Epic Blog
Tips, Tools and Techniques from the epic software group
Roof Trusses Arrive - Framing Work Continues
February 10, 2011 - The roof trusses arrived today which was exciting and scary at the same time. These trusses were built in Dallas and shipping them was delayed twice due to unseasonable ice storms (remember the Super Bowl?) that hit our area. We thought there would be a third delay (again because of icy road conditions), but we got a call at 6:00am from ProBuild (truss manufacturer) letting us know the truck was leaving their yard. When they arrived, the trusses were bigger and heavier than I…
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Getting Ready for the Roof - Top Sill Plates and Exterior Sheeting Added
February 4, 2011 - The week started off nice and warm, but a "norther" blew in on Tuesday and the weather turned very cold. The heaters we purchased a couple of weeks earlier allowed us to get interior work done on the flooring and the studs up in containers 7, 8 & 11, as well as the installation of most of the windows. Our trusses were scheduled for delivery on Friday, but the manufacturing plant in Dallas was closed due to an ice storm. We are hoping to get the trusses early next…
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Structural Framing of the Video Production Studio
January 28, 2010 - We met with several framers and decided to go with Danny Spann. Danny had a good price, but it was his attitude that sold me. Building a commercial building from shipping containers is filled with challenges, and I have found craftsman that are excited about solving them are the best ones to deal with. Danny looked at our drawing and questioned how we were planning to affix the roof trusses to the containers. We were planning to use angle iron and a 4"…
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Temporary Electric Service Installed - Glad to See the Generator(s) Go!
January 19, 2011 - Since the job began, we have been working with a portable diesel generator. It is loud and stinky and we were limited to where we could work by the length of the extension cord on 220V welder. On some days we also used a gas generator which made things twice as loud and stinky. These generators will only let you use120V or 220V, but not both at the same time. We typically used the generator for the 220V, and ran extension cords from the epic studio for the 120V hand…
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Work Begins on the Interior Supports - Stairs and Window Frames
January 14, 2011 - This week we just about finished cutting out all of the common walls (only one more wall to go)! With the common walls removed, we needed to add 2" x 2" x 1/8" steel columns to support the floors and ceilings. It is amazing how "bouncy" the center of the floors between the containers are when the walls are removed. We had been using Triple S Steel for our red iron, but decided to look around and found another source (on Craigslist) that saved…
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Cutting the Boxes and Installing the Windows
January 20, 2011 - The weather turned cold this week (for Houston anyway) with morning temperatures dipping down in the low 20's. The rain didn't help matters. We used window tape to seal the tops of the containers, and used the same tape inside to seal the openings between containers. We bought some small propane heaters that are used atop 20 pound propane bottles and that made things a little warmer. We turned containers 9&10 into a workshop which helped to keep things organized. …
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