This was the day I had been waiting for! Last summer I finally got started on the inside of the Chapel. The building is divided into two distinct parts. The front area, of course, is the main Chapel and in the back was a fellowship hall on the main floor and 3 Sunday school classrooms upstairs. Between the two was the old church kitchen. My thought was to start with the Chapel because, let’s face it, that would be the most fun. Unfortunately the plumbing became the priority so I had to start in the back where all the utilities would be.
I obviously love to work on unique buildings and a 120 year old Chapel requires everyone to think outside the box. Most trades people want to be in and out quick and getting them to work with me was harder than I thought. Some took one look and ran away. The guys that didn’t run were the ones I hired haha.
The new plumbing pipes all had to go underground so the floors and sub floors had to be removed; that wasn’t too bad. Then the concrete slab had to be broken up. That was hard to do so I got someone in for that. Now trenches had to be dug for all the pipes, yes hand dug AGAIN! I thought my digging days were behind me. Concrete poured, sub floors back in and weeks later I’m back to where I started; it’s like I had done nothing.
Plumbing, electrical, and duct work is less than exciting stuff but a lot of planning is involved to get it right. I felt that I wasn’t doing much of anything just watching and supervising trades people, its very hard for me to sit still and strangely tiring.
My favourite part so far in this renovation was the demo, it’s harder than it looks on TV but it’s just as fun. Everything in the back had to be demo’ed right down to the studs. The roof trusses were actually logs, very cool! I was hoping to find more cool stuff hidden behind the walls but am sorry to say I only found an old train ticket from the train station that used to be just 3 doors down. I will, however, put a time capsule of my own in the walls for the next people to find. Any thoughts on what should go in it?
A quick update on Alvin, the chipmunk. No he has not been able to re-enter the Chapel but I think I did make him mad because he has decided to torment me by constantly running all over the roof, ALVINNNNNNNN!
Does Alvin like to make that “chip” sound? It amazes me that such a small creature can emit such a large noise.
I’d write a letter telling who you are and what the renovation meant to you. It’s always nicer when there is a personal touch to something. 100 years from now if someone finds it they’ll know who Jamie SInclair was as a person and why she was there … or had been there not saying you’d be a ghost haunting the place …i don’t believe in ghosts anyway … I know, i know “shut up Steve.”
Of course, Curling has been a big part of your life, so if there is something written about that time a couple of years ago when you scored a SEVEN, that would be cool to include (I was watching that match and it was rather impressive) and then there’s being the first to win a grand slam event for Team USA … hopefully whoever finds it will like America. Put in a photo too … looking at all the stuff that you’ll put in that time capsule, plus being able to look at a photo of the person making the time capsule will give it an added touch.
very exciting idea, but a bittersweet one. Sweet to leave something for a future generation to find, but bitter that you miss the excitement of those finding it and getting a snapshot of your life.
Kindest Regards,
Steve