610 and 630 Court Street Progress - 2012

610 Court Street: During interior demolition work, a pair of glass block windows, on the rear wall of the building, were uncovered behind sheetrock. The windows were apparently covered during a 1970s remodel. The existence of glass block windows is further evidence that the building was originally built in the “Streamline Moderne Style.”  The photo shows one of the uncovered windows.

610 Court Street: As a part of the selective demolition of the interior, the building was stripped of its outdated data communication wires.

610 Court Street: Sheetrock was added to the walls in the downstairs common area.

610 Court Street: A section of two-inch conduit is shaped for installation using a conduit bending machine. These conduit pipes will run from a new bank of electric meters to sub-panels in each unit.

610 Court Street: We received a copy of the original blueprints for our “pre-owned” elevator, from when it was installed in Napa. These plans answered several questions that our civil engineer had regarding loads and forces exerted by the elevator as it travelled in the shaft. With these plans, and the specifications provided by the elevator contractor back in October, we expect that a full set of engineered plans for our elevator's new shaft will be ready sometime in January, 2013.

610 Court Street: The photo on the left is an electric subpanel after being installed in one of the downstairs retail units (the round green tool is a wire puller). The photo on the right shows wires being pulled for circuits that are being brought into that subpanel.

630 Court Street: A worker at The Window Shop in Concord, California, adds hinges to an exact replica of an upstairs window.

630 Court Street: Before and after photos of the trim paint scheme on the upstairs windows. The dark blue matches the blue tiles above each window, while the color of the window sills and sashes match the background of the tiles near the corners of each set of windows.

610 Court Street: Special electrical sub-panels for three phase electricity sit in storage after arriving from the Texas factory. They await installation.

610 Court Street: Specifications for the elevator shaft and pit were received from PacWest Elevator and forwarded to the civil engineer, who will create the final structural design.

630 Court Street: Repairs to the upper story windows continue. The photo on the left shows a broken piece of wooden sash, with epoxy adhesive, before being clamped for curing. The photo on the right shows the completed repair, before paint is applied.

630 Court Street: Shown in the photo is a wooden window sash that was repaired. The original windows have a wooden lip that hides the scissor-type hinges. On this window, about half of the lip was missing, as well as a chunk of the sash itself. The light colored area is structural epoxy that was used to re-create the missing wood.

610 Court Street: The exterior facade along Court Street is power washed. The heavy stipple of the existing stucco, applied during a 1970s remodel of the “Streamline Moderne Style” building, had become embedded with dirt over the years.

610 Court Street: Power washing the Court Street sidewalk next to the building.

610 Court Street: A small section of sidewalk before and after power washing.

610 Court Street: Designing the exterior renovations started.  As a “Streamline Mod-erne Style” building, something just looked missing.  After examining photos of other buildings of that style, it was discovered that a second set of window muntins were missing from the double hung windows.  Whether that architectural element was removed during a prior remodel, or never installed in the first place, one thing seemed clear: they need to be added.  The example in the top image has the windows divided into four separate panes to match the indented strips in the adjacent stucco.  The bottom image is 610 Court Street.  Initial consultations with a cabinet shop indicate that the missing muntins could be added at a reasonable cost.

610 Court Street: After several weeks of “elevator shopping,” a used elevator was purchased at a substantial savings over the cost of a new one. The elevator arrived in pieces on August 23rd. Elevators come apart into pieces small enough to fit through a 36-inch wide door.

610 Court Street: The elevator was stored in one of the retail units. Larger pieces were leaned-up against the wall, but the smaller pieces filled the floor of the entire unit.

610 Court Street: Framing for the partition walls between the two most northerly retail units and the common area restrooms is underway.  Applying sheetrock will have to wait until after the arrival of specially ordered electrical subpanels. The subpanels must accommodate the 3-phase electricity that exists in downtown Martinez. After a lengthy search for reasonably priced subpanels, they are ordered from a manufacturer in Texas.

630 Court Street: Work on restoring the upstairs windows begins.  During a prior remodel, all windows were nailed shut.  It takes two days to carefully remove all the nails without damaging the window sashes. It was discovered that one window sash was rotten beyond the point of saving it, and will have to be re‑manufactured from scratch by a cabinet shop.  Other windows had missing and broken pieces of wood.  The photo shows a window sash before restoration.  The joint holding the bottom board had rotted away, but it could be saved.

630 Court Street: A thixotropic structural epoxy adhesive is used to “glue” the window sash board back into its original position.

630 Court Street: In addition to epoxy adhesive, stainless steel wood screws are used to reinforce some of the original window sash boards.

610 and 630 Court Street: The escrow for the purchase of the two buildings closes on June 15, 2012 and a deed for each building is recorded at the County Recorder's Office.

610 Court Street: A Building Permit for downstairs partition walls and related electrical work is issued on June 28, 2012.