected to be here as early as tomorrow to put in door closers, base boards, and maybe an illuminated address sign.

Phil Motz has been busy working with the water system. Both the north and south systems are on line and we are using water out of both. Also he obtained materials in town yesterday to put in lights in the Power House and the new north Pump House. Lights are designed to come on when Deep Well #2 pump is on and when the booster pumps in the north Pump House are on.

Phil has also picked up ceiling fans which he will install in the new building.

It's very hot in Goffs today and along the Colorado River Valley.

Flooring finished on the second floor...

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

The flooring for the second floor of the Depot, the Lounge, and the restroom were finished at about 3:00 PM today.

...the Lounge...

...and the restroom.

Depot flooring begins

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

The flooring crew, consisting of Kelly Binns, Ed Hardesty, and Donna May, arrived mid-morning. They started on the first floor of the Depot.

First they cleaned the floor, then put down some kind of foam sheeting, and now they are laying maple tongue and groove pattern, perco-type flooring on top of that. At 2:00 PM they were about two-thirds of the way done with that room.

Here at the end of the day, the flooring is complete on the first floor of the Depot. Also they've cleaned the floor in the lounge and bathroom and are putting glue down. We are asked not to go in there this evening or we might have to stay forever!

The crew is moving all of their tools and materials to the second floor. This same flooring goes in the second floor of the Depot. Then they'll lay a vinyl material of the same maple style in the Lounge and rest room.

A window guy is here working on loose molding. There'll be some other glass guy later to replace some of the glass upstairs.

Very warm and windy today but it isn't impacting their work day since the workers are inside.

Air conditioning units rewired

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

The electrician arrived mid-morning and did some rewiring of control boxes by the air conditioning units on the west side of the Library/Depot.

Flooring delivery and plumbing leak

Report by Dennis Casebier

The flooring guys, led by Jim O'Connor, were here before noon. They dropped off a bunch of flooring (apparently not all of it) and then departed for Laughlin. They said they'd be back Wednesday morning with the rest of the flooring to do the job.

The plumber came in some time this morning. He found a leak. It was in a pipe that got punched with a nail during some of the finish work around the toilet. It's now been fixed. The plumber adjusted the pressure in the pump house to 56 pounds.

Very hot in Goffs today. 110 degrees at 3:30 PM on the west porch.

Rain gutters and bollards

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

The rain gutter guys (three of them) showed up this morning. Jo Ann and I were just
leaving for a quick business trip into town. I figured they would still be here when we got back at about 2:00 PM, but they were gone already. Hugh reports the job took about four hours. So the gutters are all in place.

Also, Dan Cordova and a helper were here this morning finishing up the bollards they started yesterday. These are metal posts designed to prevent people from driving their vehicles into the new building.

The plumber is expected to be back on Saturday of this week to fix a leak that has developed in one of the walls.

Dan is picking off the few remaining tasks. The last big one will be to put the flooring down and I understand that is to be done next week.

We are nearing completion.

Painting the handicapped parking

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

Dan Cordova and crew are here preparing to paint the the handicapped parking area with the appropriate blue and white emblems. They will also install curb stops and yellow-painted bollards to protect the building.

The flooring contractor, Jim with Hardesty Custom Floors, will be stopping by on Saturday to drop off some of the flooring to be installed next week, starting Wednesday. After that, Dan will be back to install the baseboard and the painter will be back to touch-up everything.

Flag Day and the loading dock at 1 day old

Photo by Dennis Casebier

Loading dock poured and stamped

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

Today was the fullest day around the construction site we've had in quite awhile.

The concrete man Craig Merriam, his deputy Jody, and his wife Terry, spent the night at Goffs in anticipation of arrival of a concrete truck by 5:00 AM.

The concrete truck arrived on time. Craig & Co. soon had it lined up with the loading dock forms alongside the Freight House and began dumping from the nine yard load. Even prepared as we were for this special load, it it was surprising to see brown-colored concrete coming down the chute!

Soon the sun was up and the temperature was rising. Also there was a dry breeze blowing out of the north. That meant it was a race against time for the concrete crew to get the material laid down, smoothed out, and finished. This was particularly challenging today because once smoothed out, the crew went back over the entire surface with a special stamping form that left the imprint of wood texture.

This involved hard work pounding the form into the hardening surface. A real race against time as the concrete was setting up due to the increasing air temperature and lowering humidity. But the crew was equal to the task and finished their imprinting with a little time to spare. But, it was very hard work.

There followed the cleaning up. Then, just before departing, they removed all the hardware that held the forms in place revealing the loading dock in its final form. It looks great!

Meanwhile, the electrician arrived mid-morning and did some rewiring of control boxes by the air conditioning units on the west side of the building.

Parking slab poured

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

The concrete truck came in a little before 5 AM and we didn't catch it. The truck poured the handicapped parking slab and also the small slabs "stoops" outside each door.

There will be just one more truck tomorrow. It will be carrying the colored concrete for the loading dock. Today's concrete crew are Craig and Jody. They'll be staying overnight in our trailers to deal with the concrete truck tomorrow morning.

Also Dan Cordova is here. He's installing grab rails in the restroom. He says the electrician will be here tomorrow to hook up the air conditioning units.

Plumbing wrap up

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

Plumber Tim Henry arrived this morning at about 10:30 AM. He plans to be here only about an hour and a half after which he'll have the plumbing all done. I believe he has a toilet with him, so maybe we'll be able to perform a test flush in our new building!

Fierce wind in Goffs today.

Intrusion alert system installed

Report by Dennis Casebier

Dave Mongrain of security firm, Alarm Team, has been here working on the security system. He'll be leaving here shortly. He has the intrusion alert system all hooked up. We did a dynamic test of the big alarm that goes off if someone intrudes.

Concrete plans

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

I met this morning with building inspector Steve Given and concrete subcontractor Craig Merriam. Mr. Given went over the loading dock plans with Craig and they have reached agreement -- so Craig can proceed.

Craig said he was originally figuring to have concrete up here Monday but he's looked ahead with the weather and says the wind is supposed to be blowing so he likely won't figure on meeting that schedule. He plans to pour Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, depending upon the weather

Craig says he'll be back tomorrow to finish up his preparations.

Loading dock forms constructed

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

General Contractor Dan Cordova and a couple of guys were here all day working on odds and ends.

Cement sub-contractor Craig Merriam was here with crew working on forms and putting in rebar for "flat work," which are the handicapped parking area, sidewalks and the forms for the loading dock.

It was on the cool side today and very windy out of the west.

Flatwork begins

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

Cordova and crew are here this morning. His crew is busy finishing installation of cabinets in the Lounge.

The concrete man, Craig Merriam, has come in with his crew to get started on the final "flat work" such as the parking pads, sidewalks, stoops, and loading dock.

I reviewed progress with Dan Cordova. The bottom line is that he'll be nearly done by the end of next week. Yet to do;

The air conditioning guy will be in with his equipment that goes outside on the slab later this week. The electrician will come in after him to hook up the A/C equipment up. Preparations for the final concrete work is in progress.

The building inspector is scheduled to be here Thursday to approve plans for the loading dock.

It is going to be another warm day in Goffs. It was well over 90 degrees yesterday and today looks like a repeat.

Lounge cabinets arrive

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

Dan Cordova arrived this morning at about 8:00 AM with two of his sons as crew. They have brought the cabinets for the Lounge. They plan to unpack and install them today.

Day says the concrete man will be here tomorrow to begin on the flat work for the parking area, sidewalk, and stoops.

Dan is closing in on the job. There will be some waiting for the arrival of the special order flooring material.

Let there be light!

Report by Dennis Casebier

Yesterday evening after dark, we looked over towards the Library/Depot and beheld a wonderful thing - it was lighted up!The electrician had gone home and turned the outside lights on - there's a lamp by each door.

Jo Ann and I went over to turn the lights out. Of course we walked all around the building turning other lights on. They all work! And what wonderfu light it is. We're going to have really good light to work by.

This morning I had the pleasure of showing a reporter from the Needles Desert Star through the building. It "shows" very well.

Then at about noon today, Hugh and Carol Brown showed up so we got to go play with the lights again. It appears the building is fully electrified. All the electrician will have to come back for is to hook up the outdoor A/C units when they get installed.

Next is making arrangements to get the security system completed, install the cabinets in the lounge, install the flooring, and lay the concrete flat work around the building.

There is light in the end of the tunnel!

Flourescent light fixtures are up

Report by Dennis Casebier

Two electricians were here much of today. Jo Ann and I inspected progress later in the day. The flourescent light fixtures are up in most places. The "on/off" wall switches seemed to be mostly in place. At least one wall plug was "hot" as there was a glow light illuminated at the end of an extension cord. The building is coming to life and is expected to be pretty much electrified by the day-after-tomorrow.

Electrical fixture installation begins

Report by Dennis Casebier

Fred Compton the electrician arrived this morning at about 9:00 AM. He says he plans to be here through Thursday and sometime during that period he'll "power up" the new building. The electrical will be mostly done then except for a quick trip out after the lounge cabinets and the air conditioning are installed.

Quiet week and rain

Report by Dennis Casebier

No work on the Library/Depot the last couple of days. Next week should be exciting. I'm understanding the electrician will be back to install the fixtures, and then we'll be able to power up! Things are moving along.

We did have a special blessing today in the form of RAIN! It has been cloudy for a couple of days and the air got especially cool last night. It looked like rain all day and then we had thunder and lightning beginning at about 3:15 PM.

We closed the breakers on the deep well pumps to lessen the chance of damage to them. Then here came the rain. It was a nice little rain; I would guess at least a quarter and maybe a half inch. It was over in about half an hour. First rain we've had since January, I think.