Sheet Rocking Continues

Sheet rocking continued in the sanctuary this week. The view above is similar to the last post, but today the contractor was working on connecting the two buildings securely. The photo below (looking south toward the road) shows that sheet rock now surrounds the interior of the sanctuary. Taping will continue into next week. The temporary wall between the two buildings will be removed by next Friday, and we should start to see some clapboards going up next week also. The chairs were taken to Essex Junction yesterday and today for reupholstering. The progress is very visible now!

Wallboard Going Up

The wallboard is being installed in the sanctuary today (Wednesday). This picture has all sorts of "mystery dots" on it, but it shows the view looking just past where the bimah will be located toward the north wall (non-road side) of the sanctuary. The wallboard in the background and has been installed; there is a pile of wallboard in the bottom right corner of the photograph. The sprinkler pipes sticking through the ceiling will be removed because the city is unable to supply water to our sprinkler system.

Windows Installed

The windows were installed Friday afternoon. Now the interior space can be kept dry and wall boarders can start to work their magic.

Interior Progress

This was the scene at the construction site this morning. The rigid insulation has been installed on the ceiling and plywood has been added to the wall where the screen behind the bimah will be installed. Sheetrock should go onto the walls on Sunday.

Insulation, insulation

It may be hot outside, but we know winter will return! The inside of the sanctuary was sprayed with foam last week and the exterior of the building was covered with rigid pink insulation board. Today similar rigid insulation is being added to the inside of the ceiling, giving us extra protection from the winter cold. Other developments from last week: the (non-operational) sprinkler pipes have been installed, the skylight has been installed, the roof has been completed, and the electrical wiring has been roughed in.

The tie rods have been installed in the ceiling to keep the walls from splaying out and the temporary supports inside that were visible in previous photographs have been removed. One can begin to get a sense of the openness of the new sanctuary now. In the basement the furnace and hot water heater have been moved into placed. The top photo shows the building being wrapped in Tyvek (a little of the insulation board is visible in the gable). The two interior photographs show the sanctuary looking toward the street (top) and the sanctuary looking back toward the Daughly Gould room (bottom).

Roof and Sprinkler

Work continues outside and inside Beth Jacob on Harrison Avenue. Today the contractor's men were outside working on the roof while inside a subcontractor was beginning to install the pipes for the fire suppression system. Unfortunately, our intent to "sprinkle" the entire building has hit a snag with the city. Our subcontractor has discovered that there is not enough water pressure in the city's water main to support the sprinkler system that the city's ordinances require us to have. So the synagogue will not have an operational sprinkler system until the city upgrades its water main along Harrison Avenue, which could be years in the future. The city also will not let us install exposed sprinkler pipes or heads if the system is not operational because they would give the occupants a false sense of security. They are, however, allowing us to install hidden pipes in the ceiling of the sanctuary. We will have to install the rest of the fire suppression system at a later date.

Electrical Roughed In

The electrical service is being roughed in to the new building. The photo above shows eastern wall of the sanctuary and the roof above it. The window to the left is at the back of the building. The small electrical boxes on the ceiling are for the two pendant lights that will hang above the bimah. The square shape below the boxes is where a skylight will be installed to cast light down on the bimah. (The diagonal beams and horizontal beam that you see are for temporary support!)

Meeting of the Minds

This was the scene Friday morning as the architects and contractors made plans for the upcoming week. This week should see electrical, plumbing and sprinkler lines appearing in the building.