April 1 - Interior Walls

This chronicler wasn't able to make it to the church site until nearly quitting time on Saturday this week.  So - it was quite a surprise to see so many interior walls already in place, almost like they grew there overnight.  Remember the how the floor was so faithfully watered?  I wonder... 

When you walk in the front entrance, you see the familiar fire wall that makes up the back wall of the sanctuary on the right.  On the left is the new wall separating the narthex from the cafeteria.

At the far end of the narthex, the mother's room is on the right.

Inside the mother's room, looking into the sanctuary.

A view from the women's restroom.  The plumbing on the floor will be inside the future wall that separates the women's room (on the left) from the men's room (where the ladders are).  In the back is a doorway from the men's room to a mechanical room.

 Looking into the utility room off the SE corner of the cafeteria.

Looking into the coat room from the narthex, with the utility room in the back.

Inside the office / service director's room, looking into the sanctuary.

Just inside the exterior kitchen door.  On the left is a small bathroom, on the right is the pantry.

From the same location as the picture above, here's the reason why the ducts were installed before the interior walls -- the walls were framed around the ducts.

Looking toward the sanctuary from the kitchen.

It wasn't all interior work this week.  Some stoops outside were formed up for concrete; this one is the south exterior door leading to the sanctuary.

A reliable source has informed this blog that the original, official Chronicler will be returning for the next blog entry, refreshed and perky, from his southern vacation.  Welcome home!

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.