St. Albans Mills 3 – Minnetonka

St. Albans Mills 3 – Minnetonka

Monday, August 24th: Final Touch-ups Complete Today!

Greetings and welcome to the official project blog for the painting project at SAM III in Minnetonka. We are thrilled to be onsite with you!


Monday, August 24th: We performed a walkthrough with the association board last Thursday and a handful of touch-ups were pointed out to us.  

Jesse, Jaime & the crew are back today to complete those touch-ups and then the project is complete!  HIP HIP HOORAY!


Friday, August 14th: Bravo residents of SAM 3 – we made it through the porches!!!!!  Thanks to all the residents for the flexibility and patience while completing that portion of the project.  We were delayed several days due to rain but each of you took it in stride – Thank you!  

The plan for today will be inspecting the entire exterior for touch-ups prior to presenting the project to the association board and property manager next week.  

We perform this at the end of the project when our eyes are fresh!

Scrape, scrape, scrape is the name of the game!

Nolberto’s attitude is as bright as his ladder. Thanks for the enthusiasm while onsite Nolberto!


Thursday, August 13th:  We are trying to not be a broken record repeating ourselves but the crew knocked out another 6 porches yesterday and work continues today on the ’05 & ’07 porches.

Prep work is the key to ensuring these porches look great. We even break out the shop vac to ensure paint chips are all cleaned up!

The tedious taping of the screens and metal railings also takes time prior to applying the finish coats.

The crew finally wrapping up with prep and onto finish painting!


Wednesday, August 12th:  A top 10 weather day you say?!?  The crew certainly took advantage of that yesterday and completed the 5 scheduled units yesterday.  

Today we are back on another glorious Minnesota weather day painting the ’01 & ’03 deck stacks! 

It is our strong contention that prep work is the key to a successful paint project and as shown above the crew is ensuring that they scrape all the loose & flaking paint off the horizontal surfaces. This type of failure is to be expected on a horizontal surface in Minnesota however.

Another important step is to tape off any areas that you aren’t painting. So many times we find our crews spending more time on prep then actual painting!

After a porch is prepped, it is then primed. One can see the primer can to the left of Mariano.


Tuesday, August 11th: Yesterday the crew finished almost all of the stacks scheduled.  We have a little bit of work to the floor at 303 to complete but otherwise that section is done.  

Today the crew plans on completing the ’09 & ’11 decks.  We will be starting at units 209, 211 & 309. 

Ruben & Noberto (Above) show off their trim roller skills for the camera.


Monday, August 10th: After an unexpected long weekend away from the site (due to rain), the crew is back onsite today working on the ’15 & ’13 decks stacks.  

The crew is beginning their day in unit #213, 313 & 315.  Shortly, after lunch we plan on starting the other units!


Friday, August 7th: Heavy rains soaked the association overnight and after consulting with Jim, we decided to hold back the crew from working today.  The wood is likely well above 15% moisture content and if coated will only cause coating failure.  

Below you will find the NEW anticipated schedule for painting of the interior porches: 

115, 215, 315: Monday, August 10th

113, 213, 215: Monday, August 10th

111, 211, 311: Tuesday, August 11th 

109, 209, 309: Tuesday, August 11th 

101, 201, 301: Wednesday, August 12th 

103, 203, 303: Wednesday, August 12th 

105, 205, 305: Thursday, August 13th

107, 207, 307: Thursday, August 13th


Thursday, August 6th:  The crew finished the interior porches at the 106, 206, 306 & 108, 208, 308 stacks yesterday.  

The plan for today is to hopefully complete the porches at 215, 315 & 313 this morning.  

If the rain holds off, we will be starting 113, 115 & 213 around lunch time!  

Jaime & Mariano (above) work on completing one interior porch!

Mariano decided to jump ship to another porch because Jaime tried to say that the Green Bay Packers were going to sweep the Minnesota Vikings this year.  Mariano was having none of that.


Wednesday, August 5th: The crew stayed on schedule and finished 2 more deck stacks (6 individual units) yesterday!   The plan for today will be to work on the next 6.  

We want to warn the folks scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday August 6th, that there is a good chance of rain in the forecast so be aware that the 8 deck stacks originally scheduled for Thurs, Fri, Monday & Tuesday will likely be pushed back one day from the proposed schedule! 

Paco’s first task when finishing the deck floors is to tape off the metal and scrape the loose & peeling paint.

Secondly, he vacuums up all the scraped chips and other debris between the deck boards.

Thirdly, Paco spot primes all the areas that he scraped.

Paco’s masterpiece!!! It could definitely could be hanging in the MOMA!


Monday, August 3rd:The weather cooperated for our first full day of porch painting!

Jaime (front left) and crew eagerly await their entrance to “Space Mountain” at St. Alban’s-land. They luckily scored a fastpass and were able to finish all 6 porches on the docket today!

Notice all the tape on the screens and tarps covering the entire floor! It takes a fair amount of prep work before a brush is dipped into the bucket!

and away we go!!!! We specifically have asked all the crew members to sing, “It’s a small porch after all” to the tune of “It’s a small world afterall” as they paint each porch.


Saturday, August 1st:  The exterior areas are mostly complete at SAM 3 and now we will be shifting gears inside starting Monday (weather permiting). Please reference the above map for the projected date that your patio will be completed. Also, please note that your project manager up this point, Isaac, will be out of town all of next week, so please direct any questions to Jesse (job supervisor) or Nick (interim project manager). 

Jesse: 612-363-4586 or jesse@roellpainting.com

Nick: 763-559-5296 or nick@roellpainting.com

Thanks everybody!


Thursday, July 30th: Good afternoon SAM 3 Residents. A two day stretch of great weather has resulted in the crew nearing completion on the exterior areas of your building. As you may have gleaned from the notices posted onsite earlier this week, the painting of your interior porch areas will begin Monday. As you’ll see above, we’ve furnished a route that we intend to finish the interior areas and it is as follows:

Monday, 8/3: 114/214/314, 112/212/312

Tuesday, 8/4: 110/210/310, 102/202/302

Wednesday, 8/5: 106/206/306, 108, 208, 308

Thursday, 8/6: 115/215/315, 113/213/313

Friday, 8/7: 111/211/311, 109/209/309

Monday, 8/10: 101/201/301, 103/203/303

Tuesday, 8/11: 105/205/305, 107/207/307


Tuesday, July 28th: Rain delay at SAM 3 Today.


Monday, July 27th: The fellas have are nearing completion of the pool facing areas at St. Albans 3, and have begun wrapping around the SW corner of the building where they will begin prepping and painting the south side of the building facing the tennis courts. We continue to receive very good questions from many residents and we are mightily impressed by your knowledge and by your willingness to provide valuable feedback.


Friday, July 24th – RAIN DELAY


Wednesday, July 22nd: Another absolutely pristine Minnesota summer day and the best painters in the business took full advantage. Ever mindful of being good stewards of your precious assocation dollars, we were able to complete the areas requiring a lift in 2 days, and the anticipated lift cost came in about $2,000 UNDER BUDGET. Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Quist for their time today AND for being the bearers of good news at tonight’s meeting regarding the cost savings. One thing we will say about the residents of SAM 3 is that you really care about your property and it’s folks like you that really appreciate all the hard work we put in to ensure your property is looking top notch! We are grateful to be onsite with you and look forward to the second half of the project!

Jaime gives the ol’ “thumbs up” while working from the lift on the SW corner of SAM 3. Areas requiring the lift have been completed UNDER BUDGET.


Tuesday, July 21st: At long last, the lift has arrived onsite to St. Albans Mills to begin working on the high areas on SAM 3. If the weather cooperates, these areas should be completed in approximately 2-3 days and the good news is that the rental cost will come in well below budget…how often do you hear that from a contractor?!!? Not often enough, that’s for sure! Sunny skies and low to mid 80’s tomorrow, which should result in terrific productivity.

The fellas go up, up, and away on the garage elevation at SAM 3.


Monday, July 20th: After storms ravaged areas of the west metro and rendered the substrates too wet to paint on Saturday, work has resumed at St. Alban’s Mills 3. Work continues on the pool facing elevation and tomorrow, the 65′ Articulating boom arrives to begin completing the areas in accessible by ladders. Near the end of the week, we will have a better idea of exactly when we will be getting to the interior porch areas and notices will be posted on residence doors alerting you of what’s required to accomodate this aspect of the project. As always, thank you for your ongoing cooperation. Things are really starting to come together!

Mariano employs laser focus on the trim areas.


Friday, July 17th: After rains halted progress at SAM 3 yesterday, we were right back at it bright and early this morning resuming work at SAM 3. The fellas continue to make their way across the middle section facing the pool and this will continue through today and for a half day tomorrow. The lift will be arriving next Tuesday to begin tackling the higher areas.

Carpentry repairs are being performed while the guys make their way across the pool side of SAM 3.


Wednesday, July 15th: Before rains halted progress this afternoon at St. Alban’s Mills, the fellas were motoring right along and as of right now, we are on pace to complete the South side of the building (siding areas) by Saturday. As you may have noticed, masking film is being affixed to the pool side windows, so for a brief spell, the tranquil site of the pool will be obstructed. But, fear not, we hope to keep moving right along as the weather allows!

Acrophobia (noun): abnormal fear or dread of being at a great height.


Tuesday, July 14th: Now that the siding areas have been mostly completed on the east elevation (entrance side) of the building, the guys have doubled back to begin painting the white trim areas. You’re probably seeing the colors really pop, so special thanks to Steve and the board for their input on the white color approval. Everything is starting to come together. 

A couple quick details to note…

1. The lift will be arriving early to mid next week to begin completing some of the areas inaccessible by ladder. 

2. Before too long, probably near the end of next week, we will start posting notices for completing interior porch areas. You will all have plenty of advance notice (1 week) to make arrangements to clear out your patio areas for competion. Most likely, we will be completing the interior porch areas by FLOOR. So, for example, for those residents on the 3rd floor, we will provide with a week’s notice before we will begin completing your interior areas, and we will work only on 3rd story porches before moving down to 2nd floor, and eventually first floor. If you’ve been following the blog, you’ve seen firsthand how thoroughly we try to communicate and this will really come to bear during that particular phase of the project. 

Thank you, a million times over, to all the residents for their ongoing communication throughout the prjoject thus far. 

Have a great evening!

The freshly painted siding and trim areas are really popping!

Monday, July 13th: Whoa Nelly the mercury is rising! The dog days of summer are here and in the painting business that means work is getting done! The gang is nearing completion on the east elevation of the building and all the areas designated for carpentry repair have been marked with red x’s. The estimating and executive team was out over the weekend and early Monday morning inspecting the work, and after pointing out a few minor things, we are happy with the way the project is progressing. Mr. George Jehl, a Hirshfield’s representative will be onsite Wednesday to pop in and take a look at the work and it’s always great to get support from our suppliers. I’m sure he would be more than happy to field any questions.

Have a great night everybody!

With an expanse of siding in front of him, Julio diligenty scrapes away.


Saturday, July 11th: Jaime, Mariano and company are onsite today to continue making their way along the siding at St. Albans Mills. They completed two stretches between patio stacks on the East side of the building. Work will continue on the east side of the building today, but the fellas will work a shorter day, probably departing right around lunch time for some very well deserved R and R. Have a great weekend everybody and thanks for all the feedback in the past week!

Jaime begins spraying the first stretch of siding on the east side of SAM 3.

Thursday, July 9th: After Isaac and Jesse both had a chance to thoroughly inspect the first wave of preparation on the building, they pointed out several areas that needed more extensive scraping, as well as an additional prime coat of PrimeRx primer. While there will inevitably still be some minor ridges that will remain, as long as those slight ridges are secured to the underlying substrate, adhesion will be maximized. 

The fellas have begun covering the windows in preparation for the first siding area designated for finishing. We are awaiting final approval on the selection of white trim color and we’ve applied a sample to some windows/patio trim on the second porch stack (Muffy’s unit) in front the SW corner of the building.

When we did our first round of inspection, we identified areas like above where more extensive scraping was required.


Wednesday, July 8th: After another glorious Minnesota summer day, the crew has made steady progress out at St. Albans Mills. Now that pressure washing is completed, the bulk of the efforts through the end of the week will be focused on scraping (lots and lots of scraping!). Some priming has been completed throughout the siding areas, but as you’ve probably noticed, the coating failure is most prominent around your patio trim areas. The crew will continue to scrape these rather extensively, then will be liberally applying the aforementioned PrimeRx to these areas.

As you can see, extensive scraping and priming is needed, particularly on the porch trim areas.


Tuesday, July 7th: Good morning SAM 3. Day 2 of pressure washing is in full swing and as you can see, things are going to look worse before they start to look better! As you probably have noticed, in addition to pressure washing, the crew is doing a lot of scraping as well, and starting tomorrow, those areas will be spot primed with a specialty adhesion primer called PrimeRx which will help lock down the ridges to the underlying substrate.

As you can see, coating failure from previous applications is quite prominent on the screen frame structures.


Monday, July 6th: Pressure washing is underway at St. Alban’s Mills 3 today and we couldn’t be more excited to be getting things underway. Throughout the bidding process and the time leading up to the project, one thing we’ve come to know is just how thorough the board has been, and ultimately, how committed they are to serving the interests of the entire SAM 3 Community.

Jaime and Jesse are your  Job Supervisors for the painting project.

After some extensive discussion regarding which paint to use, the board has ultimately settled on Hirshfield’s Platinum Select. The single most important aspect of longevity will, of course, be surface preparation, which you will begin to see unfold today, beginning with pressure washing. Remember, while some coating will get removed as the result of this initial step, this is merely the first step to remove dirt/debris. Subsequent scraping will be quite extensive, as will priming with an adhesion primer, before applying (by way of spray/backroll) the top coat. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions as the project progresses.


Roell Painting

Project Manager
Ph: 763-559-5296
Email

Nick Roell

Project Manager
Ph: 763-559-5296
Email

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Office: 763-559-5296
Fax: 763-557-9597
7301 Penn Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55423