The Board of Missions Contractors is a licensed construction company, within the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Spring, 2012

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Update: May 12, 2012:

Work accomplished this week at

(1) St. George UMC, Maxton, NC, and

(2) Crossroads UMC, Hope Mills, NC

(1)

What a difference a coat of paint makes!  The interior painting has now been completed (well, except for some touch-up areas!), and the floors have been uncovered again. 

We also completed the installation of the cypress ceiling ribs.

The church pews are scheduled to go back in on this coming Thursday, and the carpet will follow shortly afterward.  We're moving toward the end day - now within sight!!

Still to come: lot's of tile work yet to be completed and a second brick entrance is planned for next week.  The bats are now eradicated out of the attic, and once their "left-behinds" are cleaned out we will complete the attic insulation.

Upcoming Schedule:       Thursday, May 17: Pew Installation (Sub-contractor)

                                         Thursday & Friday, May 17 & 18:

                                         Rear egress ramp construction: Volunteers Sought

                                         Monday, May 21: Brick steps construction

                                         & carpet installation  (sub-contractor)

                                         Monday-Thursday, May 21-24:

                                         Tile work, trim completion, plumbing completion

(2)

Grading and foundation work for the new addition portion, along with the installation of the temporary electrical power supply took place during the week days.  Inside the renovation section, work continued on the new wall construction, and then on Saturday we had a great showing of volunteers.

One of the reasons this project is on a fast-track schedule! - This little one is registered for the PMO program, scheduled for this facility beginning September 1.  To keep us working, she helped her mom provide a great lunch for the volunteers Saturday, May 12.  Thanks Bella !!!

Upcoming Schedule:       Monday & Tuesday, May 14 & 15:

                                          Interior wall construction.  Volunteers welcome,

                                          - noon to 5 on Monday & 8AM to 3PM on Tuesday.

                                          Saturday, May 19: Volunteer Work Day: 

                                          8AM-4:30PM

Update, May 5, 2012

(1)

While work continued during the week with both interior painting and tile setting, Saturday was the annual bar-b-que fund-raiser. 

It was very well attended with people from all walks of life and many denominations, from around Maxton and beyond, coming out for good food and good times.  And with sunshine and temperatures in the 80's the weather sure cooperated!

Many of the people attending were anxious to open the doors to get a peek at the work progress.  It was heart-warming to see so many people showing their support for this church and its quest to preserve an important part of our history.

Back at the LEB Glass Studio in Greenville, SC, work continues on the restoration of the historic stained glass windows, as well as on the construction of the new ones:

(2)

We had a great turn out for our Sat volunteer work day.  During the week we had continued with the grading for the "new addition" and had begun digging the trenches for the future electrical supply.  On Saturday we completed the electric trench work, continued scraping old vinyl flooring off the concrete pad in the "renovation" section, and began building new walls.

So where are volunteers needed this next week?

Thursday and Friday, May 10 & 11:    St. George UMC, Maxton

Saturday, May 12:                                Crossroads UMC, Rockfish, Hope Mills

Archive:

Work continued during the week with both interior painting and tile setting. We were also able to start building the new wooden side steps and the rear wood landing and ramp.  The real exciting moment to this week, though, was the Saturday work team from John Wesley UMC in Fayetteville, that came out to do landscaping work.  Dirt and sand were moved; trees, shrubs and flowers were planted; mulch was spread - and the job-site RV and equipment trailer were both moved away from the front of the church.

(1)

(2)

We have really moved ahead with the demolition of the existing building interior - thanks greatly to the local volunteers from the Crossroads church family coming out and working in the evenings and on weekends, along with the ever-faithful volunteers that help us out from job-site to job-site.  This week also saw the beginning of the grading for the new portion on the project.

The piles of debris are a true sign of progress!

Work Update: Crossroads UMC, Hope Mills, April 23, 2012:

Demolition work has begun with the removal of the interior walls to open up the whole space.  The existing HVAC units have been removed and the gas

has been shut off.  This allows us to get the existing building ready for the renovations, and the exterior area prepared for the new construction - which will start this coming Tuesday.

Work Update: St. George UMC, Maxton: April 23, 2012:

Over this past week our main attention was given to the installation of the cypress wood ribbing in the ceiling.  Unfortunately we didn't have enough to complete the project (!), but all but one was finished.  (More wood is on order.)

Why was cypress wood chosen?  To begin with, when finished with just a clear varnish, cypress is a beautiful, light-colored wood, taking on a bit of a yellowish tone with red, chocolate and olive hues.  The cypress tree is commercially grown in the southeastern United States in a controlled environment where care is given to the replanting-regeneration of the product for future use.  Maxton is in the lumber/Pee Dee Rivers area where cypress trees are fairly common.  The cypress we are using was grown, harvested, processed and dressed all near Pamplico, South Carolina - making it a locally produced product.

When complete, the ceiling ribbing made of cypress will give the look of strength, without being overpowering, or dominating, the interior space as would have happened with a darker wood.

We also completed the construction of the communion rail.  It is made up of three basic layers: the top is the original communion cup holding rail, made of American Oak; it is supported by new American Oak, and the base plate is also made of new American Oak.  The original Oak portion was stripped down and then all Oak portions were given a light "Golden Oak" stain to give a uniform hue.

The turned spindles are made of old wood, Brazilian Mahogany, reclaimed and turned to copy the original spindles that once dressed the choir loft area.  The mahogany was given no stain, and remains in its natural color state.

All of the wood was given a clear, gloss, varnish for completion.  

The choir loft no longer has an open rail.  With the installation of the wheelchair accessible ramp, it made more sense to give the area a solid knee wall.  While this wall is being finished with the same T&G wainscoting as throughout the Sanctuary, it is also being given an American Oak hand rail to blend it with the communion rail.

Last week the interior doors were installed.  Two of the door sets going in are original, double doors, that were removed - stripped of years of paint - refinished and rehung.  These doors served as the models for the new interior doors - all of which have been hand-made in Raleigh, of 100-year old, heart-pine wood.  All wood doors are finished in clear varnish with no stain added.  The older doors are darker, but the styles are the same.

      The old, double doors, above.

      One of the new doors to the left.

We also completed the installation of the interior transom windows, completed the molding installation, and completed the office work station, and have made great head-way on the bathroom tile installation.

April 3, 2012: As this week came to a close, the great moment was, of course, seeing the old cross atop the steeple finally repaired (picture above) - just in time for the Easter weekend.  But lots of other accomplishments were done as well:

The communion rail began going back in.  The previous communion rail was a 1970's modern addition.  The communion cup portion was saved, but the rest of the rail system has been discarded.  The previous altar arrangement included a railing, incorporating a hodgepodge of 4 turned spindles surrounding the choir area.  In the new concept, we took the oldest of the 4 spindle designs and had it copied for the communion rail.  The new communion rail is made up of a solid oak base plate and top plate, with solid mahogany turned spindles made by Caineth Woods of Smithfield, replicating the old spindle, with the communion cup holder board placed on top.  All of this oak/mahogany creation will be left natural and varnished when finished.  (The choir area is now behind a solid knee-wall instead of turned spindles.)

Work continued on the interior molding installation and now 4 of the 5 interior transom windows are installed. 

The new HVAC units went in and that has made a great difference in creating a pleasant, cool, environment to work in!

We also began the tiling work with the tile going on the walls of the East bathroom.

As the week came to an end, the crowning glory was seeing the interior transom windows going back in.  Three out of five are re-installed.

Another major milestone for this week

was the installation of the clear-glass

Rose window.  Can't wait for the

stained-glass insert to be completed.

And another major milestone was the exterior painting being done!

The beloved Dogwood Tree:

I think it is fitting that this old Dogwood Tree is in full bloom going into the final month of the restoration project of this

church.  It is a beautiful tree, and it may be taking on a special symbolism.  There were a lot of people who felt this old church should just be torn down,

but faithful people with a heart for

preservation stood firm.  This tree has now been attacked as well.  It will remain, beautifully adorning this resurrected church.  And it is one of the many beloved old Dogwood Trees around the town of Maxton

The floors are now finished!

Ronnie and Lawrence are looking at some of the molding work above while they, with Harry Moorachian (volunteer from Tega Cay, SC) stand on the floors cleared and ready for the refinishing.

Other views of the floors - waiting to be refinished:

And now the finished product! -

The floors were refinished by Fulford's Flooring out of Wilson, NC., a company that specializes in historic preservation:

http://www.fulfords.us

Prior to closing the church down to all work other than the floor refinishing crew we were continuing the work on interior molding.

This past Tuesday morning I walked into the St. George project and looked at all of the molding yet to be built and the floor scraping needing to be done before the floor refinishing contractor comes on the 19th and felt a little overwhelmed.  The feeling was a bit depressing - wondering just how it was going to all get done.

About an hour later, a team of 12 volunteers from Hickory Grove UMC walked in - unannounced - and asked if they could help.

They could not have come at a better time.  Their ranks included folks who were very happy to do the drudgery work of scraping the old carpet residue off of the floors - to the pastor willing to get into the crawl space to address some framing needs - to a few very skilled carpenters able to work on molding.

And then the lights went in!

Sanctuary chandeliers:

Unfortunately one of our "experiments" didn't work out so well.  It turns out that when a 15-light, rather heavy, chandelier is dropped from the ceiling, 20' above the floor, the chandelier does not fly, or drift slowly to the ground.  Gravity works.  And the outcome isn't pretty.  So a replacement one is on order.

                    The lounge pendant light:

The entry chandelier really sets off the Narthex - making it truly the warm and inviting front door to the church:

The interior wall sconces:

There is still much to do with the interior trim! - but there have been great inroads.  Yesterday I told Gary that if I ever again called for a design requiring 9 site-built, raised-panel columns - shoot me.  It's tedious - but it is a labor of love.

St. George UMC, Maxton, March 3, 2012:

The project is changing daily!  Our stained glass artist/contractor, Lou Ellen Becham, was on-site Wednesday to measure for new windows and to review the work needed to repair the damaged windows.  The most damaged windows were loaded up on her truck and shipped off to the LEB Glass Studios in Greenville, SC for repair.  This included the large window in the front of the church.  The damage was just too great to be able to repair it in place.

Interior trim work began this week as well.  This includes a built-up wainscoting scheme meant to mimic the original - consisting of 7 pieces of wood trim along the entire circumference of walls.

The new columns are site-built, raised-panel design, sandwiching around the old columns: labor intensive, with each column requiring about 10 layers of various wood trim.

All of the flat ceilings plus the tray ceiling in the Narthex, and accent spots in the Sanctuary receive crown molding.  The Narthex received a "compound crown."  Thankfully we were helped out on Friday and Saturday from a volunteer team of 4 from Summerville, SC who are experts in trim work installation!

The finished product - The "compound crown" scheme in the Narhtex:

One of  the church members said on Saturday evening that "this church has become the talk of Maxton, and when people see the inside, this church is going to be growing!"

Work also continued on the interior door frame installation and the exterior door panic-bar and lockset installations.

St George UMC, Maxton: February 25, 2012:

On Thursday night, a church member and co-Chair of the building committee, "Sam" was driving past the church and he noticed the outside lights on and the doors hung.  He stopped and drank in the sight of this major milestone.  He then drove on home (about 9:30 at night) and as he walked in the door, another church member called and said - "Sam!, have you seen the church?  The new lights are installed and are on and the new doors are so beautiful."

...In a small town, news travels fast!  And it does the heart good.

The new lights are in deed installed on the exterior of the church and they really set it off.  The new doors are installed on the front of the church - still waiting the arrival of the hardware and the concrete pouring on the landings though to be complete.

A word about these "new" doors:  In the renovation of this historic church there were 2 interior doors found that are original to the structure.  They were covered in years and layers of paint.  We had the paint removed and the doors restored.  These 2 doors will be re-hung in their original location - but we used them as a model for the new doors.

The existing entrance doors were merely c.1980's metal doors.  We discarded them and had Jeff Davison, of Triangle Wood Designs in Raleigh (919-427-7268) hand craft new doors for the church, based on the design of the 2 interior doors.  This is the second time we have used Jeff and his remarkable talent.

The new doors are made of antique heart pine wood that was salvaged from the structural beams of a 100+ year old textile mill torn down in eastern North Carolina.  They remain unstained - just highly varnished.

We also started trimming out the interior columns, headers and wainscoting this week, and getting ready for our stained glass artist coming next week to review the repair work.  Three of the original window frames were so badly rotten they had to be replaced.  We had these copied by Stan Corbett of Corbett's Woodworking of Wilson (252-289-6640).

The frames are made from recycled fur wood, and will be painted along with the final paint scheme for the church.

Images of the trim work in progress:

What a difference a "few" sheets of drywall make!  The drywall is now complete - hung and finished.  We will now enter the stage of interior finishing, and will make final plans for such at a committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

It was another absolutely wonderful - and WORK FILLED week.  We passed the framing, rough-in electrical, plumbing and wall insulation inspections, and we had crews and crews of people working on the site.

It's a gorgeous site to see so many volunteer and crew vehicles on

site at one time!

The new brick steps and wheelchair

ramp at the front doors are bricked -

ready and waiting for the backfill &

pour.

The first of the old stained glass

windows to be re-uncovered; letting

the light shine in.  (The windows had

been boarded up for protection during

interior demolition and roof

reconstruction.)

Spray foam!  Gotta love it...

All the walls were insulated:

The guys worked into

the evening to get the

insulation done - so that the insulation inspection could take place first thing the next day to allow for the OSB plywood sheathing to take place.

A team of 11 UMVIM-South Carolina volunteers came up from Bethany UMC in Summerville, SC to work Friday and Saturday - installing the OSB on the walls and the 2X4 purlins on the ceiling.  Their labor saved us about 3 weeks, and now the drywall will begin this coming Tuesday.

With the walls sheathed in OSB, and with the roof sheathed in OSB prior to the new shingles going on, a more solid diaphram has been created.  This plus all the new headers, columns and tie-rods has created a stronger building than this church ever was to begin with.

Work Update St. George UMC, Maxton: February 2 & 3, 2012:

It's been a busy week! - with one sub-contractor firm working above (on the roof), one working below (new footings for the future steps, landing and ramp), and volunteers working in the middle (interior framing) all at the same time. Got a love it!!

Taking the old roof off was a chore -

exposing the original roofing planks

with lots of gaps.  The planks were

installed to originally carry a wood

shake roof, and so were not installed

tightly.  Over the years, replacement

roofs of shingles were placed over

these planks with no changes to the

structure - not the best thing to do, as

this allows fatigue and moisture to

take a toll on the roof (and the 

structure below).  Although, with the

old removed - it does allow for an

interesting photo-shoot from the

interior! - and a lot of penetrating

light.

We decided to leave the old planks

that are still good, in place, and replace

the rotten ones.  Then we covered the entire roof in new 7/16" OSB plywood to provide a more solid and smooth roof surface, before covering in felt and new, 30-year, architectural shingles.

Every evening at dusk, we are treated to

an incredible sight: hundreds of bats

take flight from the attic of the church.

In this picture there are three that show

up.  One can be seen squeezing out

between the barge board and the brick

wall.  We know we have the task of

shutting off the building to them - and

will do so as time permits.

The footings are in for the future front steps, landing and wheel chair ramp.  This also means we had our first inspection - and we passed it!  The old front doors were set at the top of brick steps - with no landing.  A dangerous and inconvenient situation; and of course not up-to-code by today's standards.

Work is continuing this week, and we hope to have the finished roof on by Friday - although the rain showers are teasing us...

By the end of the week:

Masons opening the whole for the             Ah - the love of a new roof!  And 

rose window                                               the rose window opening can be

                                                                    seen.

Work Update: January 21, 2012:

What a fantastic week of work we had this week at the St. George UMC historic restoration project in Maxton!  - Lots of volunteers and lots of great jobs accomplished.

The difficult transition

area between the main

section of the sanctuary

and the south wing was

finally stabilized with

the installation of a

multi-layered header

system and new support

columns.  

The old column was a single 8X8, rough-sawn column that rose from the main girder below the floor to the original 8X8 header, spliced by mortise and tendon, 14' above the floor.  This column had taken on a lean of 7" in 14'.  The old column remains in place, but is now sandwiched between two 2X12 posts, standing perfectly plumb, also rising from the girder, through the floor, to embrace both the old headers and the new, double 2X12 header above.

The new "plumb" 2X12 post!                          Showing the two 2X12's nailed

                                                                         to the original 8X8, embracing

                                                                         both of the two original 8X8

                                                                         headers & the new double 2X12

                                                                         header.

Volunteers installing the

new multi-layered

header system: designed

to integrate the new with

the old.

Whereas the south wing

posts leaned out 7" to the

south, the north wing

posts leaned out 7" to the

north.  A new header and

post system has now been

installed at the north wing -

the altar and choir area.

Rafter joint repairs.                                      One of the new tension rods 

                                                                     between the south and north wings,

                                                                     across the sanctuary.

Work Update - January 13, 2012: St. George UMC, Maxton: Work finished today with the building of a new rear wall inside the existing wall - in order to give the interior a plumb wall, whereas the existing wall has a 4" lean outward.  Framing continued.  The rough-in plumbing is complete.  The HVAC repairs are complete.

In Other Work:

The next church

model being

constructed!

_______________

Work Update - January 8, 2012:  work this past week included the framing for the inerior wheelchair ramp to the Altar, and the replacement of some of the termite damaged corner framing.  the schedule for the next week is:

Monday, January 9 through Thursday, January 12:

- Demolition of front exterior brick steps

- Continuation of termite damage structural wood replacement

- Construction of ceiling framing over the future "Women's Room."

- Door installation to the new office

- Rough-in plumbing

Archives:

December 10, 2011:

Work continues to progress at the St. George UMC, Maxton, historic church restoration project.  All of the interior has been stripped to the exposed studs, rafters and ceiling joists.  A section of the floor has been removed and new floor joists are going in.  The electrical rough-in wiring has been completed.

Solid blocking installed at the 4' and 8' elevations.

                                   Volunteer installing the

                                   wood blocking.

Volunteers installing temporary                                                  new header and support column

support walls in the altar area.                   in the area where a wall once stood

                                                                   and should not have been removed.

Work began at St. George United Methodist Church in Maxton, NC. on Thursday, 17 August, 2011.  We had a turn out of about 20 volunteers to help in boarding up the 45 stained glass windows in preparation of interior demolition.  This is a historic church in need of a complete restoration.  The building is a rather unique structure, being built with bricks made by hand on the property.  There has been some foundation failure, following a remodel done in the 1950's; and the building was later wracked by a hurricane in the early 2000's.  Once the windows are boarded up the interior demolition can commence, and then the restoration work can get underway in October - for which we are also seeking volunteers.

Phase 1 and Phase 2work at Tabernacle, a historic church near Stantonsburg has been completed.    The work we were involved with at Tabernacle was the replacement of termite destroyed portions of this very historic, rural church, located about half way between Wilson and Greenville, NC. 

There were two areas effected by termites - both where the sanctuary and the classroom wing come together; and each to either side of the altar area.

The following pictures are of the work  done prior to February 20.  These pictures show much of what had to be opened and exposed and replaced.  This work has now been completed.  All work has been completed.

                   - Red Springs, NC

 We are now preparing to work on the front door restorations

                  - Vass, NC

Work will begin on Wednesday, September 28 involving a roof reconstruction at the Fellowship Hall.  Volunteers are sought for Thursday and Friday, September 29 and 30.

And we are currently in the design stage with the following congregations, working with  them to come up with the expansion plans for their dreams in ministry:

                                                                             - Chapel Hill, NC 

                   - Hope Mills, NC

                   - Clarks, NC

Trinity UMC:

                                           

&

How about you?  What can we do to help your church family?

Contact us at arovingguy@yahoo.com, or

klipspringerstudios@yahoo.com, or

919-920-7282