Week 12

I'm a little behind in posting the progress - I apologize.  These photos are from Dec 11, so there has been much progress since then.  There will be more photos of the current renovations soon.

The new addition in the back is completed.

The parking lot is newly cemented and lined.

The foundation for the bar.

The beams are up for the 2 new bathrooms

New walkway ramp that leads to the dining area

These are all the pictures for now.
Drywalling is in progress, so there will be drastic changes in the coming weeks!

Week 8

It's been exciting to see so much progress these past 2 weeks with the construction.

BEFORE:  Covered with Gravel

AFTER: Finished outdoor patio/deck with pavers by Mike & Randy
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BEFORE:  In its original state

AFTER:  The new extension
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BEFORE:  What was once the bathroom

AFTER:  Bathroom gone, window added

Week 7

The building permit was approved and construction is underway.  Excavation has begun in the front and back of site.  All the bushes and grass were replaced with gravel for a new outdoor deck and patio area. More pics to come tomorrow.

Here's a glimpse into the intense broth training this weekend.  We have enough broth to serve close to 1,000 bowls of noodles.  Anybody hungry?  

We held a tasting with all our friends on Monday evening serving Tonkotsu, Chicken Miso and Vegetarian Miso ramen.  Good times with lots of beer and wine on a cold night.

Meat Lovers Deluxe!

Week 4

Sorry for the long silence... there has not been too much progress with the interior as we wait for permit approvals.  However, check out our new temporary signage below.  The Japanese letters read U-MA-MI on a thick cloth wrapped around what used to be the For Sale sign.  This was a quick effort to get some kind of sign up before the Willy St fair that took place on 9/25.

The huge walnut tree that was in the back of the house was cut down on Monday.  If possible, we will definitely be repurposing this beautiful wood to be the bartop or furniture in the restaurant.

Week 2 - Demolition is Complete...

After 2 weeks of hard labor both inside and outside of the charming house, things are definitely moving along.  All the walls that can be taken down are now gone.  Check out all the before and after pictures below.. quite amazing! 

While this was a major milestone last week, the article featuring Umami on the Isthmus website (local newspaper website), tops it all.  It's the first public announcement yet and it will be one of many to come.  READ IT NOW...


AFTER:  Successful!

BEFORE: One more wall to take down

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BEFORE: New Dining Area - Beams still standing

AFTER:  Beams be gone!

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The Brick-faced Chimney that will be incorporated into the interior design

                             

The 2 doors that led to the rooms in the pics above

That is all the pictures for now til the next post.
Don't forget to vote for your favorite ramen in the poll section of side bar.

For now, here's a perfectly pan fried dumpling for you!

Day 3 & 4 - Demolition Continues and more

It's amazing how much progress the guys have made last Thursday and Friday.  The beams of the old bathroom walls are now completely gone and beams of the bar area are 80% removed.

BEFORE: Walls removed with beams 

AFTER: Beams removed

BEFORE: The very 1st wall that was removed

AFTER: All beams removed on the 1st wall

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BEFORE: To be the new dining area

AFTER: Cabinets and wall removed
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Hefty rocks dug up and removed from the
side of the driveway/parking area

Where the rocks once were

Massive rocks nicely stacked

Back view of the house

Day 2 - Demolition (9/8)

We showed up at the house a little later today so Randy, John and Dima were already there. It looks like Dima had already been working for a couple of hours.  He had broken down part of the bar area wall next to the front door then moved on to the bathroom walls.

Half broken down bar area wall

Dima working hard on the bathroom walls

Mike working hard on this wall that was built pretty tightly with wooden boards.
Meanwhile, Randy had the hard task of disassembling the metal panels that were tightly screwed.

Mike showing his crowbar skills.
This was one tough wall to remove!

Randy showing his sledgehammer skills before 
disassembling the metal piece

While everyone was busy working away, I wanted to make myself useful instead of being the paparazzi. We had a pile of wood trimmings that we were planning to reuse but they still have the original nails in them.   So I decided to remove them with a handy Nail Extractor tool we bought yesterday.  I was finally finished after which seemed like 500 nails.  

The pile after I've already removed half.

Lots of nails...

After lunch, I went ahead and assigned another job for myself.. this time removing the wood trimmings off the window.  They did not want to come off... but I wasn't giving up until they were.

BEFORE: Window with trimmings

AFTER: Yay, I did it!

After nonstop laboring away for 5 hours with only a 30 minute lunch, (yummy Thai Curry), check out the progress we made after today.

Bar Area on 9/7

Bar Area on 9/8

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Bathroom on 9/7

Bathroom on 9/8

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Cinderblocks... hmm.. this was unexpected.