Constructing a Boiler

It's been a busy 7 days. A week ago, Anola Gowin primed the boiler room, painting over WHITEWASH, if you can believe it.



Sunday afternoon found Liseli and Buffy cleaning out around the edges of the concrete floor, so that the plywood would fit.



After a couple of tries, the plywood fell into place.



Now the room was ready for Buffy to paint. All this was in preparation for the new boiler, being delivered on Monday.



Monday: The bobcat made several trips to and from the truck; taking the 6 new sections to the basement and then picking up the 8 old ones. Here's the 1st delivery of the old.



and a wooden flat with 3 new sections.



Don't they look whole (refer to an earlier blog).



Now, putting it all together. Here's Ed measuring the space needed.



Tuesday afternoon the boiler looked like this.



Wednesday!



Thursday found Mike connecting pipes.



This is the "before" photo -- notice the hole in the pipe in the foreground as well as the space around the wall.



Here's Scott repairing the wall and replacing pipes outside the boiler room.



Back inside the room, Ed and Mike work together to get the connection good and tight. Ed's wrench weighs over 40 pounds!



Friday! Now we're waiting on tiny parts for the controls. Hopefully the manufacturer will actually send the right parts this time.

Old Boiler removed today

Hermann Schmidt Heat and Plumbing are taking care of our boiler. Today they were here to take out the old one.



Here's Ed explaining the situation to Liseli. What caused the 11 1/2 year old boiler to fail? Ed, our steam expert, explained that it was the corrosion from a variety of sources: fresh water coming in too frequently, chlorine in our well water a few years ago and minerals in that water.



There are 8 sections to this boiler. Here's Scott cutting apart the sections with Mike Schmidt looking on.



Poor old boiler! This inside shot shows the high water mark that shouldn't be in there! It's supposed to be dry!



This is the close up of some of the corrosion inside out.



Each section weighs about 200 pounds. Here's Scott man-handling one of the sections.



All is quiet now. Ed is pictured here cleaning up some of the debris.



The new boiler will be here Monday!!

Keeping the Fires Going

As many of you know, the Pitt Hall boiler cracked open Tuesday, February 3rd. We're getting bids on repairing or replacing the boiler but in the meantime, we have to keep the building warm enough so the pipes don't freeze. We're using a combination of roaring fires in 2 of the fireplaces so that the chimneys heat the building as well as using portable electric heaters.

Of course, we've had to cancel the workshops and retreats scheduled in Pitt Hall.



Yes, it's steam heat.



So we've gone through most of our firewood. Liseli and Buffy have been taking turns with Rick Townsend and Ethan to keep the fires hot. Here's Ethan chopping more wood.



This was one of the warmer days -- probably 18 degrees.



We are so grateful that Rick is here to paint the formal staircase and hallway in Pitt Hall. Between plastering in Pitt and painting trim in the ACC, he still finds time to warm up in front of the fire. Thanks, Rick.