Albany Project: Day Three

Well, today we were supposed to finish, but we didn't make it. Much ground has been covered -- many walls drywalled including the Oasis pyramid, the risers and sink are in place, and the taping and mudding begun -- and yet there is much remaining to be completed.

A reduced crew, less than half the number we had to start, will work the next two days. Perhaps by the end of the week the mudding will be close to being finished. This will include installation of the corner beads and trim around the arch above the stage.

Once again today we were fed a delicious lunch by the Deacons of the church. They have done this all three days and will continue through Friday. Our evening meals are prepared by Joanne, Marcia and Rose Ann. All this good food has helped to keep us going. We truly appreciate all that everyone has done to support our efforts!

Several church members, Marilyn and Phillip, Leslie, Mike, Douglas, and Ray, have worked with us, increasing our output. Miriam and Glenn Leupold, the pastoral team serving the church, have occasionally been able to join us for lunch or dinner. Miriam has also gone the second mile of greeting us each morning with fresh coffee, as we gather in the parking lot.

Albany Project: Day Two

After a second long, productive day, the end -- while still distant -- is almost in sight!

The Jericho Theater risers are finished, as is the drywalling in that room -- next comes the taping and mudding. Unknown for the time being is how the rug will be re-attached on the surface. Ron and Jim moved on to drywall the hall closet and finished hanging that by day's end. The door jambs to both the closet and Jericho Theater need re-framing before the doors can be re-hung to complete these areas.

In the Oasis, three of the four walls are drywalled and the insulation is all in place. Two of the corners are done, but these places have been slow-going, as has the pyramid ceiling. This ceiling is over half done but the taping and mudding remain here, too.

The plumbing is finished in the Arts and Crafts area and the sink is in place. The counter and storage area have yet to be completed.

At Sinai Stage, almost all of the drywall work has been finished and all of the large stage extensions are assembled -- two other, triangular pieces remain.

Albany Project: Day One

Eight AM, 18 people gather for introductions, a welcome from Pastor Miriam, stretching and other preliminaries. Tools were then carried to the third floor -- lots of hands, light work! And after architect-designer, John Myers, walked us through the rooms, we divided into four teams and went to work.

Fruits of our labors. By day's end, the Sinai Stage has 8 of its 10 "stage extension platforms" cut and partly assembled and about 2/3 of the needed drywall cut and screwed in place with insulation added to the interior walls. Peg and JoEllen led this crew of 5, Leslie, Mike and Betty assisted.

Kevin and "Papa" Don worked on the plumbing for the Arts & Crafts room. While it took a while to find the requisite drain line and sources of water, if the sink had been on site, they would have been almost ready to begin making connections when work ended.

In Jericho Theater, Ron and Tom led their team of 5, with Jim, Phillip and Ray rounding out their crew. Here, following John's plans, they rolled back the rug and began laying down the riser supports which will soon hold 25 theater seats, once the platforms are installed. By day's end they were ready to begin screwing down the platforms. Besides this, they did some drywalling.

Finally, in the Oasis, or open meeting area, Terry, Peter and Eric worked with Linda, Marilyn and Debbie to install drywall on the walls and ceilings. Work here was slowed because of the ceiling height and tricky hallway corners. When completed this area will also showcase a marquee over the entrance to Jericho Theater. At day's end, more than half the drywall was in place.

Sunday Celebration

We worked late on Saturday and then worked again before and after worship on Sunday. By 4 o'clock we were "finished" in more ways than one. The front room was done! The new floor and baseboard were at long last in place, but not without some last minute thinking outside the box. When the vinyl cove baseboard was reluctant to adhere to our wainscoting, it took some quick thinking by Jill to substitute ripped composite material in its place. The completed project really looks good.

And in the men's room, another completed effort. The doors are on the showers and toilet stalls. All the pine has been primed. A new light was added over the shower area, and the exhaust fan was connected and operational. The room has a bright, clean and functional appearance. Everything is now ready for the delivery and plumbing of the new vanity.

The truck and cars were loaded within an hour of completing the work. By 5:30 PM we were on the road and headed north. 

Thanks, again, to all whose donations and pray support made this latest work of our NYS-FITS+ possible.

Friday and Saturday Progress

We got up early having mapped out a plan for the day last night. Jill, Roland and Eric were to work on replacing the ceiling, as Eric and Roland had been the ones who drilled the holes in the first place. Don, Tom and Ron would work on the bathroom, installing the partitions between the showers. JoEllen and Debbie started on cutting down the 5 doors for the bathroom. Before long the lack of drilling noise was noticed. Jill and Eric had gone to Home Depot to return with a mammoth Hilti rotary hammer drill that made drilling the holes much "easier." Jill now took over the drilling and worked with JoEllen on replacing the smaller screws with large TapCons and wiring the lights to the ceiling, replacing any broken parts to the framework. Meanwhile Eric moved to putting up melamine in the bathroom. Debbie continued with cutting down doors. We worked until near 5:30 when we needed to someone to the Baptist Church to secure the showers.

Giant strides towards completing our project were made today: the ceiling is fully and totally re-suspended!! and the flooring tiles are all in place. The room, which two days ago looked like a bomb had fallen has taken on a new nature. It looks like a million dollars. Well, at least a usable , and highly rent-able, space.

The bathroom is now nearing completion. The second toilet has been installed. For the showers, the dividers are in place, the mats have been purchased and the dressing platforms made. The doors have all been trimmed and received their first coat of paint. Also, the grouting was done around the second commode, the first door was installed, the exhaust fan hooked up and vented to the outside, and a new light installed in the shower area. Some of the prime coat has been applied to the white pine surfaces, too. It won't be long now. In fact, the showers are ready for their first use and will probably get it later tonight.

Thanks go to all who have been praying for us and sending us encouraging notes. You guys are terrific. Tomorrow, we are hoping to get just a little more work in before and after worship.

Return to Washington

Eight of us have returned to Casa del Pueblo to finish (and repair) what we began three weeks ago. Since leaving, the ceiling in the front room collapsed! Almost all the tiles, lights and suspending superstructure fell to the floor. We are so very grateful that no one was in the room at the time, especially not under one of the lights.

Jill and Don, JoEllen and Tom, Debbie and Eric, Ron and Roland have made the trip from New York to complete the bathroom project and to re-hang the suspended ceiling. Our hopes are to complete the job by the end of the work day on Saturday. Sunday, Eric and Tom will be contributing to the worship service with one of their patented dialogue sermons.

Washington Postscript

Well, we didn't finish. Debbie and JoEllen did not finish putting down the vinyl tile; like everyone else they were worn out. And the bathroom has an even longer way to go before completion. Our thinking is to try and return, possibly as early as later this week, to put in the additional two or three days it will take to complete the job. While this crew may be small, it will be all that we need. Stay tuned.