Need Your Help - Work Party

Emmanuel is planning another work party at the construction site at 8 a.m. Saturday, July 11. We will be working on the entry way canopy and various other things on site. Any questions, contact Steve Meyers.



Please, click on COMMENTS below this item to let us know if and when you'll be able to help. Warren and Steve will be checking to see who to expect and when.

Alarming developments

Strobe lights, alarm boxes and smoke detectors -- all part of the fire prevention system -- were beginning to be installed on Monday.

Much of the mess from several weeks of drywall installation was being cleaned up while the final shipment of sheets of drywall, mainly for the kitchen, arrived and taping and mudding continued in the sanctuary.

Construction of a French drain to catch runoff from the playyard got under way. Warren laid out the shape of the new concrete that needs to be poured at the entrance.

And the recent plantings of trees, shrubs and grass are doing fairly well with regular irrigation.

Concrete steps

A french drain needs to be dug by hand this week in the old playyard area, since the ground there will slope toward the building, and the water that drains off it needs to moved into the storm drain system.

Steve M. is talking about a work party on Saturday, July 11 (two weeks from yesterday) to build the awning at the church entrance. More on that later.

By the end of this past week, the terrain around the outside of the church was cleaner and greener than it had been in many months. In preparation for concrete work, much of the construction debris had been removed to the dump or the recycler. And the new grass is growing well. Soon, we'll give it a "booster shot" of fertilizer.

The strip of ground just north of the church building, where once there had been a concrete parking spot and a little grass, has been graded in preparation for a sidewalk and reseeding.

The first -- but not the final -- pour of concrete has been made for the exit porches for the preschool rooms.

The back porch and south veranda are nearly complete. There will discussions about railings in both places and possibly adding another step off the veranda or raising the grade of the ground.

Piers, porches and curb poured

Sue was as busy documenting yesterday's goings on as Warren, Coles, Larry and Paul, plus the concrete crew and the painter, were lifting, pulling, pushing, dumping and rolling.

The photos show the pour direct from the truck for the piers that will support the front awning. Before that the crew used 5-gallon buckets to carry material to build the curb around the fire protection plumbing out near the street -- and after that they used wheelbarrows to dump concrete into the forms for the various porches.

The painter got started on a coat of beige in the top of the clerestory.

Not yet in concrete

Sue had her camera out Thursday at the construction site and shot photos of the forms for the classroom porches, the main entry, a big gravel pile, and work on the third wall of the entry to the utility basement.

Breaking up is hard to do

Sue was over at the construction site Wednesday and captured these series of photos of Warren and Coles breaking up the concrete and blacktop entryway in preparation for new concrete under the new outdoor roof.

She also caught the beginning of the work to take down the old lamppost.

Forms to fill out

At midweek, several of the forms had been built for concrete pours later in the week, including a curb around the new fire protection plumbing out front and porches for several doors.

Larry and Paul and other helpers were replanting shrubs around the foundation of the Matthews Education Wing.

Inside, the tail end of the drywall crew was slowly but steadily taping seams, applying mud, sanding and generally getting ready for another application of sealer to the walls. Here and there drywall was still being installed, mainly in the more complex rooms like the kitchen and restrooms.

Six weeks to go

Warren announced in church on Sunday that he expects construction to be complete in about six weeks. On Monday, he was recounting the dozens of things he needs to order and install between now and then -- light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, tile, laminate for walls, vinyl flooring, carpeting, interior doors, woodwork and on and on.

And that doesn't include some furnishings, cabinetry, shelving and some of the more expensive kitchen appliances. Groups within the church are also going to have to sort out how they will be using the space, but that's not part of Warren's responsibilities.

This week, work continues on finishing installation of drywall in the kitchen and restrooms plus taping, mudding and sealing the drywall there and in the fellowship area and sanctuary.

Outside, a crew will be building concrete forms so Warren can pour concrete for sidewalks, the pad under the front awning and steps for each of the doors.

Monday, drywall was installed in the fellowship area and several areas of the sanctuary.

Another busy week

Most noticeable from the street is the growth of the lawn. It is really greening up well under the ministrations of Larry and his crew and some warm damp weather.

On Saturday, a crew was just finishing building forms for a concrete curb around all that new fire protection equipment near the street. Warren says the crew will be building forms for lots of sidewalks around the building in the coming week.

A couple of big holes in the wall had been filled in with shiny new vents.

Inside the building, I stood close to the front doors and took several photos in a clockwise circle around the fellowship area. The half walls are back up in front of the entrance to the restrooms. They had to be removed to install, tape, mud and sand the drywall in the clerestory.



The top of the clerestory has been painted a warm beige (I'm sure that's not the OFFICIAL name of the color, but it's my best guess).

Just roses

There are four to five dozen rose plants in the Emmanuel rose garden. Here are photos of those in bud or bloom on Saturday.

Winning entries

I stopped by the church construction late Saturday to find that the new planting bed near the entry to the parking lot had been finished. Timing is everything!

It was quiet on the grounds, but there were signs of progress all over the place as I've documented in the photos below. Outside doors were framed and painted. And inside work was moving along on the drywall.

Work party alert: Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. (and some new photos)

Erik is organizing a second landscaping work party to get the remaining trees and shrubs we've purchased into the ground out just south of the entrance to the parking lot. Some of the smaller plants, in particular, are beginning to look quite stressed.

On Saturday, we'll need folks with shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows and the like. They will create a planting mound, move the plants behind the church building around to it and tuck them into the ground.

Don't worry if you haven't checked in with Erik, just show up. There'll be work to do. One other project is a big pile of branches due south of the classroom wing and nearly on school district property. They need to be cut up and loaded in a truck or trailer for disposal. Talk to Warren if you are interested in working on this project.

If it is as warm as the last work party was, it would be a good idea to bring a water bottle, which you can fill in the office mobile.

Meanwhile, the new lawn keeps getting greener and brown spots keep getting smaller thanks to Larry G's crew of Bram, Dan, Dave F, Dave McC, Deb, Judy, Larry D, Linda, Lee, Lori, Paul, Phyllis and Susan. They've been watering three times a days and chasing the dry patches around the yard.

Inside, installation of insulation plus taping, mudding and sealing the drywall goes on apace.



Good news. Warren got the fire sprinkler installers to redo the sanctuary so the pipes are nearly flush with the ceiling instead of hanging down nearly a foot. It's still not pretty, but that's the price we sometimes pay for safety. We ought to be able to camouflage the plumbing with a new paint job, something we were going to need anyway given all the changes to the walls, the wiring and the ceiling.

A quick Sunday peek inside

Sue stopped by the building project on Sunday afternoon and grabbed a shot of the back of the fellowship area, which now has drywall covering that pink and yellow insulation. Down the hall, the walls have been sealed covering the "mud" that covered the joints.

She also took several photos of the condition of the sanctuary at this point.

Grass IS greener

Just a couple of quick shots of the ever-lengthening lawn. Tom and Linda Avery were just finishing up the Saturday evening shift of watering chores.

Greening up all over

By Thursday evening, painting of the new building's exterior had been completed, except for some final touches on the doors, especially the one in front. The slide show walks you around the building. Note that at least one window in the clerestory opens, and that Larry, Bram and Dick have planted azaleas on the east side of the sanctuary wing.

There are a couple of photos to prove that the grass has started to grow.

There is a series of photos showing the installation of drywall throughout the entry/fellowship area and in the clerestory.

Three photos show the problematic installation of fire sprinklers in the sanctuary. At the present, they are very intrusive. Whether the installation itself can be changed or whether they can be camouflaged successfully, is being discussed.

The final series of photos shows the newly painted classroom wing with masking materials still on most of the windows and doors.

A "less brown" kind of green

Sue was busy with her camera on Wednesday, catching several exterior shots with the newly painted siding, the recently planted lawn and a rhody in full bloom.

Inside, work continued to install drywall on the front wall and to tape up interior windows before the walls get painted with a sealer coat.

In the men's restroom, there's another fine mess of vent pipes.

Getting its colors done

Painting has begun on the outside of the new building. Three different colors are being used, starting on the bottom with sort of a soft charcoal gray, moving up to a much lighter gray/green on the upper walls and with a creamy tone on the clerestory and the "bay" windows and front facade.

Also, the watering program on the new lawn is well under way. Larry and a huge crew of helpers -- 14 at last count -- are turning the sprinklers -- more than 20 of them on about 9 hose lines -- on and off three times a day.

Inside, work continues on the drywall and the insulation.