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Photos showing the first larger Levi Beck Mercantile building in
1895. The
1935 aerial photo shows the corner part of the building taken off.
1980s photo of the corner with the New TD Bank. Photos showing the
condition of the building when we purchased it in 1998.
Back of Work Area East Side Building Photos show taking the back entrance
door, old windows and the lath and plaster out, cleaning up the
whole area and then building new 2x4 walls with a 1/2 inch fiber
board, new electrical, insulation, vapor barrier, drywall and
paint.
Mainfloor Back of Building Photos showing
the work done on this 900 S/F area. All the old drywall,
lathe and plaster, old bathrooms, plumbing and electrical were
removed. Floors were
taken out and replaced between basement main floor. The rear
entrance on this side was replaced with new entrance. New vinyl
windows installed. All the old mess was cleaned out and every thing
was sealed up. New 2x4 walls with a 1/2 inch fiber board, new
electrical, insulation, vapor barrier, drywall and
paint.
New stairs had to be built between the basement and the main floor
and also between the main floor and the residence with fire door.
We pretty well had to start in
the basement and work our way up to the 2nd level to get all the
proper fire guards, fire doors, plumbing, sewer, electrical,
telephone, internet and security system. We worked on three levels @
900 S/F x 3 = 2700 S/F of renovations done at the
back.
Gallery Area West Side Work continues on the 1500 square foot main area. All the
old restaurant walls and sub floor were removed; every thing was
gutted out down to the bare existing brick walls. After some old
floor openings where leveled out and closed off the maple floor was
rebuilt with new boards. New fireguard drywall installed on the
ceiling finished and sprayed. Once all the work was done we than
began to grind down the original maple floor and then refinished the
wood with a tough glossy clear resin
paint.
Basement
All the old plumbing and sewer, boiler pipes, old electrical, 100
years of dirt and junk where carried out. Jack hammered a new
passageway between the two basements. Some new walls and counters where
built.
Front Doors & Windows To install the new windows we had to remove all the brick from the inside and the outside walls and build new frames to install the new windows into.
Front Design Area
First photo shows this area with no door and two old windows. The
whole wall was taken out, the beam jacked up and the new entrance
door and two large display windows with conservation UV
glass were installed. The new walls had electrical installed, then
were insulated, and were finished with vapor barrier, drywall and
painted.
Out Back This is the back of the
building as it looked when we purchased it in 1998. The new
electrical service and meter were installed to bring the service up
to the new code standard. New entrances, doors, stairs, were
constructed. Next we poured concrete, filling in the two old coal
chutes and making new sidewalk and back entrance. Hired a skid steer
to level out the back yard and bring in new gravel. To make the back
look like one building rather than the two we started with, we built
a roof that protruded 5 Feet out to tie it all together. The
photo with the snow shows the finished building, backyard with the
chain link fence.
Sun Room &
Deck Another example was we
had to take the roof off to build a floor on the ceiling. A five
foot sliding patio door was installed for passage from the main area
to the sunroom. The floor was finished with hardwood
maple.
The New Back Part This set of photos shows what the back looked like as we started to build the new addition. First we started taking off the soldier course of brick work to get a level base to start building the walls and window openings. Next we had to lag the roof to the existing 113 year old building and get all the elevations right. The picker truck brought the metal roofing and lifted it on to the roof. We used the truck to lift into place the two 30 foot laminated beams to hold up the floor and the new wall and roof support. He also brought the sliding patio window and hoisted it up to the second level. The walls and windows were closed in as the winter weather set in. Now that we were cozy inside we started to take the roof off to build a floor on the ceiling. All the old tar and gravel had to be hauled out. Removed all the old roof boards and supports to get down to the ceiling joists that now become the floor joists. Every thing was sealed off and insulated, the sub-floor was glued down and oak flooring from another old school was laid down.
The Roof The upper roof tar and gravel was redone and all edges were replaced.
On the lower roof after we cut through doing the renovation, we had
to redo the tar and gravel on the remaining part of the roof. Both
roofs have a nice slope to let the water run off, yet flat enough to
walk on or a have a roof-top park, garden and walks with lights or
whatever you choose. The new 900S/F addition has colored metal roof
installed. The chimney roof edge and all building flashings were
replaced. A 300 S/F
un-insulated sunroom with acrylic panel was built. This room
acts as a porch for easy access onto the roof. A skylight was
installed to let in some extra light.
The Upstairs Offices being converted To Residence Photos show what the old offices and bathrooms from the nineteen twenties looked like. The windows were boarded in and the stairs were removed many years ago.
All the office walls, bathrooms, hallways, radiators, heating,
wiring, old fixtures, old doors were taken out. This level had maple
flooring covered with a nailed and glued 1/4 inch plywood with
linoleum tiles glued on to that. We found it was easier to buy 1500
S/F of maple flooring from a 1900 old school and install it over all
this. Four new vinyl sealed window units were installed on the south
facing front side of
All the old mess was cleaned out and every thing was sealed up.
New 2x4 walls with a 1/2 inch fiber board, new electrical,
insulation, vapor barrier, drywall and paint.
All the ceiling was redone with 5/8" fireguard drywall. Then the
post and beam look was constructed.
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Photos of
the History & Renovations of this Building