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The Cathedral Phase One renovation work began on 23rd November 2009 and
is scheduled to take 38 weeks. The Phase One work will include:
- tiling of the whole floor surface (including the sanctuary)
- re-ordering of the sanctuary
- re-instatement of the Lady Chapel
- improved lighting
- installation of new boilers
Progress Reports
Posted 14th March 2010
Bishop Cunningham and Frs Dixon, Leighton and Warren met in the Cathedral to
see the progress of the works and to discuss the detail of the positioning
of the Altar, Chrismatorium (receptacle for holding and displaying Holy Oils) and
some other furnishings. The tiling work has progressed towards the Lady Chapel. The
tiling contractor will not be on site for the next couple of weeks while the
manufacture of the next batch of tiles is completed. The timber floor and its masonry
support walls in the centre of the sanctuary have been lifted and below these some
of the original steps of the sanctuary have been rediscovered. They have been
photographed and protection has been laid over them. The ducts and pipe work
for the heating and electrical services for the sanctuary has commenced. Dolomite
fill has been laid in preparation for the pouring of the new concrete slab in the
sanctuary area. Some of the refurbished pews have been returned to the cathedral
and a similar number taken away for renovation. The contractor's hoarding has
been moved to its new position running North/South across the cathedral.
Posted 6th March 2010
Tiling is the main element of the work at the moment and about 50% of
the tiles have been laid in the south aisle. A lot of time has been spent
fitting tiles into the service access covers in the floor. This work is labour
intensive as it requires a lot of careful cutting of the tiles. The reredos in
the Lady Chapel has been completed apart from the last panel of new Caen stone.
The original stone and the new stone match very well. Samples of the original
Lady Chapel wall tiles have been sent off to the tile maker so that he can
investigate the possibility of making more tiles to replace those that were
damaged during the previous works. In this week's site meeting the Contractor
set out his plans and programme for the work up to the Holy Week. During next
week the partition screen will be relocated to run north / south across the
Cathedral so that work can commence on infilling the existing timber floor in
the centre of the sanctuary.
Posted 28th February 2010
More tiles have been laid this week together with duct covers to conceal the
heating pipes and the electrical services. Some bays of tiling in the south
aisle are now grouted and complete. A visit to the workshop working on the pews
confirmed that 20 of them are now fully refurbished and fitted with the new
kneelers. The stone for the Lady Chapel reredos arrived a little earlier than
expected so the rebuilding commenced this week. Unfortunately one of the stone
slabs was broken on the journey from the French quarry to the stonemason's workshop.
The stonemasons are happy that they will be able to fit the replacement stone at a
later date.
Posted 21st February 2010
The first bay of tiling has been laid in the middle of the south aisle.
The tiles as delivered were found to be slightly larger than the manufacturer
expected so some minor adjustments were made to the setting out before any adhesive
was applied. By the end of the week a bay of tiles will have been sealed and grouted.
The works to rebuild the Lady Chapel reredos did not start this week as the new Caen
stone has not yet arrived from France. This is now expected to arrive on or about
the 3rd March.
Posted 14th February 2010
During this week the steps and raised dais for the Lady Chapel have been
completed and the chapel reredos stones have been brought back into the
Cathedral. Hopefully the rebuilding of the reredos will commence next week.
The heating system is being completed with the installation of new fan
convectors at the west end of the south aisle. Down in the boiler room
the new external grilles have been fitted and the drainage modifications
are well underway.
The setting out lines for the tiling have been positioned very accurately
by a surveyor using a laser theodolite. A small sample of tiles was delivered
last week and the tiling contractor has been using these to select the best
sealing product for them. He was able to demonstrate their resistance to
water and oil once the sealer had been applied. The first batch of tiles
for the floor has been delivered to the tiling contractor's workshop in Prudhoe.
Therefore everything is in place for the tiling to commence on Monday.
Posted 6th February 2010
In the south aisle the screed which was laid last week has been drying and
curing. The contractor has been working on the raised area for the Lady
Chapel in preparation for the reassembly of the Lady Chapel Reredos. A
meeting has taken place with the tiling subcontractor to discuss, plan
and 'set out' his work. This will commence during the week commencing 15
February. Detailed discussions have also taken place to finalise the new
electrical provision within the Cathedral. The new boilers are now working
very successfully and the temporary boiler has been taken way. The computer
controls for the heating system are being installed together with the new
fan convector units in the west end of the south aisle.
Posted 31st January 2010
Work carried out 25 - 29 January has been mainly to do with getting the concrete
screeds laid in the South Aisle. The new ducts for cables and the new hearing
loop were fitted into the insulation below the screed at the beginning
of the week. The craftsmen who laid the screed came up from Bolton
to do this work. Using a laser level to get a flat surface, they put down
25 tonnes of screed in less than a day and a half. There is good news from
Stoke on Trent where the first delivery batch of tiles has been successfully
fired. Previously there had been something of a setback when part of a
kiln had exploded. The tiles are now being trimmed and cut where necessary
in preparation for delivery. The temporary boiler has now been shut down
and the new boilers are up and running. Thankfully this changeover only
took a day rather than the two days anticipated.
Posted 23rd January 2010
During the last two weeks the new structural concrete floor for
the South Aisle has been cast and this has been overlaid with 100mm of insulation.
The existing cables, new wiring ducts and heating pipes are being threaded
through the insulation zone in preparation for the laying of a concrete screed.
The screed work is scheduled for next week and, once this has cured, the
floor will be ready for tiling. Out of sight, the work in the boiler room
continues. A good proportion of the circulation pipes, valves and pumps are
now in place and the work is on schedule for heat to be available for the
Cathedral and the presbytery from the new boilers by the end of January. There
will be a couple of mid-week days without heat when the change over from
the temporary boiler to the new boilers takes place.
Posted 8th January 2010
The contractor Stephen Easten Building Ltd started on site at the end of
November. Work began in the boiler room below Cathedral House as the old
boilers were removed and a temporary boiler was installed. The new boilers
were delivered just before Christmas and hopefully by the end of January
they will be plumbed in and operational. The first phase of work within
the Cathedral itself is concentrated in the south aisle behind a neat temporary
hoarding. The old floors have been lifted and the first pour of new concrete
went in just before Christmas. The Lady Chapel Reredos (previously part
of the Confessionals) has been taken down and stored in preparation for
its reinstallation back against the east wall. The manufacture of the new
floor tiles has commenced and the manufacturer's detailed drawings and
a sample tile have been received. The first batch of pews has been taken
to a workshop in Blaydon for refurbishment and the first sample has been
repolished.
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