Day 79 - Making Sky-light Openings

Week 17 - Day 79
Treated timbers arrived today for the making of the sky-light openings in the roof.

Day 78 - Restoring the Pipe Organ

Week 17 - Day 78
Whilst work continues on walls, floors and the roof at the chapel more investigation work has been carried out at David Wood Organs, Huddersfield. David and his team continue to clean, repair and rebuild the pipe organ, but this week further work has been carried out to reveal the decorations on the facade pipes.
Sabina van de Bruck, or Hirst Conservation, carried out further cleaning of pipes not looked at last year. We need to identify the full decoration in order to make decisions about how to conserve them. Part of the work was to trial different paint strippers and solvents to see if it might be possible to remove the over painting that is hiding the original paint work, and to record the full designs so that they might be  reconstructed over the top of the over painting. The odd and even pipes each have a different design which are also scaled in size as the pipes reduce in diameter from the largest centre pipes.
The work will allow an informed decision about whether it is possible, and/or economic to uncover the full design or if the best option is to record the pattern and then reconstruct it on top of the over painting - preserving the original design underneath.
Thanks to Roy Lees re-photographing an archive photo of the organ that had been taken in 1895, we know that this early decoration was seen  by the congregation at that time. Perhaps as we continue researching the documents we will discover when these were overpainted and lost to view.
We shall post a reconstruction of how the original design looked soon.

A photograph of 1895 shows the original decorations still on view five years after the organ was installed in George Street Chapel.

Day 77 - New Internal Walls Start to be Constructed

Week 17 - Day 77
The internal block walls have started to be built in the cellar. These are mainly to create the toilets, but also include a storage area and a serving hatch for a bar that can help with the catering in the cellar for receptions and events.

Day 76 - Insulation Added to Roof

Week 17 - Day 76
Insulation is inserted between the ceiling and where the slates will be laid. This has to be done now as there will be no access once the laths are plastered and the roof slates are laid.
Nice to help the building be more economic to run in the future, saving energy and money.

Day 75 - Preparations for Construction of Internal Walls in Cellar

Week 16 - Day 75
Everything is being got ready for starting to construct the new walls within the cellar.
Tanking mortar to seal out damp from the walls can be seen rising from the damp proofing under the floor.

Day 74 - Ply for Strengthening Floor Plus Mortar

Week 16 - Day 74
Stack of plywood being used to strengthen the underside of the chapel floorboards.
Plus sacks of mortar.

Day 73 - New Blocks for Walls, Reinforcing to Chapel Floor

Week 16 - Day 73
Blocks were taken into the cellar which will be used to construct the walls for the new toilets.
Reinforcing ply was started to inserted below the floorboards of the chapel floor.
Also work continued to finish securing the laths to the new ceiling, the re-pointing of the outside walls and the rebuilding of the chimneys.

Day 72 - Foundations for Lift

Week 16 - Day 72
The foundations have bene laid out where the lift will be built.
The new stairwell is being constructed between the lift and the window.

Day 71 - Blocks Arrive for New Walls

Week 16 - Day 71
Lambert Waker took delivery of blocks which will form the new walls in the cellar.

Day 70 - Panels Back in Place

Week 15 - Day 70
The paneling which was taken down from around the staircase to the Gallery has been put back today.
The wooden panels will be repainted later in the work programme.

Day 69 - Windows

Week 15 - Day 69
The tops of the windows needed to be reset as the mortar was beginning to fail. The header bricks actually partially support the stone gutter, so need to be well set to support the weight.

Day 68 - Fire Prevention Cladding

Week 15 - Day 68
having dismantled some of the wood panelling around the stairs, fireproof cladding is being inserted, before the original panelling is returned.
This prevents fire spreading between the entrance hall and the main chapel.

Day 67 - Preparing New Stone Gutters

Week 15 - Day 67
The stone gutters on the rear elevation, the Jackson Pit side, have been removed today. These were not adequate to carry the water run off from the roof. Rainwater has been shooting over the present gutter and damaging the rear brick wall.
On the George Street elevation this earlier stone gutter had already been replaced by extending the slate line and adding a cast iron gutter. Our conservation restoration will re-make stone gutters, as per the original construction but made with a different profile. They will be wider and have a deeper trough to carry away the rain water.
On the rear elevation there will be a second downspout and the fall will be split at the centre of the building, so the gutter will only have to carry half the potential volume of rain water falling on the roof. In this way a more original appearance will be returned to the chapel, but it will be better able to carry water away thereby protecting the fabric of the walls.
Two sections of the original stone gutter are to be retained by Age UK as examples of the original construction.

Vist to GSC by FOGS

A special Study Day for the Friends of George Street included a special tour of the building site  today.
Project Manager and Site Manager, Mike and Ian, took the FOGS around the site explaining the work that had been done so far and what was going to happen as work proceeded to fulfil Age UK Oldham plans.
The value of the tented enclosure was clearly demonstrated as we walked about on the roof scaffolding in the dry and safely despite the rain outside.
To see a video of the visit click here.

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Site induction and safety talk.
Issuing of hard hats and high viz jackets. 

In the basement cellar, walking on the recently poured concrete floor.

The main chapel floor with the temporary floor above.

In the amongst the roof trusses standing on the temporary work floor.

The roof, looking at where a new stone gutter will be made and fitted
to replace the cast iron gutter which had been used to replace
original stone one, on the George Street elevation.

Day 66 - Pouring the Concrete Foundation Slab in the Basement

Week 14 - Day 66
The concrete slab was poured today, encapsulating the steel re-inforceing mesh. Above this will be insulation, underfloor heating, screed and the then the stone floor slabs will be bedded in top. The stone slabs have been cleaned of-site and are ready to be returned as soon as the floor is ready to lay.

Video of Preparatory Works between Feb and April 2013

This video shows the works completed to the end of April to remove all the damaged and modern intrusions. It shows some of the features hidden from view by the wall plaster, which give an insight into the history of previous works carried out at the chapel, as well as details of its original construction.
The conservation works will enhance some of these features, but cover up others, as well as insert modern facilities needed to allow the building to have a sustainable life in the modern world for Age UK Oldham.
Click here, or on our Video Bar  or go to http://youtu.be/6it5v9AQWcc

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Day 65 - Mesh for Reinforcing the Cellar Floor

Week 14 - Day 65
The reinforcing mesh for strengthening the concrete floor in the cellar was delivered this morning.
It was laid over a damp-proof membrane, and supported on spacers to make sure that the mesh remains in the middle of the concrete when it is poured.

Day 64 - Locating the Skylights

Week 14 - Day 64
Another short week this week, having just had the May Bank Holiday.
But, work carries on apace with the position of the skylights being denoted by the gaps in the ceiling laths.

Day 63 - First Coating up the Basement Walls

Week 13 - Day 63
The last day of the 13th week. Work continues on the roof, the chimneys, the chapel floor and paintwork, the re-pointing and the cellar floor and internal walls.
The internal plasterwork begins to cover over the evidence of earlier fireplaces and alterations to the rear wall facing Jackson Pit.
The gable wall to David Street starts to look like a proper internal wall again.

First coat of plaster.
Internal wall at the SW corner of the cellar
at the corner of Jackson Pit and David Street, Oldham. 

First coat of plaster.
Internal wall, south gable
looking towards the corner of David Street and George Street.

Day 62 - Strengthening the Chapel Floor

Week 13 - Day 62
The floor joist have been strengthened to support the chapel floor. New timbers are laid next to the original ones.

FOGS Study Day - Sat 11 May

We have had two attempts at holding a Study Day to look at the history and development of George Street Chapel. Both have been cancelled at the last minute because of heavy snow falls.
hopefully our new date of Saturday 11 May will go off without a hitch!

Day 61 - Panelling between Hall and Staircase

Week 13 - Day 61
The panelling between the hall and the staircase has been removed to redecorate it.
On the back of a supporting timber someone had written in pencil - George Street Chapel. Nice to know we are working in the right place!

Pencil label on support beam to panelling
George St Chapel

The different finishes to the inside of the panelling
the original brown stain from inside the cupboard under the stairs
the stair support\the modern grey overpainting.