Sunnyhill New Home

Twenty five days from substantial completion, TEDCO continues to put the finishing touches on our new addition and the areas of our historic building that they are renovating.

The installation of HVAC equipment in the attic is complete. 

Once work in the basement mechanical room is finished and the computerized control is installed, the HVAC system will be tested. 

Earlier in the week, when the pipe fitters were pressure testing the circulating hot water system in the historical building, we had a small flood in the large basement classroom that sent Jim scurrying for higher ground. After removing part of the ceiling chase and doing some detective work, it was discovered that during demolition when the radiators were removed from the alcove that led to the old patio, the pipes weren't capped, allowing water to run freely into the basement. It was a knuckle busting job, but the pipe fitters found three lines that needed to be capped and capped them. The good news is that the water that ran out was clear, which means that the inside of our old hot water pipes are in good condition.

Before leaving the basement, note that the floor in the polka dot room is being leveled. The floor drain was plugged and special self-leveling cement was spread across the area. At it's deepest point it is about four inches deep. Carpet layers will attend to the final smoothing of the floor, but when it is done, chairs and tables in this basement classroom will no longer rock or sit at odd angles. Except for laying the carpet, this room will be our responsibility. Current plans are to insulate and drywall the foundation wall, remove the sink and repaint the room. Work will start in the second half of June.

Moving upstairs, the cabinet work for the sink/changing table has been installed in the infant/toddler room. The sink will go on the right and a table mounted changing station will be added on the left. The question came up today if the room is soundproofed -- the sanctuary is on the other side of the wall where the sink cabinet sits. The answer is: the wall is made from 2X6 studs and is filled with mineral wool, which is known for its sound attenuating and fire resistant qualities. Each side of the wall has two layers of 5/8 inch gypsum wallboard. While the wall was constructed this way for fire purposes, it should dramatically reduce the sound traveling through the wall from either direction. But we will soon be able to give it a practical test.

The sink counter was installed in the women's room...

...and in the men's room.

And the mop sink has been installed in the janitor's closet.

The railings on the ramp to the stage have been bolted down. The rail will be painted to match the steel I-beams, and finish carpenters will add maple wood stained to match the baseboards and trim to the tops and ends.

A safety railing has been added to the low slope roof to make it safer for technicians when maintaining our roof-mounted  HVAC equipment. 

Our doors arrived today. These are the special 8-foot tall doors for the hallway, the sanctuary and the choir room.

These are the standard 6'-8" doors for the offices and classrooms. For the safety of our children, all doors to occupied rooms have windows in them. All offices and classroom doors will be lockable from the inside so occupants can shelter in place should the need arise.

These beautiful doors close off the hallway.

And these beautiful doors take you from the new south foyer into the sanctuary. But, oops - there's something wrong with them. Can you spot the problem? The windows are too high in the door. The windows in the doors are 54 inches above the floor. ADA requires that vision lights (aka windows) can be no more than 43 inches above the floor so a person in a wheelchair can see through them. How did this happen? Not sure, but speculation is that the builder measured down from the top of the door instead of up from the bottom. This worked fine for the standard height doors, but not for the 8-foot doors. The good news is that TEDCO noticed the problem immediately. New doors are on order and will be shipped and installed in about eight weeks at no cost to us. In the meantime these doors will remain.

Finally, our new front door has also arrived. This is the inside of the door, which will complement the woodwork in the old foyer. The outside will be painted the same bright Chinese red (vermilion) as our original door. The tricky task of selecting the actual color from all possible reds will be left to the experts -- our architect, Ken Doyno, and Peg Hart, who is leading the project and is also an architect. The mullions in the glass serve two purposes -- first, they give a sense of verticality to an otherwise squat looking door and, second, they are reminiscent of the tongue and groove surface of the old door. (Until we get a photo of the door in position, you might have to tilt your head to see all this.) The new front door will have an ADA approved automatic opener and a panic bar. If possible, we plan to install the brass pull from the original door on the outside of the new door. The latch and locking mechanisms, however, will all be new.