Sunnyhill New Home

The painting section of the blog was updated on April 6, 2017, with the latest information following a chat with the painter.

Originally scheduled for Monday or Tuesday of this week, digging the trench for gas, water and conduit has been postponed until Monday, April 17. 

One morning prior to April 17, a crew will arrive with a large concrete saw to cut through the asphalt in our parking lot to prepare the site for trenching. Cutting the pavement will not affect operations at the church: the crew will be there and gone before we are up, says the contractor. RYCO will dig two adjoining trenches. 

The north side of the trench for the water line will be 4-feet to keep it below the frost line. Since it’s not affected by frost, the south side of the trench for the gas line only needs to be 2-feet deep. In these photos, you can see the path the trench will take across our property to connect to the utilities at the curb.

One of the more challenging aspects of adding a new wing to an old building is making them fit together. While the new sanctuary, offices and classrooms will have hybrid heat-pump forced air heating and cooling, our historical building will still rely on circulating hot water heat. To heat the historical building, pipes are being run from the boiler in the mechanical room of the new building under the stairway into the old building where they will connect with the existing pipes that feed our radiators. Circulating hot water is a loop system. Water flows through the radiator and returns to the boiler to be reheated. Because we will have two heating zones in the historical building, four pipes are needed, two to feed the radiators and two to bring the water back to the boiler. Hangers for the four pipes can be seen in the "purple wall" photos. The holes in the wall go through into the mechanical room where the boiler and the pumps for the two circuits (zones) will be. One zone will be the fellowship hall; the other zone will include the front foyer, dining room, kitchen and old attic.



The cover was removed from one of the chases in the basement ceiling to allow new pipes to be connected to the old pipes that feed the radiators in the fellowship hall above. Vents in the chases allow heat from the pipes to warm the basement room. This is the only connection where threaded couplings will be used. All other pipe connections will be welded using an arc (stick) welder. In this photo an el (elbow) has been welded to a section of 2.5 inch black iron pipe, which is the standard pipe for circulating hot water heat.

The hot water pipes for the old fellowship hall originally ran through the two holes in the right side of this photo. This wall will be repaired and will frame the entrance for the large basement classroom.

Steps to the basement have been installed, making it much easier for workers to get to and from the basement where a lot of work is currently underway. When completed, the steps will have wooden treads and risers and a wooden banister. When the north wing was demolished, TEDCO saved the tops of the newel posts; they will be reinstalled on the newel posts of the new stairway. Squeezing past other people going up and down stairs will be a thing of the past in our new home. The two panels seen on the right in the photo of the top of the stairs cover windows that will allow light from the large stairwell window to enter the main foyer of the building and people entering the church to look into the stairwell. It will be interesting to see what the art committee decides to put on the wall opposite those windows.

While on the subject of stairways, the next two photos are the side rails and the steps for the "ships ladder" that will provide access to the attic.The ladder will be very steep. The rails sit at a 75-degree angle, and the grate steps are 12 inches apart. 

 
Another sign of progress; the insulation has been removed from the temporary wall separating the old fellowship hall from the new addition. The wall will remain for now, but will be modified to allow finishers to patch the ceiling where our two structures come together.







In this photo looking east, a corner of the back wall of the old fellowship hall can be seen. The temporary wall is to the right. The large patch with the pointed top is where the entrance to the balcony used to be. The opening below is one of two rectangular arches into new building. At the very top of the photo is part of a patch where the exit to the patio used to be. It is now the second entry into the new building.

 Saving the best for last; while much construction remains to be done, certain areas are getting finished. The newly rebuilt front doorway has been stained to match our existing dark oak color. It awaits our new front door, which will have large glass panels, open out, swing to the left and have an ADA approved automated opener. We saved the hardware from the old door and will use the door handle as a pull on the new door.

The north exterior of the new sanctuary has its final coat of stucco. The soffit under the eve still needs to be painted to match the doors and windows, but otherwise, this is how the outside of the building will look. 






This interesting photo of the north end shows the stucco in three stages from left to right: 2-inch rigid foam (white with dimples); the grey base coat and the white final finish. The brick work under the windows has also been completed. The plywood door, which is the primary access to the site for the trades, will be among the last things replaced. The door will feature a side window that will allow light into the north end of the hallway. An exposed aggregate pad and sidewalk to the parking lot will make this entrance ADA accessible.

Moving inside the church, the rear (east) wall of the sanctuary has a coat of tinted primer. While the color is similar to the color we chose for the wall, it is not the true color. The wall will be sanded, and the final coat(s) will be applied.

The south wall of the sanctuary has also received a coat of tinted primer. The wheelchair ramp to the stage will have ADA approved railings on either side. Window sills will be added to the windows when all the finish carpentry is done. The steps to the stage will be hardwood. The remainder of the stage will be carpeted to match the floor of the sanctuary.





The two steel beams seen on the left in this photograph have received the first coat of paint. In this case, the color is correct. The paint is Sherwin-Williams DTM (direct to metal) paint, which is specifically formulated for painting steel and other metals.