Club Refurbishment

The latest phase of the club refurbishment commenced on Tuesday 8 March. Dave Jennings commenced panelling out the foyer area. Nigel replaced the shower tray and then Stuart Schafer took over with retiling the shower cubicle.

While this was going on Mike stripped out the ladies changing room and toilet. Nigel and Mike then took out the toilet and wash hand basin and ripped up the toilet floor and removed the rotten joists (they stank). The under floor area was then cleaned out, a Damp Proof Course (DPC) was laid, replacement joists and finally a new flooring was put down.

Over the next few days the shower area was finished and the ladies toilet area battened out and panelled with plywood. The toilet was reinstalled and halogen down lighters let into the ceilings.

Unfortunately on Friday 18 March we had to stop and clear up the club in readiness for the start of season party. We then had another week before the Easter egg trophy on Easter Sunday.

Bodgitt & Son used that week to continue fitting out the changing room and toilet area. Electric cabling was installed for the lights, hand dryer and extractor fan. The toilet area was then papered and the wash hand basin installed. The shower woodwork was painted and the shower curtain installed.

Attention then turned to the foyer where Dave Jennings had been plugging on alone for over two weeks. Halogen down lighters were used again to provide a bright welcoming entrance to the club and an electrical access panel constructed to the left of the security panel. The whole area was then painted, varnished and the ceiling papered. It was decided that in future the changing rooms would also be used as cloak-rooms and the foyer area kept as clear as possible.

While all that was going on Bodgitt.com (i.e. Nigel) bid on E-bay for some rather fetching carpet tiles to floor the clubroom and foyer and collected them from Watford over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Meanwhile the other half of Bodgitt & Son traveled down to Keith and Madeline's and returned with a flush panel door for the Ladies changing room. That was duly fitted and the lockers and bench seating installed. The first large mirror got broken but another was acquired and fitted.

The final job involved taking up the old floor covering; lining the flooring with hardboard and then laying the new carpet tiles from the foyer, through the club room and down the gallery.

The best of the old contract cord was then used in the changing rooms. Unfortunately during this process it was discovered that the floor in the area that the bar billiards table usually stands on was rotten. So it was all ripped out and a new floor installed. The back wall was battened out, a new DPC installed before re-walling. The final fitting out and painting was finished on 26 April closely followed by the last of the galley re-wiring on 27 April.

That really completes Phase II, Phase I being the building of the new club extension. Everything that was originally planned, two years ago, to prepare the club for hosting the MTT has now been completed … with two days to spare! Bodgitt & Son will now be taking a well deserved summer break!

However, Phase III, should the club wish to continue with the improvement programme, could go one of two ways? The first would be to take down the Bosun's store, rebuild its foundations and then replace the store after suitable renovation. The second would be to completely remodel the galley area to include a double sink, complying with health and safety regulations, and a new electric oven. That would also include the replacement of the floor, wall linings and ceiling. All of which are well past their sell by dates.

Mike (Over Easy) Baker