BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Beast indeed. Today certainly felt like the first day of Winter here in North Texas even though it is a few weeks away. But the beauty is the continued progress the Ancon team is making at MCHS.

As the clouds first rolled in SolaTube installers were continuing with the work they had begun on Monday. First the fixtures are exactly placed in the ceiling grid. The exact centers are located. This is then translated up and through the plywood roof deck and shingles. As you may remember from earlier blog post, there are lots of things for these installers to avoid, a/c ducts, trusses, conduit and security wires. So the installation is no small thing but the results are really dramatic.

Once the fixtures are exactly located, the installers must cut through the insulation that covers the underside of the roof deck. We showed the insulation earlier but the photos do not do justice to the thickness of the material. This you can see below in the 'plug' that was removed to allow the mirror finish tube to pass through. This portion is almost 12" thick.

The classrooms all have dampers/dimmers in the tubes to allow for the control of the sunlight. In this way the electric lights will seldom be used in the classrooms.

Below you see the domes that allow the sun to pass into the tubes. You also get a glimpse of the new courtyard fencing and the Nandinas in their fall colors. The exterior painting is almost complete (except the doors).


The electricians have been busy finishing up all the work above the ceiling grid and placing the boxes for the electrical service to enter the building. These are on the north end of the BAC.

Here is the new fence on the East side of Miss Toni's courtyard. Once it is sealed, the landscape will be installed as well as the new sidewalk area.

The HVAC contractors are also installing all the supply and return grills into the ceiling system. There are a lot of them which will keep the classrooms a consistent temperature without hot or cold spots.


Wednesday is the last day for a while the multiple tradesmen will be working in the building. We will then turn it over the painting contractor so that he can continue his work without interruption. This will insure the best possible job.