Day 170

Drywall is now complete in the classroom section of the expansion, including the hallway. The drywall has not been hung in the ceiling over the fine arts room. A lot more electrical is complete in the multi-purpose auditorium. And we even managed to complete the rest of the stucco work today.




This wall adjacent to the entrance was the last to be stuccoed



Not only is the drywall complete in the hallway but so is the ductwork



This chase was constructed at the back of the auditorium to neatly handle all of the wiring for the sound and lighting equipment



The fine arts area is looking good with drywall on the ceiling

Day 163

Drywall continues to be hung while the metal doorframes are installed and the doors themselves get painted. Progress is being made on the electrical in the offices as well as the auditorium and fine arts areas.



View of the metal doorframes leading into the auditorium



All but 1 wall of the classroom hallway is drywalled



The heating and ventilation ductwork in the ceiling of a classroom. If you look closely, you can also see the hanging wire ready for installing the suspended ceiling.

Day 156

It has been 2 weeks since my last post so lots of progress has been made. Most of the stucco has been applied to the exterior and, with some hoarding, should be completed shortly. Inside, the 4 classrooms have been insulated for noise, the ceilings have been vapour barriered, the electrical has been roughed-in and the drywall has been hung and taped. In concert with Mid-West Electric and Barndog Productions, the wiring in the multi-purpose auditorium is being completed so that we have adequate power and controls for sound, lighting and a projector. The drywall in the Fine Arts area and auditorium should be hung shortly.

There is a temporary wall at the end of the elementary wing as the window has now been transplanted into the west wall of the new office area.




Stucco work on the southwest corner of the expansion



A dark view of the Fine Arts area showing the vapour barrier in the rafters



Sound insulation in the classroom hallway



A fully drywalled classroom



New home of the window from the end of the elementary hallway

Day 142

The framing is complete inside and the scratch coat is coming along nicely on the outside. With this great weather, even the actual stucco has been started.

The walk at the base of the stairs into the expansion

The new offices - the one with the window is Mrs. Salen's new digs

All 4 of the classrooms have been framed

Day 135

I was in Ottawa last weekend so this post will cover the past 2 weeks. During that time, the front steps got poured, the steel frame for the folding door system on the stage was erected and the framing of the classrooms, hallway and offices was almost completed. The stucco work got started as well.

This picture shows the new front steps but since it was taken the pad at the bottom of stairs was also poured

The stucco wire is being nailed on here but since this picture was taken they have started to trowel on the scratch coat as well.

The framing of the new offices is laid out here

A couple of days later those same offices are fully framed

A view of the new framed hallway - the classrooms on either side are fully framed

Day 121

Closing in the construction is now complete and the temporary heat is doing its job. With the end of another week, the cement floor of the multi-purpose auditorium was poured and looks great. The rest of the cement floors should be poured in the coming week.




The cement floor of the auditorium



A view of the folding door frame for the fine arts area

Day 114

The shingling is complete so the expansion is virtually weather-proof. This means that we can safely go ahead with pouring the cement floors which is planned for early next week. In the meantime, workers have been continuing to lay the heating tubes and the rebar. They have assured me they will be done by the end of the weekend.




Poly and heating tubes for the fine arts room and offices



Once the tubing is finished, rebar is laid over top to provide rigidity to the concrete



This machine will be supplying the temporary heat to the construction site



A view of the SE corner of the expansion showing the finished roofing

Day 107

The weather has relented so a lot of progress has been made on the shingling. Inside, the crews have been busy prepping the floors for pouring the cement.

The auditorium floor is almost ready for cement

Most of the shingling is complete

Preparation for the cement steps to the entrance

Day 100

The first snowfall of the season arrived before we were able to get all the shingling done. As soon as the weather warms up, we will get the roofing done so that we can move forward with pouring the cement floor. In the meantime, crews are flattening the floor in preparation for the styrofoam insulation. This insulation will be covered with poly and rebar before the water lines are placed for the in-floor heat.




The masonry work around the windows is complete



The dirt is flattened before the styrofoam sheets are placed over top



The brick work is identical to the existing building

Day 93

Every week is exciting when construction is underway...and this week was no exception. The windows got installed, the rest of the sheeting on the roof was nailed down and even the stone work around the windows got started. The shingling will be starting next week.




The windows are in



The masonry around the windows got started



The view from inside the multi-purpose auditorium

Day 89

SPECIAL POST

Today I went up in a plane with Lori and Leah to take aerial pictures of the school. Guy was our pilot from Mitchinson Flying Service. He did a great job considering it was his "second time flying the plane". Lori took the pictures through a window she opened herself (which I am sure went against every fibre in her being).

Check out these photos!

Day 86

The end of the week sees the majority of the plywood sheeting installed on the roof trusses as well as the cement firewall completed on the west end of the building.



The view of the roof over the multi-purpose room looking north

The firewall on the west side of the expansion

Day 83

I have gotten in the habit of updating this blog every Friday but I thought I would post another entry today because of the obvious progress being made on the roof system over the multi-purpose auditorium and fine arts area.

The crane is used to lift the trusses up to the waiting framers

The roof system over the auditorium

Here you can see the peaked trusses over the auditorium

Day 79

Another milestone today as the final lift of cement is poured into the exterior walls around the fine arts room and the multi-purpose auditorium. This means that the rest of the trusses should start to be installed this coming Tuesday.

As you can see from the pictures, while the Nienhuis crew is working on pouring the exterior walls, the framers were busy sheeting the roof and building the facia to match the existing building.




The top portion of the walls of the auditorium are braced for the final lift of cement



A view of the truss system from the fine arts room



The sheeting and fascia line up perfectly with the existing building

Day 72

There was lots of activity today. The roof trusses were being installed on the completed sections of the cement walls while the next "lift" of cement was being poured into the other wall sections. With the crane and the cement pump truck operating at the same time, even the area above the construction site looked busy.




It was a day for aerial acrobatics as the crane manoeuvered trusses while the cement pump was operating



The trusses of the roof system are going up quickly



A view of the framing work through a window opening