CHURCH REFURBISHMENT

November 23rd to 27th 2020

This week we received the Certificate of Practical Completion and Final Account from Bruce Bradley our Architect.

Thanks are due to Bruce for his design work and supervision during the project and to Damon Brooks and his colleagues at ARC Group for completing the work to a consistently high standard throughout.

Thanks also to colleagues on the Refurbishment Committee, the many fund-raisers and donors whose tireless efforts over several years past have made this project possible and to those of you who have been readers of this record over many months.

All Hallows now has facilities which will meet its needs for many years into the future.

Ted White
21 November 2020

Progress on Church Refurbishment

March 9th to 24th 2020

When work stopped the disruption at the back of the church was at its maximum.

The picture shows pipes that were ready to be laid in the trench and a pile of soil that has already been excavated by the back wall.

The Parclose Screen was repaired and rebuilt. Here it is in its new position fixed to the east wall of the south aisle

June 10th to 19th

Work started on Monday 9th March and stopped on Tuesday 24th March because of the Coronavirus outbreak.

During that time the medieval Parclose Screen was removed from the choir vestry extension

The rest of the vestry extension was demolished and excavation of a trench for the drainage and water supply to the tea-bar was begun.

Work resumed on Wednesday 10th June with further excavation to complete the trench. Matt Hurford the appointed archaeologist was there to watch for any archaeological remains but nothing of significance was found.

The drains, water supply and electric cable have all been installed in the trench. The drain has been approved by the Gedling Borough Council Building Inspector and the trench has been backfilled along its entire length.

The path through the north side of the churchyard has been re-instated and the remaining debris is being removed so that route should become passable soon. The paving stones covering the trench have been replaced from the north wall to the centre of the nave.

June 22nd to 26th

The rest of the paving slabs that had been lifted to dig the drainage trench have been replaced so the floor is now complete as far as the south aisle. The area in the right foreground is where the parquet flooring has been removed because it was found to have rotted underneath. This area will be paved with new stone slabs.

The installation of timber studding for the toilet walls has continued and the storage deck above has been covered by boards.

On Thursday 25th.June the sarcophagus was moved to its new position in front of the screen at the east end of the south aisle. When the lid was removed all that was found inside it was a note signed by the eight people who moved it last time on 25 November 1993.

Click here to see how the sarcophagus was moved.

June 29 to July 3rd.

We have not made so much progress this week because our joiner has been away on another job

Building the structure for the toilets has continued and the loft ladder giving access to the platform above the toilets was installed.

A meeting between the architect and the contractor clarified several detail design points.

July 6th to 10th

The Stanton Moor sandstone paving to replace the section of rotten parquet flooring has been completed. The blue water supply pipe and the black electricity cable can be seen at the far end
.

Boarding has been added to the toilet walls ready for the plumbers to install their pipework.

The electrician has completed the ‘first fix’ of the cables and socket boxes in the toilet structure. The one shown is on the outside and will be used to power the control desk for the new Audio System. Another one may be added higher up at the request of the system designers

July 13th to 17th

The Oak cladding has been fitted to the external surface of the toilet structure. This has taken some time as it requires great skill and accuracy to ensure that the joints between the pieces on the walls will match those on the two doors.

Our joiner has done an excellent job here particularly so by the column at the junction of the two walls. It is now possible to get some idea of what the finished area will look like

The Audio System engineer has installed his wiring to interconnect the control desk with the speakers.

July 20th to 24th

The plumbers have completed the ‘first fix’ of the water supply and heating pipes leaving stubs to which the taps etc. can be attached.

Both of the toilet cisterns have been installed. The one in the accessible toilet is built into the thickness of the new wall dividing the two toilets

The one in the other toilet is attached to the north wall behind a wooden structure.

Blue plasterboard has been attached to the walls with sound-proofing behind. The plasterboard on the north wall in the accessible toilet has been fitted with a ventilation space behind it

July 27th to 31st

The adjacent cupboards and wardrobes have been emptied and demolition of the old toilet has been completed.
The wall in the background with the mirror will form part of the accessible toilet and will be rendered with the rest of the plastering whilst the cupboard under the stairs will be retained.

Further plasterboard has been applied to complete the ceiling in the area of the loft-hatch make all surfaces ready for plastering.

August 3rd to 7th

More electrical wiring and plumbing have been completed and both toilets and the chair-store ceiling have been fully plastered.

Places where the walls have been removed from the old toilet have been filled in preparation for final plastering.

August 10th to 14th

The rest of the plastering has been completed and we are now waiting for it to dry sufficiently to allow emulsion paint to be applied to the walls and ceilings so there are no pictures this week because the only thing to see is plaster drying. We expect to start back on site next week.

Whilst waiting for the plaster to dry, our joiner has been in the workshop manufacturing the set of four bi-fold door for the north-aisle chair-store and the door from the nave to the lobby. Doors for the two toilets have been delivered during the week. The doors will be covered with vertical tongue and grove oak boarding to match that on the walls.

August 17th to 21st

The plaster has now dried sufficiently for both toilets to receive their first coat of emulsion paint and the cladding has been completed in both the chair store and the lobby.

The doors that were made in the workshop last week have been delivered and are ready for hanging

The smaller toilet has been painted and the cladding applied to the tank housing ready to install the plumbing fittings

August 24th to 28th

The lobby door that was made off-site is
now in place and the door for the small toilet behind has been made and hung.

The door to the larger toilet has also been completed and hung

The walls have had their final coat of emulsion paint and the floor covering has been ordered.

The interior of the lobby is now completely
clad except for a small piece to enclose the
electric cables on the right

September 1st to 4th

The electricians have installed the PIR-controlled lighting, the extractor fan and the emergency pull switch in both toilets.

The bottom of the tower arch and the electric cables in the lobby have been enclosed in cladding and both toilets have had their vinyl flooring installed

The bi-fold doors have been fitted to the chair-storage cupboard

September 7th to 11th

The plumbers have installed the sanitary fittings, hand basins and piping and the walls have been given their final coat of emulsion pain.

Here is the smaller toilet...

... and here is the larger with its hand rails and fold-down support.

The open space above it is the panel that gives access to he tank which is entirely enclosed in the wall.

All of the oak cladding has been given several coats of a special oil to bring out the grain in the wood. This is the inside of the lobby looking towards the choir vestry

The new finish shows well on the outer door to the lobby

September 14th to 18th

The smaller toilet has had the splash back added to the hand basin and an oak cover to the tank so it is now complete.

The larger toilet has had ventilation grilles fitted and the panels around the tank has been completed. A little painting remains to be finished. The special door handle has been fitted but other door furniture has yet to be delivered.

The loft ladder leading to the storage area above has been completed.

September 21st to 25th

The contractor handed over the toilets and choir vestry to us on Friday September 25th and they are now available for use

Looking from the choir vestry towards the entrance showing the new carpet tiles on the floor. The lighting is switched on by a PIR when you enter.

The new baby change unit in the accessible toilet folds flat to the wall when not in use

The wardrobe for choir robes has been re-positioned in the vestry and a new oak door has been fitted to enlarge the under-stairs storage space.

The structure for the chair-storage cupboard and the tea-bar is starting to take shape and the first of the cupboard units have been delivered.

September 28th to October 2nd

The chair-store attached to the toilets in the north aisle takes three trolley loads of chairs.

The choir vestry is all set up and ready for Sunday

The view from the storage area on top of the toilets showing the church has been cleaned and furnished ready for re-opening on Sunday

Note the replacement loudspeakers on the columns which are part of the new audio system

Some of the cupboards that will form the tea-bar

October 5th to 9th

Most of the activity has taken place off site where the remaining cupboards are being built

The first of them are now in place and the water heater with its associated plumbing have been installed

October 12th to 16th

Most of the work has again taken place off-site but the units and some of the studding have been attached to the wall.

The electrician has started to install the wiring and the dishwasher has been delivered

A solid oak draught-strip has been added to the threshhold of the west door by our joiner.

October 19th to 23rd

The counter has been installed and clad with vertical planks of oak to match the toilets in the North Aisle.

They will look darker when they have had an application of several coats of Danish Oil

The wall cupboards have been fitted on the South Aisle wall and the space between them has been clad with more oak planks.

Drawers and shelving under the serving counter

October 26th to 30th

Damon, our joiner has taken some well-earned annual leave this week so the tea-bar remains as it was on October 23rd.

The sub-contractors who are making the granite work-top came to make templates to enable them to cut the pieces of granite in their workshop.

November 2nd to 6th

The hymn-book shelves have been installed and folding doors have been fitted to the chair-store cupboard.

A cornice has been added to provide continuity between the two units.

The chair-store with its doors closed showing the ventilation slots

The oak planking on the serving counter has been treated with Danish Oil as have all the other wood surfaces.

The cornice continues over the tea-bar cupboards

The two panels on the servery counter will be fitted to the front of the fridge and dishwasher

Doors have been fitted to the cupboards under the counter.

The fridge has been installed and the dishwasher is ready to be slid into its space.

The box on the counter contains the water boiler which will be installed above the drainer.

November 9th to 13th

The granite worktop has been fitted by specialist contractors and the electrical work has continued.

The fridge is on the west wall opposite the camera and the dishwasher is to the left of the sink.

The water tap has been fitted to the worktop and below the sink we have the electric heater for tap water and the drainage system

The water boiler for making hot drinks has been fitted to the wall above the drainer and to the left of the sink..

The lighting under the canopy and under the cupboards provided plenty of illumination.

Further lighting will be added to shine on the counter and worktop.

The chair store cupboard is now in use

November 16th to 20th

A set of three spotlights has been added to illuminate the worktop on the west wall

November 23rd to 27th

Together with a flood light on the south wall we now have all of the work surfaces illuminated.

We held a meeting with our architect to discuss a few small rectifications that are outstanding and we expect the contractors to hand over the tea-bar to us when they have been completed.