TRC Rehearsal Room 2: open questions v1.0 (2026-09-26)
Everything the spec assumed and a bidder needs confirmed. Items marked Blocking hold up a real bid or an order; the rest can be settled during the job. The source list is shared/gaps-to-measure-on-site.md plus every assumption in costs.csv, LABOR.md and SCHEDULE.md.
One visit closes most of this. In week 0, take a phone with LiDAR, a laser measure, a screwdriver and a step ladder. Capture the room with Polycam and CubiCasa (a DWG back within 24 hours), pull one downlight trim, lift one fabric panel and one floor plank, photograph the panel schedule, and run one REW sweep. The printable checklist is in shared/gaps-to-measure-on-site.md.
Title 24 and permits
| # | Question | What the spec assumed | Why it matters | Who closes it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-1 | Blocking. Can the lighting design pass Title 24 as drawn? | About 500 W installed, or 1.67 W/sq ft, after six downlights were deleted from under the ceiling inset. The 2022 Table 140.6-C lounge row allows 0.55 W/sq ft general + 0.25 decorative, about 239 W here. The 2025 table was not read; the 2025 code tightened most rows by about 5% | The design is roughly double the prescriptive allowance. The options are a different space type, an exclusion for lighting used to film sessions, putting the arches and ceiling inset on their own decorative control, lower-output tape (the cove alone is about 105 W and the arches about 112 W), or fewer downlights. Each changes the fixture order | Energy consultant in week 0, before lighting is ordered |
| T-2 | Does the alteration need a certified lighting-controls acceptance test (NRCA-LTI forms)? | Not carried in costs.csv |
California requires certified technicians for nonresidential lighting-control acceptance tests. If it applies, add the tester's fee | Energy consultant, Santa Monica Building and Safety |
| T-3 | Is the smoke detector on a monitored fire alarm system? | Detector stays where it is, clear of the ceiling inset and cans | If it is on a system, moving it needs a fire alarm contractor and a separate permit | Building manager |
| T-4 | Does the landlord have to approve the work? | TRC can alter the room | Commercial leases usually require landlord consent for electrical and finish changes, and some require the landlord's insurance and contractor list | Greg, from the lease |
Measurements (blocking unless noted)
| # | Measure | Spec assumed | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| M-1 | Ceiling construction and depth above the 102 in plane. Drywall on joists, dropped assembly, or slab? Joist direction and spacing? | Drywall on joists, with room for 4 in remodel housings | Decides DMF remodel cans or Nora surface cylinders (8 x $216), about 3 more electrician hours on a slab, and how the ceiling inset (about 105 lb of glass on two ply panels) is screwed to structure. Check the housing height on DMF's spec sheet against the measured depth |
| M-2 | What is behind the stretched fabric, and stud spacing and material | Drywall on studs at 16 in | The five arch mirrors hang on French cleats and the ten guitar hangers need studs or blocking. A room-within-a-room or resilient channel changes the fixing method and the hours |
| M-3 | Electrical panel: location, spare breaker spaces for four 20A circuits, bus capacity, existing ground topology, which circuits feed the room today, and which circuit the TV and Apollo share | Four spaces free in a nearby panel | A full panel means a subpanel, about a day of electrician time and about $1,800 not in costs.csv. The ground topology decides whether the hum is fixed by the IG circuits or needs the isolation transformer |
| M-4 | North wall length at floor and at 5 ft, and any outlets on it | 146.3 in; five 24 in arches with 5.8 in gaps, graduated 80 / 86 / 92 / 86 / 80 in tall | Sets the arch layout and the mirror cut list, which is ordered in week 1 |
| M-5 | West wall from the north-west corner to door D-3 | NU1XA 59.1 in from z 16 to 75.1, an 8 in gap, then the 48 in bar from z 83.1 to 131.1 with its stools in front; D-3 opens at z 223 | Confirms the piano, bar and stools fit, and that the stools pulled out still clear D-3's swing |
| M-6 | Bay face and both returns, taped directly | 102 in face; returns at 30.54 and 28.0 degrees | The desk, IB1 stands, slat panels and guitar hangers are cut to these angles |
| M-7 | Floor substrate under the oak LVP: slab or wood, flatness, moisture, and the oak's thickness | Flat to 3/16 in in 10 ft, dry, no leveling | Leveling 30 sq ft adds about 4 flooring hours. NuCore needs a moisture test on a slab. The oak's thickness decides whether doors need undercutting and how the new floor meets the booth |
| M-8 | Door swings and leaves. D-3 (entry): leaf width, hinge side, swing, threshold. D-2 (HVAC closet): 36 in swing into the room | D-3 is 36 in, hinged at the south, swings in, on the west wall at the south end. D-2 swings into the room and stays clear | D-3's swing must clear the Korg and the amps; D-2's swing must clear the desk's south end, the plant and the south IB1 stand |
| M-9 | HVAC closet clearances and airflow. What is behind D-2, service clearance needed in front of it, where the return is, and supply airflow | Closet stays as is; nothing permanent within the door swing; no HVAC work | Mechanical codes require working space in front of equipment, so nothing permanent can sit in front of D-2. Removing the fabric and adding people and gear changes the load; a starved room is uncomfortable within an hour |
| M-10 | Booth vestibule and sliders. Tape the vestibule depth (the 2024 plan shows about 29 in, booth z 288.5 to 384), the opening (x 88 to 146) and both slider layers: each track, header, rollers, seals, glass type (tempered or laminated), and each bottom-track height against the new floor | Two existing slider layers, each on its own track and header, hardware sound; new floor runs through the vestibule | The brief's addendum assumed one 6 in shared wall. No slider repair is priced: worn rollers or seals on either layer mean a glazier's call and seal kits. A new floor higher than a bottom track needs a trim or ramp. The vestibule floor (about 12 sq ft) uses the floor order's waste allowance |
| M-11 | Delivery path: at grade or up the corridor stair; corridor and door widths | Stairs possible; $150 stair allowance on the piano | The NU1XA is 238 lb, and the sectional modules and the 48 in mirror crates have to turn into the room |
| M-12 | Outlet, data and tie-line locations (not blocking) | Existing boxes reused where they land | Needed for the rack, the laptop station and the always-empty front Furman plug |
| M-13 | Existing lighting that stays (moving head, par cluster), and the dome camera location (not blocking) | All removed except the camera | The camera sits on the closet's north-west corner; the cove and slat panels must clear it |
| M-14 | Baseline RT60 and noise floor, before the fabric comes off (not blocking, but only possible once) | Six 4 in panels, four corner traps | The after-sweep is compared against this; add panels if the midrange decay is more than about 0.1 s longer |
Decisions for Greg
| # | Decision | Spec default | Cost difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| G-1 | GC crew or Greg + a handyman on weekends | GC crew | Weekends save about $26,000 and keep the room closed about seven weeks longer |
| G-2 | Weekend path only: the handyman's license | Licensed handyman | Work over $1,000 on a permitted job needs a CSLB-licensed contractor (B&P 7048, amended by AB 2622 from 2025), or the handyman is TRC's W-2 employee with workers' comp |
| G-3 | Dark NuCore floor or keep the oak with rugs | Dark NuCore | Keeping the oak saves about $3,550 including labor; the concept's floor is dark |
| G-4 | Sectional fabric and colour. The priced listing is performance velvet in Taupe; the concept shows a charcoal patterned fabric | Plain velvet | Pick from Maiden Home swatches before ordering; changes cost 10% after one business day |
| G-5 | Wait for the Olson swivels or switch to the CB2 Muir | Olson, if Old Bones gives a date inside 6 weeks | Muir is about $600 less for the pair, made to order and non-returnable |
| G-6 | Bar stools: the Benton has a square seat and no stated foot ring; the brief asks for foot rings | Benton | Confirm the footrest with the dealer or pick another stool |
| G-7 | RadioRA 3 or Caseta | RadioRA 3 | Caseta saves about $1,450 and drops engraved keypads and some fade control |
| G-8 | New or used engineer chair | New, 8 weeks | Used saves about $2,700 and removes the longest lead |
| G-9 | One row of ten vertical guitars at 88 in AFF, or two rows as in the concept | One row of ten, none horizontal, because two rows of 40 in guitars do not fit above the desk under a 102 in ceiling | None |
| G-10 | Isolation transformer | Not bought unless the hum survives the new IG circuits | $0 now, up to $2,500 |
Where the 3D model and the spec disagree
None. Build B (e414f61) uses the spec's west-wall positions and D-3 on the west wall. The swivel chairs sit at z 144 (x 53 and 97.28) to clear the south bar stool, pending the site survey (M-5).
Numbers the spec estimated rather than quoted
These carry low confidence in costs.csv and get replaced by bids: the bar carcass ($3,200), stone fabrication ($550), bar glass ($550), arch fabrication and rolling ($1,375), brass lever sets ($500), the Lutron wallplates ($120), circuit materials ($700), paint, sundries, demo and haul allowances, freight ($1,200), and every labor hour. Three bids for each trade replace them.