MOVING UPDATE (updated 6/14/22)!

We have moved all of our inventory to 1740 Haight Street, and are now open 11:00 am - 6:00 pm, seven days a week.  The Valencia Street location is permanently closed.

We're still getting things set up and unpacked and sorted out, so please do be a bit patient with us.

We won't be buying books (or taking them for trade credit) for a little while, until we're settled in.

Feel free to email anytime (office@borderlands-books.com) or call us at  (415) 824-8203 if you have any questions.

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MOVING UPDATE

Very exciting news - Borderlands Books is moving to the Haight! The bare minimum specifics are here, or read on below for more detailed info.

Borderlands is moving to 1740 Haight Street, between Cole and Shrader. 

We will be open on Haight Street 7 days a week, from 11am - 6pm, starting Thursday June 9th.

Between now and June 9th we will have some mid-week closures, and weekends when both locations are open with varying levels of inventory, as detailed below.

866 Valencia Street

Until Sunday, May 29th: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm, seven days a week

Starting Monday, May 30th: CLOSED Monday and Tuesday; open 11:00 am - 6:00 pm Wednesday - Sunday

We will be permanently closed on Valencia Street (with some exceptions for special sales TBA) as of June 6th. 

1740 Haight Street

Starting Thursday, June 2nd: CLOSED Tuesday and Wednesday; open 11:00 am - 6:00 pm Thursday - Monday

Starting Thursday June 9th, we'll be open seven days a week, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm.

And here is the more detailed info:

Borderlands Books has been planning to move to the Haight since we bought a building to be our forever home in 2017.  However: the pandemic, deaths in the family, "fun" with elder care, supply chain issues and many other unexpected factors have delayed our move to that location, and the space isn't ready for us yet.  Meanwhile, our lease is up here at Valencia, and we've been having a lot of plumbing problems.  The worst of which we won't recount in polite company; and with one of the most recent being a quite dramatic flood from the ceiling that completely destroyed everything on Jude's desk while she was out of town, and sent poor Jeremy and Scott scrambling to make sure we didn't lose anything else. 

So, we're moving temporarily to an awesome space in the Haight until we can finish our forever space for real.  We're so very, very excited and we hope you will be too!

Haight St. Update

January is not a quiet month for small businesses.  There's all the catch-up to do after the holidays on top of all the work to close out the books for the past year, along with getting tax information prepared (since Borderlands is a corporation, our tax deadline is a month early, on March 15th).  On top of that, mid-month I took a run up to Seattle to buy a book collection (more about that in my Office Piece a bit further down in this newsletter).  Long and short of it was that it was not a productive month at the new building.  

We did make some solid inroads on finishing up the last bits of sheetrock for the bathroom but, beyond that, all that I managed to get done was hang the bathroom door. That was a job that should have taken an hour or two, tops, but instead took closer to a day and a half.  The door that I was putting in is essentially temporary.  It's enough to pass inspection and work perfectly well but . . . it's a cheap hollow-core door.  Due to the thickness of the bathroom walls, I had to special order it but I wasn't really expecting any surprises.  But, that door was _made_ of surprises.

The first thing was that there was a gap at the top of the frame.  One of the nails had split the wood and so the joint wasn't tight.  Before hanging the door, I pulled the offending nail and closed up the gap.  I figured that would be it.  Once I got the door up, however, I discovered that the door had been fitted correctly _with_ the gap so now it was too tight and was sticking at the top.  Next step was to plane the side of the door to make it narrower and fit properly.  That job done, the door closed but was a little wobbly.  I checked the hinges.

Four of the eight screws in the top hinge were loose.  I tightened them and now, guess what, there was a gap at the top of the door where I had planed it.  Oh well, not a big thing (or a big gap - the door would have needed to be planed anyway just . . . not quite so much).  Onward!

Haight Street Update

by Alan Beatts

Last month we finally got back to work on the new shop.  And we made some really great progress.  So much that I've got some pictures for you to look at - https://borderlands-books.blogspot.com/p/haight-st-photos.html.  The high points are:

The sheet rock is mostly complete.  There are still some small areas that I'll be completing (because they're tricky) but the crew from Pat Trainor Drywall <https://www.marinbuilders.com/list/member/pat-trainor-drywall-inc-736> came by and banged it out faster than I would have thought possible.  They are the same company that did the work at the cafe and they're just the best.  It took them only one day to hang the entire 1400 square foot ceiling plus 300 square feet of wall.  And then just two more days to do all the mud. The difference is like night and day.

Tile is also mostly complete.  Simon Firth of Canterbury Tile, who set the tile for the bathroom, did the work for the front wall and about half of the vestibule.  We changed the design partway through and so we needed more red tiles than we had on hand.  Once we finalize the design for the entry floor, he'll be back and we'll get the job finished off.  It looks so good. Even moreso, it's especially exciting because it's the first piece of final and finished work on the exterior.

And, finally, we have a mural.  Paint The Void <https://paintthevoid.org> is a cooperative effort on the part of two non-profits whose goal is, "Helping keep artists engaged and paid as guardians of hope and beauty in the wake of COVID-19".  Basically they raise funds to pay local artists to paint murals on boarded-up storefronts around town.  My friend Aaron referred me to them and, despite telling them that it was a construction site rather than someplace boarded up because of the shelter-in-place order, they said they would love to get us a mural.  A few days later I met up with Eli The Man <https://elitheman.com> who did the coolest damn thing on the front of the shop.  I think it's kind of a shame that it's temporary but, who knows, perhaps we'll figure out something neat to do, once the plywood comes down and we have windows?

This month my plan is to get the final work done on the walls in the bathroom and then I'll get the plumbers back in to finish off that job.  Beyond that, there's a tiny bit of framing in the ceiling right outside the door, followed by sheetrock and then the bathroom is done.  We'll see how getting that work done goes, with everything else that's going on.  Wish me luck!

Borderlands 2020 Sponsorships

by Alan Beatts

At the beginning of 2015 Borderlands was getting ready to close.  San Francisco voters had passed an increase in the minimum wage that was going to end the financial viability of the store, probably by the middle of July that year.  If not at that point, then the second increase scheduled for July of this year was certainly going to do the job.  Although I and the rest of the staff strongly support minimum wage laws in general, and we suspected that San Francisco's local increase would be generally positive for the city as a whole, we were trapped by the idiosyncrasy of the book business.  Unlike most products, books have a price printed on them. That makes the usual business solution of increasing prices to cover higher expenses impossible for us.  Rather than ride the business down into the grave, I and the rest of the staff decided it was better to close quickly, at the time of our choosing and at the top of our game.

Our customers were very much opposed to this and, out of their comments & suggestions and in consultation with the staff, we decided to try an experiment.  We would ask that a minimum of 300 people sponsor the store for $100 each.  If that many people were willing, it would offset the added expense of the wage increases that were scheduled to raise the wage to $15 per hour by the middle of the following year.  Since that increased expense would be on-going, a basic assumption was that the sponsorship would need to recur each year.

2020 will be our sixth year operating as a sponsored business.  Thus far, it has been a big success.  Not only have more than the required number of people sponsored us for each year, but with the support of our sponsors, customers, and fellow professionals in our field, we were able to raise the funds to purchase a building on Haight Street to be our permanent location.  2020, our 22nd year in business, is going to be a momentous one marked by our relocation to our new home.  We will no longer be subject to the greatest threat to the survival of any small business -- a massive and unmanageable increase in rent.

From the Office

Two Cool Things:

I don't get much time to write about stuff that I thought was particularly neat now-a-days.  Actually, I don't get much time. Period.

But, I ran across two things last month that I wanted to share.  The first is the TV series of Andrzej Sapkowski's "The Witcher".  It is . . . odd . . . and I really liked it.  The books are thoroughly imbued with Polish historical and cultural influences and that quality comes through in the show.  Which means that characters don't always act the way that you'd expect, and the story doesn't play out that way, either.

Now, granted the show is a bit uneven and there are some flaws but, overall, I thought it was refreshingly different.  And there are two _great_ sword fights, which is a big plus in my book. You'll find it on Netflix and I think it's worth a watch.  As a little added treat, here's the show's star, Henry Cavill, reading the first "Witcher" story - https://youtu.be/uUST_IQYp-o

The other thing . . . wow.  I read Everything Under The Moon by Jeff Johnson a couple of weeks ago.  I read it in one day (almost in a single sitting).  The damn thing grabbed me by the face and didn't let go 'til I was done.  I absolutely loved it.  It came out in 2016 but somehow I managed to miss it 'til now.  Full disclosure prompts me to make clear that this isn't everyone's sort of book; it's kind of like Crooked Little Vein by Ellis or Bad Monkeys by Ruff ran into a Jim Butcher novel in a dark alley.  The main character is part werewolf and kills bad people for fun (and profit), all while wearing a bad attitude like a trench-coat.  It's very noir, pretty violent, and the first person narrator's voice is absolutely spot-on and irresistible.  If that sounds like your sort of thing, you will _love_ this book.

February Building Update:

January was a good month and we made solid progress.  The bathroom tile work is done and looks wonderful.  We have a little bit of work left to do on the walls, and then we can have the plumbers and electricians come in to do the final work.  With that completed, we should be just about ready to close out that permit; almost two years after we opened it.  That's been a long trip but, given that the job started in the basement with new foundations and structural beams, I think we've done pretty well. I'm excited to get that closed and, perhaps even more so, excited to have a bathroom again.

We're Moving in May

by Alan Beatts

Happy New Year All!

I hope that 2020 is treating you well.  As far as years go, 2019 was an often challenging one and, to be honest, I'm happy to see the back of it.  I think that 2020 is going to be . . . interesting . . . as well; but I hope in a much more positive way.  Something that is going to make this year especially interesting is that we're going to be moving our store.

November Building Update

by Alan Beatts

The last month has been a good one for the construction but not particularly exciting, so this update is going to be kind of short.  The rough plumbing is completed and passed inspection. Other than some less-than-esthetically-pleasing work in the lightwell, it's a really nice, clean job.  And, it'll be easy enough for me to re-route the stuff in the lightwell so that it's not quite so . . . industrial . . . looking.  Granted, I can understand why a plumber would want to run all the piping between waist and shoulder height -- it's easy to work at that level.  But it doesn't really make for the best look, if you know what I mean.

Antonius and Juan, our electricians, were in last week and the rough electrical for the bathroom is finished.  We just need to get that inspected and then we can get to closing up the walls. With a little luck, I hope to have the bathroom completed by the end of next month.

The framing for the front wall is also finished (big thanks to Zach for getting the last bits completed) and it passed inspection yesterday.  We need to put a little bit of electrical in that wall and then we can start closing it as well.  That job is going to be a bit long because of the complexity.  Instead of just simple sheetrock like the bathroom, there's tile on the outside to do, plus an awful lot of windows to build.  On the other hand, because that wall is mostly windows, once they are built and installed, most of the wall will be completed, both outside and in.

October Building Update

by Alan Beatts

It's been a very busy month at the new building on Haight St.  I'll get to all the details in a second but I've got a bigger piece of news.  I finally decided when (roughly) we're going to move.

I'm aiming to have us up and running at the new building by Spring of next year.  Specifically, by May.  That is, granted, a long way off from now but at least there's a date.  Or, at least a month.

Why so long?  Well, here's the thing -- we need to get the two big jobs finished (the bathroom and the new front wall).  Both are pretty far along but, once that's done, there's still quite a lot to do.  I'd like to get the basement office in reasonable shape because trying to do that after we've moved would just be a whole lot of not-fun.  Also, there are some bits and pieces of work that will also need doing (reworking the stairway to the basement, getting the final electrical in place, and so on).  But the big one is building the shelves.  There are quite a lot of them to build and, speaking from experience, that's a time-consuming process.  Plus, there are bound to be delays as we go.  So yeah, I think that May is about right.  We'll see if that lasts, eh?

September Building Update

Big news, in several ways, this month.  First off, not only is the framing for the bathroom completed but, yesterday, I met with our structural engineer and he signed off on his final inspection.  Which means that the whole, big, complicated structural job that we started over a year ago in the basement is completed, from an engineering standpoint.  He said that it was a very nice job and that everything looked great.

This is a big milestone not just for the obvious reasons but also because it marks the end of the section of the job that I had no experience doing.  The blessedly innocent Alan of 2018 knew nothing of I-beams, steel-reinforced foundations, engineered lumber, or how to get a 400 lb. beam 13 feet in the air.  He also never considered that he would not only be intimately familiar with the Simpson Company catalog, but that he would own his own dog-eared copy of it!

August Building Update

by Alan Beatts

Last month I mentioned that I was going to be meeting with a specialist contractor about removing the flooring in the new store.  The flooring itself isn't a problem, but the tile and adhesive on it is.  Both contain asbestos, as is pretty typical for old tile.  Though one solution would be to simply cover it up with a new floor, I don't really want to go that route for a couple of reasons.  First off, adding a layer to the existing floor will (obviously) raise the height.  That increased height becomes a problem because we need to meet the sidewalk outside the shop without too much of a slope because of accessibility requirements.  At the current floor height we can just make it without having to build a ramp and add a handrail.  If we add even 3/4", I don't think we can manage it.

Secondly, asbestos is not very nice stuff.  There aren't a whole lot of construction materials that give me the creeps but asbestos is one of them.  If we don't take the floor out now, there's never going to be a good time to do it.  On top of that, any time we need to work on the floor in the future (like drill a hole through it for an electrical line or some speaker wiring) we'll have to deal with the asbestos risk.

The estimate to remove the floor is around $9000.  Adding the cost of a new, lovely fir floor (much like what we have in the current store), the total is probably going to be around $20,000.  That's a steep price-tag but I think I'm going to do it.  The floor is probably the absolutely hardest thing to replace after we open and so I feel like getting a truly permanent job done is in our best interests.  The schedule for that job is a bit up in the air since I need to figure out how it'll fit with the other work we're doing.  I expect that it will happen after we have the bathroom framed and the light well closed up.  Having those two jobs done will make the asbestos removal easier and it will also make it much simpler to clear everything out of the place (because we can store a bunch of the stuff inside the bathroom rather than moving it to the back yard).

Speaking of the bathroom, last weekend we got a huge amount of work done on the framing.  Almost all the walls are in place (and they all fit properly, thank goodness) and I'll be working on the final touches all this week.

Also on the bathroom topic, my meeting with our plumber, Brian Fusco, went really well.  He's a total pro and I'm looking forward to working with him.  He also gets our goal of really making sure that everything is in solid shape from the outset, even if it'll cost a little more.  So, it's looking like we'll have, for the first time ever, a shop with a completely top-notch electrical and plumbing system.  Oh, and a roof that doesn't leak.  I'm not sure that, after the past 20 years, I'll know what to make of that.

Before you ask, sorry, but still no opening date.  There are still too many moving parts for anything I say to be better than a wild-ass-guess.

July Building Update

by Alan Beatts

Things are going well with the construction at the new building.  At the beginning of the month, PG&E hooked up the new electrical service.  Despite all the delays and torturous steps to get there, the actual hook-up went very smoothly.  We started at nine and were done by noon.  The PG&E crew were very pleasant and professional.  We shared a couple of jokes at the expense of office and engineering staff, mostly along the lines of, "They don't get it, don't get it right, and waste time.  Thank goodness there are people like us doing the actual work who have a clue."

We've still got two long days ahead switching out the panels for each of the apartments upstairs but, once that's done, the big electrical work is finished. We'll still need to do the wiring for the bookstore but that's a quite simple job.  This week I put in four extra temporary circuits (so we can run a saw and the compressor at the same time without tripping a breaker) and it took me all of about two hours to do.  The final wiring will be a bit more time-consuming but not by much.

Since that work was done, last Sunday we were able to finally tear out the big post in the middle of the store that used to hold the old service.  Having that gone really opened up the space a lot and now I can actually see what it's going to look like.  It's going to be awfully good.  Despite being a tiny bit smaller than our current space, I think it's going to _look_ bigger.

I've got several meetings next week that will move us even further forward.  First I'm meeting on Monday with an asbestos abatement specialist.  I'll get a quote from him to pull all the old floor and tiles that are a problem.  I'm hopeful that the price will be within reach because, after looking over the place, really the best solution is to remove the entire floor and replace it.  With the asbestos out of the way, that's not actually a very hard job and it'll give us a beautiful, strong floor that will last for decades to come.

I'm also meeting with our plumber, Brian Fusco, to get the bathroom work scheduled.  He's a referral from my buddy Bruno, a general contractor here in town who has never steered me wrong.  I'm looking forward to meeting Brian.  Based on our email conversations, he's definitely our sort of people.

The rest of this month will be mostly filled up with completing the framing for the bathroom and, if all goes well, getting a start on framing the new front of the building.

June Building Update

by Alan Beatts

Despite not having much time to work at Haight St. last month (because, closing up the cafe), we made some solid progress in May.  Perhaps the biggest thing is that we finally (Finally? Finally!) passed the last inspection with PG&E for the new electrical service.  We're all set to have the actual service hooked up on the 2nd of July, and that will be the first construction permit of this whole project that is completely finished.  To say that I'm looking forward to it is a hell of an understatement.

Over the last few weeks we've also made major progress on the bathroom.  Three of the five walls are framed and in place.  The next two will follow shortly and then we can get the plumber in to do the rough work.  With luck that will go quickly (depending on his schedule) and then we can get the finish work done.  Still no firm ETA for all that but we're getting close to a point when I feel like I can make something other than a wild-ass guess.

The garden is really coming into its own with the spring and thanks to all the rain this winter.  I know I've been promising pictures for months now but I truly will try to get some up by the next newsletter.

With the work of closing (and running) the cafe behind me, I'm really looking forward to putting my full attention into getting our new "house" ready for move in.

May Building Update

Hi Everyone,

This is going to be a very short update on our building process.  I've been very busy this month getting all the work done to shut down the cafe and so time (and sleep) has been in very short supply.  Despite that, we've made some very good progress at Haight Street.  Milestones have been:

Revised bathroom layout approved.  It's a much better arrangement than the original design and also takes up less floor space.  Kevin Short, our architect, really outdid himself getting it worked out and permitted.

Floor framing for bathroom and lightwell completed.  Since we know the layout for sure now, we were able to finalize the floor framing layout and get it done.  I'm very pleased with how it all came out.  And perhaps the most impressive part of the job was that it was almost completely done by our volunteers with only oversight from me.  It was a difficult and demanding job (the bathroom floor especially so, since it had to be just about dead level) and, personally, I think they produced a better and more precise piece of work than the average professional crew would have.

Trench and conduit for new electrical completed.  The schedules all lined up for both our trenching contractor and our electrician so that job was completed in less than a week.  Now we're just waiting for a second inspection of the panels (because, really, the inspector was kind of unreasonable).  After that, there are two inspections from PG&E (both scheduled for this month) and then we wait for them to connect the power (which is scheduled for the beginning of July . . . because PG&E is a little slow).  But, at this point, the job is moving forward and quickly too.  Which is damn nice since we first applied for the permits well over a _year_ ago.

Aside from that, the garden is coming along beautifully now that spring is here, and many smaller jobs have been knocked out.

That's about it.  Goodnight.

All Best,
Alan

April Building Update

by Alan Beatts

Firstly, and probably most importantly, we reached our goal of 300 sponsors by March 31st.  In fact, on the 31st, we were at exactly 500 sponsors.  That's a slight drop from the same time last year, when we were at 532, but that's still way over the minimum and I'm pleased as punch about it.

But, just because we've met our goal, that doesn't meant that we're not happy to accept more sponsors.  So, if you'd like to help us get our move completed and continue to do all that we do (not to mention enjoy the social camaraderie and other benefits of being a sponsor), feel free to sign up online at https://borderlands-books.com/buysponsorship.html, over the telephone anytime between noon and eight pm PST, or in person by stopping by the shop.

Now, on to the building update.  Last month I mentioned that we were just about to put up the really big beam that's a requirement for building the new restroom.  I'm very pleased to say that it's done and, moreso, the horrible pit of a restroom that we had is nothing but a memory (and, a big hole in the floor).  Tearing out the old one was a one-day job and a hell of a lot of fun.  We filled an entire debris box with the result and, by end of day, we were dirty, tired, and happy.

March Building Update

by Alan Beatts

Looking back, I realize that it's been quite a while since I've given an update on how the construction is going at the new building.  Sorry for that but . . . the holidays, catchup after them, and then Cary's passing all made for a few months when extensive writing wasn't going to happen. However, time to correct that now.

There are four big jobs that we've been working on since late last year and they've all moved forward quite a bit since November.  They are, in no particular order; rebuilding the front of the store, expanding the bathroom to make it ADA compliant, creating the garden in the backyard, and getting the new electrical service installed.  There was one other job, the structural work in the basement, but the final touches were completed in January.  Here's where we stand on the other jobs:

December Building Update

by Alan Beatts

Here we are at the end of another year.  It's been an interesting one for Borderlands, in the good, bad, and ugly(-ish) ways.  Mostly good, however.

Obviously, the biggest thing going on for us is the slow process of moving.  As regular readers know, I had expected the process to move faster, but the logic of doing the work ourselves versus hiring contractors has made the process slower but much, much cheaper.  All in all, it's to our advantage, but it has made for a substantially longer process that I expected going into it.  

Last month was the one year anniversary of starting work and it's kind of fun to look back on all that we've done.  Some of the highlights have been:

Taking a mass of ivy and concrete in the backyard and turning it into a set of lovely planters with actual plants growing in them.

Replacing the falling-down plywood and scrap around the yard with new redwood fences.

Building a shearwall across the back of the building so that it will withstand earthquakes much better than before.

Nailing reinforcing clips on to the ceiling joists to further improve the seismic resistance of the building.  Forty-five joists, four clips per joist, eight nails per clip, for a total of 1440 nails.  That is, in contractor terms, a s**t-ton of nails.

The Tale of The Beam: A Cautionary and Epistolary Discourse for the Burgeoning Contractor

by Alan Beatts

May XXth, 2018

Dear Mr. Welder,

It was a pleasure meeting you today and having the chance to check the rough set-up for the I-beam you are fabricating for me.  I was doubly glad to visit so that I could draw your attention to the following:

The three pairs of tabs for the posts were all something other than the specified 5 1/2" apart.  Since this dimension is critical if the posts are going to fit properly, I appreciate your attention to their correct spacing.  Though I respect the artistic "organic" quality of spacing each pair at a unique distance, I would prefer a more "mechanical" or even "precise" interpretation of the work.

The holes in those tabs were located a very precise inch lower than specified.  Though I'm sure that you, as a welder, and I, as a bookseller, are both correct that it's not an important consideration; Matthew, as a structural engineer, does not seem to agree and so I think we should subjugate our shared opinion to his.

There was also the pesky matter that the tabs for the middle post (along with the associated reinforcements) were located more than the indicated distance from the joint between the two sections of beam.  Though I'm sure that the planned connection of that joint by three 7/8" bolts will perfectly match the strength of the rest of the beam (the full height and 18-lbs-per-foot of hot-rolled steel), it seems that Matthew, spoil sport that he is, thinks that it would be wise for the joint to be supported by a post that is located _close_ to the joint.

I'm very glad that the final welding had not been completed and so it will be "easy", as you assured me, to correct these oversights.  Though you have informed me that there is, currently, in your possession, the full set of engineering drawings that I provided at the beginning of the job, please don't hesitate to ask for another copy if needed.

Warmly,
Alan Beatts

So, Why So Slow?

by Alan Beatts

Hi Folks.  Alan Beatts, freelance interview guy, here and today I'm going to be interviewing Alan Beatts, the owner of Borderlands Books.  Since he and I are both Geminis and, as a result, suffer from an inherent (though quite mild) split personality, this should be a fun interview.  We're going to be talking about his new bookstore location -- specifically I'm going to be asking him why it's taking so very goddamn long for him to finish up the construction work and move the darn store.

Interviewer:  Nice to see you, Alan.  It's been a while.  I think the last time was about six hours ago when I was shaving.  How have you been?

Bookseller:  I've been alright.  A little overworked so far this year, but overall good.  And, the construction work has gotten me into great shape so physically I'm feeling very well.

I:  Since you brought up the construction work, we might as well get right to it.  You're working on the building that you purchased in November last year, right?  The place that you're going to move the bookstore to?

B:  Yup.  Since contractors are scarce right now because of the building boom and, if you can get one, they're pretty expensive, I've been doing most of the construction work myself with help from volunteers.  It's saving us a boat-load of money and I'm having a lot of fun.

I:  But, it's going kind of slowly, isn't it?  When you first bought the building you were hoping to move by July.  That was _two_ months ago.

B:  Ouch.  Yes, it is going quite slowly, thanks for reminding me.  I had forgotten that.

I:  Really?

B:  No.  I think about it every single day -- I've just been trying not to because it really stresses me out.  Sometimes I go for as long and two or three hours without it crossing my mind.

I:  Well, if it's bugging you so much, why not just hire a bunch of contractors and have them get it done?  It might be expensive, but taking so long to move must be costing you money too, right?

July Building News

by Alan Beatts

Hi Everybody,

So, remember last month when I said that the work on the building had been pretty slow and irritating in May but that June was going to be better?  Whelp, thankfully that was true.  Much was accomplished, most notably getting the I-beam fixed, then up and shored in place; pulling out several of the old posts (they were in the way of the excavations for the new foundations); cutting the concrete floor of the basement for the new foundations; and, a bit over a week ago Sunday, getting all the excavation work done.

That Sunday, the 1st, was a truly Borderlands kind of day.  Based on some rough calculations by my friend Zach, it seems we shifted more than 3 tons of dirt up a flight of stairs and then 80 feet into the garden.  There were five of us moving the buckets of dirt and, most of the time, one of us digging and filling the buckets.

It took three hours.

June Building News

by Alan Beatts

May was one of those months when things just don't line up quite right -- at least where our building on Haight St.  was concerned.  As a result, we had a bit of a slowdown this month, but things should be picking up shortly.  The first delay was getting the final details of the structural work sorted out.  It wasn't anything major, but fitting some of the beams around the existing stairwell required a bit of back-and-forth with the structural engineer.  Once that was all sorted out, I realized that there were some details for the I-beam in the basement that needed to be clarified, too.  Once all of that was worked out, the welder who is making the beam went on vacation for a week.  By then, it was almost the end of the month.

But, that's all sorted out now and the beam should be ready this week, and I'm very pleased to be working with Ricardo's Welding again (they did some very nice work for me on my motorcycle last year).  We'll be putting that in place and then marking out the foundation locations in the basement for both that beam and the beams upstairs.  Once that's done, we'll be able to start work on the bathroom in earnest.

Despite all that, we made some good progress in the back yard.  The fences are almost done and are looking good - thank you again to all the volunteers who came to clamber about on my scaffolding (I've never built one before! Could you tell?) to construct the frame and then put the redwood boards in.  It looks fantastic, it's very strong, and more importantly it will age well.  We've just got the last bits of the west section left to do and once we're done mucking about on top of the walls we can get started on building the planters.