Progress report: fancy locks and kitchen sinks

This week suddenly things are starting to really take shape:

  • Avery and I installed the worktop in the teeny tiny kitchen yesterday;
  • The electronic locks were fitted by Mark the electrician today, which means inducted members will be able to use a keyfob to let themselves in and out;
  • Tomorrow Charley the plumber is, fates permitting, coming to plumb in our kitchen sink and tidy up the plumbing under our bathroom sink;
  • Tomorrow (Tuesday) and Sunday, Chris is leading volunteers in painting Machspace with donated paint.

In the past few weeks, we have:

  • Removed a weird fake fireplace and a partition;
  • Taken out two pointless doors;
  • Pulled up lots of cement-encrusted and damp carpet;
  • Pulled out the old sinks and cabinets in both the bathroom and kitchen, which were in bad shape and extremely mouldy;
  • Washed lots of gross mould off the walls and ceilings (thank you Nathan!) and dried out the bathroom and kitchen;
  • Reconfigured and wall-mounted a freestanding sink in the bathroom, and installed a grabrail;
  • Miraculously, found a cheap 125cm-long offcut of worktop for our tiny cupboard-kitchen, cut a hole for the sink, and installed it in the kitchen;
  • PAT-tested lots of equipment and re-mounted some of the ceiling lights that were falling down (thank you Frank!);
  • Put in lots of tables and chairs, some cupboards, a sofa and a rug, etc.

We’ve done a lot of the work ourselves, but the electrics and plumbing were outside of our comfort zone! And some furniture has been donated but some we had to buy. All of these initial set-up costs can’t be taken out of our grant from SVF Powys, so that means it’s all funded by the crowdfunder. (Thank you very much to everyone who donated or shared the link! It is a big help right now.)

It’s currently very scruffy and untidy, but the finish line is in sight and we’re really, really close to being ready for the Grand Opening. Once the plumbing is done and we’ve tidied up a bit, I plan to get to work on the crowdfunder rewards.

Thank you everyone so much, we’ve done a LOT in a very short space of time and we’re really excited!

Our partially installed kitchen sink! It’s not plumbed in yet but the fact that it’s in a bit of worktop that is stuck to the walls feels like a big achievement.

PS: A reminder that you can follow us on the Fediverse: @machspace@machspace.org. We had a bit of a technical hiccup where follow requests weren’t coming through, but they are now, so if you tried to follow, check and maybe cancel and re-follow!