October 29 - Light at the End of the Tunnel

Sam's Status Report - 
In his after-morning-service status report, Sam sounded upbeat. We can not only see the light at the end of the tunnel, he reported, but we can see the outline of the opening. I guess that means we are getting close to the end.

I agree. Yesterday I took this picture. It looks like we could hold services in there now. Well, a couple of details like removing the ladders and getting the plastic wrap off the light fixtures and we are ready to go. Oh, maybe we need to finish the pulpit area with flooring material, a little stain and varnish, then finally a pulpit. Okay. Still more work to be done, but it is sure looking pretty.

More Lighting - 

Electrician Phil was there hanging the outside chandelier to finish off the portico adorning the front doors. In addition to hanging the fixture and connecting the power, he also checks his work with light bulbs. 

At Ground Level and Below -

While Phil worked high on a ladder, many more workers sought more secure tasks with much less risk of falling. This activity had something to do with masking tape and baseboard, but I am not certain what all the task entailed. 

Whatever it was, Ed also joined the action.

Ed got so enthused, he got down below knee level.

At one point, Ed's posture brought to mind the Mark Twain quip about his demise being exaggerated. 

The bosses got in the act, too. No job, it seems, is too lowly.

Sam recruits his son Thomas to help measure and layout the plan for adding decking to the chancel area.

Helping dad is taxing and occasionally overwhelming.

Not content with merely ground level, Eric and Aaron take their task below grade level, digging a hole for concrete. A couple of light poles require sturdy foundations, down below potential frost level. So a hole must be dug.

A deep hole. Deep enough to take in the post hole digger.

Finishing the Concrete Floor -

Dave McAdams cuts expansion grooves in the floor. The grooves are then filled with a pliable, plastic, poly-something-or-other (polly, wolly, doodle maybe) material.  This fast drying material is then scraped from the top surface with a sharp razor knife. 

A size large behemoth of a machine equipped with rotating pads grinds the floor taking off the sealer that had previously been applied and allowed to penetrate into the cement. 

Dave shows Sam how to install the proper pads for the next step in the process.

Dave and Sam jockey the monster into the restroom. The doorway makes for a snug fit, but Dave starts the wheels rotating and the machine crawls through the opening.

Once through inside the room Phil walks the machine up and down the length of the room.

The final step in finishing the concrete floor is polishing. A liquid polish is sprayed on and spread with a mop. After drying the required ten or so minutes, the behemoth again attacks the floor, this time with polishing pads.

This picture shows the before and after the polishing step.

Mark reflects on  a job well done.

The polishing is done one area at a time. Phil secures the doors to keep the hallway free of traffic until the polishing is done. 

Mark polishes half the floor while the painters and trimmers work elsewhere. The floor can be walked on immediately after the machine is done polishing.

Trimming and Painting and Panic Bars -

Remember the acres of drywall that were attached with a near infinite number of screws? It all has to be painted with a couple of coats. Here Matt is coating the coat room walls.

Dave figures he better paint the walls in the mechanical room before the laundry machines are installed. Otherwise he may have to paint around them. 

Eric Hill of the Rockford congregation came on Saturday to help with trimming. Once again, neighbors come to lend a much appreciated hand. The window trim on the fire-shutter walls must be thinner than the other window trim to allow the shutters to operate. 

Panic bars need to be installed on the fire doors on the sanctuary. Ami figures that the pieces fit together better if they are properly adjusted with a grinder.

Once properly adjusted, with the addition of four hands and smiling face the installation is easily completed.

October 25 - Finishing Work Is Detailed Work

Stepping Up: Building the Chancel Platform Steps - 
Eric and Kevin are both patient men and the job they are doing requires patience. The steps ascending to the pulpit span two thirds of the front width of the sanctuary. The steps are curved which simultaneously adds to their appeal and their construction complexity. Five thick, curved stair treads are stuck together with glue and screws, and assembled on pillars. The riser is also constructed from multiple pieces. The riser pieces are first tacked to the uprights to assure proper fit, then un-tacked and reassembled, securing the pieces to the back of the tread assembly. The entire assembly is then installed into its final resting place.

Kevin and Eric are shown working on the second step under the watchful eyes of Jared, sitting, and Jean, standing.

Eric works on tread assembly while Kevin removes tacking nails from the riser pre-fit test.

The end tread pieces must fit the wall perfectly. After being sawed at the proper angle, the board is scribed with pencil line to make adjustment for irregularities in the wall surface. Eric is shown here using the belt sander to shave off material up to the pencil line.

By the end of the shift last evening, the last step was put in place and  the job was complete. One more item to cross off on the job list.

Did I say 'job list'? I don't know about these bosses. The more things get crossed off, the more the bosses add new lines. Somehow it doesn't seem fair, but all the little as well as big things have to be done before the church is ready of use.

I did hear one of the bosses say we are shooting for holding the first services in the building on November 19th. That is less than one month away!!!! Perhaps the end is really in sight.










More Details -
One evening last week Tom and Janet were grouting and cleaning tile in the restrooms. I thought it a bit amusing that Tom was smearing dirty grout on the wall and Janet was right behind him cleaning up the mess. Tom acknowledged that was not new. It has been that way ever since they got married.

Clean up is a task with which most everyone can help. Conner grabbed a broom and added his contribution.

Last week I noticed Ken wandering around the parking lot stretching out a yellow ribbon then walking back to where Brionna held down the loose end, counting out loud as he walked.

Last evening I saw what results of this ribbon stretching and step counting exercise. A striped parking lot, and this time on top of the blacktop, not under it.

Markus stayed out after dark, playing in the dirt. He demonstrated great skill with the manual excavating tool, creating a suitable trench for the planting bed edging.

Aare is not kneeling in the corner as punishment for unacceptable behavior. On the contrary, his behavior is exemplary as he fits baseboard material in place, assuring perfect fit.
Aare, how many trips to the saw to make that tight fit? This piece took about five, he figured.




Fitters Fitting -
While most of the workers are out in the open spaces both inside and outside the building, a trio of technically skilled folks hang out in a small room off of the men's restroom, which pretty much assures that no girls will wander into their clubhouse.
Mark, Glen and Brian are pipe fitters that take care of making sure that hot water from the boilers gets to wherever it needs to go.  I think their clubhouse is called a fitting room, but I am not certain.

We rely on their expertise. I can hardly wait to see this maze of pipes and valves actually works as planned.














Painting Doors and Mitering Frames -

Bob was spraying trim pieces which will cover some of the now exposed hardware on the fire shutters.

That is, he was spraying when he was not teaching Ed how to make the mitered frames that will hold the glass in the doors.

As Dave is painting (applying a coat of sealskin) the doors that will have glass inserts, Ed is actually doing something useful, not messing with Dave's paint can. Ed is verifying the length of the side of the frame he is about to build.

Here we see Bob demonstrating proper nailing technique and  Ed following in his footsteps. Ed acknowledged that it is not as easy as it looks, but he is a good student and learned the technique.

Pews in the Sanctuary -

The pews are not yet secured but are in their soon-to-be new home, at least for the moment.
It makes the scene look a lot like a church, and gets the heart beating a little quicker as we await its completion.

October 16 - Another Productive Weekend

Friday Night Under the Lights -

Perhaps it happened on Thursday, I am not certain. By Friday evening when I arrived on site, the sanctuary lights were hung and illuminated. Well, partially illuminated. There is only one bulb in each fixture so there is much room for improvement. When we feel the need to pay for more electricity there will be more light. I say, let there be light.

 Even with low budget illumination, however, the sanctuary looks good when it is lit up. The trimmers were working in the dark before. Now they will find out how much rework is required.

The 'EXIT' sign is lit up on the egress window in the sanctuary. The window is hanging on the very solid firewall and there is no ladder nearby so its value as an egress window is questionable. Nevertheless, the window looks good when back-lit and trimmed with an red exit sign.

Friday evening also found Laif gluing up narrow boards to make a wide board. Laif's dad, Ben, was helping on this task but disappeared before I got the camera ready. The board will be stained and varnished before being used to trim around the organ speakers in the front of the sanctuary.












Saturday, Another Big, Busy Day -

Saturday was a pleasant autumn day, very conducive to outside work. Brent took advantage to help out the gophers and dug a lengthy trench. He did an excellent job of following on the orange line, which unfortunately was marking a buried electrical line. Just kidding.  It is the really-o, truly-o guide line for his trench.

Brent is an engineer and is very good with mechanical equipment so I was a bit surprised to see that he was unsatisfied with the quality of work done by the trencher and felt it necessary to add his artistic touch with a large crowbar.

Further investigation revealed the problem. The trencher does satisfactory work with sod and dirt but is inadequate as a rock cutter. Brent figured this out and used the bar to remove the rock after having the machine chew on it some.






The purpose of this excavating is to run a line from the propane tank to the building so we will not be without fuel to fire the boilers and the furnaces. Despite rocks, boards and a balky trencher, Brent prevailed and accomplished his mission.

 The planters also were able to accomplish their mission. Brian and his team of advisers planted a few maple trees near the road.

Jodie and Sarah head up the landscape crew. Here they are shown planting the visual screen hedge required by the city so our collection of vans and assorted vehicles will be less visible from the road.

In addition to the remote work, plants of various types were dug in next to the building. Janet and daughter Jenna toil in the soil to complete this task.

 A picture of the in-process landscape work. By the end of the day it was reported that all the plants on hand were securely interred in mother earth. Another job can be checked off the list.




















Inside Work -

The sound of saws, drills, hammers and other tools echoed all around the building on Saturday. Back in the boiler room, Mark demonstrated his skill with size large pipe wrenches.

There are pipes running in parallel. Another pipe runs at right angles to the parallel bunch. Mark, I don't want to question your ability, but do you have any idea what all those pipes are for?

 Sure, he says. Just make it look like the pretty picture on the wall. I accept that answer. Over the course of this project I have seen many pictures on the walls that have turned out to be good things. I am certain that all the water will get where it needs to go. And if appropriate, it will be hot when it gets there.

The painters do not make a lot of noise. Matt runs a very quiet roller, even when applying sealskin. He told me that's what is going on the doors.

Pete is quietly masking off the trim so he can paint the walls.

Luke's saw is noisy but it only works on the occasions that he is not measuring, testing the fit, measuring again, make a little noise with the saw, fit again, and etc. At an earlier time of his life, Luke earned a living doing trim work but has since gone to school to be a pharmacist. So now trimming is not work so it must be fun.





Loren was celebrating. Only two more pieces of tile and the men's restroom is finished.

The specs call for a miter joint for this corner so off to the saw to cut a miter.

It seems Loren celebrated a bit too soon. When Loren was not looking, Sam found the family restroom that needs tile. So Loren is back to setting tile. While Sam and Loren set tile, Nate is busy on the other side of the room making a hole in the wall.

I asked what the flat area atop the risers in the front of the church is called. Bob assured me that it is the chancel, so now I too am learned. Eric and Paul work at building the stair treads and risers that adorn the chancel. Eric's son Vaughn, is on the right side of the photo.

Supervisors -

Naturally, every job requires oversight and supervision.
Loren's nephews keep a close eye on uncle to make sure he makes the correct cut.

Luke's sons help him build the trim frame just so.

Even the boss needs a little coaching now and then. Willie gives Sam a tip or two on eating lunch.

Vaughn celebrates Eric's progress on the chancel steps with the traditional sawdust toss.