October 20, 2013 reddoorfencing Uncategorized

Painting and painting and painting…

This weekend was spent painting! And painting… and painting. We’re getting kind of sick of painting. Fortunately we’re almost done!

Kevin and Mike rented a paint sprayer and painted the ceiling and themselves on Friday night – 5.5 hours of continuous spraying, plus another couple hours for setup and clean up. On Saturday, Sarah, Kevin, Jules’s boys, Jim and longtime fencing friend Yuly did some touch-up work and painted the rest of the floor. On Sunday, RJ did more touch-up painting and poisoned so those black widow nests don’t come back. That night, Kevin went back and did a second coat of floor paint in the part of the room that will not be covered with rubber floors.

Kevin sprays the ceiling — Kevin sprays paint on the ceiling. Now we know what he will look like in 20 years, assuming he still has hair…

Mike sprays the ceiling, too! — Mike’s turn on the ladder.

Sushi tailgate! — Being the only one not covered in paint, Sarah went to nearby restaurant Miyabi 9 and got sushi. We ate it on the tailgate of Mike’s truck since the basement was full of paint.

Sushi Mike — Mike and Kevin took turns spraying paint and eating sushi. Mike found out the hard way that it’s difficult to tell how much wasabi you’re putting on when it’s dark.

This is how Yuly rolls — Yuly paints the back wall.

RJ paints with extend-o-brush — RJ touches up the ceiling paint. It’s kinda like wielding a saber, right?

Friday night aftermath — The aftermath of Friday night. The ceiling has been painted!

Floor paint — Kevin and Yuly roller the floor while Jim fills in holes.

Almost done floor! — Toward the end of the day Saturday, the floor is almost done.

Sarah and Yuly paint the floor — Sarah and Yuly preparing to roller the remainder of the floor.

October 17, 2013October 25, 2013 reddoorfencing Uncategorized

Painting and Other Progress

In the last week, we’ve finally been able to make some good progress. The rest of the floor mats arrived. One of our fencers from the church basement epee group took care of the drywall work. Several of us painted the non-drywall walls. We attempted to start on the ceiling as well, but the little paint sprayer we borrowed did not work very well. We decided to do some research and regroup, opting to rent a real paint sprayer and knock out the ceiling tomorrow night. In the mean time, we did some testing of floor paint.

Sarah grinding — Sarah grinds off one of the nastier rusty spots.

Paint gang — Jules, Chad, and Sarah start painting the walls.

Daniel painting — Even Sarah’s little brother pitched in!

Jules painting — Jules puts an extra coat of paint on the rough spots.

Jim does drywall work — Jim did the drywall work.

Kevin and floor paint — Kevin surveys the floor paint test patch.

Floors — Getting the floors inside was a bit of a challenge – they weigh about 400 lbs. each!

October 8, 2013 reddoorfencing Uncategorized

Getting to Work

There have been a few improvements to the property the last couple weeks, including replacement of the garage door, some drywall work, and addition of a little bit more electrical for us. Some of the work was delayed due to waiting for things to be shipped.

On Monday night we did some paint prep work. Power washing of the floor began today. The rubber flooring has started to arrive, and the rest will be here tomorrow. We hope to finish power washing and start painting the ceiling and walls tomorrow. Thanks to Kevin and Sarah’s friend Amber, who brought her mad sewing and cleaning skills from DC, we’ve also made some good headway on the curtains to cover up the electrical boxes and putting zippers on the old jackets we got from a very generous Colorado club.

September 29, 2013October 25, 2013 reddoorfencing Uncategorized

We have a space!

RDF plans to begin work on the lower level of 220 E. 3rd St. on Oct. 1. We hope to open for fencing in November.

Here’s what the space looked like in September:

We took the pictures at night to make it look extra creepy. The entrance is down the ramp, below what used to be a freight elevator shaft in the 1940's. — We took the pictures at night to make it look extra creepy. The entrance is down the ramp, below what used to be a freight elevator shaft in the 1940’s.

Ramp down to the little garage door - currently the only entrance/exit. — Ramp down to the little garage door – currently the only entrance/exit.

The utility wall - we'll have to cover this up with curtains. — The utility wall – we’ll have to cover this up with curtains.

September 28, 2013July 22, 2018 reddoorfencing About Red Door Fencing

Come Fence With Us!

Red Door Fencing, located in Des Moines’ historic East Village, is an epee club that promotes competitive and recreational fencing by providing quality instruction, a safe and supportive training environment, and fostering personal growth and community engagement.

We offer beginner classes, lessons, and training for children, teens, and adults. Our fencers compete in local, regional, and national tournaments, and we host additional educational opportunities (referee seminars, coaching workshops, fencing/training camps, etc.) and tournaments.

We are an affiliate member of USA Fencing, the national governing body for the sport in the U.S., and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

red door fencing