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. 



Electrical

As busy as the workers have been with concrete and door frames, electricians have been busy working on the new electrical box that will be in the boiler room.  ( I guess we need a new name for that room after the renovation.)




This is only the beginning of electrical boxes that will be required to run our newly updated school. 



So Much Can Happen in a Short Amount of Time

Thursday afternoon the workers completed the flooring for the new classrooms.  On Friday they began installing door frames and brick walls.  It has created a look that shows the big changes to come. 

As you could see from a previous post, when the concrete was poured it was rough and bumpy looking.  Now it is smooth and I would almost say shiny if it weren't for all the dust.  In order to make the surface smooth, they run a machine over it that has rotating blades.  It is now smooth so that it can be ready for the next step in the flooring process. 

Door frames and the first layers of the interior concrete block walls are now in place. 

Scaffolding is lined up down the hallway in preparation for completing the interior walls on Tuesday and Wednesday.

New Flooring Continues

The portion of the new hallway that will house the restrooms and mechanical room have had the flooring completed.  The finished picture will be posted in a day or so but here are the steps up to this point. 

Plumbing was added and inspected. 

Gravel was placed in the trenches.

They began to fill the entire area with gravel.

A water proof barrier was put down, the area was sprayed for termites, and rebar was put down.  (Okay I know you want to know why termite spraying since there is no wood in our building??  It is to prevent them from nesting under the concrete.  It could potentially cause a void if they left the nest.)

It takes two workers to carry sheets of rebar.  The rebar is placed on the barrier and then trimmed to fit around the pipes. 

Strong hands hold the mesh rebar and tie it to the long rebar. 

Early Wednesday morning (6:30am) they began the process of pouring the concrete.  In this photo, the concrete looks rough and bumpy but when they are finished it will be very smooth.  FYI When the cement is mixed, they can alter the mixture to compensate for the weather.  If it is a hot day, there is more retarder (hope that's the correct word) added to the mixture to prevent it from drying too quickly.