Stourport Baptist Church

The Kitchen Project

4th - 11th April 2011

Monday 4th April 2011
Arrived at church feeling excited, but also somewhat apprehensive. Would it be feasible to rip out the existing domestic kitchen and replace it with a commercial kitchen in just 5 days? It seemed a tall order.
Thermex M&E arrived at 9am, with a van; a man and a lot of tools!
This is what the kitchen looked like at this stage. The Deacons had removed the fridges; cooker; microwaves and all of the crockery etc. on Saturday, after Holiday Club, so that the way was clear.

Work was very soon underway. Wall cabinets were removed and the tiles were ripped off the wall (along with most of the plaster!)

With the tiles gone, out came all of the base units, all of a sudden the room was pretty bare. It felt quite strange and also pretty dirty!

Tuesday 5th April
The next job was to enlarge the hatch and make it more useable (what I really mean is that I won't be cracking my head on it any more!). At the same time the new electrics were being laid through the ceiling in the schoolroom and over to the kitchen. Any plaster that had stayed on the wall previously suddenly fell off when the electrician started channelling for the new cable routes.

Wednesday 6th April
With this done the re-fit started. First the walls were plastered then clad with uPVC, the area behind the cooker had a sheet of stainless steel fixed to the wall.
All of the sheets were marked for the positions of the electric cables behind them, it was a huge relief when the holes all lined up and out came the cables.
When this was done, in came the flooring specialist to lay the new non-slip flooring. This was a specialist job, it has to be lapped 4 inches (100mm) up the walls, all in the name of hygiene.
This was the longest day, finishing shortly after 11pm. Even now, I was still uneasy at the thought of finishing on Friday. It seemed there was still so much work to do and so little time left!

Thursday 7th April
An early start was required, in church shortly after 6am. More bleary eyed than a Basset Hound, where's the kettle?
With all of the work of the previous day, the new equipment started to arrive on site. If the place was a mess before, it now started to look like a bombsite!
The electrician started his second fix and all of the electrical boxes were lined up on the walls. Looking for all the world like something off the Starship Enterprise!
New equipment started to go in and be fitted. First came the wet areas, the sinks, handwash and the Pot Wash.
Those sinks are so deep, I think I could probably bath in one!

Friday 8th April
Day started well (NOT!), when there was a realisation that the food preparation table had not been ordered. That's it, the timescale must now have gone out of the window?
One call later and a firm in Wolverhampton started to manufacture the table to our exact size and specification, for delivery by 3pm the same day!
Then came the rest of the stainless steel units, shiny new cupboards; a huge bain-marie for keeping cooked food hot and plates pre-warmed. The huge extraction unit was installed as well. You should see the size of the hole that required in the wall!
Turned it on and quite honestly, you can almost feel the air being sucked out of the room when it runs at full speed!

Finally the new cooker was installed. What a good job the hatch had been made bigger, it wouldn't fit through the door, but when turned sideways, with 6 able men assisting, it went in straight through the hatch!

5pm Friday 8th April
This has been some week. I'm going home for a rest. Oh no! It's YOrS Party Night at the Civic Centre! Oh well, pass the matchsticks for the eyes and carry on.

10am Saturday 9th April
The Deacons and Nigel arrive to vacuum and mop and dust and polish and all of a sudden, beneath all the layers of dirt and grime a beautiful new kitchen emerges.
What a sight. Stainless Steel gleaming in the sunlight, floor resplendent in the glare.


Chosen Contractors : Thermex M&E
Excellent business, great workers, keen prices.
Couldn't have asked for more.