Renovation Diary: May 2021

Week 18/21: 7th May 2021

Up in the God's the professional team have been putting the top on to the new extraction system. It is good to have them back as they did work in The Coach House last year. They will be finishing off the roof and then get stuck into The Kitchen.

Shane and Dale attaching the new top to the extraction unit
Can't be seens as it is at the back of the buildings where the trees are
Stands proud so that it can be properly ventilated
And it is finished - does that mean the scaffolding at the back can come down?

Meanwhile in the middle the Weekday Warriors have continued finishing off The Kitchen ceiling and up in The School Room. This has to be ready for Monday when the students will be back in class.

Trevow working away, ignoring the photgrapher
A smiling Trevor, nearly completed the job
And he is back getting stuck in, not rest here as on a deadline
The finished article, all the beams, etc back in place

The Warriors have been joined by Shane and Dale who have also done a great job bricking-up the kitchen wall facing The Courtyard. Next the new window can go in. Things are starting to come together.

Bricking up the kitchen ourter wall where a temporary door was inserted
Photo to come
Photo to come

Week 19/21: 14th May 2021

Another busy week for the Weekday Warriors as well as Shane & Dale. The Warriors have carried on inside The School Room, reinstating the flooring, restoring wall panelling and framing in a faux chimney breast to restore the fireplace. They then worked around the extract riser up to the roof where Shane and Dale were finishing the slating-in and weather proofing up top. If that wasn't enough they moved to cover a hole in a corner of The School Room roof where it had previously been necessary to remove the top part of a fragile chimney. Before the weather turned Shane and Dale were back on The Stables roof dealing with problems along the back section.

Shane and Dale attaching the new top to the extraction unit
Can't be seens as it is at the back of the buildings where the trees are
Stands proud so that it can be properly ventilated

Week 20/21: 21st May 2021

The long hours spent stripping wire by the dedicated team of 'strippers' has paid off. With the price of copper currently very high Lexie made a profitable trip to the scrap yard this week. All the copper, and lead, that has been painstakingly extracted from all parts of the building by a host of willing volunteers has raised a fantastic total of £2,332:40! A massive thank you to all those involved.

The School van loaded up with all the scrap metal
The van was full of lead piping and copper wire

When the team weren't clearing out the scrap metal, they were finishing off in The School Room. If you remember from previous weeks, they had rejigged the framework around the chimney breast and new ventilator, and now put on the fireboard and are re-instating the wooden panelling. Painting was undertaken too. It's newarly done!

John re-instating the wood panelling Almost finisghed - floor back, ceiling re-instated, and the wood panelling re-instated
Ian re-instating the ceiling Only the ventilator to be panelled now
Only the new plasterboard needs wood panelling now The chimney breast back as it was

After clearing out the scrap metal, the team could have a look at some of the rafters in the ceiling. Unfortunately the bad news is that it looks like some of the timbers are rotten and will need replaced when we start phase 3 of the renovation. This has probably been due to a leak from the bathroom above.

Bedroom that has been affected
Props have been put in to ensure the floor above is safe
Close up showing rotten beams

Week 21/21: 28th May 2021

Amongst other tasks this week the Weekday Warriors have been climbing to new heights installing the replacement stairs up to The School House. The original stairs were unfit for purpose so had to be removed. Whilst this remains a work in progress its good to see a step in the right direction!

The inner string fitted to the wall.
The lowest section put in pace to test fit.
Upper most part of stairs placed in to test fit
Top of the stairs leading up to The School House door

The next big step for the kitchen needs YOUR help. With much to do there is a need for some more 'Warriors'. As well as helping the plumbers and electricians there is a lot of manual labour required to move and install the boards for the walls and ceiling in the kitchen area. Please get in touch with Ian Birch (07889 816098) if you can volunteer some of your time this week. He is particularly keen to hear from competent DIYers as well as others who are happy to act as labourers.

Wood piled up ready for installation.
Fireboard stacked up ready to be installed.
The Kitchen walls and ceiling to be worked upon next week.
Sacks of raw materials ready to be used next week.

There has been plenty of other work ongoing in preparation for the first fix plumbing and electrics which are scheduled for next week while the Green Room pupils, and staff, are enjoying a half-term break.

Renovation Diary for April 2021 Renovation Diary for June 2021