Foundation Replacement Week 4

 I hope that this is about as ugly as it gets. The entire landscape is ripped up and there is a 6 foot deep x 3 foot wide trench dug around three sides of the church. If I tottered off my entry ramp, it would seem as if I'd fallen into my grave. It's a creepy analogy and yet it seems appropriate. My friend Deb had joked with me a couple of weeks before: "I used to think that since you are the smart one when it concerns money, that you would be able to support all of us in our old age. Now, that you bought this church, I'm not so sure." Sometimes, I'm not so sure either but I soldier on with the extensive work that needs to be done.

But David is one smart guy, so once I surveyed the "destruction" and opened the door to the interior, this is what I saw:

David had made a fire in the nutty wood stove and it was really great to see. I immediately warmed up to the wood stove both literally and figuratively.  I said "Hey, the fire looks really great and the woodstove works well!" David replied, "You know, it makes the homeowner feel welcome."
The other nice thing about the woodstove is that it doesn't get hot to the touch, it stays nice and comfortably warm as demonstrated by my hand resting on it after burning away for a few hours.

In the two biggest changes that occured this month, the footings were poured for the basement. Hopefully, this week the forms will come in, be placed around the rebar and the concrete walls will be poured. Once that is done, my mason Tom will install the curtain drains, backfill the trenches and pour a retaining wall on the south side of the church to further keep the water from seeping into the new foundation.
The other change is that the entire ceiling from east to west has been stripped of it's sheetrock.

I'm glad I wasn't around to see sheets of that stuff drop from a 22 foot ceiling height. It's messy work.
The ceiling will be prepped this week so that it will be ready to receive the white stained tongue and groove pine that will be put up. I decided on the "vintage white" stain because it will not visually "lower" the ceiling and the stain still lets you see the grain of the wood and the knots in the pine, just more subtly.
The photo below is of what David calls "breathers". They are made of some kind of styrofoam. I layed them on the floor but David said he could show me how they get put up.

They get stapled to the wood and the insulation then gets placed on top of them. They are supposed to help with air flow and the "breathability" of the house.

This week, I will need to place the order for the tongue and groove which will come via truck from Michigan or Minnesota or somewhere out there. Also, I will check on the window and door order as I can't wait to escape the "prison" of the east loft fenestration.

I am heading west for a couple of photo shoots in Los Angeles. We already have some complications regarding the church's current hookup, or lack thereof, of my water line to the town main line. More on that to be revealed as I learn about my options but in the meanwhile, fingers crossed that all the phone calls, at least while I'm working West Coast, are easy ones.
And finally, here's Sparky. I just like to take pictures of him.