If It Looks Like a Duct...

Are you ready to reach a new, deeper level in your friendship with our church home?  Take a deep breath and join me in the basement.

Yes, so far I've been very selective in the views you've been getting of the place.  I wanted to spare you the shock and discomfort at seeing how we really live.  =)

I'm still being selective.

Do you remember when Paul's parents were staying here and helping us get the bathroom ready for us to move in last winter?  The basement hasn't changed much since then, except to fill up with our stuff when we moved in.

We're not in a position to make any changes just yet, but it's nice to have a plan.  I looooove to plan, but up till recently, I kept running into problems with the infrastructure of the downstairs space.  The most prominent feature down here is the ductwork, and second to that are the beam supports.

I just didn't know how to work around them.  Oh, if only they didn't need to be there!

Well, do you remember how I said I'd we could replace our furnaces with something better?  That something better is radiant floor heating.  Beautiful, comfortable heat right where we need it.  And even better: no forced air, no ductwork!

How liberating!

Freshly freed from the metal monster, I set down this week to explore the limits of a space which still needed to:

• have at least one window for each bedroom.
• maximize the amount of natural light from the windows.
• allow for the beam supports.
• provide a place for using both of our vintage stoves, one gas from the 40's and one electric from the 50's.

Little did I realize that I really could get a master bathroom out of it!  A friend of mine had suggested as much, and now we can make it work!

Oh, but there was one detail that really made Paul uncomfortable as he peered over my shoulder at my developing plans: how were we going to get the waste water to the septic tank?

"Easy," I said, without really knowing what I was talking about.  "Upflush toilets!"

And so we researched them a little and found that, while the system is not going to be cheap, it will be a solid choice for both the bathroom and the kitchen.  And so worth it.

For those who are prone to study the floor layout, here are a couple of points not to be missed:

Paul thinks the below-grade wall on the right which separates the basement from a dirt-filled crawlspace can be pushed back a foot or two, giving us more room.  If we can accomplish this, then the bathroom and pantry will also shift over, giving us more room to access the dishwasher in the kitchen.  One could say that I'm rather counting on that being the case.

This layout doesn't show the entire floor plan of the basement; on the other side of the wall on the left is the bathroom and the water heater.  Our freezer and table saw currently occupy the future laundry area, but you'll see that we've made room for the freezer in the pantry.  Until we have a storage shed built, we'll have to let the table saw stay where it is.

The light gray features in the drawings indicate features that currently exist but will be removed to make way for the new features.

We will open up the stairway to unite the upstairs and downstairs living spaces.  The area below the stairs will still be for storage, and the new electric panel is already located there, waiting to be hooked up to a new electric service.

Having an open stairway will be a happy change for the cats: being downstairs is like obtaining the holy grail to them and their little questing spirits.

Peering into the Cold

At some point in the building's history, the basement was extended, an interior staircase was added, and a sort of bathroom was installed. The view shown here is from the basement door, looking along the southeast side of the church and toward the front.

Our plan is to enlarge and replace the windows to capitalize on the southern sun exposure. Between the windows we hope to plant a salad garden, using cold frames to extend our growing and harvesting seasons. But unless we can figure out how to prepare and serve cactus, we'll have to figure out the best way to dig it out of the ground; somewhere in there lurks yet another cactus patch.

Northwest Windows

From left to right: The sheaf of wheat symbolizes the bread of the New Covenant, the open Bible exhorts us to make God's Word central to our lives, and the dove with the olive branch speaks of peace and happiness such as Noah would have experienced following the worldwide flood.

Of all the kinds of stained glass windows that could have been here, I consider myself blessed that these windows feature simple, flowing lines and symbolic representations rather than ornate motives and figurative depictions. They're beautiful, and for the most part, I wouldn't change a thing.

Southeast Windows

These are the stained glass windows on the southeast side. Clicking on a picture will enlarge it for looking at the detail.

The window on the left, closest to the front of the nave, features a bunch of grapes to communicate the wine of the New Covenant. The central window portrays a crown and a cross to remind us of Christ our King. The window on the right features an anchor, an ancient symbol of hope.

The windows were installed in 1910, and the glass itself is Tiffany-style glass, composed of many layers of color within each piece. Elliot commented that the glass in the main part of the outer windows looks like mother-of-pearl, and indeed, it does.

I'm sure there's quite a bit more to say about the glass and the style and period of the design, but I'd need to do more research first. When we are able to turn our attention to restoring them, we'll write more about what we learn.

Next: the windows on the northwest side.

Along the Sides

More (fuzzy) pictures of the nave. Elliot stayed in the shot to give an idea of the scale, but Aelsa joked that with how quickly he's been growing lately, perhaps there were better people for the job. She wasn't volunteering, however.

Regarding the scale of the windows and the space they fill, it's worth mentioning that the window trim is 10" wide. From the floor to the top of the window trim is 12.5'.

Stained glass window detail coming later.

Setting the Stage for a Repeat Performance

We may sleep here now, but later our musical instruments will fill this space.

View from the Back

It's hard to get the room to fit into one picture, but here's my attempt to capture it from the back. Notice how the stage is set for the sleeping show. And the stairs to the basement are on the right.

That's it! The space in its entirety is about 28 feet wide by 38 feet long, and we have big plans for it. More on that later.

View from the Front

So far I've posted several close-up pictures of isolated elements of The Swallow's Nest. But now here's the beginning of a tour of the grounds to give you a better idea of the space we're adapting.

This is the view from the platform in the front of the nave. The doors in the back lead to the front entry. Yes, the front door is in the back of the room. We hope this won't lead to much confusion. =)

You see the carpeting and the linoleum floor have been removed. The guys finished that up last week. It's interesting to see where the pews sat; marks on the floor reveal where they were bolted to the floor, and stripes of varying colors betray the toll that years of foot traffic took on its once-protective finish.

Our plans are to sand the floor and finish it in a dark brown stain, but that won't be until the bathroom is functional and we have bedrooms designated downstairs: the platform is currently where we stage our airbeds, sleeping bags, and pillows. It's quite a show, but it's been known to put everyone to sleep.

Winter Has Come

Winter arrived with snow today after several days of cold, windy weather. And today, after two overnights in our country estate, we make our exit.

If, when he calls in to the Cook County courthouse on Thursday, Paul learns that he doesn't need to report for his jury duty summons on Friday, then we'll drive back out Friday morning.

The plan for this weekend, then, is to frame the bathroom walls, but we still need to lift some of the stubborn linoleum tiles from the concrete floor. I think a heat gun will help loosen it up, and we'll bring one out with us when we come back, but perhaps someone else has a better suggestion... ?