Well, a very quiet day - you can sense everyone winding down for the weekend. Tom packs up to leave - he'll be in Colchester next week, and working away from his family. A pity, but Neil will take over on Monday with his team.
Have a catch up with Tom and while all is well, there is so much going on behind the scenes of our project - all quite frantic - pray again that what needs to happen will happen and for Gods continuing hand on our work - our little ship is on stormy seas, but we trust in a good God!
God is good - all safe at the end of week 2.
The day ends.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
January 29th - Day 9 - Afternoon
A quieter feel to today, though was pleased to see our Architect contact on the premises checking up on things so we'll see what comes of that.
CABLEGATE - Continues
In a shock development the BT engineer arrived and after a lot of tracing back the fault WAS down to the builders - the electricians (see previous post)had done well but not quite repaired the damage. However, the guy was very nice about it and all is wel now.
The day ends.
CABLEGATE - Continues
In a shock development the BT engineer arrived and after a lot of tracing back the fault WAS down to the builders - the electricians (see previous post)had done well but not quite repaired the damage. However, the guy was very nice about it and all is wel now.
The day ends.
Day 9 - 29th January - Morning
Tom passed the alarm test again this morning but he's handing the baton over to Neil, the new foreman, on Monday -can Neil hack it? We wait with bated breath (ok, not THAT bated, but a little bated, surely)
Business as usual - Baz and Joe are working away on the platform, the electricians are carrying on, I think their boss is coming down today.
2 quick updates:
CABLEGATE: BT seem to have taken responsibility for the flat phone being down (see post on 27th) - phew! The builders can rest easy and I put the church whip away in the cupboard.
ALARMGATE:
The fire alarm has been teasing us this morning by periodically making the noise it makes before it goes off, then not going off. This menas that for the first couple of times there was a mad dash to the panel (time for desk to panel 3.8 seconds and 6.3 seconds (got tangled in Branstons lead hence slow response) respectively) then an equally tense period waiting by the panel - 'dontgo off/dontgo off/dontgo off/' - to see what would happen. But so far so good.
Business as usual - Baz and Joe are working away on the platform, the electricians are carrying on, I think their boss is coming down today.
2 quick updates:
CABLEGATE: BT seem to have taken responsibility for the flat phone being down (see post on 27th) - phew! The builders can rest easy and I put the church whip away in the cupboard.
ALARMGATE:
The fire alarm has been teasing us this morning by periodically making the noise it makes before it goes off, then not going off. This menas that for the first couple of times there was a mad dash to the panel (time for desk to panel 3.8 seconds and 6.3 seconds (got tangled in Branstons lead hence slow response) respectively) then an equally tense period waiting by the panel - 'dontgo off/dontgo off/dontgo off/' - to see what would happen. But so far so good.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Day 8 January 28th Afternoon
Work carries on. I'm pleased (on one hand) but sad (on the other) to report that no serious attempt was made by any of the toddlers to breach the cordon. I will need to encourage their inner Steve McQueen.
The container positioning opens up interesting possibilities for publicising what we are up to to those walking along the pavement. Suggestions welcomed please!
Lastly, WycliffeRefurbBlog has struggled to communicate the oddness of extensive works essentially taking place in one room and life carrying on as normal (or for what passes as normal)in the rest of the place, but today Vasie put her finger on it - 'like opening the door to Narnia' - and that, indeed, is exactly what it is like.
The container positioning opens up interesting possibilities for publicising what we are up to to those walking along the pavement. Suggestions welcomed please!
Lastly, WycliffeRefurbBlog has struggled to communicate the oddness of extensive works essentially taking place in one room and life carrying on as normal (or for what passes as normal)in the rest of the place, but today Vasie put her finger on it - 'like opening the door to Narnia' - and that, indeed, is exactly what it is like.
Day 8 - January 28th - Morning
The day starts - Tom passed the alarm test this morning - well done! The fire engineer called yesterday and talked us through disconnecting the troublesome panel so we are feeling more relaxed today. Meerkats no more!
One of the pipefitters (remember, pipefitter, not plumber) comes up to me and asks where the nearest free cash machine is. Free cash machine? Cemetery Junction? right. I fill him in on the local cash drill. Co-Op, pack of chewing gum, £50 cashback, sorted. You are one of us now my son.
In its way it was an encouraging conversation as my comprehension of West Midlands speak is increasing and I manage to pick out the key words easily enough.
The boiler has come out and they are busy chopping out a lot of the old metal pipes so work progresses. The electricians are back and preparing the wiring for the lighting and Joe is moving on with the new platform.
FIREALARMGATE - Continues
The fire alarm goes off. Yes, the fire alarm goes off. Again. Time from desk to panel 8 seconds - too slow. Aaaaarggh. The building is packed with people doing different things. Long story short the engineer did'nt quite finish the job yesterday and after a quick call to Westronics we get it sorted so it won't go off again. No, it won't. Really. It won't. We believe.
Chat to Tom and deal with one or two outstanding matters. They are still undecided on the heating system and the lights still do not have a delivery date. Also there is a potential issue on whether out current gas main can carry the volume of gas needed to heat the new space - a new main may be needed and that will cost money. They are doing their sums at the moment -pray that the existing main will do the job.
It comes out that Tom,Baz and Joe are being taken off the job to go somewhere else for 5 weeks. Thats the builders perogative I suppose but we are disappointed and express that to the project manager at the Architects.
One of the pipefitters (remember, pipefitter, not plumber) comes up to me and asks where the nearest free cash machine is. Free cash machine? Cemetery Junction? right. I fill him in on the local cash drill. Co-Op, pack of chewing gum, £50 cashback, sorted. You are one of us now my son.
In its way it was an encouraging conversation as my comprehension of West Midlands speak is increasing and I manage to pick out the key words easily enough.
The boiler has come out and they are busy chopping out a lot of the old metal pipes so work progresses. The electricians are back and preparing the wiring for the lighting and Joe is moving on with the new platform.
FIREALARMGATE - Continues
The fire alarm goes off. Yes, the fire alarm goes off. Again. Time from desk to panel 8 seconds - too slow. Aaaaarggh. The building is packed with people doing different things. Long story short the engineer did'nt quite finish the job yesterday and after a quick call to Westronics we get it sorted so it won't go off again. No, it won't. Really. It won't. We believe.
Chat to Tom and deal with one or two outstanding matters. They are still undecided on the heating system and the lights still do not have a delivery date. Also there is a potential issue on whether out current gas main can carry the volume of gas needed to heat the new space - a new main may be needed and that will cost money. They are doing their sums at the moment -pray that the existing main will do the job.
It comes out that Tom,Baz and Joe are being taken off the job to go somewhere else for 5 weeks. Thats the builders perogative I suppose but we are disappointed and express that to the project manager at the Architects.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
January 27th Morning
Day seven dawns. Tom failed the alarm test again this morning, but got a stage further than yesterday. Oh well, always tomorrow.
He let Baz and Joe in then left for the builders merchants.They set to work on constructing the new platform.
Fire Alarm goes off again. Time from desk to fire panel 5.2 seconds.
The electricians are back and cracking on as are the pipefitters (we are NOT plumbers, we are specialised pipe fitters - Wooahh, ok I was only saying).
The picture below shows some old (and I do mean old) friends hitting the skip.
Fire Alarm set off again. Time from desk to fire panel 4.8 seconds.
Tom arrives back bringing with him Dave the specialist glazier. Dave is here to price up work on the windows in the refurb space. A certain amount has been allowed in the tender price but as our windows have'nt been touched for many a long year its a bottomless pit of money that could be spent.
We have one of those tricky discussions you tend to have with tradesmen - 'what do you want us to do' - honest answer (not verbalised) 'I want you to do the whole lot for £1260 as per budget'. Answer given: 'price up the worst of it and see where that leaves us'. Dave comes across as fairly pragmatic so hopefully all will turn out well.
This situation is going to be a regular feature I think. 'We allowed for X in the tender but actually you could spend Y if you wanted to (or have to)'. However it all seems quite controlled and with Rupert,Will and Stuarts help we just have to keep a track on costs and know where we are.
Fire alarm goes off again. Time from desk to fire panel 2.8 seconds. A record. Mark and I are now like coiled springs waiting for the next alarm. Rather like those meerkats you keep seeing in nature programmes. The fire engineer is called.
CABLEGATE - The continuing saga.
Rachel comes down from the flat. Her phone line has gone dead. Resist temptation to say 'well mine has'nt' and go and trace it back. All seems well and under intense questioning (using the arc lights mentioned yesterday) the builders deny any cutting so we call BT to report the fault. This one will run and run.
Lunchtime -
The storage container arrives - it's the 40ft shipping type commonly seen and will be used to store the floorboards and other materials relevant to the project. Truth be told I think Tom could have managed with the smaller 20ft size but nevertheless there it is.
The driver readies his crane and chains to lift it over the bus stop. Find myself hoping that he might somehow squash the environmental air tester monstrous carbunkle thingy that sprung up on the pavement on the way over, but regretfully that does not happen. For the second time in this project pedestrians weave around, seemingly oblivious to impending doom (I have to shoo back some of the lads who sit on the wall who really are getting too close) and blessedly the container is sited safely.
I noticed Tom putting considerable effort in to securing his external perimeter security cordon by the container - was he rattled last Wednesday?
4pm - THE CORDON IS NEARLY BREACHED!
Step forward Arron Hodgson! You came so close to winning one of the WycliffeRefurbBlog exclusive 'I breached the cordon' badges. Arun loses points for lack of deliberate intent (he was just going to where his sister usually has her piano lessons)but his hand was a fraction of a centimentre from the crucial door handle when Mum cut in and a history making moment was lost. Tough luck Arun - try again next week.
5.30pm - Speak to Baz who is doing the contemplative double - cup of tea AND cigarette before heading home. He's made good progress on the new platform steps.
7pm - The electricians are still hard it, for some reason one is working inside the baptistry, possibly the last place you would put an electric cable. Decide to forget I saw what I saw,close the door and leave.
The day ends.
He let Baz and Joe in then left for the builders merchants.They set to work on constructing the new platform.
Fire Alarm goes off again. Time from desk to fire panel 5.2 seconds.
The electricians are back and cracking on as are the pipefitters (we are NOT plumbers, we are specialised pipe fitters - Wooahh, ok I was only saying).
The picture below shows some old (and I do mean old) friends hitting the skip.
Fire Alarm set off again. Time from desk to fire panel 4.8 seconds.
Tom arrives back bringing with him Dave the specialist glazier. Dave is here to price up work on the windows in the refurb space. A certain amount has been allowed in the tender price but as our windows have'nt been touched for many a long year its a bottomless pit of money that could be spent.
We have one of those tricky discussions you tend to have with tradesmen - 'what do you want us to do' - honest answer (not verbalised) 'I want you to do the whole lot for £1260 as per budget'. Answer given: 'price up the worst of it and see where that leaves us'. Dave comes across as fairly pragmatic so hopefully all will turn out well.
This situation is going to be a regular feature I think. 'We allowed for X in the tender but actually you could spend Y if you wanted to (or have to)'. However it all seems quite controlled and with Rupert,Will and Stuarts help we just have to keep a track on costs and know where we are.
Fire alarm goes off again. Time from desk to fire panel 2.8 seconds. A record. Mark and I are now like coiled springs waiting for the next alarm. Rather like those meerkats you keep seeing in nature programmes. The fire engineer is called.
CABLEGATE - The continuing saga.
Rachel comes down from the flat. Her phone line has gone dead. Resist temptation to say 'well mine has'nt' and go and trace it back. All seems well and under intense questioning (using the arc lights mentioned yesterday) the builders deny any cutting so we call BT to report the fault. This one will run and run.
Lunchtime -
The storage container arrives - it's the 40ft shipping type commonly seen and will be used to store the floorboards and other materials relevant to the project. Truth be told I think Tom could have managed with the smaller 20ft size but nevertheless there it is.
The driver readies his crane and chains to lift it over the bus stop. Find myself hoping that he might somehow squash the environmental air tester monstrous carbunkle thingy that sprung up on the pavement on the way over, but regretfully that does not happen. For the second time in this project pedestrians weave around, seemingly oblivious to impending doom (I have to shoo back some of the lads who sit on the wall who really are getting too close) and blessedly the container is sited safely.
I noticed Tom putting considerable effort in to securing his external perimeter security cordon by the container - was he rattled last Wednesday?
4pm - THE CORDON IS NEARLY BREACHED!
Step forward Arron Hodgson! You came so close to winning one of the WycliffeRefurbBlog exclusive 'I breached the cordon' badges. Arun loses points for lack of deliberate intent (he was just going to where his sister usually has her piano lessons)but his hand was a fraction of a centimentre from the crucial door handle when Mum cut in and a history making moment was lost. Tough luck Arun - try again next week.
5.30pm - Speak to Baz who is doing the contemplative double - cup of tea AND cigarette before heading home. He's made good progress on the new platform steps.
7pm - The electricians are still hard it, for some reason one is working inside the baptistry, possibly the last place you would put an electric cable. Decide to forget I saw what I saw,close the door and leave.
The day ends.
Monday, January 26, 2009
26th January Evening
Baz and Joe head home, leaving the electricians working away. There is now no power at all in the church space and they work by large arclights on into the early evening. They are ripping out all the old (and some is very old indeed!) wiring and you get a sense they are happy as pigs in muck!
I wish them goodnight, they say something indecipherable in 'black country' speak and I leave. The day ends.
I wish them goodnight, they say something indecipherable in 'black country' speak and I leave. The day ends.
Monday 26th January - Morning
Monday Morning starts
Tom fails the ‘alarm test’ (he wanted in early at 7am so we issued him with keys and instructions) and is treated to the sight of Mark in his towel coming down from the shower (why is someone always in the shower when these things happen?). Mark sorts him out – thanks Mark!- and the day starts.
Just Baz & Joe today - Tom leaves for the day by 8am to go somewhere else, but not before getting a team of electricians started. They have come down from the West Midlands so a long drive (and potential communication issues – see previous posts), but they are staying in Reading during the week so clearly a serious effort at our project which is encouraging. Their job is to sort all the new wiring that will be needed for heating, lighting etc.
In addition, persons unknown are working their way along the balcony and filing down the bolts used to hold on the flip down chairs normally at the back. The place stinks of burnt metal.
Fire alarm goes off again, fortunately before Music and Movement. It’s the same sensor again so we’ll maybe need to rethink leaving it live. The alarm going off does not affect the activity in the church at all. Work takes precedence over personal safety clearly.
Meanwhile Joe has been busy with his crowbar and the platform/stage as we know it does not exist any more. Again, slightly painful to see it go with all the memories.
CABLEGATE – continues!
Malcolm, the night caretaker, calls – Our alarm company report a fault on the telephone line. Go to investigate and yes, Joe has, for some reason, disconnected a live set of telephone lines – not really sure why. This has taken down the alarm and all internet connections.
Very blessedly the Electricians are happy to help out and put it back together – what could have been a very big problem is made in to a tiny one – thanks men! It was encouraging to talk to someone at church on Sunday who confirmed that ‘wrong cable cutting’ was not limited to our project and in his office all the magnetic doors were locked shut by a bit of errant snipping.
Tom fails the ‘alarm test’ (he wanted in early at 7am so we issued him with keys and instructions) and is treated to the sight of Mark in his towel coming down from the shower (why is someone always in the shower when these things happen?). Mark sorts him out – thanks Mark!- and the day starts.
Just Baz & Joe today - Tom leaves for the day by 8am to go somewhere else, but not before getting a team of electricians started. They have come down from the West Midlands so a long drive (and potential communication issues – see previous posts), but they are staying in Reading during the week so clearly a serious effort at our project which is encouraging. Their job is to sort all the new wiring that will be needed for heating, lighting etc.
In addition, persons unknown are working their way along the balcony and filing down the bolts used to hold on the flip down chairs normally at the back. The place stinks of burnt metal.
Fire alarm goes off again, fortunately before Music and Movement. It’s the same sensor again so we’ll maybe need to rethink leaving it live. The alarm going off does not affect the activity in the church at all. Work takes precedence over personal safety clearly.
Meanwhile Joe has been busy with his crowbar and the platform/stage as we know it does not exist any more. Again, slightly painful to see it go with all the memories.
CABLEGATE – continues!
Malcolm, the night caretaker, calls – Our alarm company report a fault on the telephone line. Go to investigate and yes, Joe has, for some reason, disconnected a live set of telephone lines – not really sure why. This has taken down the alarm and all internet connections.
Very blessedly the Electricians are happy to help out and put it back together – what could have been a very big problem is made in to a tiny one – thanks men! It was encouraging to talk to someone at church on Sunday who confirmed that ‘wrong cable cutting’ was not limited to our project and in his office all the magnetic doors were locked shut by a bit of errant snipping.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Day 5 Afternoon
2.30pm, early finish on a Friday and Tom, Joe and Baz are off for the weekend. Have a good chat about church - they want to know if we are 'one of those churches where everyone jumps up and down'! - I say we are somewhere in the middle.
Pray for Lower Earley Baptist church as they are currently building their first permanent home from the ground up using the same builders as we are. We understand that they are experiencing some quite large (and expensive) initial problems with the build.
Week one over! God is good - reasonable progress, no injuries.
Pray for Lower Earley Baptist church as they are currently building their first permanent home from the ground up using the same builders as we are. We understand that they are experiencing some quite large (and expensive) initial problems with the build.
Week one over! God is good - reasonable progress, no injuries.
Day 5 - Jan 23rd - Lunchtime
A 'soft start' again with just Tom,Baz and Joe on site. They busy themselves with the intricate job of cutting out pieces of wood to fit the holes left in the wall by the removal of the pews.
CABLEGATE - CONTINUES
Regular readers will recall the decisions made yesterday about cables. Well, of course, It turns out one of the cables cut was the wrong one - the alarm system. Malcolm the night caretaker found that out late last night and the alarm people came promptly today and sorted it.
More good conversations with various visitors about what we are doing - once Tom has established how it will be at the front of the building with fencing etc we need to put up some signs and pictures, as people are interested in what is happening.
Encouragingly Tom wants to start at 7am next week so it sounds like the pace will pick up.
CABLEGATE - CONTINUES
Regular readers will recall the decisions made yesterday about cables. Well, of course, It turns out one of the cables cut was the wrong one - the alarm system. Malcolm the night caretaker found that out late last night and the alarm people came promptly today and sorted it.
More good conversations with various visitors about what we are doing - once Tom has established how it will be at the front of the building with fencing etc we need to put up some signs and pictures, as people are interested in what is happening.
Encouragingly Tom wants to start at 7am next week so it sounds like the pace will pick up.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day 4 Afternoon
A quieter day today, Tom calls it a 'soft start' which is a nice official way of saying that things are quiet. For a soft start they have achieved a lot really - Andrew comments a proper 'soft start' means the builders phoning to say sorry, they have'nt finished the last job yet and they'll come 2 weeks on Monday!
Baz and Joe, another colleague who has come today walk backwards and forwards with bits of the quiet room and soon its gone (see photo) and the church has been returned to its original state down below. Even with the scaffolding in place it looks great - much bigger feel and more open to the street.
We offer the builders lunch, leftovers from a Borough Council conference we catered for today and this is gratefully accepted - every little helps to build a good relationship.
Later Tom comes through wanting to know about a few cables that are in the sanctuary - can he pull them out in preparation for taking out the radiators? It's typical of Tom that he would ask first rather than just do it and say sorry after which many would do. Quickly Andrew identifies one cable as the hearing loop, which can come out, one as the internet connection to the AV desk which we roll up and tape out of the way. This leaves one, a scraggy moth eaten looking thing, covered with what looks like 10 coats of paint. It ends at a very tatty junction box in the wall. It would be so easy just to say 'get rid' but Andrew wisely tests the wire to see if it is carrying current and it is - we follow it back and through a very circuitous route it becomes clear that yes, it is the phone line enabling all our communication. Best leave it alone then.
Andrew and Tom chat over previous refurbs and Tom is impressed that last time out church members painted the roof themselves. Its clear that Tom has an eye for detail and wanting the place to look its very best, for example hes going to price up a set of matching mouldings to go with those lost when the partition wall went up.
What is also clear is that below a relatively calm surface a lot of people are paddling hard to keep the project on track for completion in 10 weeks. A lot of thing need to fall in to place if all is to be completed on time (e.g. lighting equipment could take 8 weeks to come but the scaffolding can't go until it has and if the scaffolding is in place then the prayer rooms can't be built and so on) and it would be good to pray that what needs to happen, will happen, when it needs to happen!
Tom clears up and the day ends.
Day 4 Morning
No scaffolding lorry today! Hooray! Tom & Baz are hard at it ripping down the partition wall and it makes a huge difference to the feel of the place, even in its building site state.
Paul from the architects is here and thats good because they are responsible for the formal management and guidance of the project so he is checking that all is going to plan.
He's also here to meet with Stuart our Treasurer to talk about complex VAT issues - in short, please pray that the VAT people accept our project as mostly reconstruction as opposed to maintenance - this will mean a much reduced VAT bill.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Day 3 - ends
Tom pops in for a debrief and we have a good chat - he like trucks too! Excellent!
We discuss Ice Road Truckers for a bit before running through all that happened. Scaffolding done now which is great, no more trucks out the front, heating drained, and demolition of the partition wall will probably start tomorrow. He seems on top of things at this stage and comfortable with the task in front of him, which is good.
Baz enjoys his becoming regular contemplative cigarette after shutting up and they leave. The day ends.
We discuss Ice Road Truckers for a bit before running through all that happened. Scaffolding done now which is great, no more trucks out the front, heating drained, and demolition of the partition wall will probably start tomorrow. He seems on top of things at this stage and comfortable with the task in front of him, which is good.
Baz enjoys his becoming regular contemplative cigarette after shutting up and they leave. The day ends.
day 3 - fire alarm
Off goes the fire alarm. Everybody out except the scaffolders who plod on regardless as they clearly feel they are immortal. As it happens it was their dust that tripped it off so no real problem. We could disconnect that particular alarm but we feel that there is actually more chance of a fire in that space while the work is going no than not so it'll stay for the time being.
Day 3 - mid morning
Tom pops in and updates - plumbers are draining down our old heating system today,ready to take it out, and heating engineers are trying to work out the best underfloor system for us to install - it all passes through numerous hands before being signed off. The new system will need to be fed directly from the mains water supply and that is going to mean a new pipe going down which is'nt in the costings - wait and see how much this will be.
They'll start to rip up the floorboards soon and a container will appear at the front to store them in ready for them going back down again.
Tom attempts to leave but is blocked in by a toddler and buggy - the toddlers may not have breached his security cordon (this time) but he can't breach theirs either.
2 More Brummies appear (see day 2) - There is a brief language barrier, but they start to speak more slowly and we understand that they can't find the water tanks.
Pass them to the expert (Mark) and the tanks are eventually located.
They'll start to rip up the floorboards soon and a container will appear at the front to store them in ready for them going back down again.
Tom attempts to leave but is blocked in by a toddler and buggy - the toddlers may not have breached his security cordon (this time) but he can't breach theirs either.
2 More Brummies appear (see day 2) - There is a brief language barrier, but they start to speak more slowly and we understand that they can't find the water tanks.
Pass them to the expert (Mark) and the tanks are eventually located.
Day 3 - 21st Jan 2009
The scaffolders arrive, cause momentary traffic chaos on the Kings Road as they manouver the truck in and day 3 starts as day 2 left off - endless hefting in of scaffold poles and planks accompanied to whistling to 2-Ten FM, the scaffolders radio station of choice.
Toddlers today, in the sports hall so well away from the action, but will any toddler make it through Tom's security cordon and on to site..........?
Toddlers today, in the sports hall so well away from the action, but will any toddler make it through Tom's security cordon and on to site..........?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Day 2 - end of
4.18pm Tom reports in at the end of the day. He's happy enough with progress but the real work can't really start until the scaffolders finish which will be tomorrow. In the meantime he wants squeeze a skip on to the front as well as the scaffolding lorry tomorrow and we get that sorted - City Car Club get the elbow to the rear car park. Baz enjoys a reflective cigarette and they leave.
The day ends.
The day ends.
Day 2 Lunchtime
A quiet start to the day did'nt last long. Bang! suddenly the place is swarming with different people - Electricians, Heating specialists the lot.
There are a number of different strands to our project and many of these will be followed at the same time by different teams so these folks were all doing preparatory work. Again, there is no messing about, things that were of utmost importance to us not 2 days ago, the boiler, the main fuse box and so on are relegated to nothing status in an instant.
One novelty is a Brummie bloke turning up in a suit to look at the heating pipes. Just to clear up any mis-understanding, it's not the fact he's a Brummie and wearing a suit ( for all you Brummie's reading) its the fact that he was wearing a suit at all in that environment which struck me as being on the ambitious side. 'Rags chic' rules at the moment in the midst of the dirt.
One man come through to get some help finding out where a particular water pipe leads to. He shows me and my immediate thought, which I don't verbalise, is that it was probably easier for Captain Cook to find Australia than it will be for us to trace this pipe back. 'Unique' would be a kind description of our water piping. We call the expert and Mark identifies it as a gas pipe, not water, probably installed when British Gas discovered that part of the church was getting its gas for free (but thats another story).
Out of the blue a man arrives looking for the organ pipes. This is good news, if a little random, as we were unsure how we were going to dispose of these, so we load them on - a lot more than he expected! He leaves and it turns out that he came from a business connected to Yeldall manor and the pipes will be used to make furniture rather than scrapped - good.
Incidentally a reasonable amount of the items that had to be removed have found new homes. All the pews were sold to people from church, large chunks of the organ went to various organ building projects across the country and some of the fancy woodwork round the organ went down Cumberland road where it is being turned in to a four poster bed!
Some of the smaller pieces were turned in to chopping boards and a lot of the 'scrap' wood went to Yeldall again to be turned in to patio tables.
We only used one skip in total and that is pretty good.
There are a number of different strands to our project and many of these will be followed at the same time by different teams so these folks were all doing preparatory work. Again, there is no messing about, things that were of utmost importance to us not 2 days ago, the boiler, the main fuse box and so on are relegated to nothing status in an instant.
One novelty is a Brummie bloke turning up in a suit to look at the heating pipes. Just to clear up any mis-understanding, it's not the fact he's a Brummie and wearing a suit ( for all you Brummie's reading) its the fact that he was wearing a suit at all in that environment which struck me as being on the ambitious side. 'Rags chic' rules at the moment in the midst of the dirt.
One man come through to get some help finding out where a particular water pipe leads to. He shows me and my immediate thought, which I don't verbalise, is that it was probably easier for Captain Cook to find Australia than it will be for us to trace this pipe back. 'Unique' would be a kind description of our water piping. We call the expert and Mark identifies it as a gas pipe, not water, probably installed when British Gas discovered that part of the church was getting its gas for free (but thats another story).
Out of the blue a man arrives looking for the organ pipes. This is good news, if a little random, as we were unsure how we were going to dispose of these, so we load them on - a lot more than he expected! He leaves and it turns out that he came from a business connected to Yeldall manor and the pipes will be used to make furniture rather than scrapped - good.
Incidentally a reasonable amount of the items that had to be removed have found new homes. All the pews were sold to people from church, large chunks of the organ went to various organ building projects across the country and some of the fancy woodwork round the organ went down Cumberland road where it is being turned in to a four poster bed!
Some of the smaller pieces were turned in to chopping boards and a lot of the 'scrap' wood went to Yeldall again to be turned in to patio tables.
We only used one skip in total and that is pretty good.
Day 2 - 20th January
Day 2 dawns. The scaffolders return...... but all is relatively quiet. Still feeling a bit gloomy about the the asbestos, but Tom seems OK with it, so work carries on.
Monday, January 19, 2009
INTRODUCTION TO WycliffeRefurbBlog
Our church is undergoing a major refurb over the next 10 weeks and given that it is being brilliantly documented in pictures on our web site (http://www.wycliffe-church.org.uk/) I thought it would be good to try and blog it in words as well. I have'nt blogged before but will do my best. It goes without saying that each and every view expressed here entirely my own and not the churches corporately or anyone elses. Any problems with what is written please let me know.
We met the man on who's shoulders the delivery of our hopes and dreams (no pressure) rests on Friday. He is called Tom and he works for Stan Randell and Co, our builders. He will be here 5 days a week at least for the next 10 weeks and will be the site agent. It's his job to organise and manage the teams of workers who will do what needs to be done. He spent Friday planning with his boss and he's in the thick of it today getting the scaffolding sorted. Its early days, but first impressions are positive - they clearly want to do the job right.
He comes up from Watford every day (lucky man) and we managed to get off on a good footing by supplying the secret back street directions to the church car park so he can avoid the huge loop round by the Royal Berks.
Monday 19th January - 8am
Well, its started! As I write a gang of men are transporting large sections of scaffolding inside the church (presumably as part of the repainting and relighting in the roof), and another man is going hammer and tongs at the platform with a crowbar. To be perfectly honest it makes fairly painful watching as we have a thousand memories tied up in the platform and they have none -and it shows (thats not a complaint, just an observation).
Fair play to the builders - they always said it would start today, and start it certainly has. At this point I need to say a heartfelt thanks to every person who helped to clear the church ready for this day. You worked hard and long and what you did meant that the builders had no impedement to starting today at all - they just got cracking which they clearly wanted to do. It also meant that the clearing was done as sympathetically as it could be and with love. The builders would have cleared the space for us but would have charged a lot for the work and done it all with a sledge hammer................
09:29
First little wrinkle. The side path of the church is Cemetery Junctions equivalent to the M25 in terms of pedestrian traffic. At the present time we are seeing men removing very large heavy pieces of scaffolding with mothers and children and other assorted pedestrians weaving in and out round their lorry and underneath the scaffolding. Not the best. Quick call to our long suffering neighbours in Crown House gets us the use of their car park spaces - they say yes, as ever, and some semblance of safety is resumed.
11am - silence falls. Tea break time is sacrosanct. The postman comes as usual and its good to tell him our plans. This will be an oft repeated conversation but we need to keep hammering away at peoples preconceptions about 'church' and the organised chaos outside means there is plenty to ask about.
Music and movement are in the Wycliffe Room today (as there is also a smaller electrical job happening in the sports hall) and we are keeping an eye open for junior escapees who fancy inspecting the refurb more than they want to sing 'the wheels on the bus'.
11.30am - Enquin environmental turn up - they are here to look for asbestos. We have to have a full survey done before the builders will proceed with certain aspects of the work. Just one part of a fairly long list of statutory duties we have to comply with, all of which cost money. God is good though. We only found out about the need to check for asbestos last week and contacted this company who are based in South Wales. They 'just happened' to be working at the Hexagon on a much bigger job and so could fit us in almost immediately, causing no delay to the works.
I adopt the standard greeting - 'you won't find any asbestos here'. He in turn adopts the standard reply 'If I had a pound.........'. Fair comment. As you would expect with people who's job it is to work every day with potentially deadly materials they are good humoured and extremely relaxed.
11.35am - We pause to pray for the builders. We aim to try and do this every day, but we'll see. We pray for their safety, for wisdom and especially that they might understand that the place is much more than bricks and mortar. I would imagine that builders approach a property in a very un-emotional manner so if we can communicate the true purpose of the place to them then so much the better. Tom has already noted the numbers of people around the place. In his mind I think he expected the church to be deserted during the week!
12.40pm
Second wrinkle - Tom asks us to have a look at the pulpit. Despite the Baptist Union saying the pupit must be kept, it appears to be making its own bid for freedom from the wall. It has been leaning for a while and its getting worse. I look at the bulk of the burly scaffolder standing in the pulpit as we talk and consider making a clever comment. Decide against it.
Tempting as it is to say 'take the pulpit away - its unsafe' and to replace it with another design, that would'nt wash with the BU - we would need to replace like for like so we'll need to look at jacking the existing one up and pinning it back against the wall. Personally I blame the choir of angels at the Nativity.
1pm - An unscheduled visit by our stationery sales rep leads to a good conversation about what we are doing and why. Turns out he used to go to church. He's more keen to talk about whether we are 'high church' or 'more evangelical' - We tell him that we just want to let people know that Jesus loves them and why. As we leave he passes a group of Nepali lads playing football in the sports hall - I don' t think he can quite believe what he is seeing (on 'church' premises), but his pre-conceptions are being challenged and thats great. These sort of conversations happen a lot.
1.45pm - The glass doors at the front now have a large set of wooden protective covers made for them by Baz the carpenter, who I learn will also be on the job full time. They'll be taken off at night and put on in the morning. The builders plan to do most of their movement of materials and equipment through the front entrance.
We make a double check on the doors through to the lower back hall that they are securely locked so that no Japanese toddlers can escape through to a new and very large 'climbing frame' . The scaffold reaches the ceiling now so we put away mental images of determined Japanese children being rescued from the very top.
2.30pm
Well, it did'nt take long - Day 1 and the first major challenge presented. You will note my comment to the asbestos surveyor earlier that 'he would'nt find any asbestos here'............... well, of course, head bangingly inevitably, he has. There are old, capped pipes running under the pulpit that have asbestos cladding on them. Nowhere else in the building, just there, but that causes potentially major financial and operational problems. I should say that as they are, they are no health risk to anyone, and never ever were. Its the incorrect removal,manufacture and installation of asbestos that causes the health problems that have been so well publicised.
The surveyor is currently ripping up the floor in the small vestibule outside the communion cupboard to see how far these cladded pipes extend. The position of these pipes is directly under the pulpit - it may well have to come out fully after all!
Incidentally, the surveyor also passed comment that he had found a piece of asbestos rope under the floor boards as well. Asbestos rope? whatever next.
However, as previously stated earlier, God is good - its quite by 'chance' that these pipes were found as the surveyor would not have chosen to take the floor up by the pulpit steps, he was concentrating on the main floor area as would be expected. However the other workmen had already taken some of the floor up there in order to site the scaffolding and so the surveyor shone his torch down.......... We would far rather know about them now than later on when all the work would have ground to a halt because of it - at least we can plan a strategy now.
4pm
The surveyor proudly announces that he has found some more asbestos, 'fire proof boxing' round the base of the metal pillars that were in what was the vestibule. I give a fixed smile in return.
4.37pm
Finally, he leaves with some samples to analyse. In simple terms there is potential for delay at some stage as the stuff is removed and to remove it will not be cheap. Day 1 comes to an end.
Our church is undergoing a major refurb over the next 10 weeks and given that it is being brilliantly documented in pictures on our web site (http://www.wycliffe-church.org.uk/) I thought it would be good to try and blog it in words as well. I have'nt blogged before but will do my best. It goes without saying that each and every view expressed here entirely my own and not the churches corporately or anyone elses. Any problems with what is written please let me know.
We met the man on who's shoulders the delivery of our hopes and dreams (no pressure) rests on Friday. He is called Tom and he works for Stan Randell and Co, our builders. He will be here 5 days a week at least for the next 10 weeks and will be the site agent. It's his job to organise and manage the teams of workers who will do what needs to be done. He spent Friday planning with his boss and he's in the thick of it today getting the scaffolding sorted. Its early days, but first impressions are positive - they clearly want to do the job right.
He comes up from Watford every day (lucky man) and we managed to get off on a good footing by supplying the secret back street directions to the church car park so he can avoid the huge loop round by the Royal Berks.
Monday 19th January - 8am
Well, its started! As I write a gang of men are transporting large sections of scaffolding inside the church (presumably as part of the repainting and relighting in the roof), and another man is going hammer and tongs at the platform with a crowbar. To be perfectly honest it makes fairly painful watching as we have a thousand memories tied up in the platform and they have none -and it shows (thats not a complaint, just an observation).
Fair play to the builders - they always said it would start today, and start it certainly has. At this point I need to say a heartfelt thanks to every person who helped to clear the church ready for this day. You worked hard and long and what you did meant that the builders had no impedement to starting today at all - they just got cracking which they clearly wanted to do. It also meant that the clearing was done as sympathetically as it could be and with love. The builders would have cleared the space for us but would have charged a lot for the work and done it all with a sledge hammer................
09:29
First little wrinkle. The side path of the church is Cemetery Junctions equivalent to the M25 in terms of pedestrian traffic. At the present time we are seeing men removing very large heavy pieces of scaffolding with mothers and children and other assorted pedestrians weaving in and out round their lorry and underneath the scaffolding. Not the best. Quick call to our long suffering neighbours in Crown House gets us the use of their car park spaces - they say yes, as ever, and some semblance of safety is resumed.
11am - silence falls. Tea break time is sacrosanct. The postman comes as usual and its good to tell him our plans. This will be an oft repeated conversation but we need to keep hammering away at peoples preconceptions about 'church' and the organised chaos outside means there is plenty to ask about.
Music and movement are in the Wycliffe Room today (as there is also a smaller electrical job happening in the sports hall) and we are keeping an eye open for junior escapees who fancy inspecting the refurb more than they want to sing 'the wheels on the bus'.
11.30am - Enquin environmental turn up - they are here to look for asbestos. We have to have a full survey done before the builders will proceed with certain aspects of the work. Just one part of a fairly long list of statutory duties we have to comply with, all of which cost money. God is good though. We only found out about the need to check for asbestos last week and contacted this company who are based in South Wales. They 'just happened' to be working at the Hexagon on a much bigger job and so could fit us in almost immediately, causing no delay to the works.
I adopt the standard greeting - 'you won't find any asbestos here'. He in turn adopts the standard reply 'If I had a pound.........'. Fair comment. As you would expect with people who's job it is to work every day with potentially deadly materials they are good humoured and extremely relaxed.
11.35am - We pause to pray for the builders. We aim to try and do this every day, but we'll see. We pray for their safety, for wisdom and especially that they might understand that the place is much more than bricks and mortar. I would imagine that builders approach a property in a very un-emotional manner so if we can communicate the true purpose of the place to them then so much the better. Tom has already noted the numbers of people around the place. In his mind I think he expected the church to be deserted during the week!
12.40pm
Second wrinkle - Tom asks us to have a look at the pulpit. Despite the Baptist Union saying the pupit must be kept, it appears to be making its own bid for freedom from the wall. It has been leaning for a while and its getting worse. I look at the bulk of the burly scaffolder standing in the pulpit as we talk and consider making a clever comment. Decide against it.
Tempting as it is to say 'take the pulpit away - its unsafe' and to replace it with another design, that would'nt wash with the BU - we would need to replace like for like so we'll need to look at jacking the existing one up and pinning it back against the wall. Personally I blame the choir of angels at the Nativity.
1pm - An unscheduled visit by our stationery sales rep leads to a good conversation about what we are doing and why. Turns out he used to go to church. He's more keen to talk about whether we are 'high church' or 'more evangelical' - We tell him that we just want to let people know that Jesus loves them and why. As we leave he passes a group of Nepali lads playing football in the sports hall - I don' t think he can quite believe what he is seeing (on 'church' premises), but his pre-conceptions are being challenged and thats great. These sort of conversations happen a lot.
1.45pm - The glass doors at the front now have a large set of wooden protective covers made for them by Baz the carpenter, who I learn will also be on the job full time. They'll be taken off at night and put on in the morning. The builders plan to do most of their movement of materials and equipment through the front entrance.
We make a double check on the doors through to the lower back hall that they are securely locked so that no Japanese toddlers can escape through to a new and very large 'climbing frame' . The scaffold reaches the ceiling now so we put away mental images of determined Japanese children being rescued from the very top.
2.30pm
Well, it did'nt take long - Day 1 and the first major challenge presented. You will note my comment to the asbestos surveyor earlier that 'he would'nt find any asbestos here'............... well, of course, head bangingly inevitably, he has. There are old, capped pipes running under the pulpit that have asbestos cladding on them. Nowhere else in the building, just there, but that causes potentially major financial and operational problems. I should say that as they are, they are no health risk to anyone, and never ever were. Its the incorrect removal,manufacture and installation of asbestos that causes the health problems that have been so well publicised.
The surveyor is currently ripping up the floor in the small vestibule outside the communion cupboard to see how far these cladded pipes extend. The position of these pipes is directly under the pulpit - it may well have to come out fully after all!
Incidentally, the surveyor also passed comment that he had found a piece of asbestos rope under the floor boards as well. Asbestos rope? whatever next.
However, as previously stated earlier, God is good - its quite by 'chance' that these pipes were found as the surveyor would not have chosen to take the floor up by the pulpit steps, he was concentrating on the main floor area as would be expected. However the other workmen had already taken some of the floor up there in order to site the scaffolding and so the surveyor shone his torch down.......... We would far rather know about them now than later on when all the work would have ground to a halt because of it - at least we can plan a strategy now.
4pm
The surveyor proudly announces that he has found some more asbestos, 'fire proof boxing' round the base of the metal pillars that were in what was the vestibule. I give a fixed smile in return.
4.37pm
Finally, he leaves with some samples to analyse. In simple terms there is potential for delay at some stage as the stuff is removed and to remove it will not be cheap. Day 1 comes to an end.
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