Every project begins with a “before picture”. This is what the boardroom looked like when we arrived. The painter was pulling his hoses out of the room as we walked in and the paint was still wet on the walls. A ladder covers a large hole in the floor, cut to bring the electrical and electronic hookups to the boardroom table. In the left corner is a box built to go around a pipe — a surprise to us, but easily fixed. The ceiling beams are three inches lower than the plans indicated — another hiccup but we quickly sorted it out.
Our first step was to measure everything out and then find the backing that had been put in place for fastening our beams. Once our layout was done it was time to start fastening in the uprights... after we cut two and a half inches off the bottoms of the themed uprights to account for the lower ceiling. Then we used a drywall lifter to hoist the upper sections of the beams into position. They weren't made of steel but they were heavy!
Aside from the ribs, on our first day we had enough time to install the end base board, one piece of wainscoting and the submarine hatch (white board).
Because everything was cut with the precision of a CNC machine, everything fit perfectly and the room had changed dramatically in only a few hours.