@DixieDooly  I'm beginning to get nervous again lol. We are starting to transform our lower level and it's becoming very real to us that we are actually doing this :)

@jgifford  Thanks for noticing the cleanliness lol. Keeping it cleaned helps me keep my sanity during construction. 

We got a really nice hardly used gas convection oven and a 20 qt stand mixer with a cart that has drawers this week too. We have to get a fridge still but we aren't ordering it just yet I'm running out of space in the garage to store it all lol.  We have a few other misc. things to get but not much :) 

I think we are maybe half done we've made major progress this week. Busy weekend for us as we have to finish scraping the floors and possibly start installing the FRP on some walls  gas line was completed today and sink and grease trap fit together great starting to look like its getting somewhere lol  

big wow -- nice!

I also meant to type that we had the electrical done last week love the new lights they fit right into our existing can lights but are shatterproof and give off way more light. We also have a designated circuit just for our fridge now as well. The floor is still in bad shape as some highly intelligent person glued carpet directly to concrete many years ago so we've had to resort to getting a chemical adhesive remover to get all the carpet adhesive off so we can then evaluate whether we can paint and seal the concrete or if we'll have to tile it. Fingers crossed that determination and elbow grease get the job done. I don't really want to tile it for several reasons. So maybe the half way done statement i made is optimistic but it's all moving along at a decent pace I think. I officially registered our business and hired an accountant this week too. I'm going to look into buying a fridge and order cake boss next week I need a bit of a mental break and I'm ready to get some hard work done!! Oh and for some strange reason i'm officially on like real bakers hours now I've been waking up at 4 am ready to go lol. Could be all the excitement!!

Oh and I scheduled our sanitation license class which is a whole Saturday sitting in a room lol but it will be worth it. I submitted my final plans and menu to the health department too. And now I need a nap!!! Our new estimated open date is September 15th with some wiggle room because my husband says im being cute when I say we'll be done by then so again I may be a little too optimistic but its good to have a plan right?

Progress although it's hard to really see how far we've come  plumbing is complete tomorrow then we will seal the floors and put the frp up next week then we are ready for our final inspections for opening!!!

my best advice for you --

being a business owner is like having an infant that never matures and it's all layered on top of your home and school so tensions will run how they run between all of yous -- of course they will -- my advice is not concerning that --

i love this thread and i love your progress and determination, always have loved that you are in it together -- since you asked for advice i have this for you -- keep it sweet and when that's not an option stay as neutral as possible -- yes sometimes you have to play hardball rarely but yes you do sometimes -- so be prepared for that but don't ever give in to snootiness or bitterness or become the dreaded entitled business person --

'well i work so hard then rahr rahr rahr'-- it's been displayed on this board woven in with good/great information but it's not the way you want to go i'm sure -- there's a lot to learn from this board but leave that untouched is my best advice for you  --

t minus 21 days and counting? give or take?

best to you both and the whole family

@-K8memphis  Thanks for the kind words and advice!!! I want to always remain humble in what we do confident but humble I'm not entitled to anything I don't work for and even then it's not about what I should get or how I should feel. Although we are officially business partners we are husband and wife first and foremost. We both agree to always treat each other with respect and when one or both of us isn't feeling to respectful we walk away. We always consider each other's hearts as well and I know that my husband's intentions are always for my good and so I try to remind myself of that in times of frustration. Our business could fail 100 times over and it wouldn't matter as much to me as this having a negative impact on my marriage. Also there are times that work is completely off limits we are a family and a cake isn't as important as our kids and family time. We plan to grow and take on more work as our kids grow and develop into young men and eventually adults. Dare I say this but I think we've planned this out so that we get our cake and eat it too :) I'll update with some pics now too!!

Floor is stained and sealed and plumbing is done!! 

This weekend we are extending the plumbing wall out a bit, painting the walls and ceilings the baseboards and putting in the coving  then next week dry wall and frp then all our appliances and fixtures go in and we're ready for inspections!!!

wow and wow again 

so cool

Update: we have walls now!!! We have finishing work left and then appliances go in as well as all my sinks installed!!! Getting closer to inspections possibly next week!! 

great progress -- thanks for the update -- maybe next week? wow

We will be done with all the finishing work this weekend!!! Drywall finished, frp on the walls, I'll finish painting the areas I left for last, install the rest of the coving and clean clean clean lol. I'm calling the plumber and building inspector today so the plumber can come Monday to install my sinks and the inspector to check my gas line  then the plumbing inspector comes after the plumber installs my sinks then we can put in all our equipment and the health dept  comes for my final inspections hopefully the end of next week beginning of the following week once I'm passed by the health dept I can take orders!!!! We are ALMOST there !!! 

Since I'm not living through it it seemed to go really quickly!

It actually has gone fairly quickly and since we don't really "live" in the lower level much it can be out of sight out of mind. The thing it has effected the most is laundry. Our water has been on and off a lot for the plumber and I'm behind constantly lol. We are at  stand still waiting for drywall mud to dry to finish the frp but we are getting closer. So hopefully tomorrow it will all be up bc the plumber is coming Monday!!

thumbs up!

Plumbing is done!!! Now to install equipment, do the finishing work (finish painting, put transition floor trim in, replace outlets to gfi, and some trim work around the 3 compartment sink) clean and have our 3 inspections (city building inspector,plumbing inspector and health department) so we are looking at being done and ready for orders in 10 days!!

is that your mop sink by the toilet? that seems odd there -- is there a hand sink in the bathroom?

Mop sink is in the bathroom(we never use it) hand sink is on it's own wall outside the bathroom. The bathroom has become more of our janitor closet than a bathroom. Everything had to be in that central location because that is my main plumbing wall. The requirements from the health dept  and city plumbing inspector dictated where all my sinks went. Putting the mop sink there allows us to maintain having a 2nd full bathroom if we ever move and brings us to code so it works out well.

i was just wondering -- i don't know if they would let that fly like that in my county -- they might -- they were always real ticky w/me -- said i had to have two bathrooms and later on they said handicap accessible -- y'know 6 ft by 6 ft -- i think they just wanted to discourage me from trying because if it's under so many square feet you can have one bathroom -- this was like 25ish years ago -- usually hand sinks are inside of course because you gotta hit a door knob before you can wash -- that's really different to me -- but if they like it that's all that counts --

so you gotta nice set up -- nice that they worked w/you so well -- i imagine the mop sink is going to get a work out soon --

t minus 10 and counting...

There won't be any customers at my house so it changes things a lot in my county. honestly because my husband and I decided to do this legally from the get go the city and health department have been awesome!!! They've worked with us and made this sooo much easier. They told us that most people here try to get away with doing it illegally so they are more than happy to make this work for us. we will use good judgement after restroom breaks so there isn't any handle touching prior to washing hands :) 

more power to yahs -- this is a great example of how things can be different from one area to the next -- I was not unsure about your sanitation I was questioning about the codes/officials there compared to ours here -- and of course requirements change for every different type of food establishment -- just interesting  to me -- in times past it was excruciating because it's not allowed here -- 

so the moral of the story is: go for it oh happy day

I know it's crazy how different things can be. I actually offered to take the toilet out and they told me not to lol. I do what I'm told :) I find it odd that the way I'm set up that we even needed a mop sink bc I have a stand up shower in that bathroom that we could've put a hose faucet on and been done but nope had to add that mop sink. It makes more sense to have used the shower bc it's set up perfect for dumping  oh well no biggie. I figured you weren't questioning our cleanliness at all just wanted to throw that in there for other readers :) 

our first inspection is today at 1pm so hopefully that goes well  he's just inspecting the gas line we had put in but still it's a big deal we need everything to be right at this point 

fingers crossed -- prayers going up -- holding my internet breath for you guys --

pipe softly and carry a big spatula

This was so much fun to see. The first thing I love to see in a commercial kitchen are those three sinks and the metal counter space! A dream come true! I do get excited about appliances.  A friend recently gifted me with a Fondu appliance...my mind went crazy with imagination.

Very insightful advise. I look forward to seeing more. 

It's a beautiful thing to see water coming from the faucets lol. I mopped using my mop sink today and I cleaned my 3 compartment sink for the first time and it feels good!! I get excited over kitchen appliances too my fridge is coming tomorrow and I can't wait to see it.  We should be installing the oven by this weekend it's huge so I'm excited to see how much I can bake at one time :) oh and my mixer I've been tempted to fire that baby up in the garage haha but I've restrained myself from using it until it's in the kitchen. 

Oh on a bad note though the inspector wants me to move my gas line soooo my plumber has to undo his fantastic work and we have to spend more money booooo... At no point was there ever mention of a specific code that we had to follow regarding the protection of the gas line. I was told to go ahead with construction and I asked multiple times what was expected and we were told we were good to go and didn't need to submit any plans only to find out that they should have come out to basically pre approve our plans. But these things happen when you are dealing with multiple inspectors and departments and we are far to close to being done to get all poopy about it and let it discourage us. So my line will be moved on Friday and we will continue to move forward :)  my final inspection wil be by the health department next Thursday so we'll be some busy bees the next 7 days!!

sorry that happened but it is typical too to have wrenches thrown in like that as you say with multiple agencies even with different peeps in the same departments too -- fingers crossed

It was bound to happen there is always bumps in the road and in the grand scheme of things it's a speed bump really not a huge deal. Spending more money stinks the most lol. But we'll get over it pretty quick bc we are sooooo close to being DONE!!! 

Thanks for sharing  your pics. I hope you get lots of orders

How does one use a mop sink? Why would one want to move a wet mop high up to rinse it in a mop sink? This is not computing in my brain. I would have also thought the shower would be adequate for washing mops in. If you ever sell the house, will the new owners have to apply for change of use from prof kitchen to living quarters? You guys are so brave and I am eagerly awaiting opening day!