Construction Progress- The Charles at 2431 Ontario Rd

Thanks to everyone who voted in our poll to help choose the backsplash.  We listened to the feedback and decided to do two kitchens with the white mosaic, and two kitchens with the grey glass.

The work is moving along nicely at The Charles.  We're shooting to finish by the second weekend in July, and it's going to be close.  We have all of our subcontractors working overtime to try to make this goal a reality.  People have already started to tour the units and demand is strong.

One of the biggest projects underway is the bathroom tile.  Our best tile installer flew all the way back to DC from Trinidad to finish the 9 bathrooms here.  Pretty impressive.

We used a new waterproofing system behind the tile called Kerdi.  It's much lighter and easier to work with than the normal cement board.

The kitchen cabinets upstairs are installed and look awesome. 

Jaye from Red House Staging came over to help us choose paint colors.  The three on the far left are for the exterior doors in the hallway.  The top three are bathroom options, and the rest are for the bedrooms.

The spiral steps to the roof deck are installed and look sharp.

The roof deck is finished and impressive.  Definitely the best place to watch fireworks this 4th of July.

Today, we sorted all the marble tile.  The ones on the bottom had defects so we're exchanging them for new ones.

Carlos, the floor installer, came today to install the edging on the mezzanine level.  Tomorrow, his full crew will come to lay the floor. 

Construction Progress- The Charles at 2431 Ontario Rd

With everyone focusing on getting The Charles ready to sell, we've been working behind the scenes to make sure we have all the right tools to keep growing.  One thing we were lacking was a dependable dump truck.  Today, we went and bought a new one for the company.  New logos with Lock 7 Development on the doors will be coming soon.

 

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.