Construction Progress- The Charles at 2431 Ontario Rd NW

We're moving along rapidly at Ontario Road.  The sheetrock is done and the painters are priming the interior walls.  We started installing the soundproofing on the floors and should be putting in hardwoods at this time next week.

Here is the current condition of the unit on the third floor.  It has a central island in the kitchen. 

The siding on the wall of the loft is finished and ready for paint.

The welder works here on the final spiral up to the roof deck.  The sun has been so intense that the carpenters made a makeshift tent to block the sun when they were working on the roof.

Design- Backsplashes

We're ordering the backsplash tile for The Charles and we'd love to hear some feedback on a few options.  The cabinets and counters will be identical to those from The Thompson Flats, which is pictured below:

We loved the grey tile for the backsplash, which is pictured above, but we're also considering trying something new for some variety.  Here is the grey from the picture above:

Here is Option #2, which is a white mosaic:

Which would you prefer if you were designing this kitchen?  Let us know!

Construction Progress- The Charles at 2431 Ontario Rd

We're rolling at The Charles.  The weather has been perfect, so everything is moving according to plan.  The sheetrock guys are working inside, and the carpenters and masons are working on the exterior work.  We plan to start priming the interior walls and installing the bathroom tile as soon as next week.

The roof deck is progressing nicely.  The carpenters were almost finished with the joists when I left this morning.

Inside, the sheetrock is almost completely hung.

We kept a small joint between the wall and ceiling pieces of drywall and filled the gap with acoustical sealant to help with soundproofing.

Construction Progress- The Charles at 2431 Ontario Rd NW

This week we got all of the little things completed inside so we put up the sheetrock starting tomorrow.  We obtained all of our close-in inspections on Thursday and Friday, so we've been given the OK to proceed with drywall.  It should take about 5-7 days to finish all of the drywall.  During this time, we're going to work on all of the exterior work.  This includes repairing the front brick, finishing the rear and roof decks, completing the retaining walls in the front, and painting the side block walls.  Lots to do.

The supply company came friday with the boom truck to bring all of the drywall into the building.  It was 550 sheets, which are each four feet tall by twelve feet wide.  Way to heavy to bring in by hand.

The front area is really shaping up.  On the left, you can see the trench where the footer will go to support the side retaining wall.

Inside, we finished the insulation.  We had a lot of bulkheads to finish before tomorrow, like this one around the ducts in the penthouse.

The roof membrane on the rear deck on the top level is finished and ready for decking.  Luckily it's not supposed to rain all week.

Here is the closeup of the existing cornice.  It's in bad shape.  I'm meeting tomorrow with our supplier to order the parts for the new cornice.

Construction Progress- The Charles at 2431 Ontario Rd

Lots of great things going on at The Charles project. We should be starting with the sheetrock at the end of next week, and then aiming to finish the project by the very beginning of July. The weather has been great all week, which has been fortunate because we still have a ton of things to finish outside.

The ceiling height is awesome in the two-level penthouse unit.

The electricians have been working all week to finish the wiring.  The HVAC work is all finished.

The railing on the decks is mostly complete and the welder is coming tomorrow to start the spiral steps.  These are easily the biggest decks we've built- over 160 SF each.

Camillo was working on the pickets.

The building is about halfway primed with the exterior paint.  You can see on the left side where the painting is not completed.

In the front of the building, the retaining walls are progressing nicely.

Neighborhoods- Adams Morgan News

As our work at The Charles gets closer to completion, so does the progress at several new restaurants in the neighborhood.  Here are a few of the places that are set to open in the next few months.


1.  The Jack Rose (2007 18th St NW)

The Jack Rose is a new bar from the owner of Bourbon, which has locations in Adams Morgan and Glover Park.  The concept of the bar is basically a mix between a high end restaurant with small plates and a cocktail bar.  The restaurant should be opening in the next few weeks.

The building used to house a boxing gym.

The huge new rooftop bar looks to be one of the biggest in the city. (photos courtesy Princeofpetworth.com)

2.  Mellow Mushroom (2436 18th St NW)

Mellow Mushroom is a highly-popular pizza chain in the Southeastern US that is set to open their first franchise in DC this summer.  I went to school in Atlanta and I can promise you that Mellow Mushroom has some of the best pizza I've ever eaten.  The new DC location takes over the spot where 18th and Red, a bar, operated for the last three years.

The crust has a butter and parmesan cheese topping, which is incredible. (photo courtesy metromix.com)

3.  Mintwood Place (1813 Columbia Road NW)

This is a new restaurant from the people behind Perry's, which is located right above this new space.  The restaurant will be upscale American and will be a welcome addition to a block of stores that already has two other great places to eat in Perry's and Cashion's. 

Here is the new location.  Perry's, upstairs, has one of the best happy hour specials in the city- two appetizers and a cocktail for $20.  (photo courtesy princeofpetworth.com)

Construction Progress- The Charles at 2431 Ontario Rd NW

Our final settlement is tomorrow at The Gracie (three of the units have sold), which is exciting.  We're fully focused on getting The Charles finished because we have two large projects on the horizon (1449 Harvard and 2108 10th).  We ran into a delay with our permit at 10th St, but we plan on getting back under construction in the next few weeks.

The biggest undertaking at The Charles over the last week has been getting the roof finished.  We have rain  in the forecast for pretty much every day this week, so it's crucial to get the building sealed up.  Fortunately, the roof was fully framed by this afternoon and the roofers were there to get it covered before it starts raining again tonight.  The doors are coming in later this week and the windows next week.

The front deck was demolished and the dirt excavated at the end of last week.  We're working now on the new water service so we can rebuild the retaining walls around the front areaway.

The roofers rolled out the underlayment earlier today on the rear part of the roof.  This is  always a good sign because the underlayment itself is water resistant so it will protect the building if it starts pouring.

The front of the roof was framed earlier today, and they were installing the plywood decking when I left around 2 PM.  There are 4 large skylights- you can see two of them here if you look closely.

In the back of the building, Camillo and Aaron installed the ledger boards for the deck.

This was a neat project that a mason was finishing in the light well.  The old brick wall where the building used to stop is on the bottom right, and the new addition is the block on the left.  

In order to make it match, Atonio was using mortar mix to smooth out the wall and then draw lines to match the block.  When it's painted, it will look identical.  Pretty neat, right?