By the Numbers . . . . . . .

We've just gone through the rainiest day on record, or so Edhat reported and referred to 2003.  Edhat wasn't here in 1969 when we had 6" the first day and 3" the next.  Now that was rain!
But this weekend's rain didn't slow the bookcase-making efforts - the work merely moved into the new wing to stain and varnish nine plywood panels.  The the sun peeked through on this morning so that a large bunch of volunteers showed to up rout the edges of other panels and to sand them prior to staining and varnishing.  That activity is pictured below.
Consider this, however, dear readers: we are building almost 1/4 mile of shelf space in this first phase; we've made 143 cuts of plywood panels, we dadoed 0.4 miles of slots, and we'll put nearly 0.3 mile of molding on the edges of 580 bookshelves.  That is a lot of wood, glue, and work!  Volunteers have already put in several hundred hours of work sawing, sanding, staining, varnishing, routing, dadoing, and just toting pieces back and forth, sometimes several times a day, between saw and the storage sheds. We're making good use of borrowed sawhorses, tools, and talent.  Thanks to all you volunteers!

Ron Torp nails molding to the edge of a panel that will become the end of one of the bookcases, while Bob Lynn and John DuBois hang on.

Martin Petersen routs the edge of the molding to give it a curved edge, while Gary Matz and Paul Cochet hang on. 

Routing is slow work, so another crew helps in the background.

A belt sander makes the work go a lot faster.

Bookcase Activity Heats Up with the Arrival of Spring

Most of the construction activity has been taking place up in the attic - the installation of the heating/air condition, electrical, and the fire suppression system.  But at the same time, Jim Friestad and his crew have been making a lot of headway preparing the wood panels for the bookcases.  Do you realize we're making 1/2 mile of bookshelves?  We have been sawing plywood for a couple weeks, dadoed 0.4 miles a couple Saturdays ago, and are now sanding and staining the panels.  Have a look below!

Here are some of the things you would see coming down from the attic right now:  on the left, the heating duct, and on the right is one of the several fire sprinklers.

Bob Lynn and Fred Shaeffer fasten clamps to glue two plywood sheets together that will become one of the two end pieces of a bookcase.  They will let the glue dry for at least two days before removing the clamps.

I'd give a nickel for every square foot John Fristche sanded this morning!

Kathie and Cari probably sanded just as much as John.

And here's foreman Jim with the first of the stained panels.

And the Work Goes On

Now at the end of the first week of March, we have windows although lacking glass panes, we have a red tile roof, although needing some work around the chimney, we have electrical and data cables, although lacking final hookups, we have air conditioning ducts, although only about half completed, we have fire suppression pipe delivered but yet to be installed, we have a good start on the exterior brick walls, and we have the beginnings of bookcases a' building by Jim Friestad and his crew of volunteers.  A lot going on all at once!  Have a look below.

These window frames for the librarians' office are the same throughout the new wing.  Do you like the color?

Here is one of the reasons we cannot store books or have parties in the attic.  Librarians and patrons should have little reason to complain about how cold it is in the library, and the books should be very happy in a climate controlled environment.

The Jensens are measuring and marking the exact positions for the bookcases in the new wing.

Our intrepid mason Willi, who, with two helpers, is building a new type of concrete block facing for the building.  The blocks are tied to the vertical metal strips, and a space is left between the blocks and the wall to allow air circulation and an insulating effect.  A special netting goes in that space to prohibit entry of spiders and critters.

The brickwork is nearing completion in the entryway area.

The masonry is really interesting to watch in this video.  It's all in the wrist.

Returning Where We Left Off . . . . . . .

Lots of progress again at the library last week and today.  The last picture in the previous blog showed red tiles being placed on the roof, but below, the tiling is almost done, and Tyvek, which is a special air barrier paper, was placed on the exterior walls in preparation for the mason to build the concrete block walls next week.  Inside, the electrical work is nearly done so that installation of the heating and air conditioning ducts can be installed in the attic.  AND, not only did we take delivery on the last of the plywood sheets for the bookcases, but also volunteers began the process of building those bookcases by trying out the panel saw.  The cuts were perfect, so bookcase foreman Jim Friestad set up a schedule of work on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday mornings.  Let him know if you'd like to help.

The outer shell has been wrapped in Tyvek air barrier paper, and the roof tiling is almost done.  Windows and doors will arrive soon, masonry begins soon, too.

Heater ducts have been delivered and are being emplaced in the attic.

Upon arrival this morning, we found this truck in our driveway delivering more roofing tiles.

Here Jim Friestad supervises Martin and Fred carrying beautiful 1" thick  plywood for storage in the lath house.

Over at the glass house, here's volunteer Stan Zalatel making the first cut in plywood for the first bookcase.  Come on down and help!  Call Jim to get on his list.

A Whole New Roof and Bookcases

Don't look now but the weather forecast for the end of the coming week is for four days of rain, but no problem.  Our roof is coming right along, and the wood for new bookcases has arrived and been placed indoors.  Have a look below!

The job of placing red tiles on the roof begins

This is pretty exacting work.  Rafael is very careful to get that first row just so.

It was really interesting to watch Rafael work.  He has been doing this kind of work for over 20 years.

This fellow puts the wires on each tile.  You can see he is happy in his work.

The rows are straight down the roof, but they are staggered, purposely, along the roof.  The metallic tiles are vents and will be painted the red brown tile color.

Each tile is held in place by a dab of mortar.   A wire, threaded through a hole in the rear of the tile, is tied to the wires you see stretched down the roof.  How do you like the color?

At the same time the roof tiling was happening, a truckload of 62 red oak-veneered, 4'x8' sheets of plywood arrived and needed to be unloaded by John Frische and other Society volunteers.

The panels are stored in the glass house until more Society volunteers can begin to cut and assemble them into bookcases just like those now in the old wing of the Sahyun Library.

The crew of Society volunteers (l-r, Bob McMillin, Fred Shaeffer, Paul Cochet, John DuBois) with foreman Jim Friestad, who unloaded and stored all those plywood sheets.  Now the fun begins with that panel saw between Fred and Paul!

Destruction and Construction

Still lots of progress at the Sahyun Library with construction of the new wing, but also destruction of part of the old wing prior to its renovation.  Our contractor found evidence that the red tile roof on the old wing was at least 30 years old, maybe even 60, and besides some moderate termite damage, it was way out of line with present building codes, so he recommended and we agreed that it ought to be replaced while we're putting the roof on the new wing.   About half of the old tiles can be salvaged and recycled and will be placed on the driveway side of the old wing, as well that part of the roof over the kitchen and computer room.  We learned that all roofing tile is not the same shape and color, but we found a close match.

Here the roofing crew is removing the old tiles from the roof of the old wing of the library.

This is heavy hard work.  Good thing the weather is nice.  The stacked tiles will be recycled onto the driveway side of the old wing.

Meanwhile, the crew is preparing to put new red tiles on the new roof.  They will be fastened to the wires as required by code.  The tiles in this picture are the old, recycled ones and are stacked here temporarily while the old roof is being cleared.

The first load of sheet rock has arrived to drywall the interior!  That work will start in the next few days.

Lastly here's a picture of an alien being that Jim Friestad caught lurking on the premises.  We shall see much more of him once the interior is drywalled.

The Busiest Construction Day at the Sahyun Library!

Several members have often asked " Where are all the workmen?"  They see only a couple people now and then, but that all changed today, the First of February.  We had two carpenters and their two helpers, two electricians, six roofers, and four fellows from Service Master cleaning up the attic.  16 people in all.  Quite a show and quite some progress!  

The Service Master crew was very enthusiastic about their task.

They got right to work up in the attic.

And look at some of the trashy stuff they removed!

Meanwhile, the roofers were roofing.  They are putting a layer of red asphalt sheeting on a layer of tar paper and sealing everything with hot, low odor tar.  Red tiles will go on top of all that.

This fellow is cooking up a batch of hot tar where the Cherry of the Rio Grande used to be.

The hot-mopping process seals all the seams and nails, and it ties the tar paper and asphalt sheeting together.

And indoors the electricians are putting in conduit for lights, outlets, and the electrical panel that will back up our computer facilities.

Here's how we look from Montecito Street.

 And here is the latest look from the corner of Montecito and Castillo.  We cannot hide any longer!