Big Update

Sorry for the delay in posting new pictures.  I should be back on track keeping you posted on the changes going on in our building. 

This post will have quite a few pictures:

The walls in the front hallway are going up at a rapid pace. 

A mason works on finished the corner of a room. 

This is where two of the four new water fountains will be.

Saws are being used to trim blocks and create a lot of dust in the process. 

A new classroom at the end of the hallway. 

A new resource classroom. 

The doorway for the boys' and girls' bathrooms. 

ROOF WORK

The workers have begun the process of adding the roof decking to the new end of the hallway. 

Roof tresses have been delivered and are waiting to be placed on the roof. 

Welders are on the roof (wearing safety harnesses) waiting for roof decking to be lifted. 

A crane is used to lift sheets of roof decking up to the welders. 

The welder is standing on portions of roof decking waiting for the next stack.  This may not seem very high off the ground but it would be terrible to fall. 

The welder has to communicate with the crane operator to get the decking right where he needs it.  It's too heavy to have to move it very much once it is on the roof. 

KITCHEN

The concrete flooring has been poured in the kitchen.  Once that was completed, the kitchen was bombarded by workers. 

A new concrete floor in the kitchen. 

No, this is not a fan that has fallen over.  It is a piece of equipment that they run over the wet concrete to create a smooth surface. 

A large trench has been dug around the outside wall of the kitchen and then filled with concrete. 

The location of the doors and windows will be different when the kitchen is finished.  As they are  building walls inside the kitchen, they cover the old openings. 

The masons work on the employee break room. 

More door and window openings are blocked off. 

This window will be blocked but the area just inside will continue to be the dirty dish area. 

ELECTRICITY

The electricians keep working in the boiler room.  They have had to tear down the ceiling in order to access hidden areas. 

It is great to see that this worksite has had at least one female worker.  She is an electrician and is installing a transformer in what used to be a restroom inside the boiler room. 

A New Freezer

As work continues in the kitchen, the workers are preparing the area that will be home to our new freezer.  To install a commercial grade below-zero freezer doesn't mean that you can just pour a concrete floor and then plop down the freezer.  Since the unit gets down to -20 degrees it would draw moisture from the ground and create a heap of problems.  In order to prevent this the workers prepare the flooring area.  

First, a 12" slab of concrete is poured and topped with a waterproof liner.  Then 6"of vertical containment barrier (the blue foam) is laid on top of the concrete.  To top it off, another 4" layer of concrete goes on the barrier.  When this has dried and set, they will be ready to place the bottom of the freezer on the entire area.  The freezer floor has its own layers of insulation. 



While the freezer area is being worked on, workers Justin and James prep the area around the new steel post for a concrete support. 



Electrical Work

The electricians have been working on the electrical components that will be housed in our boiler room area.  They have installed a large circuit breaker board (probably not the technical name) and transformers.  Electricity comes into our building at a high voltage.  Some of the things we use such as electrical outlets require a smaller voltage so the power goes through a transformer. 

This is the new circuit breaker unit.



This is one of two transformers that have been installed. 

New Rooms and a New Design

As the masons have continued to lay the concrete block, the walls for the new bathrooms, resource rooms, and mechanical rooms are in process.  Looking at the actual space is so much different than looking at a blue print.  (*Thanks to Electrician Dustin for all of the updates.)



This is a new resource room which is about half the size of a standard classroom.  This new room is located next to the restrooms. 



These two doorways are located next to the old part of the building.  They are in what used to be the gazebo hallway.  The door on the right will lead into a mechanical room.  The door on the left is for the custodial closet. 

This large double wide door frame is for the restrooms.  All students will enter the double doorway - girls go to the left and boys to the right.  This will be great for teachers because it will be easier to monitor both bathrooms at the same time.  There will be two water fountains on either side of the doorway. 

If you look up when you are inside the old portion of the hallway you will see black pipes.  These are the vent pipes for the plumbing. 



This was a very exciting feature to see today.  The workers did a test run of the soffet that will be above each classroom doorway.  The curve is a part of the architectural design that will be evident throughout the building. 



So Much Completed in Three Days

A lot of work has been done since I took pictures last Friday.  The ground has dried out and it is easier to maneuver around the work site.  The masons and electricians have been busy working on the classrooms.  A quick walk around the work area proved to be exciting. 

With all the block that is being laid, lots of mortar has to go down first.  The mortar is mixed by hand and then the masons slap it down on top of the brick.  There is a very distinct rhythm to the work.  In the process, I believe more mortar landed on the ground than on the brick. 

The haze in the photo is from the dust that the saw is causing.  You can constantly hear the masons cutting block that needs to fit in tight spaces.  The facing wall is actually a new small classroom next to the bathrooms. 

Work is being done on the front wall facing the bus lane. 

This is the view of the new hallway from Mary Queen's view point. 

This is the front of the hallway facing the bus lane.



This is a view of the back hallway that faces the gazebo and track area.  Look at how long the wall is now that the new part is flush with the walls from the old classrooms. 



Walls, Walls Everywhere

As soon as there was a break in the rain, masons swarmed our campus.  The concrete block walls for the classrooms at the end of the building are going up. 

This picture shows the mud that they were having to drive and walk through last week due to the rain.

When you walk onto the site it seems like a lot of chaos.  After you watch for a few minutes you will see that everyone has a job and they work in unison. 

This area is getting walls last.  This side, which faces the track, will have the bathrooms and mechanical room. 

This view from the back shows the interior walls for the back classrooms. 

The next day they had completed the exterior walls for the back classrooms. 



As walls are built, electricians are on the job making sure that all electrical receptacles and conduit are placed in the right location. 



Kitchen Beams

Despite the week of rainy weather, work continues on our renovation.  The kitchen is having concrete poles replaced with steel beams. 



This gentleman is operating a very large crane.



It's a very tall piece of equipment that is being used to help install the 480 lb steel beams into the kitchen. 

The beam was loaded through a hole in the roof.  It's held by a steel cable as the other workmen attach it to the ceiling. 

You can see them at the top.  There were a total of 6 installed. 

The steel beam in the middle will allow the concrete poles to be removed. 

Kitchen Work

Kitchen update:  there are two new concrete pads inside the kitchen.  I will take an educated guess and say that they are for the freezer and refrigerator. 

Of the two new concrete pads, this one is larger.  Not sure if that means it is the freezer or refrigerator. 

The smaller of the two pads. 

Old Classrooms - New Electrical Receptacles

The electricians have been busy working in the old classrooms preparing all of the receptacles for various uses.  The photos below show where each receptacle is and its use. 

This is the new entrance area to the classroom. 

This view is of the old teacher desk area. 



This is the view of the corner where the sink was located.  It will now have the sink and will also be the teacher work area.