Habitat for Humanity East Bay

Week 7

With the lead abatement work completed and an inspection needed before opening the site for our usual Friday/Saturday workdays, some cleanup was necessary to get ready for the inspection.  Specifically, we needed to remove the sink and last remaining kitchen cabinets (from which the leaded tile was removed), pull up the resin paper from the hardwood floors and damp-mop them twice to get all the possibly-leaded dust and debris out of the rooms, wipe down the interior doors and all trim, as well as the bathroom floor, tub, and tile for the same reason.

Seven Women’s Crew members (Diane, Joyce, Rene, Amy, Donna, Lisa G, and Kathy) worked just two hours on Saturday, Oct.10, to accomplish all that.  In addition, we took down the rest of the wall between the cabinets and the dining room.  Mike had estimated everything would take 4+ hours, but we got it done in two! 

During the cleaning we noticed that the window replacement process had damaged the window trim, so we’ll be doing some more sanding, filling, and painting when we get back to work. 
 
Two fun discoveries Saturday:  1) A sunflower either sprouted on its own in the middle of an empty planting area in the front lawn or was planted by a mystery gardener in our absence!  It’s about 15” high and is blooming and budding, with absolutely nothing else around it.   2)  A knot hole must have fallen out of one of the kitchen floor boards since the lead abatement workers were there.  We’re guessing a squirrel used the hole to bring in some peanuts to munch on in the privacy of the quiet house… leaving a pile of empty shells behind (unless that was courtesy of the workers themselves!!).  There are photos of both discoveries and our work day… check them out (and all photos since we began!).

The lead abatement contractor will be scheduling the inspection soon, and when all is approved, the site will be re-opened… and we’ll let you know about it!  We know the site won’t be open the weekend of Oct. 16 because of the inspiring “Build the Dream” Brunch that Habitat East Bay is hosting in Lafayette on Saturday the 17th.  Many Women’s Crew members and their guests, including Mike, are going… and we don’t want to compete with that fundraiser!

While seven of us worked at Bonifacio Saturday, several other Women’s Crew members were among the volunteers who worked all day at the Edes Street project in Oakland, readying several homes for the Dec. 12 dedication.  That project is open Wed – Sat. nearly every week, and all volunteers are encouraged to help out.  Sign up online at www.HabitatEB.org, just as for the Bonifacio St. project.  And when Bonifacio is re-opened, join us here, too!

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