Naperville Construction Update #1
Just a quick update today on the progress of construction at Adagio's first Tea Retail shop in Naperville, IL. We started construction on Friday, August 20th (see the before pictures here).
Eight business days into the process we've completed framing and much of the core electrical and plumbing work. This morning we were visited by the plumbing inspector, electrical inspector, fire inspector and health inspector for our preliminary inspections. They need to see all of our work before we start putting up drywall and "hide" any possible code violations. Aside from one order to add a little caulk around one pipe exiting the building, we passed with flying colors.
Later today they'll begin putting up the drywall. The flooring is scheduled to go in first thing next week, and we should be able to install our fixtures starting the end of next week.
Once you get to this point in the process things move very quickly. At the same time, a single hiccup can have a dramatic impact and throw everything off schedule. For example, if the electrical inspector had found an issue that required some work, we would have to put everyone else on hold until that issue was resolved AND the inspector found time to return and approve the work. Without that approval, we can't start closing things up. Then even once we receive the go-ahead, there's a chance the contractors that we had lined up would be busy with other projects. It's not uncommon for one small mistake to result in a week or more of delays. Thankfully I have an amazing General Contractor that I've come to trust over the last few years and we've had no issues so far.
At this point we're a few days behind my last construction update that predicted we would open on the 20th of September. These two days are thanks to some unexpected complications getting the plumbing up to code, a broken HVAC unit (can't install drywall if the humidity is too high), and some unexpected negotiations with the landlord. It's possible that we'll be able to make up this time, but it's also possible (if not likely) that we'll run into an additional complication somewhere along the way.
Adagio Teas
Twitter: @AdagioRetail