Habitat for Humanity East Bay

Week 8

With the house passing lead inspection, we were able to get back to work! Friday we had 5 Women’s Crew members (Monica, Rae, Bobbie, and new members Deborah and Flor) and 9 others. One team worked on tearing out the window and wall at the front of the garage, followed by demolition of the concrete curb that the wall sat on. This was made even more difficult when we discovered it had a ½” rebar running the entire length. However, we did get to breakout the sawsall to cut the rebar and the hold down bolts. It’s always a good day when we get to use power tools. We anticipate the new garage door will be installed by next weekend. Another team worked on removing the old knob and tube electrical wiring and devices from the garage. Chuck and Terry worked on leveling the sagging porch cover and replacing the fascia board. Jack and John installed roof vents for stove and bathroom vents and Lowell worked on the plumbing. After removing the garage wall we moved onto demolishing the driveway. We took turns swinging the 10lb. sledge to break up the 4-5” thick concrete. Mike and Monica took a trip to Home Depot to pick up supplies, including 3 more sledge Hammers to speed up that process. We got through half the driveway before calling it quits for the day.

On Saturday we had 11 Women’s Crew Members (Monica, Diane, Lisa B., Lisa G., Autumn, Vivian, Donna, Marlyn, Debra, Bobbie, Gerry) and Vivian’s 16 year old daughter Maddy. Bobbie and Donna braved the attic to remove the rest of the knob and tube wiring. There was a small mishap when a hammer went through the bathroom ceiling so a patch will be needed. The rest of the team worked on breaking up the other half of the concrete driveway (found an old railroad spike under all that concrete), then went on to sand and re-paint the window and door trim inside. Monica power washed the entire outside of the house in prep for paint. During lunch Mike and Monica met with the landscape architect and discussed the plans for front and back yards and options for plants. He gave us some very helpful tips on planting that will come in handy when we get to that project. After lunch the entire team went to work painting the exterior with the base color (“corn”). What a transformation! We were all very pleased with the results. It will need a second coat, but even the neighbor came out at the end of the day to say how nice it looked. Next weekend we’ll apply a second coat and hopefully get the trim painted (white).

Needless to say, we were all very happy to be back to work. We’re also hoping to learn soon, who the family will be so we can start working together and they can be as excited about this house as we are.

Photos from this past weekend are already posted in the online scrapbook (newest photos are always at the end, so scroll down). Check back here next week for another chapter in the Bonifacio Project Blog!

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