Plastering off to a rapid start

It was an excellent working party at the weekend, where lots of jobs got done as well as decisions getting made, and plenty of people got to see the main hall without scaffolding for the first time.  Thanks to all who helped out.  We are still running working parties every Thursday evening, as well as having one planned in for Saturday 16th February.

Since the weekend, we've got more boarding, more electrics and in particular, the plasterers have moved in - the hall is plastered, with landing and stairs well underway.  We are seeing really rapid progress at the moment - rushing towards completion.

Next steps include finishing the heating system in the hall then putting the panels up you can see are missing above the windows, putting downlighters into those panels to complement the main central lights, fitting door liners and doors, plumbing and painting, as well as finishing off the side rooms ready for plastering.

2013 work gets underway

Following a short break over Christmas, work is well underway again at Aquativity.  Yesterday evening was a good example - at 8pm there was:

• a team of carpenters fitting boarding above the windows upstairs (the higher main ceiling now boarded, and plasterboard on the walls, the bits in between are being finished off),
• an electrician putting in cabling for extractor fans in the upstairs toilets (ceiling light fittings were being delivered today ready to put up, and lots of sockets, lights and other fittings are first fixed, trying to keep ahead of the boarding work),
• a couple of volunteers tidying and sweeping up, keeping the place in order so nothing gets in the way of getting on with the work (we've seen so much progress recently, we had run out of plasterboard with more being delivered today, so finishing off areas like the dry store is next on the list), and
• members of the building committee reviewing all the main work items remaining, so as to confirm completion schedule and budget.

It may not be ideal working late into winter evenings (or taking photos, for that matter), but we're keen to get finished off.  The professional trades are working through the day and putting some extra hours in, while the volunteers are turning up on evenings and weekends when they can.

Chippies upstairs cutting boards to length

Looking up from lakeside to where the boards are going on the ceiling

The view from on top of the scaffolding as the ceiling gets finished off

Hall ceiling

Most of the ceiling has been boarded - just the central beam to cover and some finishing off to do, then fitting fire alarm sensors and lights on the cabling you can see.  The boarding looks excellent, as I'm sure you'll agree...

Pictures rather than words

I've not got a great deal to say today, I'm just putting up a post because I wanted to show some more pictures of the main hall as work progresses.  I've just seen some further photos from today (but not got access to the photos myself) showing that the tongue'n'groove boarding is going on the ceiling and end walls rapidly.  I'll get some photos posted when I can.  Main areas of progress at the moment are:

• More finances coming in, including over £1000 from our recent bag packing.
• Lift is fully installed and under test.
• Main hall walls and ceiling going well - on track for completion (or very nearly) this year.
• Lighting and alarm/fire alarm cabling and fittings for the main hall also going well.
• Dry store walls (1 sheet) and ceiling (2 sheets) now fully plasterboarded - 2nd sheet on the walls will hopefully be completed this week.
• Rubbish disposal and general tidying the site to facilitate further progress.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from the last few days.

Boarding out the end of the main hall

Plasterboard on the ceiling and starting one gable end with insulation

The other gable end getting Sterling board over the insulation, ready for plasterboard

Finishing the staining of the T'n'G for upstairs

Lift doors in place (and locked pending testing)

...two floors, connected (nearly)

Huge amounts of progress to report since my last post (A Tale of Two Floors), downstairs, upstairs and in between.

Fire escape with alarm box and (wiring for) light

Looking along in front of the boat store

The view from the public car park

Downstairs, our volunteers have been getting on with boarding out the rooms, particularly some more plaster board on the walls and ceiling of a meeting room and the dry store, and continuing the sterling board around the galley, toilet, changing/shower rooms.  There are now very few walls without any boarding on, so there is for the first time a real feel for the way you move around the floor.  In other words, no-one can nip through the walls anymore, instead you have to go along corridors and through doors, just like a real building!

Finishing the dry store ceiling

The dry store - plenty of space here

Downstairs toilet

Plaster-boarding the meeting rooms

Male changing room - you can't see through to the ladies' anymore (phew!)

Upstairs, the scaffolding is fully installed in the meeting hall for installing the insulation, boarding and electrics, huge amounts of materials have been delivered and there is excellent progress on walls, roof, electrics, new ceiling for loft space, cupboards, meeting room walls....  When I popped in today to take some photos, it was a hive of activity with a range of trades getting on with their work.  And last night was another one of our volunteer working parties (sorry I missed it waiting for the RAC to come and help me home, but that is another story).

Access to storage space above the stairs

Scaffolding and materials

A rather full main hall at the moment!

New ceiling for loft space

Above the main entrance and stairs, there is a new ceiling ready for storage space above, so that is one part of the "in between" work.

The entrance has a ceiling now - more space above

Ground floor lift frame

First floor controls - and temporary barrier

Also well underway is the installation of the lift.  The lift shaft has been prepared over recent weeks, and now the frame, electrics, winch cables etc. are in place, waiting for the lift carriage to go in.  We will soon have a fully installed and working lift; another major milestone cleared.

Looking up the lift shaft at the winch cables

Hey, what do you think this is - a boat store or a wood store?
(Ceiling cladding for upstairs)

A tale of two floors

Inspired by the title of this write-up of last weekend's Remembrance Day parades, it occurred to me that the current work at the Aquativity Centre is "A tale of two floors".
I know the photos in this post are not the best quality - it was the best I could do during a working party well after dark last night.

The volunteers (parents and leaders of Eling Sea Scouts) are continuing to work downstairs at a series of working parties on Thursday evenings.  We are busy insulating, wiring and boarding walls and ceilings.  Yesterday, for example, we plaster boarded walls in a meeting room following the first fix electrics going in these, we completed the insulation and first layer of plaster boarding for the dry store ceiling, and we fixed up various pieces of sterling board in the entrance hall.  The lights in the boat store are in and working, which makes a huge difference to the feel of the place.

 
Meanwhile, we've hired a team of professionals to come in and take on the bigger work upstairs.  Scaffolding is going in next week to enable them to insulate and board the ceiling of the main hall, as well as letting the electricians put in the wiring for permanent lighting.  Many of the materials for this work have been delivered, so there are sheets of insulation all over the building.  Joists have been put in for additional ceilings where we want to create storage areas.

With a team working full time on the first floor, we will see very rapid progress compared to our more steady pace downstairs.  This is a deliberate policy and to an extent a change in policy from our earlier concentration on the boat store; we are now focused on getting the main first floor hall open so the Sea Scouts can move in and start to use the building.  We do want to keep moving forward in all areas, hence the ongoing volunteer work on the ground floor, but the paid help for the main hall will really accelerate the project.

Working parties

For the past 2 Thursday evenings, a working party of volunteers has been at the Aquativity Centre progressing the internal fit out.  Considering these were just a few people for just a few hours, the progress they have made is excellent.  It may seem like a small thing, but clearing out some of the rubbish makes a big difference - the dry store is now accessible again as a result, and yesterday its internal walls were insulated and boarded with Sterling board.  The main stairs are also insulated and boarded, as are the downstairs meeting rooms and galley.  So these rooms are now ready for electrical fixing then plasterboarding.

There is still a fairly long list of jobs that we unskilled volunteers can do - more internal walls to insulate and board, and plenty of ceilings to insulate and fit noggins ready for plasterboarding.  We're expecting to keep running these evening working parties, so don't hesitate to get in touch or just come along.  Watch out for notices coming out through the Scout Group with details.

Meanwhile, we are also getting some specialist work done - the latest being preparing the lift shaft ready to fit the lift in the new few weeks.  Electrical and fire alarm fitting is also progressing well as the rooms become available.

Thank you very much to everyone who has come along to help, and thanks also to everyone contributing to the project, whether it be a donation of materials or labour - Sheffield Insulations and RJ Spiller being two great examples, grants of cash - Barker-Mill Foundation being a major donor, or volunteer support helping us move the project steadily forwards.