Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Gutter all

There is a lot of work going on at the construction site now with workers everywhere you look. So much is going on, this post will have three slideshows with it. The first focuses on getting gutters and downspouts installed all the way around the building. This should help to dry out the building further. Getting the roof on helped, but rain has been running off the roof and back under the building. Not good. The gutters and downspouts will direct it into the storm drain system.



Next, we'll take a look at the construction and plumbing that's been done so far for the sprinkler system. Pipes have been pushed up from the utility basement through the floor of the men's restroom into the attic. From there they run to the attic of the Matthews Classroom Wing and out its hallway. No sprinkler heads have been installed yet.

Work also continues on installing heating ducts under the floors in various parts of the building.



Paul and Larry put two loads of scrap metal from the demolition into Larry's truck and took them to recyclers. One trip netted about $14, but the other returned more than $100 to the building fund. There's a nice frame on the outside door to what will be Pastor Steve's office.

The box for the new electric meter has been installed on the outside of the building. On the inside, in the kitchen storeroom, wires are arriving from all over the north side of the building at a couple of junction boxes. The junction box for the sanctuary had to be moved from the north to the south side of the audiovisual closet, because there were already so many pipes and ducts on the north side that the electrician could not get a conduit to it there.

Outside, much progress is being made installing siding. And the trees are blooming.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

'Bye, wall

The youth group and a friend or two joined Warren and Connie in the old sanctuary on Sunday night to bring down the old back wall. I've yet to see photos of the process, but have several below, which were taken late Monday afternoon, of the excellent results. I'm told that several young men and women of the church really gave it their all.

The electricians installed the exterior switchbox outside the kitchen. The sprinkler valve was installed in the utility basement. More HardiePanel(tm) vertical siding is up on the classroom building. And Warren and Larry were working on the storm drains, getting them ready for downspout installation.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Getting siding tracked

One big new thing got started and a lot of little things moved along during this past week.

The big thing is that the siding has started to go up. The framing crew started in back and will work around to the front, first covering up the bare plywood sheathing, then moving on to replace the siding that is now on the sanctuary building.

After it is installed, it will be painted. Some painting was done on the fascia boards to get them ready for installation of the gutters and downspouts next week.

The framers tucked a little Sunday School storage room above the main storage room for the fellowship area. The ramp to the classroom building was finished, too. Conduits were connected to many outlet and switch boxes. The subfloor at the rear of the old sanctuary building was torn up. Electrical panel boxes were installed in the kitchen storeroom and the audiovisual closet off the sanctuary.

Bram spent Saturday morning pulling large nails from the roof timbers that were removed when the clerestory was attached. Warren is looking for someone with equipment that can be used to spread the two piles of dirt evenly onto the lawn. He and Steve M. and Larry D. spent time Saturday at the site discussing General Assembly's preferences in the way their forms are filled out. This is important because once they are satisfied that we know our Column C from our Line 27, they will send us money.

Here are the photos:

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Ramping up -- and down, too, of course

As both Warren and Steve warned us, the honeymoon is nearly over. The progress from now on will be in the details. Much won't be visible from the outside or even inside unless you look closely.

The ramp to the classroom building from the main fellowship area nearly is finished. The steps have been completed.

No more big ditch: it is all filled in now, although to find and fix the intermittent phone line problems that developed Wednesday, the crew may need to dig around a bit. Larry got the pre-school fence back up and some new play chips down Tuesday afternoon.

Most of the plumbing that we'll never see when the drywall goes on has been installed, both drain lines and hot and cold water lines. No faucets or fixtures yet.

The locations for the electrical outlets and switches have been decided. Most of the boxes have been attached to the framing. Conduits are being pulled: silver snakes all over the place.

The framing for the new back wall of the sanctuary is in place, and the old back wall is ready to come down. Larry may work on that today.

Have a look:

Sunday, April 12, 2009

In the trench

Once the six-inch main was placed in the trench, it was covered and smaller lines for general water use were placed on top, along with conduits containing the various wires needed to control and protect the valves and meters in and near the street.

Meanwhile, toward the end of the week, the electrician began installing electrical conduits and switch and outlet boxes in the new building. The plumbers began running water lines to the sinks and toilets.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Pipers piping

Suddenly, Tuesday, the church grounds looked like they had suffered an attack of a giant mole. Golddiggers created the trench from 104th Avenue Northeast to the front of the building and then around to the north side. It will hold the water pipes and the electrical conduits necessary to keep them operating properly. First down were the six-inch cast-iron pipes for the sprinkler system.

Well, actually, first down was the telephone system. The ditching crew successfully avoided half a dozen or more pipes and wires that crossed the ditch's path, but one uncharted meandering of the telephone line surprised them. So, if you couldn't seem to reach Rena' or Steve on Tuesday or Wednesday, that's probably why.

Inside the building, Warren and Vitaly had installed two big new windows in the expanded sanctuary. They also began tearing out the old wall at the rear of the sanctuary. That required installing two 6x6-inch support posts where the old door had been. The posts needed to be fastened to the large laminated wooden beams that support the roof in the sanctuary and the smaller ones that support it in the old narthex area.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

The old rugged cross

On Saturday, April 4, several congregation members helped clean up the relatively finished portions of the classroom wing, the offices, kitchen, restrooms and nursery. Executive Presbyter Corey Scholosser-Hall of North Puget Sound Presbytery was coming on Sunday to inspect the progress. Those sections are nearly finished in terms of the basic framing. It turns out that he also brought the good news that General Assembly had finally approved our construction loan.

The photos don't show that. They focus on the quite unfinished and very messy fellowship area. The old roof has just been torn out and the new one built, sheathed, papered and shingled. The frames for the windows on either side of the main doors have just been finished. Shortly after the photos were taken, Warren and helpers installed the front windows.

Plumbers have just finished installing the drain pipes throughout the building. Outside during the previous week, the crews were installing new natural gas lines and the control valves for the new water mains.