Great news!! The insulation was all finished this afternoon. On Wednesday, a company will come and start on the drywall.
If you have any time tomorrow you could stop by and help we would appreciate it so much!! We need to finish cleaning the chairs while we still have the dehumidifiers, and clean up the lawn while we still have the water truck.
We’ll keep you posted on how it goes this week!!
More pictures were added of today’s work! Click the link below.
Kevin Brown invited his baseball team and their parents to the church to work this morning. Several folks came up from Tri-City Baptist Church as well. They all focused on removing muck and debris from the landscape islands in the parking lot. The first layer was removed from most of the islands. This was hard, back-aching work. The dirt and silt were then moved with the “bobcat” to a pile south of the church.
More work was done on cleaning up the lawns near the church.
The wiring inside was completed! A group of volunteers spent a great deal of time on rewiring this week. Their efforts passed inspection with our city inspectors.
There was some additional general clean-up done inside the building. On Monday we hope to install insulation where it was removed and install new plywood where we have removed it. On Wednesday we hope that a crew will begin replacing our drywall.
A test group of chairs responded well to a new chemical cleaner and the bacteria appears to be gone. They look and smell much better. We will continue to treat the remaining chairs.
Here is a list of the items that were lost in the flood:
* Heating/Air-Conditioning Units
* Carpet (downstairs)
* Practice piano
* Window blinds (downstairs)
* Lower cabinets in kitchen, nursery, and bathrooms
* Bottom 4 feet of drywall
* Insulation
* Hot water heater
* Tables
* Some chairs
* Supplies
* Rolling dividers
* Monitor speakers
* Some electrical wiring
* Some toys
* Nursery cribs
* Hymn Books
* Bathroom dividers
* Both stoves
* Both refrigerators
* Dishwasher
* Interior doors (downstairs)
* Baseboard trim
* Platform plywood
* Some sound system jacks
* Some landscaping
* Vacuum cleaners
* Furnishings and decor
* Lawn Tractor
* Lawn Mower
* We have not yet had the organ inspected to know if it will be kept.
Great progress has been made in preparing our building to be repaired. Demolition is about finished so that reconstruction can begin.
Meticulous care has gone into cleaning the bare wood that sat in the flood waters. The past few days the muck hiding between joints and under boards was blown out with a pressure washer and then vacuumed up. The boards were then disinfected again. So many people have labored long hours to make this possible.
Our wood is nearly the proper humidity level for us to begin dry-walling the bottom four feet of our building once again. One member said yesterday that it looks like “the church is wearing shorts.” True, the top looks normal, but the “legs” (boards) are showing at the bottom.
The wiring under the platform is all being replaced. The electrical outlet boxes have been replaced.
The duct work for the air-conditioning/heating units that sat in water has all been removed. We hope to decide soon if we will be replacing the A/C and heating units completely.
Amazing progress has also occurred outside. The north two-thirds of the parking lot has been cleaned repeatedly and is greatly improved. We now have about 16 inches (deep) of muck on the south end to clear out. We would also like to begin to tackle the landscape islands on the parking lot. There is a lot of muck and debris in each one. Since the interior of our building will soon be dry-walled, we can now turn more of our attention to the exterior.
Some of the lawns have been shoveled and pressure washed and look like they might survive. Much more work needs done on the lawns so they can get the needed sunlight.
On Thursday Brian Olsen ran the “bobcat” for hours moving muck and clearing the silt from our long front sidewalks. He moved a lot of dirt around for us. What a blessing Brian has been in coming up from Arizona to help us out right now!!
The folks at Faith Evangelical Church in Loveland have brought us meals for several days – amazing meals like: Prime Rib, baked potatoes, salad, rolls or burgers and brats, or lasagna. They also brought a table full of goodies and fruit to grab on the run. Good, hot food is such a treat to worn out bodies. May the Lord greatly reward all their loving care!
Many volunteers have continued to show up each day and lend a hand. The tremendous amount of work that has been done in 6 days is due to the kindness of these folks. To God be the Glory! Great things He has done!
The past two days have been very productive thanks to the many, many volunteers.
As we have moved forward, our plans have been adjusted. The building is looking pretty bare with no carpet downstairs and the bottom four feet of drywall removed from the entire downstairs. Actually, it looks a lot like it did 14 years ago when we were framing it in.
This is one of the stranger views right now. This is the foyer looking into the men’s and ladies’ bathrooms. The toilets have all been moved, and the partitions are gone along with four feet of drywall.
Jansma came three times and filled a semi-truck with our debris. We ended up having to get rid of the kitchen appliances, so they were also hauled away. As you can see from the pictures, the downstairs has been emptied out. Tuesday morning all the damaged chairs were hauled outside, cleaned, and set in the sun to dry. Tuesday evening a large group of volunteers came and carried all of those chairs up to three different classrooms in which we placed large dehumidifiers. Once the moisture is all gone, we will have the chairs tested to see if we were able to get them clean.
All the downstairs doors have been removed. All the areas that got wet have been thoroughly disinfected. The shed was emptied and its contents were cleaned. We organized all of the items being stored upstairs.
Wednesday evening men used the power washer on the exposed wood where it meets the concrete. After another disinfection, we will need to get the moisture content in the wood down to 8%. It was down to 18% before we added some moisture this evening. At 8%, we will have clearance to begin dry-walling. When the humidity reaches that level, the wood will be dry enough to cover back up.
More work was done on cleaning up the mud from the parking lot and landscaping. We hope to focus on this much more the rest of the week.
Many more pictures of our progress can be seen by using the links on our website.
Here are some recent pictures of the work done on Wednesday, September 18th!
Double click to view pictures.
Click here to view more pictures of the restoration!
Over the weekend we were able to get into the church property and begin our clean-up.
Lisa and Salvadore, a couple in our church who clean carpets professionally came and got up the half inch of mud that covered all the carpets and chairs. They also disinfected. Their efforts made it possible for us to get inside and get to work. The carpets have all been removed from our ground level and will have to be replaced. We are going to see if we are able to save the auditorium chairs.
On Sunday morning a group of 52 people braved the rain (and possible road closures) and met at our house for encouragement, prayer, singing, a message, and an offering. 🙂 Andy and Heather Hansen shared their harrowing experience of spending several nights in the midst of the flood and their rescue from the Big Thompson Canyon.
We probably had 125 volunteers Monday! A good group of our church family came out to help. The Lord led one employer to give one of our members three days off to help us clean up. Several area churches sent volunteers to help. Campion Academy sent their 30-member soccer team to clean with us instead of having practice! Some of our neighbors and some of the church’s neighbors came and helped.
We cleaned and disinfected everything from the lower cupboards in our kitchen and moved it all upstairs. We also removed the lower cabinets in the kitchen, bathrooms, and nursery.
We cleaned everything (other than chairs) and hauled it upstairs. Every room downstairs was emptied. We cleaned many things out of our shed.
We cut out the bottom four feet of dry wall in the downstairs, removed the lower insulation, removed the base boards, cleaned the bare wood underneath, and bleached and disinfected it three times.
We made huge progress on the parking lot. You can walk on the sidewalks and even to your car without getting filthy. In three days, we went from six inches of mud on the entire parking lot to bare pavement in some places.
Men power-washed a small portion of the front lawn and we found our grass underneath all the mud!
Two water trunks came and sprayed 6500 gallons of water on the parking lot (free).
We remade our electrical panel (with the help of Craig, one of the church’s neighbors) so it could run 25 fans and 15 enormous dehumidifiers. The dehumidifiers pulled 42 gallons of water out of the building in the first eight hours they were running!
One of our men offered to spend the night so he could keep emptying the dehumidifiers. We are SO grateful to not have to go back in the night to do that!! (Bill Hendershot deserves a nice steak dinner!)
The piano and organ were removed to a dry location. Our keyboard, piano benches, and communion table were taken to Max Osterly for repairs. (Thanks, Max!)
We tore all the boards off the main platform and the two platforms that hold the piano and organ, cleaned up the gunk and bleached and disinfected everything three times.
All the bathrooms were scrubbed clean.
Dominoes donated pizza for lunch. King Soopers donated pop. (Thanks, Gwen, for arranging that!)
Karen DeGeal made us all sloppy joes for dinner. She brought chips too.
What a blessing!
Praise God from Whom ALL blessing flow!
Sunday morning was a wonderful time of fellowship at our Pastor’s home. God is always good! We are so thankful for the countless offers to help and those who have already worked tirelessly at the church building.
Click below to see a video that was taken right after the water subsided.
The flooding that has devastated the area and affected so many in our community and beyond has also impacted us. Our members are dealing with various concerns brought by the floods, from water in their homes to being stranded and still awaiting help. We know that so many in communities across the Front Range have lost so much more. Our hearts and prayers continue to be with everyone affected by this disaster.
Gateway had planned to celebrate our 22nd Anniversary as a church Sunday, September 15, 2013 at our building on the corner of 1st and Taft in Loveland, Colorado. The damage from flooding received on September 12 and September 13 has prohibited this. We are reminded that our building is just a building and the church is the body of believers.
While our prayers continue for everyone affected by this devastation, we, along with our community are determined to restore and rebuild.
Many of you have asked how you can help. As you can imagine, we are uncertain how to answer that question right now. We greatly appreciate your prayers. Over the next few days, we will be able to more accurately access the situation and provide updates as they are made available. We do know there will be financial, materials, and volunteer needs. As we better understand the extent of the damage, we will keep you informed. In the meantime, if you would like to make a monetary donation for our disaster relief fund, please send to:
Gateway Baptist Church
c/o Disaster Relief
325 S Taft Street
Loveland, CO 80537
Online: Click here to go to our online donations page.
The first level of the church was flooded with 2-3 feet of water. This level consists of:
· Foyer
· Sanctuary
· Nursery
· Restroom facilities
· Kitchen
· Choir Room
· Library
· Storage
The damage that we are currently aware of is:
· Carpeting
· Electrical
· Chairs
· Organ
· Pianos
· Keyboard
· Hymnals
· Dishwasher
· Ovens
· Refrigerators
