Plumbing & HVAC Installation At Modern Barnyard In Waite Park

Our team at Finken was lucky enough to be able to work with a brand new business opening up in Waite Park, Modern Barnyard! The co-owners of Modern Barnyard, Jim Beck and John Malikowski, needing plumbing and HVAC installation expertise, and turned naturally to Finken for help.Finken’s Plumbing & HVAC Manager, Mike Blaskowski along with Commercial Plumbing & HVAC Technician Steve Schwagel gave their insights for this article, along with Jim and John.Modern Barnyard is a repurposed furniture store, featuring pieces created by the co-owners, as well as by vendors they know and trust. The store is located at 7285 CR 75, Waite Park, and you can check out their website as well.Jim and John previously owned Blooming Creations Floral for a number of years, but decided to go into the reimagined furniture business. They purchased the former Grouchy’s Motorcycle Garage location, which, while smaller than they wanted, had two buildings on-site they were able to merge together.They desired the building to have a more modern look with traditional features, so while incorporating a lot of barnwood, they also wanted exposed ductwork which we were able to help with. They opened April 1.EquipmentMike says the customers at Modern Barnyard are going to be very cozy, summer or winter!With two 5-ton Bryant rooftop units, a 5-ton air conditioner, and an internal gas furnace, they can provide 300,000 BTUs of power to the 7,000 square foot building. In addition, the team placed 400 feet of ductwork throughout the building, much of it exposed to add an element of design.For plumbing, an A. O. Smith water heater was chosen, along with Gerber toilets, faucets and sinks for the break room and three bathrooms, and an Elkay drinking fountain.Team“We were fortunate to have hard working guys on the project who did a fantastic job,” Mike said.Team members for the plumbing and HVAC installation included: Steve Schwagel, Travis Schwagel, Jesse Moulzolf, Pete Reber and Jose Betancourt.ChallengesWeatherThe project started on Dec. 23, 2016 and ended at the end of March, so some seriously cold days occurred during the major portion of the project.“Piping and placing the rooftop air conditioners in extremely cold weather was really cold – definitely wear extra layers!” Steve noted.“It was cold, but our guys can handle anything,” Mike added.RemodelThe Modern Barnyard resides in the space a motorcycle garage previously occupied, so there was a lot of cleanup to be done before work could be completed. Nothing was salvageable except the concrete slab underneath and the physical building, so the entire plumbing and HVAC system is brand new.DuctworkSteve also said running 400 feet of ductwork was difficult due to the extreme cold during that time.“We needed someone we could really trust,” Jim and John told us. “We were starting from the ground up [with the remodel] . . . so we chose a business we knew through our Chamber connections.”They said with 7,000 square feet they needed a reliable HVAC system to keep the temperature steady and their customers comfortable.“Every Finken’s team members has been fantastic. We couldn’t be more pleased,” they added.