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Start-Up

03 Feb

Posted at 18:28h in Angel Investor, Architect, Architecture, Communication, Contractor, Flooring, General Contractor, Investment, Investor, Project Management, Project Manager, Project Scheduling, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Schedules, Scheduling, Start-Up, Venture Capital by

Sweet Home Chicago! How we love you so! Just when we were starting to get rolling on finishing Kenwood and beginning Hoyne, you feel the need to have a sense of humor...

17 Dec

Posted at 18:15h in Angel Investor, Architect, Architecture, Audio Visual, AV, AV Consultant, Communication, Contractor, Demolition, Electrical, Electrical Contractor, Finance, Flooring, General Contractor, HVAC, HVAC Contractor, Inspections, Interior Design, Investment, Investor, Mechanical, Mechanical Contractor, Mediation, Mistakes, Plumbing, Project Management, Project Manager, Project Scheduling, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Rough-Ins, Saving Money, Schedules, Scheduling, Start-Up, Venture Capital by

Let me just say, I've heard no silver bells in the Kenwood house this week. Last Monday, the house was a flurry of activity - my new favorite Mechanical/HVAC contractor, Marcin, was incredibly professional and on-task, Tomas was going to town on plumbing, Sebastien and the other...

05 Dec

Posted at 17:59h in Angel Investor, Appraisal, Architect, Architecture, Audio Visual, AV, AV Consultant, Communication, Contractor, Demolition, Design, Electrical, Electrical Contractor, Finance, General Contractor, HVAC, HVAC Contractor, Inspections, Interior Design, Investment, Investor, Mechanical, Mechanical Contractor, Mediation, Mistakes, Plumbing, Project Management, Project Manager, Project Scheduling, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Rough-Ins, Saving Money, Schedules, Scheduling, Shim, Shims, Small Business, Start-Up, Venture Capital by

So, I locked myself out of the Kenwood house today. Not my brightest moment. The very front door no longer has a key, we've been locking the 2nd front door behind it. The 2nd front door was removed apparently. I was knocking on the door as a...

30 Nov

Posted at 17:53h in Angel Investor, Appraisal, Architect, Architecture, Communication, Demolition, Design, Flooring, General Contractor, Inspections, Interior Design, Investment, Investor, Mediation, Mistakes, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Shim, Shims, Small Business, Staircase, Stairs, Stairway, Start-Up, Venture Capital by

Ahh, Thanksgiving week - excess amounts of turkey (no matter how realistic a size we buy), wine, cider, cheesy stuff...

21 Nov

Posted at 17:45h in Angel Investor, Architect, Architecture, Cement, Communication, Demolition, Design, Finance, General Contractor, Inspections, Interior Design, Investment, Investor, Plumbing, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Rough-Ins, Small Business, Staircase, Stairs, Stairway, Start-Up, Venture Capital by

Another exciting week at the Kenwood house! As you saw last week, the concrete set beautifully. The plumbing inspector gave us final approval (thanks to my investor) and we're back on a moving freight train. Wesley and Sebastien are back in the house (yeah!) and...

17 Nov

Posted at 17:33h in Angel Investor, Appraisal, Architect, Architecture, Design, Finance, General Contractor, Interior Design, Investment, Investor, Mistakes, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Small Business, Start-Up, Venture Capital by

If it seems quiet regarding the Kenwood house, that's because it has been. Very quiet. Why, you ask? Two words: Plumbing inspection. What do I mean, you ask? One word: Failed. So, here's what happened. First, in the City of Chicago, you need to allow a minimum...

13 Oct

Posted at 17:21h in Angel Investor, Architect, Architecture, Communication, Demolition, Design, Finance, General Contractor, Human Resources, Interior Design, Investment, Investor, Mediation, Mistakes, Politics, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Small Business, Start-Up, Uncategorized, Venture Capital, Workplace Politics by

The Kenwood house is moving like a freight train right now. We're on our second week jacking up the floors - this is not something that is done in a day, the house is a century old so we have to inch up the floors...

02 Oct

Posted at 17:14h in Angel Investor, Architect, Architecture, Communication, Demolition, Design, General Contractor, Interior Design, Investment, Investor, Mediation, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Small Business, Start-Up, Venture Capital by

After biking home from the Kenwood house today, I decided to move the car into our brand new spankin' parking space behind my building. As I was pulling out of our parallel parking spot on the curb, a car at the stop sign decided he...

28 Sep

Posted at 17:11h in Angel Investor, Appraisal, Architect, Architecture, Demolition, Design, Finance, General Contractor, Interior Design, Investment, Investor, Mediation, Mistakes, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Saving Money, Small Business, Start-Up, Venture Capital by

I cannot tell you how many of the million (or 7) GCs that I've met over the past few months have said "Drawings look pretty on paper, but don't always show what's really happening." This was a particularly annoying statement following a demand that I...

16 Sep

Posted at 17:01h in Angel Investor, Appraisal, Architect, Architecture, Demolition, General Contractor, Investment, Investor, Mistakes, Real Estate, Rehab, Renovation, Residential, Residential Rehab, Small Business, Start-Up, Uncategorized, Venture Capital by

Well, we finally made it. Renovations started on the Kenwood house this week! We have "Polish highlanders" handling demolition (my GC was very impressed by this). My main man, Wesley, spent over an hour walking through the house with myself and my GC reviewing the drawings...