The church in Salamanca is installing a wheelchair lift. Or should I say that I am installing a lift. We had to rent a truck and drive all the way to Syracuse to get it. It has 2 pieces and one of them weighs over 600 pounds and it takes 6 people to lift it.
Once we got it to the church the next problem is where to store it until we can install it. The only level place big enough is the foyer.
The next problem is that there is a concrete wall in the way. The good news is that there was a window there so the header is already in place. I cut a hole in the wall and removed the old window casing so we could work on the concrete and stone wall.
I rented a chop saw with a 17 inch diamond tipped blade. With it I cut grooves into the stone and concrete wall. It did not cut all of the way through it so we had to use hammers and knock out the blocks one at a time. In the picture pastor Charlie is taking a swing or two at the wall.
Now we are through the concrete and stone wall. Walt brought a shop vacuum cleaner and cleaned up the mess that was left behind. The next step is to remove the platform and stairs. Then we can install the lift to replace the stairs.
Now for the latest update, in this picture the stairs and landing have been removed leaving an open pit. We also stripped or removed the walls and ceiling.
Next is an even more difficult step. We need to put the lift into the hole we have made for it. We did it with about 6 guys. We started at 9 AM on saturday and had it in place by a little after 10 Am! Now to do all of the wireing and make some walls and doorways.
Well now I am working on the walls. The right side is done, the left side is going to be the tricky one.Once we got it to the church the next problem is where to store it until we can install it. The only level place big enough is the foyer.The next problem is that there is a concrete wall in the way. The good news is that there was a window there so the header is already in place. I cut a hole in the wall and removed the old window casing so we could work on the concrete and stone wall.
I rented a chop saw with a 17 inch diamond tipped blade. With it I cut grooves into the stone and concrete wall. It did not cut all of the way through it so we had to use hammers and knock out the blocks one at a time. In the picture pastor Charlie is taking a swing or two at the wall.
Now we are through the concrete and stone wall. Walt brought a shop vacuum cleaner and cleaned up the mess that was left behind. The next step is to remove the platform and stairs. Then we can install the lift to replace the stairs.Now for the latest update, in this picture the stairs and landing have been removed leaving an open pit. We also stripped or removed the walls and ceiling.
Next is an even more difficult step. We need to put the lift into the hole we have made for it. We did it with about 6 guys. We started at 9 AM on saturday and had it in place by a little after 10 Am! Now to do all of the wireing and make some walls and doorways.
The second picture is of the evacuation areas. Some are optional and some are mandatory evacuations.