Washington Sips

We finally received all of our permits on May 28 for the remodel.  We were ecstatic!  Finally things would get moving!  So we would not make the Memorial Day opening – if we could get in by mid-June we would be seasoned pros by the Fourth of July.  Construction began June 1^st, and we have been thrilled at the daily progress.

I mentioned that the building was waterside, but probably did not mention that it was over water.  This is a bit of a challenge for contractors who have to access equipment beneath the building.  No mere crawl space for them, there is plenty of room under our building – if you are working during low tide!  Our plumber recalled his first experience working under the building, standing on a ladder as the tide was coming in.  There was not enough water for him to worry about, but a sudden barking startled him so much he fell off the ladder.  A seal had decided to join him in his work.  He wasn’t sure in the long run if he scared the seal more than the seal scared him – maybe equal

Another interesting aspect of a building in La Conner, is that most are historical.  This presented a few challenges for Larry our friend & contractor.  He had noticed for a while that the floors seemed to slope here and there, but shrugged it off.  Not until he was ready to frame the bar did this matter much.  Obviously the bar top itself would need to be level, so any slope would mean an adjustment in height.  He was quite surprised to find that there was a 2 ½ inch difference from one end of the bar location to the other – this in only 12 feet!  So, we now have a level bar that is 40 ½ inches at one end, and 43 inches at the other.  All tall people up front, short people in the rear!

I want to mention how great our merchant neighbors are – one even agreed to store the Wine Fridge that was delivered when no one was in shop.  He said no problem, but would really prefer for it to be stocked first!