I am meeting tonight with the man who owns the space (currently an office) I would really like to open in. We are doing a full walk-through and I am trying to come up with a list of questions to ask him. He did most of the work (walls, plumbing, etc.) himself so I feel comfortable asking specific questions about plumbing and electrical. My goal is to determine how much of this he is willing to do vs. a professional and what all a professional would need to do so I can estimate cost. Any suggestions? I don't even know where to begin!
Thanks!
Devon

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Devon, I'm not sure how far along you are with your project. I know it can be frustrating to learn all this new and seemingly useless information, but basically that is your job now. I am not saying this to be rude, but the fact that you are on a message board the night before your meeting does not bode well for your endeavor.

I would highly recommend that you get some help on your project, (do you know any contractors?) or take a break from pursuing it and get some additional training or consulting. I can happily recommend Matt Milletto at the American Barista and Coffee School, who also owns Barista Exchange as well as Andrew Hetzel at Cafemakers.com. (I am not affiliated with either).

Good luck.
Thanks for the reply. Actually, I've done hours upon hours of research but as a last minute idea I thought I'd also try the message board. I am pretty up to speed on what my city requires as far as plumbing code goes, but the part I am not familiar with is how the plumbing actually WORKS - what needs to be done to get from a bathroom to where I want my bar, etc. After my meeting I realized that I really do need a professional to come in. Research can only take me so far.

Thanks for the suggestion!
"the part I am not familiar with is how the plumbing actually WORKS"

Cold water, Hot water, Waste water - just a poor attempt at humor

Once you figure out how you want to design your place, it is relatively easy for a professional plumber to plan out your plumbing needs. Hooking up drain traps to waste pipes is often a LOT more complicated than running hot and cold water pipes.

A professional electrician (or an amateur with lots of experience) can plan out the electrical needs, once you know what equipment you will be running and each items electrical requirements (110V vs 220V, 20 or 30 or ? amp circuits). Lots of equipment needs to run on dedicated (not shared with other equipment) circuits. Make sure you have enough power coming into the building and that the circuit breaker box can handle all of the necessary circuits.

Some equipment requires 3 phase electrical service. If you don't already have this coming into the building, it can be very expensive.

Hope this helps.

Ron, the Country Guy
I have an espresso based construction guide and plumbing diagram. I can't figure out how to post them here, so if you want them I can e-mail them to you.
That would be great! I just added you as a friend so feel free to e-mail it over. :) Thanks!!

Jesse -D-> said:
I have an espresso based construction guide and plumbing diagram. I can't figure out how to post them here, so if you want them I can e-mail them to you.
Hi Jesse,
I'd be really interested in seeing this too...if you're in the mood to share, my email is trpilarz@yahoo.es.
Thanks!

Jesse -D-> said:
I have an espresso based construction guide and plumbing diagram. I can't figure out how to post them here, so if you want them I can e-mail them to you.

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