August 28, 2011 - When the thermometer hit 109 degrees Fahrenheit, and the newscaster said "...we have just tied the highest temperature ever recorded in Houston", we knew it was time to call it a day. Fortunately, when the temperatures gets too hot to work outside, we have enough work to do inside to keep busy. And this week (like the last couple of weeks) the workers came in an hour early and left early as well in an attempt to beat the heat. Even so, we got the outside stairs installed, (and partially painted), added a garage extension, finished installing the remaining plumbing fixtures, added some moldings, and began work on the cyclorama (cyc) wall in the studio.

We needed a place to store a 7 foot by 9 foot utility trailer and realized we could easily extend the ADA ramp using some of the left over steel walls from the containers to build the roof and walls of the garage. By the end of the week the guys had the roof of the garage up along with one wall and the two front doors. Next week we will get the remaining wall up and the addition painted. The ADA ramp was expensive to build, and getting this extra storage space from it has eased the pain (somewhat).

Posted by on August 29, 2011

August 21, 2011- The record for consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees for Houston was set in 1980 at 21. Yesterday, we broke that record, and this has been a summer we won't soon forget. Our building workers continued to install the Aluminum Composite Panels on the roof walls 20-30 feet in the air with temperatures sometimes as high as 105 degrees, and little or no wind.  The good news is the last of the roof panels went up on Tuesday, so another big job is checked off the list.

Posted by on August 22, 2011

August 14, 2011 - We made great progress this week on the last remaining major job on the project - the installation of the Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) Panels. We also worked on adding some side walls to the ADA ramp, installing the metal handrails, and sealing the plywood decks. Silver Rock Productions moved in, and even did a video shoot in the studio which still looks more like a workshop then a production studio.

The heat also made news this week as well. The record for Houston for 100 degree plus days was 10. Today, we hit that record, and are set to break it tomorrow. Now when the thermometer says 102 degrees, it actually feels like 105-107 because of our humidity. When installing panels, you may also be working in the direct sun light combined with the hot metal surface and weight of a large aluminum panel makes it very hard work. It just comes down to putting up one panel at a time - each one representing a small victory.

Posted by on August 15, 2011

 August 10, 2011 – I found epic while job searching last summer and have been in touch with Vic (the Owner) off and on ever since. I was still in school when I applied so he suggested an internship when it came closer to my graduation. This summer came around and I am one semester from graduating, a great time for an internship.

Posted by Joseph Mouton on August 10, 2011

August 5, 2011 - Our awesome news this week came with the return of the Montgomery County Fire Marshal and his follow-up inspection of the building. His second visit took only ten minutes and we passed with flying colors! We had five items to complete (exit signage, installing six automatic door closers, Knox box keys, weather sealing the studio doors, and installing several outlet cover plates), and all were made to his satisfaction. We now have a Certificate of Completion, and with it, our tenant, Silver Rock Productions, started moving in.

Throughout the construction process, our Engineer (Ron Saikowski) and Project Consultant (David Cox) made sure we were following all commercial code standards.That work really paid off when it came time for inspection. As we toured the building we pointed out to the Fire Marshal how we complied with each item on his list, and that made the process go smooth.We also communicated with their office when any major changes on the building were introduced, so there were no surprises on either side.

Posted by on August 06, 2011

July 30, 2010 - This week we had the Fire Marshal come to the job site for his inspection - and all went well. He toured the building and we had five minor things we needed to correct. They included automatic door closers on all exit doors, weatherstripping around the large studio door, mounting the address signs on the building, installing some missing outlet covers, and adding some signs to the exit doors. We got all of the items corrected, and next week we should have our Certificate of Occupancy. With that, our anchor tenant, Silver Rock Productions, can move in. The timing was perfect since this week we got the carpet installed, the trim work done, and the interior of their space cleaned and ready to go.

Posted by on August 01, 2011