In with the New and Out with the Old

Preparing the slide 

Day 18 (8/25/16)

It was another big day at the hall. I had made arrangements to meet Jeff, the heating and air-conditioning contractor at eight o’clock. He was almost right on time. While he installed the new heat pump system Eileen and I continued to work on painting. The installation went well and by one o’clock we had the new system up and running. It had no problem cooling the hall in spite of our lack of insulation. I am sure once it is insulated in will be even more efficient. After we had the new system up and running we had a friend Phil coming over to get the old Reznor furnace out of the loft. Phil had helped on the remodeling of our first hall, the Legion Hall, which is now our house so it was like old times. It actually went easier than what I thought until we realized how heavy it really was. I had been told that much of the weight was in the fan unit so we uninstalled that. It was still really heavy considering we had to get it down out of the loft. Finally Eileen came up with the idea of extending the ladder and sliding it down at an angle. We knew it was bit risky but seemed like the only way of getting it down without waiting for more help. We took every precaution to eliminate as many risks as possible and then started easing it down the length of the ladder. It went off without a hitch. We were sure glad that we had gotten a new heat system though because when we pulled the pipes from the Reznor we found the chimney was completely plugged. I am not even sure how it could have been so plugged since not only was there what could have been the remains of a nest but also a lot of dirt. At any rate we thanked our lucky stars that we had never really used it. Phil also helped us lift the railing into the loft. It was a good day at the hall. 

Painting the Railing

This cant be good.

Phil disconnecting the wiring.

Here goes nothing!

Well maybe this will work

Hey look its working

OMG it worked

Phil pulling pipe

Note new heating and cooling unit on back wall behind railing

Thanks Phil

Banging it Out

Hall Restroom sans purple accents

Day 17 (8/21/16)

It is finished, well close anyway. Just over a week ago having a restroom at the hall seemed like just a dream. As of today it is mostly finished. We ran out of ceiling paint or we would have been done. We wanted something bright that would match our love of color so we decided on a bright orange with some purple highlights. We also painted the trim white which gives some cool accents. Eileen has been doing most of the painting while I have been finishing putting up the paneling and trim. Yesterday we took a timeout to go with Wade and his parents to what I call the “Sprinkle Park”. Belgium has a splash pad at the village hall that children can come and play in. He has a blast and it is a great time just watching him have so much fun. Then it was back to work. As it stands right now we just have a couple of major things to do yet inside before we can start to paint. I still have to remove the Reznor furnace and put the railing up in the loft. There are of course lots of smaller tasks that will keep us busy not to mention cleaning. Our goal is to be ready to start painting this weekend. 

Eileen starting to paint

Through the Doorknob

At the "Sprinkle Park"

Standing on them is great fun

Especially when you get off

Insulation Selfie

Hammering down the floor

We are planning on only heating the restroom in the winter so
we are really insulating it

Window with orange paint

Safety First

Rolling the last coat

Finished restroom exterior

The Water Closet

Still have to trim & paint

Day 16 (8/17/16)

We now have a restroom. After all the hard work over the weekend the plumber showed up on Monday with a fleet of vans and a group of workers and ran all the interior water and sewer  lines. They had one plumber and a helper working inside while another worked in the crawlspace under the building. When they were finished at the end of the day it was again our turn. Tuesday we spent the day running electrical wires and getting ready to close up the walls. The inspector made another visit to see how everything was progressing and make sure everything was up to code, so far so good. Tuesday ended up being a very long day. We left before seven to pick up some needed supplies and didn’t get the last needed sheeting up until seven at night. All our hard work paid off though because today not only did the plumber show up to finish the restroom but so did the electrician and heating and air-conditioning installer. By the end of the day we had a restroom. The electrician had wired everything into the box and we are on our way to getting the new heating and air-conditioning unit. There is still great deal to do but now that we have a toilet it seems like we are on the downhill stretch.

How many vans does it take to build a restroom?

A Tiny Visitor

Water and Sewer, Check

Pulling Wires

Painting Trim

Screwing in the ceiling

Putting up Sheeting

Wade doing the important measuring 

No more trips to the Laundry House

A Day of Restrooms

Eileen working on the restroom window

Day 15 (8/14/16)

Where do I start? The last couple of days have been nonstop action at the hall. Thursday the plumber and excavator started installing the sewer and water into the building. It had never been plumbed before so that meant digging, finding and connecting to the city lines. For the most part it went fairly easy. Not many years ago they had rerun the lines from the street and they had the foresight to run lines toward the hall. Even so it meant a great deal of digging and grunt work to get things hooked up. By early afternoon they had water and sewer lines running up to and into the building. Now it was my turn. Before the plumber could come back the main structure of the restroom had to be roughed in. Friday we spent the day doing some finishing work. Before I could rough in the restroom we needed to finish refurbishing the restroom windows. We really liked how the main street window turned out. Since it was Friday and we knew that we were going to be working all weekend we knocked off early. Our friend Mark and son Nate had offered to help build the basic structure over the weekend. Eileen and I got started putting up the walls on Saturday. Mark (Nelly) showed up just in time to stand up the last wall and get everything nailed into place. We sat around for awhile and discussed Sunday’s plan of action and went home and grilled some chicken and prosciutto wrapped vegetables. By ten o’clock this morning we were all back at the hall. Nelly, my son Nate, daughter-in-law Rita, grandson Wade and of course Eileen and I. We had forgotten some 2X6 hangers so Eileen had to make a quick trip to Home Depot. While she was gone we started installing the door which was no small project because of warped two by fours. We were just finishing up as Eileen got back with the supplies. By one o’clock we had everything ready for the plumber to move on to the next step. I am so grateful for all the help because I am starting to run out of steam. For the most part it has been fun but it has also been a lot of hard work and I am getting to that point where I want to move on to the next stage which will be painting. My hope is the by the end of this next week most of the interior building will be done and we will have a rest room.    

First scoops

How much for that digger in the window?

Are we there yet?

Almost there

One front Window done

We have walls

Installing the Door

Wade painting Windows

Last painter not Standing

What can I get for you?

Off to the Laundry House

    

Halls Well that Ends Well

Finishing off the ceiling

Day 14 (8/7/16)

Finish work always takes so much time. Our goal is to try to be ready to start painting the interior in two weeks. By then we would like to have most if not all of the finish work done. Perhaps if I did this every day I would be faster but as it is it seems to take forever. Fortunately Eileen is a big help and our son Nate has been giving a hand as well. Estimating the amount of materials we are going to need is also not my forte and it seems like we often get bogged down because I have to get more supplies. Today was however a great day. Nate came over and helped trim out the edges around the ceiling in the studio area. We have decided to leave the ceiling open since it is a utilitarian space and will give a more open feeling to the seven foot ceilings. I can’t imagine how much more time it would have taken if I would have had to do all the measuring, cutting and installing by myself. It was also fun just having him there to bounce ideas off from. While we trimmed, Eileen worked on windows. Again we are trying to get the best look and insulation value that we can without breaking the bank. We have decided to continue with our use of the polycarbonate on the front windows as well but to allow in more light we are not covering the bottom third. We are putting a decorative film over the bottom half to obscure the view into the restroom and main gallery areas. It is experimental but we will see what happens. The next two weeks are going to be huge. This week the plumber is coming to start on the restroom and next week the heating and air conditioning person is coming to put in our new heat pump system. Not long after that it will be time to go back to school and I will only have nights and weekends.   

Windows, windows and more windows

Priming 

Front Windows

High There

Nate giving a needed hand

Ready for sheeting