Creative challenge in the men's room-1

I've always found that the more restrictive and limiting the circumstances, the more creative I can be. Todays' challenge was to design and build the bathroom stall enclosures for the Fox and Hounds Pub. The owners didn't want ordinary. And they were adamant I could come up with something creative. We looked at the common problems of this type of project. The hardware of commercially available stalls is typically not very sturdy. Grafitti and vandalism was the norm. And we didn't want a typical look. This was a special place.

So I first went back to our story. This is a British pub. We feature the crown and the Union Jack in other places....   hmmmm.

Then the light went on. I've often heard of the bathroom being referred to as the 'THRONE ROOM'. What if we featured 'his highness' on the men's room and 'her highness' on the ladies. The signs on the doors would feaure an ornate crown of course, in typical regal style. The mirrors will get the 'royal treatment' as well featuring another crown of course.  A quick, scribbly sketch put that idea down on paper late last night before I went to bed.

On the doors we'll keep it simple. We'll use the international symbol for Men's and Ladies, with the addition of a similarly styled crown. Underneath we'll lable them the 'throne room' - just for fun.

Then it was time to extend the theme to the bathroom stalls...  Why not build a crown on the front corners? It had to be bullet proof of course. I scrounged trhough my scrap and parts bins in the shop and gathered bits and pieces of all descriptions. Then I started welding. Before I knew it there was a crown - fit for a king or queen. 

For the stall handles we'll build some miniature scepters. The stalls will be raw and a little rusty steel when we are done. All will be heavy duty and well able to stand up to whatever our royal guests throw at it in the next years.

-grampa dan

It works!

Family is important to us at our house. We have enjoyed their support and love forever. My in-laws have always taken an interest in my career as well, visiting most of my worksites in progress. My many trips are marked on their calendar and they have a shoebox of newspaper clippings and magazine articles gathered through the years. I hear through the grapevine of how proud they are of the things we do.

Today, they were to come and take a look at our latest project in progress. We had arranged to have lunch in the pub afterwards. Janis joined them of course. And my dad who had a standing invitation to drop in also showed up - just in time for lunch. But there was a slight wrinkle. Our niece who is helping us on the project is under age. We couldn't eat in the pub. So we decided to have our family dinner in the new restaurant we are building. We cleared an area in the middle of the room, swept the floor, and screwed a piece of plywood to our work mate. Some chairs were scrounged up and dusted off and we fetched some menus for the delicious pub fare in the old pub. The other trades and workmen accommodated our impromptu picnic and laid down their noisy tools to get their lunch in the pub. We sat down and enjoyed our meal.

The ceiling is yet to come, much painting is still to be done, the carpets still need laying and a host of other details still need attending to. Even so the space felt good. It has our family's whole hearted approval.

-grampa dan

So many pieces to the puzzle!

I've said it many times but it is certainly worth repeating again. While I get much of the credit for our projects, the truth is that many other people also put a lot of work into them. At the Fox and Hounds Pub project we are surrounded daily by so many great people who do their part in our projects. My own crew mixes the concrete, staples the wire, helps paint and many other tasks.

The contractor/foreman for the site makes sure all the trades are corrodinated and I have the things I need, when I need them. Carpenters frame the walls and put in the blocking the way I need. The electrician runs the wires, locates the plugs, and lights in ways that will best showcase our work. The insulators, drywallers, and otehr trades all help us along the way directly and indirectly. The heating folks put their ducts in place, making sure it doesn't impact the integrity of design of the work. 

Now as the finishing work begins, everything these folks do starts to directly impact our work. And on this site everyone is worksing haprd to make sure their work blends in and enhances the theme. We are all on the same team, and this is definitely not always the case on many projects. This job is pure joy as it comes together.

Today the tile guy was working his magic. He is eager that his tile play a supporting role for the theme. The owners picked out the perfect colors and everything is working so well together. 

In the end our company will undoubtably get lots of credit for this project and we will be very proud. Rightfully so for it is a very cool project. But as we take our bows we will also recognize the many others who worked so hard to make it the project it is. Thanks to each and every one who is helping and making it fun along the creative journey!

-grampa dan