Posts Tagged ‘Century Electric’

Yesterday we poured the cement slab in the retail area of the store.   After installing the drywall we will strap the floor with 2×4 sleepers, cover the sleepers with 11/8″ Warmboard, install radiant heat, and then a wood floor. But first, before we poured the slab, we had to put in all the pipes and wires!   Planning, coordination, drilling holes in the foundation……

Once the floor is poured, all the pipes and wires will be encased in concrete and correcting mistakes or making changes will be difficult.  First thing yesterday morning the concrete arrived and now we have a floor.   Take a look.

The New Charlestown Package Store will be beautiful and green –  with a dramatic interior framed by Douglas Fir timbers, a highly efficient envelope built out of Climate-Block panels, a geothermal heating-cooling-dehumidification system, and very cool lighting.

Dramatic and cool, YES.  Easy to run electric wires, NO!  All of the wires are run in either the chases built into the wall panels, under the concrete floor in conduit, or in channels cut in the exterior of the roof panels.   All of this requires a lot of thought and often it’s best to get together at the construction site and go over the plan.  Below our lighting designer, Evelyn Audet, and electrician, Len Capizzano of Century Electric, meet to work out the details.

This morning we are working from the top to the bottom and pretty much everywhere in between.  In the big picture below the first of the upper roof panels is being set into place while the concrete truck pours the basement slab.

Meanwhile, on the lower part of the roof we are running the electrical wires and wires for the security and alarm systems.  We don’t want any exposed wiremold or electrical conduit so all ceiling mounted fixtures are being wired from the outside. This requires careful planning and skilled hands. To the left Sam Joslin, of Century Electric, confers with Dave Vinick, of Home Electronics.  To the right Len Capizanno locates the overhead fixtures.

And, while all this is going on up above, Ca-Gin Concrete pours the basement slab.  The blue foam blocks mark the location of the footings for the steel columns that will support the floor and roof structure.  Once the floor hardens the foam will be removed. And after the columns are set the diamond shapes will be patched and the concrete will secure the base of the columns.

Below ground there will be a maze of pipes and wires and we are working to get some of the lines in place before the timberframe arrives and construction starts next Monday.

We will have pipes leading into catch basins for the roof drains, a pipe bringing well water into the building for domestic use, pipes bringing water for the geothermal heating and cooling system, pipes for the septic system, wires for the electrical service,  and wires for parking lot lights and signage – not to mention three 450 foot deep geothermal wells and a separate well for domestic water.  The yellow plastic in the foreground is a stormwater detention tank; the aqua-blue pipes will channel the water collected in the gutters to the tank, and the cement column  is a base for a parking lot light.

All of this requires careful coordination and precise work with heavy machines.   Tony Nenna, of On-Site Engineering, is responsible for the site plan.   Morrone Excavation is doing the site work.  Brendan Friend levels a light pole base while Tim Place applies a gentle touch with the backhoe.

With a timber frame building and Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) walls we have to be thoughtful about how and where we are going to run the wires and mount the fixtures.  Our design includes dramatic lighting, fire and security alarms, audio and visual systems, a cash register and inventory system, wiring for the geothermal heating and cooling system, and the usual array of outlets and switches.

We called everyone together – Tom, Tom, Ed, Traves, Ryan from Delta H; Meggin from Bay State Audio; Evelyn from Evelyn Audet Lighting; Sam and Lenny from Century Electric – to discuss the challenges and develop a plan.

We decided to build two horizontal chases into all of the wall panels and run all of the wires for overhead and ceiling mounted alarms through the roof.   This will require close coordination as Delta H will leave off the roof sheathing until Century Electric and the alarm company run their wires on top of the foam insulation.