Resurrectionists,
I hope this day finds you in good spirits, wherever you are. This week, I’d like to give you full-disclosure on what’s happening with our floors. I also want to thank each and every one of you whom gave your insight and your donations to see this project through!!!
Where we are:
The floors throughout the building, as of today, have all been ground down and patched (as needed). Beginning tomorrow, the overlay process will begin. This is a process by which the floors receive a layer that acts as a canvas upon which the stain and seal will be applied, allowing for solid color and protectivity to be administered. The overlay will take the rest of the week. Beginning Saturday, the texture will be applied on top of the overlay. The texture is much like you’d see on any wall in your home—wavy lines or patterns—and allows for the floor to have a dimensional look rather than simply being a ‘flat’ surface. If you have questions about that, take a closer look at the existing floor in the South hallway; it has been finished with the above process.
Beginning next week, the stain and seal and final touches will be administered. This is a four-day process that—barring catastrophe or unforeseen hinderances—will be finished upThursday evening. After that, the following week will be spent applying cove-base (the rubber gray borders on the bottom of the walls) and final cleanup. The ECW conference leaders are aware of our situation and none of the above will have a negative impact upon that vital and wonderful event (it happens on the 27-28 if you haven’t registered).
You’ll notice that the parish hall and classrooms are filled with various items from the kitchen and flower rooms; this is temporary and will be amended as soon as the floors are finished. As we move toward this coming Sunday, please know that we cannot walk in:
*The North part of the building past the double doors
*The Choir room
*Sacristy
*Individual bathrooms
Walking in these areas will damage the overlay and it will have to be reapplied. When you arrive on Sunday, please use the main entrance or the South entrances to the building.
Where we’ve been and why it’s taking longer:
When the floors were installed over thirty years ago, the contractors used an over-abundance of mastic (the adhesive to which the tile sticks). As such, the amount of grinding needed to remove that adhesive has been greater than anticipated. I want you to know that these contractors have been working well into the night on multiple occasions (some as late as 1am) to keep the work continuing. Something that you may not know is that they’ve had to do the majority of this by hand—the corners and crevices have needed extra attention, thereby taking even longer.
The next issue has been the state of the North hallway. As many of you are aware, there was a sizeable difference in level on one particular part of the flooring. When the company removed the tile, they discovered that much of the existing concrete in that particular area, as well as the concrete on the adjacent wall, needed to be replaced. This process moved our finish time even further away.
Where we will be:
Thankfully, we chose a good company to replace our floors. Next Friday, our floors throughout the entire building will be walkable (not this coming Friday, but a week from—Friday April 27th). I have heard from many of you regarding the finished product in the South hallway and the general consensus is positive…actually, I’ve not heard from anyone who isn’t pleased with the new floors!
My hope and intention with giving you all this information is to answer any questions that you may have currently. I know this has been a longer process than anticipated, but thankfully the people of this church have shown their patience in many areas, and this has been no different. I appreciate your willingness to be flexible at this time concerning the ministries each of you conduct within the church and the displacement you’ve experienced, recently. Once finished, I am confident that we’ll all be pleased with ECOTR’s new floors—the waiting, as Tom petty once wrote, is the hardest part. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to continue speaking with me; I’m happy to have the chance to talk to any of you at any time.
Faithfully
Fr. Sean+