Serbin Church Restoration Project, Serbin Texas, U.S.A

Completed Restoration Photos

2012-01-04T16:07:00.003-06:00

Here are some photos of the church, now that the restoration is complete. Note also the newly paved area in front of the church, along with the new lamp posts!

Church Pews are Back!

2010-10-22T11:31:00.005-05:00

Excitement is in the air in Serbin, Texas!! The Trustees worked hard last night to get all the pews back in the church. The cushions will not be put back on the pews yet as they need some cleaning after sitting up for so long.

Updated Church Photos

2010-10-21T11:26:00.002-05:00

From the outside of the church, you can see a little more change. A wall was put up in the front of the church along the sidewalk and steps. Last week, rails were installed along the steps and the wall.

You can see from the picture of the inside of the church that we hold our weekly Sunday Worship Services sitting on chairs rather than the pews. The newly restored pews should begin making their way back in the church in the coming days a little at a time.

The air conditioner vents were cleaned out this week so that the pews could be brought back in.

Pouring concrete for the entrance

2010-06-22T09:20:00.003-05:00

Below, you can see some photos from when the concrete was poured for the new entrance to the church. As you can tell, new blog posts have come few and far between. The blog is winding down along with the completion of the restoration project. We'll keep it online, though, for historical reasons, and to update it with any new and interesting things associated with the restoration!

Finishing Touches!

2010-06-04T10:25:00.003-05:00

The final touches are being put on the church to prepare for Sunday Morning Worship Services. All the dust if being cleaned off the fixtures and walls. The walls are being painted upstairs. Jack Wiederhold spent the day on Thursday assembling his pipe organ in the church for use until our organ is ready. Our organ is projected to be ready at the early part of next year.

Wrapping it up!

2010-06-02T18:50:00.001-05:00

No more Fans! We are scheduled to be back in the church this coming Sunday the 6th. Pews will be moved in upstairs, but chairs will still be temporarily used downstairs. The grout on the floor needs to cure for 28 days from the time it was completed before the sealant can be applied to the floor. Once the sealant is applied, some caulking and final touches will be done. After that is complete, the pews can be moved back in on the lower level as well.

The new stone floor can be seen from various views. The center aisle is laid with bigger, more rectangular squares, while the sides contrast with smaller stones in a variety of shapes and sizes. Notice the nice designs around the poles. More work will be done around the poles also, once the sealant is applied.

Carpet has been ordered for the altar steps and the stair landings.

Everything is coming back together nicely.

More Stone Floor Progress

2010-05-12T18:07:00.001-05:00

A lot more progress was made today on the stone floor, as you can see in the photos!

Progress continues on the restoration

2010-05-11T20:10:00.003-05:00

Things had slowed down a bit while deciding on what to do with the windows and doors. However, progress continues with the floor and painting the inside of the church. Also, work continues on finishing the outside plaster and preparing it for paint.

Friday Update

2010-04-30T08:38:00.002-05:00

The steeple has been painted. The center aisle in the church has been laid out about 3/4 of the way down. You can see by the picture that once the grout is put in, the floor is smoothed out so there are no grooves from the grout lines. Upstairs you can see they are beginning to prepare for painting by taping off areas.

Tuesday Update

2010-04-27T08:33:00.002-05:00

Here's a sample of what the front door design will be.

Monday Update

2010-04-26T08:26:00.003-05:00

Progress was made last week. Work continued on the stripping of the paint.

The workers can be seen working on the steeple area. Some more plaster work has begun on the back of the church in some areas. Once the paint was taken off, they could see more areas that needed additional plaster repair.

The workers have begun putting primer on the fascia boards and gables. That will then be covered with white paint.

More progress and photos on the organ restoration

2010-04-20T10:57:00.006-05:00

We are getting closer to completion, but work has slowed down due to some issues with the stones for the flooring. Meanwhile, progress continues on the church organ, however. Here are some photos. New support has been built for the roller board and windchest. As you can see, the rollerboard has been reworked, along with some trackers and squares. Progress continues with the windchest.

Stripping the paint!

2010-04-15T15:55:00.002-05:00

Workers have been busy this week stripping the paint from the outside of the church and pressure washing the walls. This is all in preparation to repaint the church. Workers can be seen stripping the paint from the steeple area.

Stone Floor--Layout Begins...

2010-04-01T12:30:00.001-05:00

The layout of the stone has begun in the church. The center aisle will be more arranged and with bigger stones. On either side of the center aisle, the stones will be smaller and less arranged.

Confirmation Sunday

2010-03-30T09:30:00.002-05:00

The church was prepared for Confirmation services. It looked very nice for the service. Work will begin these next two weeks on stripping the paint on the walls and installing the stone floor, that was delivered on Monday.

Getting ready for Confirmation

2010-03-27T10:43:00.002-05:00

It's Saturday morning and pastor is preparing the students for confirmation.

Concrete has been poured!!

2010-03-25T11:26:00.002-05:00

The concrete has been poured inside the church!!!! They will spend time "cutting" the concrete and then preparing the church for Sunday's Palm Sunday Worship Service.

Church Organ Pipes

2010-03-22T20:10:00.002-05:00

Here are some photos of new pipes being prepared for the church organ. These pipes come from Kristian Wegscheider's organ shop in Dresden.

Roof work and ready to pour concrete inside

2010-03-22T20:06:00.003-05:00

The shingles on the roof have been torn down and replaced. You can see they have been working on the plaster inside the church. Also, they finished tying the steel on Friday to prepare to pour the concrete on the inside of the church. Monday morning, the concrete was poured.

Monday--Gables, Pews and Steeple Photos

2010-03-22T10:44:00.004-05:00

Workers can be seen tacking up the siding on the back gable of the church to better secure it. A lot of progress is being made on the pews. Broken pieces have been replaced on some and the painting process has begun on many of the pews. Workers can be seen checking out the conditions on the tower and steeple.

Wed--Roof and Plaster Work

2010-03-17T13:19:00.002-05:00

They are now working on tearing the shingles off the roof and are in the final stages on the plaster work in the front of the church.

Plaster and inside work continues

2010-03-17T11:38:00.002-05:00

The plaster was completely removed from the front of the church on Monday. They began filling in the cracks between the rocks after the plaster was removed. The dirt on the inside of the church is being compacted to get ready to start tying the steel for the concrete.

Friday--Sidewalk and plaster work continues...

2010-03-12T14:31:00.003-06:00

The sidewalk from the church office to the school has been poured. Traeco has been working on reconnecting the air conditioning units to the church.

The dirt has been leveled out on the north side of the church.

Here is the south side of the church with all the plaster work in it's final stage.

Friday--Hole in the center of the chuch floor

2010-03-12T13:47:00.003-06:00

Here are a couple of pictures of the hole in the middle of the church found when the concrete and a stone was removed that is assumed to have held a timber used to hoist rocks when erecting the church. The hole is square and was lined with rock. Fascinating!

Thursday--Inside floors completely removed!

2010-03-11T16:18:00.002-06:00

The inside floor of the church is completely demolished. The sidewalk between the church and school was poured today (will send picture of finished product). The plaster work is in the final stages on the south side of the church.

Tuesday--Floor on inside of church is gone!

2010-03-09T09:56:00.003-06:00

By the end of the day Friday, all the concrete from the sides and middle that was busted up, was all cleaned up and hauled out of the church. On Monday, the demolition of the entire floor in the sanctuary was completed. They are now working on the removal of all the rock and busted up concrete.

You can see by the picture that the pillars are sitting on stone which appears to have been carved into the shape you see. Those stones seem to be a different type of rock from the stones they found under the concrete and from the stones that make up the walls of the church.

Today they are working on busting up the concrete in the back rooms and entrance of the church, as well as continuing to haul out rocks from inside the church. Crews also continue to work on the plaster on the south side of the church.

Progress on the Organ--Pedal Pipes!

2010-03-09T09:05:00.005-06:00

Here are some more pictures sent by Friedemann, the gentleman who is restoring the church organ, in Florida. These pictures are of the pedal chest on which the pipes sit that are played by the feet. He found that most of the pedal pipes have loose joints and cracks and need re-gluing. He also noted that the small pedal pipes now have new long feet to let the bass speak out. Fascinating!

Friday--Lots more action!

2010-03-05T13:17:00.005-06:00

Pastor took the school kids to look at the church and explained what they are doing. You can also see the stones that are still under the concrete.

The plaster on the outside of the church is undergoing another stage.

Big rocks were found under the floor down the center aisle of the church. These rocks are being removed one by one, by hand, to preserve them for possible future use. You can see the areas down the side of the church where the tile and concrete have been busted up. There is also rock under these sections, it is just smaller than the ones down the center aisle.

Friday--Leveling it out

2010-03-05T09:39:00.003-06:00

Water was pumped from the area around the back of the church and a load of sand was brought in to help level out the area.

Thursday--Demolition Begins!

2010-03-04T08:24:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, the demolition of the floors in the church began. They used jackhammers to bust up the tiles and removed all the debris. They also worked on the plaster on the outside of the church.

Work is in progress on the plaster on the outside walls of the church. They smoothed the rocks and tucked them tight yesterday and then began to fill in the holes and cracks, which they are still working on today. This is all a part of the 4-step process of re-plastering the walls.

You can see they have proceeded to cover things up in the church. A heavy, black plastic was used to cover from one side of the balcony to the other. Also, the entire altar area has been covered for protection.

The rocks that were predicted to be under the concrete slab were indeed found under the altar. Once the altar was disassembled, they found these rocks and began removing them by hand, one by one to prevent them from breaking. They tried to remove a section of the conrete slab to see if there were any rocks under it, but couldn't easily do that due to how the slabs were assembled. As you can see from the pictures, they poured sections of slabs (rather than one big slab) and these sections overlap each other fitting together kind of like a puzzle.

Tuesday--Working on the inside!

2010-03-02T17:47:00.003-06:00

Construction has begun on the inside of the church. This is the view upon entering the church. The carpet has been taken up and they have begun to cover everything with plastic. You can see the posts and ceiling fans are already covered with plastic.

The Altar steps have been removed. You can see that there is rock showing on the floor under the altar. The remainder of the altar will be left intact, but covered for protection during construction.

They dug a hole in the floor to see what exists around the pillars. It seems that rocks were stacked up to support the pillars. In the pillar areas, around those support rocks, there seems to simply be dirt under the 4 inch slab. You can see where the hole is and a close up of what they found.

Monday--Plaster work

2010-03-01T12:56:00.005-06:00

The strengthening beam was poured in the front of the church on Friday.

You can see the membrane was put down in the back of the church, but just hasn't been covered up yet. You can also see the drain pipe that was put in to help control water drainage.

Their still isn't much going on inside. They did a few test spots on the plaster and, as you can see on picture, they pulled up a couple of spots on the tile to see what's there.

You can see the samples of the stages of plaster work on the south side of the church.

Plaster is being taken off on all sides of the church in different areas. You can see the north side where they took some of the plaster off on Friday.

You can also see the plaster sample they did in the church on Friday under one of the windows.

Due to the amount of water standing at the front of the church and seeping up into the rocks, the front side of the church will have to be replastered.

Thurday-Plaster and drain pipes

2010-02-25T18:05:00.001-06:00

You can see by the picture of the south side of the church that they have begun to remove the plaster from the outside of the church in certain areas. This shows the look of the actual rock that is under the plaster. Where they are removing it above the window, it's interesting to see how the rock is laid in a fan design around the top of the windows.

Also, today they worked at the back of the church to install some drain pipes.

Wednesday--Footings in the front

2010-02-24T18:04:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday, the footings were poured on the front side of the church, as seen here.

Tuesday--Snow and benches!

2010-02-23T18:02:00.001-06:00

Yes, on Tuesday it snowed in Serbin, as you can see! So, it was another good day to work on the benches.

Wrapping up the outside work

2010-02-22T09:29:00.000-06:00

As you can see, we are getting very close to completely the foundation work on the outside of the church.

On the sides where footings have been poured, such as the North side shown here, plastic material has been laid down to protect against future water problems.

You can also see the front of the church, the last remaining side in need of foundation work, where they have began digging to prepare for more footings.

Yesterday, they removed the gas line pipe which goes up the back of the church to connect to the furnace.

Finally, a photo shows the north side of the church being complete, with plastic installed and now all covered back up.

More foundation progress

2010-02-19T09:07:00.002-06:00

They are preparing the north side for attaching the plastic material used for water control.

You can see how muddy the southwest corner of the church was under the ramp.

The ramp and steps have been moved from the front of the church.

The strengthening beam on the north side of the church has been poured.

You can see how much water has been soaking in and standing at the northwest corner of the church. As they attempted to dig the trench down the front side, they were faced with lots of water and mud.

Wow!--missing rock under the floor?

2010-02-18T14:23:00.002-06:00

Here are more pictures from today near the front of the church. The ramp and steps are totally removed. The one close up photo shows how mucky the southwest corner was under the ramp, which shows that there were problems with water standing there. One picture shows the view from below the entrance of the church. This makes it still questionable whether or not there is rock under the current floor. You can also see the slab and then dirt, so its unclear if there is actually any rock below that.

More Restoration Progress--Thursday

2010-02-18T12:24:00.002-06:00

These are pictures of the west (front) end of the church. They are tearing up the ramp and by the pictures (one close up and one at a distance) you can see how there are hollow spots under the ramp where the water can run from one side of the church to the other. This also causes water to stand there in that spot.

The north side is completed with the strengthening beam and all footings.

The east side (back) is being prepared for the final strengthening beam. You can see pictures of steel and forms.

Pouring More Beams!

2010-02-18T09:57:00.003-06:00

We have had alot of sunshine this week, so the work is on again! Multiple footings have been poured on the East end throughout the week and alot of progress is being made.
More pictures of this work should be available soon.

More footings and digging

2010-02-17T12:21:00.000-06:00

Today, they poured more concrete and dug more under the church. Lots of activity now that the sun is shining!

2010-02-16T12:18:00.001-06:00

Today, they dug a hole under the church and prepared for more concrete footings. They poured footings on the east side, including the one that goes under the church.

Organ Restoration Progress

2010-02-10T14:59:00.002-06:00

Here are a few photos of the organ restoration in progress, particularly on the organ reservoir and feeders.

More concrete poured!

2010-02-09T14:55:00.002-06:00

With a short break in the rainy weather, work was able to continue on the beams on the side and back of the church, as you can see from these pictures and video of concrete being poured!

Stone flooring

2010-02-08T14:35:00.002-06:00

Here are some photos to illustrate how the new church flooring will be laid out. The top photo shows the stone material that will be used. The bottom photo show how it will be laid out.

Working on the Pews

2010-02-03T13:33:00.002-06:00

As we wait for the ground to dry enough to continue working on the foundation, work continues indoors on the church pews.

Working on the Pews

2010-02-01T10:03:00.002-06:00

With the rain, and more forecasted, there is not much to show today in the way of photos. There is progress being made, though, behind the scenes. During days like today, they are able to work on the restoration of the benches, which is occurring offsite. If we get some photos of that, we'll post them soon...

Rain slows things down

2010-01-29T16:12:00.002-06:00

The rain kind of slowed things down today. Things are wet and muddy, as you can see, as they uncovered the beams and pumped out the water that collected from the rains. More to come next week!

Letting things settle

2010-01-28T19:40:00.002-06:00

Not much to report on today. Looks like they let the concrete dry and settle today because little to no activity was reported today. Probably a good thing to keep things covered, with the storm approaching from the Northwest.

Chapel in the Gym, Concrete Poured on North side

2010-01-27T19:48:00.003-06:00

Today, they poured concrete footings and a beam part-way down the length of the North side of the church. Once the footings are dry, they'll finish the long beam. You can also see that Pastor was able to setup an altar in the gym, where they held their first chapel this morning.

Working on the North and East Sides of the Church

2010-01-26T20:23:00.003-06:00

Today, you can see all the ACs units are now moved to the new pad. And with the ACs out of the way, they were able to start digging on the North side of the church and begin foundation work, similar to what they have already completed on the South side.

Pews Removed and AC Units Moved

2010-01-25T20:06:00.000-06:00

Here are some photos of the church with all the pews removed both upstairs and downstairs. Today, they also moved the AC units to the new pad.

Full Steam Ahead!

2010-01-24T20:02:00.000-06:00

After today, church services will be held in the gym for the next few months, to allow work on both the inside and outside of the church. All the pews were removed after Sunday service and Bible Class, so that the pews can be restored, and to allow work to begin on, and beneath the floor.

A New Pad

2010-01-22T19:56:00.000-06:00

On Friday, the foundation was poured for the new air conditioner pad. An unmarked, gas line, that was buried very shallow (about 4 inches underground), was cut while digging, and thank the Lord that no damage was done. The leak was safely contained and work continued.

Diverting Water for Good!

2010-01-21T19:52:00.000-06:00

One of the last things done on the South side was to install a special material, or "mat", that is attached to the church and then spread out, underground and away from the church, to divert water and moisture away from the foundation.

More excavation

2010-01-20T17:00:00.000-06:00

More excavation occurred today on the south side along the freshly poured long beam. Meanwhile, on the north and east sides, preparation is beginning for moving the AC units to a new pad away from the church. Photos on that to come soon...

More concrete beams on South Side of Church

2010-01-19T16:57:00.000-06:00

More beam work on the south side of the church. You can see the concrete footings that were poured last week, and the long beam built on top of the footings, and finally, the concrete after being poured into the long beam.

Final packing of the Church Organ

2010-01-18T16:53:00.000-06:00

On Monday and Tuesday, final disassembly and packing of the church organ was completed. The contents are now on the way to Florida for restoration!

Rainy Friday--Dismantling the Organ for Shipment

2010-01-15T15:24:00.000-06:00

Friday was a rainy day, so not much was happening on the outside of the church. Inside, however, you can see Mr. Wiederhold, and Mr. Buschbeck, working to dismantle and pack up the church organ, to be shipped to Tampa Florida for restoration by Buschbeck Organbuilding (http://www.organbuilding.com/).

Building forms, removing sidewalks

2010-01-14T20:00:00.000-06:00

Today was spent building another form for concrete, as well as digging up a portion of the sidewalk to prepare for more foundation work. Note the washout and water beneath the removed section of sidewalk.

Finally, plastic was placed on the side of the church where concrete was poured earlier in the week, to protect the exposed area from the forecasted rainy weekend.

Concrete Pouring Video

2010-01-13T12:07:00.000-06:00

Here's a short, 5 second video from today--starting to pour concrete around the foundation. Also some pictures below:

Making Room To Work

2010-01-12T11:39:00.000-06:00

Awnings were removed today to make more room to work on the church.

Water Found Under Church!

2010-01-11T11:21:00.000-06:00

As digging began near the foundation of the church, water began to spring out (see top photo). The contractors thought they may have hit a water line, but of course, those weren't invented yet when the church was built. Rather, it just goes to show how much water has collected under the foundation!

Restoration Begins!

2010-01-07T21:47:00.000-06:00

The church restoration project is underway. Come back often to see progress being made. This week, the contractors for ArchiTexas, KBL Restoration LLC, moved down from Eastland, TX.

You can see from the photos that Bluebonnet was called out to install electrical poles and service for their RVs.

Meanwhile, Julie from Texas A&M came by and installed a motion sensor in the church to detect any movement of the structure during the restoration process.

Finally, the contractors started locating equipment that could be rented locally for use in the project.