Habitat for Humanity East Bay

Week 17

Twelve volunteers came out on a gray and cloudy Friday to accomplish several big and small projects around the house.  After assigning tasks, Mike headed to Home Depot for various supplies, with Hans adding things to the list by phone… what would we do these days without cell phones?!

The kitchen door to the garage stuck a little last week, so Chuck and Terry took down the door, trimmed a little off the bottom, put the sweep back on and the door back up… now it opens and closes with no problem.  They also installed the trim around the kitchen window and finished the trim on the peninsula.  Jack and John worked on the bathroom plumbing, installed the new pedestal sink, faucets, and toilet, but hit two small snags:  They’ll need a longer flexible pipe between the shutoff valve on the wall and the toilet, and an elongated toilet seat instead of the round one provided!

Miriam and her mother, Teresa, fit and cut the marmoleum floor for the hall linen closet, with translation help from Flor and Chris, who both speak some Spanish.  (It turns out there’s no Spanish word for marmoleum, a greener version of linoleum!)  It’s the same flooring used in the kitchen and bathroom, and they fit it perfectly into all the notches and corners of the closet… it will be glued down later.

Armando ventured out into the muddy side yard where the big French drain pipes were laid out, and hooked them up to the downspout.  Then, since his shoes were already muddy, he and Chris scraped and washed the outsides of the new windows, while Teresa, Kathy, and Chris scraped and washed the insides.  The screens were removed to get at all the glass surfaces, and then replaced.  We know we’ll be washing windows again before the house is done, but we got the dried paint splatters, etc. off of them, and it felt good to see clean windows!  Teresa also swept several rooms to help keep the site clean and safe.

Monica and Hans worked out in the garage all day, Monica wiring and installing fluorescent garage lights, and Hans finishing up the sub-panel electrical connections.  To some of us, it looked like he was organizing spaghetti! 

Flor and Kathy wired the stove hood, and Flor and Chris installed more faceplates wherever there was one missing.  Kathy took the day’s photos and finished the day by spackling the nail holes in the kitchen window trim.  Kathy’s (I’m) feeling very happy to be back in the Habitat swing of things after 11 weeks away!  A big THANK YOU to Monica and Diane for doing the blog while I was gone!

Mike announced he was canceling the next day’s work (Sat, the 23rd) because there wasn’t enough to call a group out until the kitchen countertops and a few other supplies arrive.  Watch the online signup site for the next Bonifacio work day, and check HERE for the most recent photos (scroll down to see the newest photos at the bottom).  Older photos of the worksite (pre-lead abatement) can be found HERE.

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