What a Difference a Week Makes!

Just in this past week, great progress has been made on the interior of the new wing, but not all of it is readily apparent.  For example, the entry way floor has been prepared for tiling and carpeting, but if you had not seen the rugged bumps in the concrete and the beat up linoleum, you wouldn't appreciate the beautiful, smooth concrete floor - and you won't see it after the tile and carpet are lain.
But the sheet rock has been applied to the ceiling and walls in the stack room, and the wooden ceiling has been emplaced over the research table area and map cove.  
Not the least, the bookcase building project continues, and the first phase is close to completion.  The second phase - building just as many cases as we've already built -  must commence soon.  Jim Friestad will be pleased to have your help!

Ceiling work is going well now that the insulation is in.

The sheet rock gives a feeling of size of the stack room.  Those beams in the corner will be emplaced on the wooden ceiling above the research tables.

Look what is stored in the Fireplace Room:  The light fixtures!  Boxes of them!

The bookcase project has boiled over to a tent outdoors, but what you see is just about all we have to stain and varnish before assembly.

Karen Harris and Dave Pettitt are volunteer stainers extraordinaire!

And the roses are in bloom!!

We're Back On Track

With the arrival and installation of insulation today, the work in the interior of the new wing resumed after a 3 week hiatus occasioned by the installation requirements for a fire and burglar alarm system.  Both the insulation and security system should be completed on Monday, to be followed shortly by ceiling work, dry walling, and floor preparation for carpet and tile.  The exterior work has been moving right along with completion of the masonry, the painting, the windows, and the roofing.  The hardscape subcontractor made a visit today to size up our progress and what he needs to do to start work on the sidewalks, and the landscape contractor has pulled weeds and will start moving dirt next week.  Meanwhile, thanks to our stalwart volunteers, Jim Friestad's crew has logged 759 hours of bookcase work.  Once the interior of the new wing has been painted, the bookcases can be assembled and installed.  Then the library will have to be shut down for a few weeks while we move books, old bookcases, and furniture into the new wing.  Look forward to that move, for it will be a real milestone for us all.  Come on down and help with the move!  We'll need you - maybe even have coffee and donuts for you!

Insulation goes pretty quickly, and did, when the carpenters have done their work carefully and properly - and they did.

Aren't these windows beautiful?  And how do you like the color of the building and the way it sets off the colors of the tile and windows?  Can you hardly wait until we have to wash those windows?

Bob Lynn stains one of the panels that will subdivide the bookcases into bays.  Each bookcase will have fourteen 3' wide bays.  Each bay is 7' tall and will have six shelves.  We'll make a total of eight bookcases.  Do the math and then be impressed with the efforts of these volunteers!

Dave Pettitt wipes dust off a stained, intermediate panel in preparation for its first of three coats of Varathane®.  We've been able to do this work in the stack room of the new wing during the lull in construction there.  Other panels behind Dave are in various stages of completion.

Stan Zalatel nails shelf support hardware in the slots to one of the finished end panels.  This work has to be done carefully so that the shelves will be nice and flat when installed.

And here is supervisor Jim applying Varathane® to each of some of the 480 moldings we'll need to glue to the edges of the bookshelves. 

Exterior Progress

Window glass was installed last week.  Today, the painters masked those windows and applied a primer coat.  After the final coat is applied, the grading for drainage around the building can commence, followed by sidewalk and patio work, and then landscaping.  Interior progress has stalled awaiting our security and fire alarm people while they obtain a permit.  The bookcase work rolls on.

The window glazers worked quickly and efficiently.

The painters masked those pretty windows early Monday morning.

Then they got busy with the primer coat.

And they work fast!  No nonsense with these fellows!

By mid-morning, the east wall had received its primer coat.  The final coat will be a warm tan, nearly the same as we're used to seeing on the old wing.