The Houndstooth

Grand ReOpening, August 14, 2008

2008-09-06T22:17:00.003-05:00

This is a picture of the front of the Houndstooth just a few hours before it reopened. The finished product turned out nicely. The building should be a real asset to University BLVD for years to come.

This is the bar area with all the finshing touches. Flat screen tv's line the walls all around the inside of the building.
This is the sitting area to the right as you walk in the front door.
This is a shot of the bar from the left side of the patron area.
The inside of the Houndstooth just a few minutes after it opened to the public.

August 6, 2008, Site Meeting

2008-08-07T20:41:00.004-05:00

The Houndstooth is in the last few weeks of completion. The final inspections have been completed by the fire department and city. The furniture and fixtures are being moved in along with t.v.'s mounted and pictures hung. The opening is scheduled for the second half of August. This will be in plenty of time for the first home football game.

The Houndstooth front entrance.

The front entrance from across the street.

Left rear.
Right rear
Dumpster enclosure.

Bar area.

Restrooms off of the pool hall area.
Men's restroom.
Women's restroom.

July 23, 2008 Site Meeting

2008-07-23T20:19:00.003-05:00

The pictures speak for themselves as far as the progress from last week. The target handover date from K&A to Doug is still on track for August 1. Doug is planning on a soft opening on August 11. The project should finish up smoothly the next couple of weeks. Scott believes that the building is very high quality construction even in light of the tight time schedule. The building should go for 20 + years without any major problems. Doug is pleased with the building and believes that it has the potential to be on of the top establishment of its kind in the whole state. The city and university should be pleased.

Patio area.
The sprinkler system pipe running from the building to the canopy can be seen in the middle of the picture.
Template for building sign is taped to front of building.

The bar top has been place on bar. It is waiting to be finished.

Final coat of paint being applied.

Left front of building.

July 16, 2008, Site Meeting

2008-07-16T21:02:00.005-05:00

Scott with K&A reported that he expects to hand the building over to Doug by August 1. This leaves two weeks worth of work to get the building completed so that Doug can begin moving in and training employees. Doug expects to have a soft opening on August 7. The wires for the flat panel t.v. has been pulled throught the existing conduit. You can see how big the cables were in the last picture just right of center. Scott said that axle grease did the trick. This saved a lot of time and money verses replacing all the conduit with larger conduit. The following issues were discussed:

Electrical hook up for cooler
Right patio exit steps
Question was raised about patio gates being set up for emergency exit.
Painting progress
Need to find contractor to who can apply finish to bar top.

Patio area. The railing is painted with final color. Two more coats will be applied.

View of side and right front of building.

Front entrance.

Rear view.

The block inside has a primer coat on it. The red section above the bar is the same color as the final block color. sheet rock will soon be primed and painted.

June 25, 2008, Site Meeting

2008-07-16T20:47:00.005-05:00

View of front of building and canopy from the side street.

View of left front of building.

View of left side of building. Notice efis detail and brick detail.

View of area above the bar.

The bathroom has its first coat of paint and plumbing is stubbed in.

This is picture is taken from back wall of pool table area looking to the front. Notice duct work on ceiling. The duct work and ceiling will be painted black.

Rear of building.

Shot of bar area.

June 11, 2008, Site Meeting

2008-06-11T20:15:00.008-05:00

It has been several weeks since I was at the site and almost a month since I have updated the blog. I did not take pictures at the last site visit. As you can tell, the project has come along dramatically in the last month. The building is starting to really come together. The roof is complete enough for the drywall to be hung and finished inside the building. You will also notice all the conduit, duct, and sprinkler system pipe that has been run along the ceiling. The outside is looking good as well. The brick work has almost been completed. The windows will be installed as soon as the brick work is done. You will also not the dryvit work just under the roof over hang. This is going to add a nice touch to the outside finish.

This picture shows the sheet rock above the block. The block will be painted red and the sheet rock above will be a tan color.

This is a picture of the bar area. You will notice the finish area above the bar. Ceiling tiles will be placed inside this area to provide a cleanable surface above the bar.

The duct work is being installed.

This a picture of the frame for the right patio canopy.

The brick work is almost complete. The dryvit detail under the roof over hang is starting to take shape.

The view of Bryant Denny Stadium from the roof. You will notice finished metal roof color.

May 7, 2008 Site Meeting

2008-05-08T21:58:00.008-05:00

The major progress this week includes: electrical rough in, metal studs on exterior, mechanical rough in, roof framing, and exterior drywall. The major development is the power pole on the side street that had to be moved. The pole was determined to be too close to the building and roof over hang.

Roof frame work.

The power pole in the middle is the one that is being moved. The new pole is to the right with the orange cones around it.

The exterior dry wall has started to go up on the rear of the building. The brick will go on top of this.

The metal stud framing is above the front entrance. The exterior dry wall will go on top of this then the brick will continue up the building.

April 30, 2008 Site Meeting

2008-05-08T21:46:00.007-05:00

Brick being laid on the Grace Street side of the building.

Inside shot of bar area.

Front entrance.

This a shot of Bryant Denny Stadium from the roof.

Shot of bar area looking down from second floor storage room.

Back of building.

April 16, Site Meeting

2008-04-16T20:35:00.006-05:00

The Houndstooth is starting to come together nicely. The brick work has begun. You will notice the accent brick with the rough surface every seventh course on the way up the side of the building. This will break up the look of the brick nicely. The roof joists have also arrived. In the pictures below, you will see the crane setting the roof joists in place. These pieces will be welded to the steel structure. This will allow the roof work to progress in a timely manner. The block has been damp proofed on the outside of the building. The black color is from the application of the damp proof material.

Brick work being completed on the side of the building. This gives you a good look at the accent brick course.

This shows the front right brick work. This door will open onto the patio.

The crane crew is setting on of the roof joists.

This is another shot of the roof joists.

April 9, 2008

2008-04-10T20:31:00.007-05:00

The Houndstooth continues to make good progress. The initial layer of asphalt has been completed in the back parking lot. At our meeting, we reviewed change orders that involve a protective bollard fence on the back of the property, canopy and roof drainage systems, an emergency roof drain and electrical wiring for the pool hall. It appears that all of these items will be implemented, though some of them are not necessarily required. They are all in the best interest of the building and property for the long run. The pictures below begin outside the front of the building. You can see that the block has been completed up to its total height. Studs and drywall will complete the walls to the top of the steel frame, and, of course, brick will be on the outside.

This crane is laying steel on top of the block wall after concrete has been pumped into the cavities of the block.

You can see a shot of the crane truck as well as the concrete pump truck arm coming over the building from the back.

This is the right front entrance that will lead to the patio.

You can see the arm of the concrete pump truck that is being used to pump concreted into the cavities of the block wall. This will provide support and insulation.

This is an inside shot of the bar area.

Another inside shot.

April 2, 2008 Site Meeting

2008-04-03T14:59:00.006-05:00

The block work progress continues on the Houndstooth. The block does not go up to the top of the building. Metal studs and drywall will go on top of the block wall to complete the walls up to the metal frame. You can see the final heighth of the of the block in the second picture below. Scott, with K&A, says that the project is still about two weeks behind due to the site work that had to be done in the beginning. He believes that this lost time should be picked up by May. The project should be back on schedule at that time. Roof joists will be in by the middle of April.

This is a picture of the bar area. You can see the center counter stand in the middle.

This is the left side of the front of the building. This door will open into the patio area.

This is the front of the building. You can see the main entrance in the middle.

The back side of the building is shown in this picture along with the fire hydrant that the fire department required us to put in for them.

This is a sample of the brick pattern selected for the outside of the building. You will notice the accent pattern on the top and bottom.

March 26, 2008 Site Meeting

2008-03-26T20:36:00.006-05:00

The Houndstooth building is coming along at a good pace. The nice weather has definitely been a positive.

The block work has begun at the back left corner of the building if you are looking at the Houndstooth from University Blvd.

This is a shot of the bar area. The bar top will go on top of the block support.

This is a close up of the steel connections. They all look real good.

As you can see, all the steel structue is now in place.

March 12, 2008 Update

2008-03-12T20:49:00.005-05:00

Houndstooth Update

The slab has now been poured. The contractor will be cutting the expansion joints in the slab over the next several days. The concrete that you see is basically what the finished floor will be and look like. It is a colored concrete, it will be very durable with little maintenance. The next steps will include laying the block for the walls and putting up the structural steel. The fourth picture below shows one of the building footings that the steel will be bolted to. This is what will support the structure and roof system of the building. Scott, with K&A, says that the project is still a couple of weeks behind due to the dirt work and weather. However, Scott is confident that these two weeks will be made up over the course of the project.

March 5, 2008

2008-03-05T21:08:00.004-06:00

The pictures below are from todays site meeting. the retaining wall has been completely poured. The first pictures shows the wall from the back property line all the way to the corner. The concreted subcontractors are currently adding a finish to all exposed surfaces of the wall in order to fill in the holes and give it an even look.

The next three pictures show the footings and first 2 to 3 rows of block for the building walls. Also, you can see that all the underslab plumbing has been roughed. The electrical contractor is on site at the time of the pictures working on the underslab electrical conduit. Once all the plumbing and electical is done, the slab floor will be poured. This should take place later this week.

Houndstooth Update

2008-03-05T21:00:00.006-06:00

Pictures from February 20, 2008 site meeting.

As you can see, the footings have been dug and they are beginning to pour the concrete into the footings. The rebar adds strength and stability.

February 13, 2008

2008-02-14T20:31:00.005-06:00

The meeting was moved to Evans' office because of the below freezing tempature. However, the work continued on. All the dirt from under the building pad has been removed and the new dirt has been put in place. The old dirt was removed down to 6 feet under the building pad area. The new dirt is a light brown color in the pictures. The rest of the lot has been lowered and gravel has been put down. All this has been done since last Thursday. Visually, the progress seemed to be the greatest this past week as compared to earlier weeks. The other pictures below show the retaining wall footing being dug. You can also get an idea of how much the lot was brought down on the north side, west side and the northwest corner.

2008-02-08T20:57:00.000-06:00

February 7, 2007

The Houndstooth development is moving along. The pictures below show the progress of the site work. There was a slight delay due to bad soil at the spot where the building is going to sit. You can see that about 6-8 feet of soil must be removed and replaced with a sandy clay soil. This new layer of soil will be under the building foot print. The new soil will be put in one foot at a time. The soil will then be compacted and tested for proper compaction. This should all be completed by the beginning of next week. K&A is saying that this is about a two week delay. Hopefully, this delay can be made up somewhere else along the way.

As you can see in second picture below, the building permit has been secured. The health department signed off on the plans without any issues. The site meeting today included the mechanical & plumbing engineer, Evans Fitts, Al Cabanis, Doug Nelson, Doug's contractor(Peter), and Jon. We reviewed different issues that need to be coordinated between all the involved parties. Many of the details of construction need to be worked out during the construction process. The plans are modified and added to as the construction progresses.

2008-01-23T20:30:00.000-06:00

The Houndstooth Redevelopment, Tuscaloosa, AL

Construction began January 16, 2008. The last date the old building was open was January 7, 2008. The planned re-open is August 1, 2008. The first Alabama home football game is September 6, 2008. I will plan on keeping weekly or every other week updates on the progress as well as photos. Feel free to ask questions or send me other information and pictures. Thanks, Todd Sitton

January 23, 2008

The Houndstooth building was taken down last Wednesday, January 16. A lot of the debris has been hauled off. A local charity has asked us to give them the bricks from the old building. They are planning on using the bricks to raise money for the charity.

K&A builders is currently clearing off the rest of the debris from the old building and scrapping the old paving of the lot. The lot will be lowered and a retaining wall will go on the two sides of the lot that are not bordered by a road. The engineer has placed 3 foot offsets for the retaining wall placement and has stacked the corners of the building. As of today, the building permit has not been issued. We are waiting for the Tuscaloosa health department to sign off on the plans. The soil well be tested by TTL once all the asphault has been removed from the site. K&A says the soil looks good so far.