Capital City Grange

“Second Stage” renovation: Big changes for our lower level!

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Floor plan and general description

The drawing below shows the basement floor plan, updated with the changes we made in the renovations which started in mid-December 2019, and were completed in March. These renovations were planned and carried out by the “Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall”, and were 50% funded by a “Cultural Facilities Improvement” grant from the VT Arts Council. The remaining 50% was largely raised from Grange Hall users and the Grange itself. Construction financing was supplied by the VT State Grange. We are very grateful to all of these organizations and individuals, who make the improvements of our Community Grange Hall possible!

Stage by stage construction photos

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December 2019: prep for the basement renovation begins!

19-12-15 #01 Stan Carlson removes window trim
19-12-15 #02 obsolete wiring removed from ceiling
19-12-15 #03 East wall with wiring removed
19-12-15 #04 Upstairs (obsolete) media connection plate–back side
19-12-15 #05 Upstairs (obsolete) media connection plate–front side.
19-12-17 basement with project prep & covered Kids Trade And Play storage shelves
19-12-22 #01 Patty Giavara preps for more plastic-taping
19-12-22 #02 Kurt Giavara walks along the prepped East wall
19-12-22 #03 Stan Carlson removes the stairs & landing
19-12-22 #04 Stairs and landing removed
19-12-22 #05 The stairway is blocked off, to prevent anyone accidentally taking the “big step” where the landing used to be!

December 23, 2019: Basement renovation begins in earnest!

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On the Monday before Christmas, Dec. 23rd, Northern Basements arrived, right on schedule, to begin their part of the work. The pictures below show how much they accomplished in the first day!

#01 Northern Basement truck & trailer arrives by the fire-exit door, on the West side of the building.
#02 The Northern Basemenst truck has gravel for the drainage channel ready.
#03 Northern Basements trailer, with the unloaded insulation panels, and the sump for the drain channel.
#04 Drainage channel has been installed in the jack-hammered channel under where the stairs and landing were removed.
#05 Drainage channel has been installed along the East wall, sitting on the footing.
#06 The jack-hammered space has been filled with gravel around the drainage channel.
#07 The drainage channel under the stairs has been covered with concrete.
#08 A drainage channel access port has been installed, so that the channel can be flushed out if it ever clogs up. The channel itself has been covered by concrete. Note that the flange of the channel has a space behind it, so that any water that makes it through the wall will drain into the channel.
#09 The drainage channel extends along the entire East wall, covered with concrete.
#10 The crack in the East wall, one of the places water has come into the basement, is covered with a waterproof barrier, which will direct any leakage into the drainage channel.
#11 The new sump, with pump installed, has been set into the floor and covered with concrete. The white PVC pipe will be connected to a drain line, eventually draining to the far side of the driveway, well away from the building.
#12 Foam insulation panels have been stacked in the basement, ready for installation after Christmas.

December 27 & 28, 2019–foam insulation panels and rim-joist insulation

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Northern Basements parked their foam insulation trailer in front of the old entrance, running a hose downstairs to insulate the rim-joist ends above the foundation. This is another critical step, which seals up air leaks as well as providing good R-value in this area above the foam panels
The kitchen is protected with plastic, before the foam insulation is sprayed into the rim joists, above the suspended ceiling. We chose to not install foam panels on the kitchen wall, as we expect to eventually remove all the counters and appliances when we remodel the kitchen, but we wanted to seal up the joist ends along with all the other walls.
At least 3″ of foam is sprayed into the rim-joist ends, and above the windows. You can see how the Northern Basement crew had to work around the heating ducts & the ceiling framing.
Here’s the foam in the spaces above the foundation wall in the kitchen–in the foreground is the top of one of the fluorescent fixtures.
Northern Basements crew boss Hunter is measuring for one of the last foam panels, in the stairwell. The white foam fills what would otherwise be empty space above the concrete basement wall.
Northern Basements drilled through the siding into the rim joist spaces, in places where they were not accessible from inside. They did a very thorough job filling all the spaces!

December 26, 2019–foam panel installation begins!

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The day after Christmas, Northern Basements was back to install foam insulation panels on the concrete walls.

The foam panels are getting started on the East wall. Panels are glued and screwed to the concrete walls. You can see one of the channels molded into the foam for wiring.
Later that day, most of the panels are up. Foam seals the joints between the panels. In this picture you can also see the foam filling spaces around the window frames.

More foam panels cover the North wall, and will make their way up the fire exit stairs. The metal strips are set into the face of the foam; later sheetrock will be screwed to these “studs”.

Contact Us

Tim Swartz, President, CCG#469
802-225-8921 (cell)
grangepresident@capitalcitygrange.org

 

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