November 7 - Finishing Up

Tunnel at the End of the Light -
A week ago Sam claimed he could see light at the end of the tunnel. As I look at all the activity in various parts of the building, see tasks that clearly are finishing chores and see all the things remaining to be done, I am thinking we are in the tunnel near the end of the light. Still, we carry on.
Finishing Tasks - Plumbing

For example, the plumbing fixtures are installed. That is these drinking fountains are hanging on the wall, but there is no water connected, so you still cannot get a drink there.

Toilets are hanging on the wall and there is even water in the bowl, but no partitions, no toilet seats or paper dispensers. Again, no water connected so when the water in the bowl evaporates, you need a bucket to replenish it.








Anchoring Pews -

Pews have been anchored to the floor so jumpy folks like me can't make them wander around the floor. Neither can I make them rock.

Brent drilled a few thousand holes in the floor and proudly reported puncturing no orange heating tubes buried in the concrete, which seems fortunate indeed. Some people have amazing discretion and know when to stop.

 Luke and Loren crawled, swam and slithered around on the floor, pounding anchors into the holes and  turning screws to affix angle brackets to the floor and pew ends.

They also measured and marked the floor first so the pews are properly spaced. Luke helped the chronicler test the spacing. I am happy to report that it is possible to pass someone sitting in the bench without having to leap or use the front pew for a vaulting rail.

And Thresholds -

Bob wandered from doorway to doorway attaching weather strips to help keep the cold out and the warm in. At least in the winter that is how it is supposed to work. Maybe with daylight savings time the in and out get reversed.

Sealing Crevices - 
A few young folks and Steve crawled around the perimeter putting on tape, caulking the crevice under the baseboard and then removing the tape.

Brian performed a similar task in the mother's room, but he first slid a shim in to make sure the pane did not rattle to pain the listeners in the room. The photographer includes his image of approval.

Coat Rack - 
Nate bores into the walnut to manufacture a coat rack, an essential fixture in Minnesota.

Eric is either fitting a jig for proper coat peg length or else he is about to shorten his tape measure.

After cutting a few hundred or so, the next step is to sand off the sharp edges so neither coats or fingers get wounded.
Eric's jeans show what happens if this step is not taken.

Finally, the rack is installed. Kevin keeps a closed eye on the installation crew. Quality control is very important.

Last Load of Concrete -
Saturday morning saw the last delivery of concrete. The remaining half of the dumpster pad beyond the parking lot was poured as were the foundations for the lights to be installed in the parking lot. Electrician Phil pulls the wires needed to make the lot lighter.

Saturday was not a pleasant day to be playing outside which Sam discovers as he smooths the post top. But like the trusty mail service, neither rain, nor sleet nor gloom of night can stop the work. I guess the concrete will set up even if the weather is cold and wet.









There is one small patch in the mechanical room that has the distinction of being the last bit of concrete installed. Check this item off the list.

Garage Sale - 
Even with quite a few tasks remaining, many tools and assorted supplies are no longer needed. So naturally, we have a garage sale. Members have been invited to check out the inventory and buy these items for a reasonable donation to the building fund.

Construction savvy lookers, Ami and Loren, take stock of the stock.

Bob applies his best salesmanship as he outfits Elias with a cordless tool setup. I thought I overheard something about being worth several thousands, but my hearing aids may have been deceiving me.

Cleaning the Glass - 
Sasha and Callie work on opposite sides of the glass, with each able to point out the spots on the other side of the pane.

Aaron needs long arms and a long handle besides to reach the top of the tall windows on the end wall of the sanctuary.

Pewed Sanctuary -

The pews are in place, the lights are working and final task list is being mowed down. Should the remaining work go as hoped, we will celebrate our first services in the building on November nineteenth.

 And with pews in place, the seating reservations are flooding in.

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.