March 25 - Ducts in a Row

Floor grinding is complete for the time being.  After the interior painting is complete, the floor will get one more pass with the grinder, but for now it's done.

This week, large diameter HVAC ducts sprouted out of the kitchen ceiling and spread out like very organized vines into neat rows that stretch across the ceiling into the cafeteria.

Above the kitchen, there is a mechanical room that will be home for 5 forced air furnaces.  At some point in the near future, air conditioning units for these furnaces will be installed just outside the kitchen along the west wall.  Together, these 5 forced air systems will keep the western half of the church warm and cool, as appropriate.

Sam Byman and Steve Wikman assemble a duct run on the floor.

Brian Byykkonen cuts a hole for a branch line out of the main trunk.

A couple Byman boys applying duct sealant to a joint.

Sam is in the lift on the far end, while Steve and Daniel Hillukka are in the near lift.

Same operation as above, just a different perspective.

This is the mechanical room above the kitchen, where all the ducts terminate.  No furnaces are here yet, but when they are, it'll be...crowded.

By the end of the day Saturday, all four of the dining room supply ducts and three of the four return ducts were in place.  The kitchen supply and return ductwork is still on the To-Do list.

As ducts inside were going up, the scrap wood pile outside was going down.  More BTUs gone forever.

Out back, Bob Niemela, Matt Grangroth, and Charles Skoog side the back cafeteria wall.  This section of wall will be getting a porch roof.

Just around the corner are Kevin Moll, Phil Muhonen, and Adrian Pirness.

March 18 - The Daily Grind

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.  Are ye not much better than they?

Matthew 6:26

I stood in the church yard and watched the bald eagle circle low, just clearing the church roof, and then disappear to the north.  A loud chorus of sand hill cranes, recently returned from their winter residence in Texas or Florida., could be heard in that direction, too.  Perhaps they were reminiscing, possibly comparing notes about the long journey home, and happy to be back.  A few crows fussed over something amid the straw strewn in the church driveway.  Today was a new day for the birds and they were making the most of it.

Like previous weeks, work this week focused on the concrete floor and installing exterior siding and trim.

First, the floor.   Previously, we've seen pictures of various guys doing the slooooow walk behind the big floor grinder, back and forth, pass after pass, for hours on end, every day.  Well, that happened this week.  Here's Mark Vonada on one of many passes over the sanctuary floor.

What do you do for the corners and all the other tight places that the big machine can't go?  Eric Wuollet demonstrates how to grind those areas with a handheld grinder.  It's a bit hard to see, but he's kneeling on a small platform with wheels and a padded rest onto which he leans.  In the background, partially obscured by Eric, is Loren Hillukka, operating another grinder. 

 

I really have no idea what Eric was thinking in this picture, but after having watched him for the previous several minutes grinding away on the same small area, I got the impression it was something like "Man, is this grinding business EVER going to end?"  It's fair to say there was a LOT of hand grinding going on this week.

 

 An overhead view of Loren at work that same night.
 

Saturday came, and more grinders got to work.  The air was fairly thick with dust.

This is Loren again, working on the east side of the front entrance.

Kevin Hendrickson and a couple of his sons work around the floor registers at the back wall of the sanctuary, with (I think) Eric Wuollet doing the same in the background.

Klaus Hendrickson cleaning up.

Sam Byman way in the back, Eric in the foreground, Kevin in the middle.



When the floor is finally deemed finished with grinding, out comes the dye.  Here, Loren sprays dye on the floor and Phil Muhonen spreads it out evenly.

I told Phil that he and the others are the church's very first cleaning crew.

After the dye comes a layer of densifier -- as I understand it, a hardener.

Not too many pics of exterior work this week.  Bob Niemela and Jacob Byman finish off the south cafeteria wall.

Steve Redman doing some maintenance work on one of the lifts.  Troy Huhta and Paul Wuollet look on.

March 11 - Siding and Grinding Continue

On the outside, the church walls are slowly dressed with siding and trim, while on the inside, the grinder reveals a beautiful floor.

This week, crew #1 was on and the weather was brisk.  Thursday found Aare and Phil near the kitchen door.

That same night floor grinding was, for the moment, on pause. At this point, most of the cafeteria floor was finished.  After admiring the floor, a few guys watch Mark balance a frozen spray bottle of water on a ladder in front of the heater to thaw out.  In the foreground, the grinding equipment waits.

A glimpse of the business end of the grinder; you can see the abrasive pads that spin as the machine moves across the floor. 



The cache of doors from last week's door scavenging expedition wait patiently in the kitchen area.

On Saturday, the day was sunny and clear, and still fairly brisk.  By this time, siding activity has moved around to the front southwestern wall.  Bill and Ami nail on a piece of siding while around the corner Aare cuts the next one.

Out back, Ed and Justin are moving up in the world, working on trim details in the gable, while Wayne supervises from below.  At least, I think they're working on the gable end; it may be he's trying out his new deer stand and hunting gear, I'm not sure.

Saturday morning, Greg began grinding in the sanctuary.



Hours later, he was still grinding.  I don't know what velocity his walking pace is here, but I would guess 8 inches/minute.

In the background to the right, Dave works on the ceiling.

By midafternoon on Saturday, most of the church's floor is finished, with the remaining work consisting of the north half of the sanctuary, the front entrance, and office.  I believe the shiny section of floor in this picture has a sealer applied to it.

After a while, the hunters workers from the back side of the church come in to warm up around a cup of coffee.

Steve Redman pulls up with another lift in tow.  Here, he maneuvers the lift around to drive it off the trailer.

Finally, before signing off for this week, you may be wondering what has happened to the Original Chronicler.  After putting in a fine run of blog posts starting from the very beginning of this construction project, the poor fellow must have been worn to a frazzle.  I believe Mr. and Mrs. Original Chronicler went south to warmer weather for a period of time to rest and recuperate.  Only last week, the blog's extensive array of undercover photographers finally caught up to them and were able to snap this picture before the Chronicler zoomed off. 

March 4 - Door Scavenging and Grinding Through the Siding

Phil got a lead on some doors for the inside of the church.  There was a catch -- they were already installed in a business office somewhere and they were destined for the dumpster.  They had to be removed before the demolition team arrived, so Phil recruited a door-scavenging team of volunteers and off they went.

Here, Ken removes door hardware before taking the door off its hinges.



The scavengers with doors on the way to the truck:  Ryan, Mark, and Ken, with Phil the photographer.



Throughout the week, crew 3 continued with siding the back side of the church.  By Saturday afternoon, the east gable end was covered - here, Brian Kallinen and Kevin Moll show us how it's done.

While the boys worked high on the east gable, most of the others toiled out back on the north gable wall.

A cheerful Markus loads nails in the siding nailer...

...and then nails on another batten, while Courtland assists.

While siding work goes on outside, a few guys prepare for the concrete floor grinding in the sanctuary.  Recall the blue duct buried under the concrete slab?  It pokes up here and there in strategic places, to some day provide the sanctuary with conditioned air.  However, sticking up above the slab like it does, it will get in the way of the floor grinder.  The Man Formerly In The Yellow Hat But Now In The Gray Hat is here cutting the duct flush with the top surface of the slab.

Following Bob along the wall was Daniel, who was cutting chunks of foam to fill the new opening in the floor to keep the dust and dirt out of the duct. 
   

 

Matt tapes the ceiling above Daniel.

This past week we had a new visitor who brought a concrete floor grinder in tow.  Here is Dave McAdams grinding a small section of floor in the kitchen. 



State regulations don't allow the floor in the kitchen to remain as plain concrete, polished or not, but in the meantime, it can serve as a sample palette of grinding options.  Dave prepared two samples for us to consider, which I went to inspect on Saturday. 

Here it is -- the square section of floor below represents the two samples.  Since it had a slight coating of dust on it, I swept off the right-hand side of the samples for a better look.  Exhibit A is closest to the camera, Exhibit B on the far side, by the ladder.

Here is a closeup of Exhibit A.  This sample sort of looks like sand, if you look closely, and is quite uniform in color and appearance.  This took 4x as long to achieve as Exhibit B.



And here is Exhibit B.  This one still has the troweling marks of the power trowels and the color varies quite a bit, from shades of gray to white.