Wednesday 11/26 Update

Temporary construction fence has been installed within the courtyard and across the playground. Openings have been left for access and passage around through the weekend, but these will be closed Monday morning at 8 AM as soil excavation begins.

Exit into the courtyard from units ABC, DE, FG and H will be blocked during working hours (8:30 to 5 M-F) until this work is complete. The gated entrances into the courtyard next to unit A, and from the streetside between C and D and between E and F will also be locked during the working hours as well.

Bike racks, the storage shed, and all strollers outside of these entryways will be moved to the side of the high rise before the work starts. Access to the courtyard side of the highrise will be available, but you'll have to go around during construction hours.

Parking spaces on Audrey Street and Amherst Alley have been set aside for container storage and truck access. These will need to remain clear during the construction as containers and trucks will be moving through as they are loaded.

The courtyard closure should only take a week or a week and a half, depending on how deep we have to go. I'll keep updates posted as we get into it next week.

Thanks and have a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Richard

Tuesday 11/25 Update

The soil excavation program is scheduled to start on Monday, 12/1.  Crews will be on site tomorrow, Wednesday, to begin mobilization of equipment, installing fence, and securing access for equipment.  Our plans are to complete the courtyard first and then move to the streetside.

We've discussed taking a large area of the courtyard as the large equipment is dangerous and difficult for operators to see on all sides.  This taking will only be during the working day and we will open the fences in the evening and weekends to allow access.

We've also posted signage designating two spaces on Audrey Street and four spaces at the entrance to Amherst Alley (between units F and H) for clearance to deliver and remove roll-off containers being used to transport soils.

Building cleaning will continue for a few more days, but this work is almost complete as well.

Thanks.

Richard

 

Tuesday 11/18

Crews are cleaning overspray and paint chips from streetside ABC today. They plan on moving to streetside DE after, but probably not until tomorrow. They are using hand grinders and wire brushes and this noise shouldn't be significant, though a few streetside entrances may be closed while they use lifts and work near doors.

Fencing has been removed from the courtyard. A few have asked about balconies. We are done cleaning them for now, but may be accessing to clean overpsray. It's ok to place belongings on the balcony, but we may have to move things around to clean.

Thanks.

Richard

Friday 11/14 Update

Crews have completed all balcony cleaning and concrete sampling as of 2:15 PM today. An informal walkthrough identified a number of overpray and paint issues that were not completed today and will still need to be done. This work is not loud, but obviously is an intrusion.

This was supposed to have been completed by today, but they missed. The work is planned for next week and as soon as I have a schedule with specific buildings I'll post an update.

A few have written to ask about wood and other materials on balconies. Any wood or construction debris that is left on your balcony will be removed as this work finalizes.

All entrances on both sides of all units will be open through the weekend and until continued cleanup activities start.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

Richard

11/13 11:15 AM Update

Engineers are going to collect samples on streetside balconies H1, J1, J3, and J4 first today. Once done we will be done with building HJK.

Thursday 11/13 Update

Just heard from engineers and the list of balconies requiring concrete sampling was incomplete. The following are the remaining balconies that need to be sampled:

Courtyard A5, B6, E1, and F5. Streetside B1, B4, B5, B6, C6, E1, E2, E4, E5, F5, G4, G6, H1, J1, J3, and J4. Twenty in total.

Their plan is to be on site this morning at 11 and begin with the ground level (both E1's, B1, H1, and J1 balconies), and then progress to the second and third floor units as the lifts become available.

They are still planning on completing all drilling by tomorrow afternoon. As I get more details I'll forward.

Richard

Wednesday 11/12 Update

Crews are almost done with the CAPSUR work and expect to complete by end of the day tomorrow. Overspray and paint cleanup continues and we hope to have final inspection and signoff by the end of the week on all Westgate buildings.

The post-CAPSUR sampling that has been so noisy is amost done as well. Engineers are planning on returning on Thursday (11/13) to begin final collection. They will need to collect samples from streetside C6, D5, E2, E4, F5, G6, J3, and J4, as well as from courtyard balconies A5, D6, E1, and F5.

I don't have the order of sampling but expect them to move from building to building in a manner that makes best use of the lift. At a minimum, expect the noise to be loud for 10 minutes or so per balcony. If/when I get their detailed approach I'll post an update.

This work should complete by end of the day Friday.

After that, we have the soil excavation program and this will start as soon as final work plan documents are approved and signed - expecting this to begin sometime towards the middle of next week.

We'll be at tonight's meeting and available to discuss in greater detail there. Thanks as always.

Richard

Friday 11/7 Update

Sorry about today's noise associated with the concrete drilling. I know it's not easy to deal with and is especially hard on nap schedules.

We're almost done with the balcony CAPSUR wash and still have to complete streetside H1, J1, J3, J4, and C6. We also have to complete courtyard balconies A5, B6, E1, and F5. There are still a few balconies that have not had post-CAPSUR concrete sampling, but we stopped early today as the noise was unbearable.

All told, we expect to have to take concrete samples from those balconies noted above and from the few remaining balconies that we didn't get to today (streetside D5, E2, and E4). Right now, this is scheduled to begin next Thursday, but if we go earlier I'll try and have Housing get emails out to all. It won't be Monday.

Crews are still grinding overspray and wiping down window sills and balconies, and while this is kind of noisy, it isn't as bad as the rotary hammer drills.

Soil excavation is still planned and I expect we may start as early as the week after next. I should be able to get notice on this by early or mid-week next week.

Have a great weekend.

Richard

Thursday 11/6 Update

We've cleaned (with CAPSUR) the balconies on streetside A1, A5, B1, B2, B4, B5, and B6, and have re-cleaned the balconies on courtyard F2 and F3. Samples have been collected and we should have results before the end of the week.

Today we are performing CAPSUR wash (at least until the rain gets too heavy) on streetside D5, E2, and E4, and we may get to F5 streetside as well. These will probably be re-sampled with concrete rotary drill tomorrow 11/7.

All caulk replacement on the buildings has been completed, and the only remaining building work is the balcony cleaning and continued paint and overspray cleanup.

Soil work is still being determined, but we are hoping to begin within the next week or so. As soon as I have final details on the program we'll forward and/or schedule discussions to present.

CAPSUR Wash and Concrete Samples

Based on sampling analysis, crews will be performing CAPSUR wash on the following streetside balconies: A1, A5, B1, B2, B4, B5, B6, D5, E2, E4, F5, G4, G6, H1, J1, J3, and J4, starting 11/3 (if the weather permits).

We've already performed CAPSUR wash on the following courtyard balconies: C4, C5, C6, D1, D2, D4, E2, E3, E5, H1 and H2.

Concrete chip samples will need to be taken on all of the above balconies post-wash to ensure accuracy and completeness of procedure.

We also washed and sampled F1, F2, F3, F4 G1, G4 and G5 on the courtyard side. These failed post-wash tests and may be re-cleaned and re-sampled, but a decision on this is pending.

As soon as we have information on the progress we'll post any updates. Thanks.

Monday 11/3 Update

The metal work has been completed. Sorry about the drilling into the building, but this had to happen. Crews are applying final caulk on the streetside of buildings FG and then will complete unit HJK.

Crews are also completing final touchup and paint overspray cleaning, and will be sweeping and wiping down balconies and window sills.

The only remaining work is the CAPSUR chemical wash on select balconies and the soil excavation work planned for areas in the courtyard and on the streetside.

Since we are taking soil from the courtyard and will be using large excavating machines to do so, we will be restricting access to half of the courtyard during this operation. This will be a larger area than we have taken in the past, but it is necessary to ensure a complete separation between children and these large machines. We'll send a PDF plan of the area shortly.

There will be concrete chip sampling required after we complete the CAPSUR wash on the balconies. This is to ensure the completeness of the cleaning process. It's noisy, but relatively short in duration.

As always, feel free to email or call with any questions or concerns.