The Church Floor

Arrangements for replacing the sunken church floor are well advanced.

The architect, structural engineer and mechanical engineer completed their designs and the quantity surveyor then produced tender documents and issued them to four selected contractors on 29th January.

Tenders were returned four weeks later, on 26th February. These have now been evaluated and a Contractor has been chosen, so that work will start immediately after Easter, on the 6 April.

Firstly the benches will be removed from the church and taken away for refurbishment. Work will then begin in earnest.

We have applied for a lottery fund grant for restoration of the organ. We shall know very soon whether the application has been successful (we are very hopeful) and if it is the organ will be dismantled and removed for restoration before work starts on the church floor.

The new floor will be supported on piles so that there is no danger of the new floor settling in the same way as the present floor, so the first task will be to install 30 piles, each designed to carry a load of 20 tons.

Once the piles have been installed, the old floor will be removed and replaced with a new reinforced concrete slab. Polystyrene insulation will then be laid on the slab, followed by a screed with under-floor heating pipes laid in it. This under-floor heating will be the principal means of heating the church but there will also be radiators around the outside walls to allow for the coldest winter weather.

When the screed is thoroughly dry, a new wood-block floor will be laid to complete the work. After a good clean, the church will then be ready to be re-occupied.

The work is scheduled for completion at the end of November so that we can reclaim our church for our Christmas celebrations.

Unfortunately you won’t be able to wander into the church to have a look at how your money is being spent: health and safety requirements don’t allow that. But photographs will be taken and we will keep you informed of progress via a notice board in the Upper Hall, Edgeways and the parish website.

The Capital Appeal has not yet raised all of the money necessary to meet the cost of this substantial building project, so we are proceeding on an act of faith that your generosity and commitment will continue.

There may be a feeling of ‘camping-out’ in the Upper Hall but I trust that when we return to the church you will judge the enterprise to have been worth the effort.

From the Halls and Premises Committee

(February 2010, updated 13 March 2010)

See also:

• fundraising and the move to the upper hall
• notes on church moving to the upper hall