What is the White Church Gallery?

Mike and Carrie Zaitz are renovating an old Methodist Church in Grindstone City, Michigan. Mike claims he just wanted a place to work on his art. He sold Carrie on it, since she's usually up for adventures. From that happy December of 2011 till now, the investment in time and money has seen the church rebuilt from its glorious bones into a work of art, in progress. Carrie is documenting the process because, well, it's easier to hold a camera than to hold an edging sander. She's done both, because she is having an adventure, but it is Mike who drives this project with his intelligence, talent and energy. Together they are working toward creating an art gallery. A gallery which holds objects of beauty and inspiration, but which always points back to the source, our heavenly Father.
Showing posts with label hard work.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hard work.. Show all posts

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Floored Part II

Last week in our exciting episode of "Let's Renovate an Old Church in Our Spare Time" we left halfway done with the floors. So what was it like to go back at it the following weekend?

It was awesome. It was like getting back on the horse, after you had fallen and broken all the tender bits on your body!
The Stage is set for more work...
And work it was.

Plug and play!

When we finished last weekend, it felt like we might be halfway done. Or even more!

Nope.


Lots more to love.
But it won't get done by wishing, so let's get started!

First we used the large sander. Last week we had the drum sander, but we wanted to try the circular one. It had about the same effect. It took off the top layers a little quicker than the drum sander, but it was a lot trickier to handle. If you tried to steer it,  it had a tendency to spin off into its own circular spasm of cyclonic motion, taking the handler with it. But if you got all zen with it and let it do its thing, it would drift along in a cloud of dust and swirl its way down the planks.

Swirly
Gettin Zen widdit.
But to really finish the job, the Bronco had to be engaged.
Engaging the Bronco

You can see the difference.
Bronco Mike and his Bulging Biceps!
Viva La Difference!
And so it went. Circular swirls and Bronco bucking.

Next thing you know,
Are we done yet? 
Yeah, we got done. But did I get a shot of it?

Not really, so this will have to do.

Dunzo.


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A Few Additions...

It's the busy season at the Church. Summer was right for hanging out at the Ice Cream Store, shooting the breeze and eating ice cream.
Sittin' and Chattin'

But Fall hath come, and worker bees are swarming the church ready to make some sweet, sweet honey. Sweet and fresh as the wild honey the bee gathers on the moor. (Anyone get the reference?)
(Where Honey = Finished Church)
But before we get to the big changes, I need to catch up.
So let's go back a week or so when a back door was added. We needed a second exit, so a hole was cut and a giant door was inserted. Here it is!

Big giant metal door. 

Another added feature is a bathroom. The Church never had water or septic, so we've been using the handy but rented Port-a-John just outside the front door. But winter's a-coming and it's time to move the operation indoors. The bathroom will have its own lovely window for viewing. Not sure how we'll deal with that yet...

Potty room! No peeking!
It also features a very high ceiling and will sport a very heavy and old marble sink.
High, ceiling!

It'll be pretty once it's cleaned up! Trust me!

The toilet will be new. The septic tank will be new. The water tanks that will hold our potable water will be new. Meanwhile, back at Fort McMahon (the cottage in Port Austin) the sinks and toilets were thick with hair. Since both Mike and I have long hair, the drains get clogged with amazing regularity. So here we are spending 15 minutes at the Walmart shopping for a plunger. We've got that kind of time! 
"I like the black one,  it feels thicker than the pink one..."
Really, we have to break ourselves away from the church to take care of other business, and it's not easy. But when one hears directly from God to finish the church, one must obey! Other stuff can and will have to wait.
So back to the Church. We've had a lot of prep work to do. We'd already had the plaster and lathe removed, and the electrical is mostly all installed. But there were still pockets of aged filth, ductwork that needed to be moved, and just all kind of nasty little jobs that had to be done. 
High work...
And low work...
I went up high to remove the last of the nails and dust and animal leavings. Mike went low to wriggle around in the dirt of the crawl space. This blog doesn't come with smell-o-vision, but perhaps you can imagine the aroma of damp, aged, lived-in dirt under a 120 year old church. I was lucky to get the other job since rolling in the dirt is not my idea of fun! Poor Mike always gets the dirty jobs! 

The church has a crawl space. The story as we know it is that the church was originally built about a quarter mile away on Carrie lane! It was moved to its present spot around 1902.
Crawl space? Who wants to crawl around down there?
Working all week, and then working all weekend makes a body tired. Here we are after our respective adventures. High or low, it's most likely Bud-O-clock. 

Weary, but satisfied with a job well done!




Friday, August 16, 2013

With A Little Help From Our Friends...

That's how we get by!
As we were ready to get started on round two of "bringing down the walls..." we had company arrive. 
John and Chummy were the first to show up! Don't let the white hair fool you. These two are stronger than oxen on steroids! For real! Polish oxen!
"Where's the pry bar? Let's get going!"

Next thing you know, two trucks and a motorcycle pull up. It's Picard and Co., to the rescue once again! Now the pictures are going to get messy. Blurry and dusty. These human tornadoes took the other three walls down before 3 pm.  All we could do was duck for cover!

Wait for me!




"cough cough"


Triumvirate of Tearing Down, Dervishes of Demolition, Tazmanian Devils of Destruction!

On to the side. Move the scaffolding, fellas...

"easy there..."
 And so it went, tear it down, haul it out, go back for more.

Wall #3, gonzo!

What's for lunch?

Next thing you know, it's all over but the pizza! 
 
"That went well. Urp."



What's next?

Keep on keepin' on!


Great things were done today.

all that's left is water...septic...spray foam...dry wall...paint walls and ceiling...lighting...floors...almost done!!


Pardon Our Dust!

The walls have come tumblin' down. But not without a lot of coaxing, urging, and back breaking labor!
First step: prep. I spent a day solo moving all the furniture and tools into two aisles so that the walls were clear. I felt very empowered after the move.The place was a mess, as you see.
Bird's-eye Before shot
Better...two aisles.
Wall almost clear...
Except for the massive piano harp. That will take two. 




















Shrouded for now.


Step two: start ripping out plaster and lathe. Scaffolding set up, tools assembled. Masks on, ready, set, go!

Here's the "time lapse" of the wall coming down.




Grime doesn't pay!
We can breathe easy now!

Third step: down in the trenches, shoveling plaster and lathe, taking it out to the dumpster, and back for more.



Tired. Empowered!
One wall down, three to go. That's enough for one weekend...

Step four: Time for some eats and drinks! Step it up, Captain Barbeque!

"With or without plaster dust?" "Without, please!"