Habitat for Humanity East Bay

Week 23

With just three workdays before the March 20 dedication, we had lots of loose ends to tie up, but it was so much fun to see things coming together a little more each day!  Miriam and Armando are getting even more excited, and so are all of us!

In Mike’s absence, Hans and Monica discussed the to-do list Friday morning, and Monica directed the day’s volunteers as Hans left for other HEB duties.  Joining Monica were Armando, Miriam, Bobbie, Lian, Kathy, Chris M, and Sheri Paulo (a volunteer at other HEB sites, but a first-timer at Bonifacio).  Again we were faced with an afternoon forecast of rain, so we got started on the outdoor work first. 

We re-dug 3- 4” of dirt/mud out of a broad area between the back gate and the deck to accommodate a load of decomposed granite Hans ordered to be delivered by noon.  Just as we finished digging and spreading the dirt, the granite arrived and we began hauling it back by the wheelbarrow full.  There was also enough to cover the mud in the side walkway between the gates (around the stepping stones), and it all looks great!  We tamped it down between layers in an ingenious way that Monica came up with:  We took turns putting one foot into each of two empty 5-gallon paint buckets, and, holding onto the handles, walked around on the granite, leaving big round footprints all over!  Such resourcefulness!  The rain arrived with the granite, but not before a little patching of the outside stucco was done and splash guards were placed under each gutter… two tasks to check off the list.  The last outdoor project of the day was removing the back gate, cutting a few inches off the bottom so it would clear the ground better, and rehanging it… after switching two fence boards to avoid a split edge (Shari’s bright idea this time).

During the week Hans had built a great door (with frame) to cover the attic access in the garage, so installing that was the next big task, at one point involving nearly all the volunteers, even if two (Kathy and Monica) were only taking photos of the process!  Lian worked IN the attic, Sheri sat on the storage shelf just outside the opening, and Bobbie and height-sensitive Chris were on ladders being held securely by Miriam.  Pieces of drywall were screwed in place around the attic opening to size it right, and then the door and frame were leveled and screwed into studs.  Viola!  Armando had to leave for work before all this attic fun began, and Hans returned about then with more drywall, insulation baffles, and masonry bits.  We needed the new drywall for more garage work, including the final puzzle pieces to fit behind the water heater.  Attic rat Bobbie and others installed the baffles to protect the ventilation holes in the attic from being blocked by insulation (to be blown in by pros in the coming week).  In addition, we relabeled the circuit breakers (the list changed from the week before), repainted one wall in kitchen to be all eggshell finish, re-defined with paint the line of separation between the kitchen and dining room ceilings, and rehung a cabinet door that had been removed for kitchen countertop installation.  Among other things, it seemed we did a lot of RE-doing on Friday… RE-digging, RE-painting, RE-labeling, and RE-hanging… and we all looked forward to RElaxing that evening!

Early on Friday we had two visitors, Jo Ann Driscoll, a PR consultant/facilitator, and Karl Mondon, a staff photographer with the Contra Costa Times who works with the three weekly newspapers in Concord,  Pleasant Hill, and Martinez.  They’re working on a story about the Bonifacio Rehab and the Women’s Crew,  and Monica gave a tour and talked about the house and our rehab work.  Watch for their story in the Concord Transcript and the other weeklies soon after the dedication!  (While she was there, Jo Ann even helped us put new red rosin paper over the kitchen floor and patch the paper in the living room!)

Saturday’s crew of Diane, Joyce, Miriam, Janine, Lisa G, new Women’s Crew member Sue Robert, and Acalanes High School senior Courtney (working on community service hours for school) had much nicer weather to work in!  Monica came by at 8:30 to open the house and review the task list with Diane, who directed the volunteers that day in Mike’s absence.  (Diane also took the day’s photos and wrote the Saturday portion of the blog… thanks, Diane!)

Janine and Sue worked on installing the last pieces of drywall in the top storage area of the garage, and all remaining open seams were taped and mudded. Lisa took Courtney under her wing as they installed the mailbox and reconfigured the screen door latch so that the door closed properly.  Hans stopped by briefly to advise us of how he wanted the latch installed, and it now works perfectly.  Diane and Joyce installed two towel bars in the bathroom (funny how no one noticed there weren't any until now!), Joyce touched-up some painting in the hall closet, and Lisa installed an electrical outlet in the multi-media box in the garage. 

Sue, Janine, and Courtney tackled the kitchen drawers and cabinets, moving supplies we’d stored there into their proper buckets in the garage and wiping down all the cabinetry inside and out.  Janine then installed all the stovetop burners and knobs.  After the rosin paper was removed from the kitchen countertops, everything was wiped down.  Miriam cleaned out the supplies stored in the hall closet and the electrical supplies in the living room.  It is so cute to see how excited she is about things!  One more week to the dedication, and then the house is hers and her brother’s.

We broke for lunch in the backyard, enjoying the beautiful weather.  Sue Howell stopped by to join us for lunch and went over the details of the dedication with us.  (Oh no, Diane has another speech to write!)

Diane led the whole group in organizing and cleaning the garage, getting it ready for Hans to move everything out during the week ahead.  We took everything out to the driveway, swept the floor, and then reorganized all the tools and supplies into individual 5-gallon buckets.  After 8 months working here, things had gotten “a little” disorganized - it's a miracle we could ever find anything!  We brought everything back into the garage and neatly arranged it along one side for easy removal by Hans.

The final task of the day was to remove the rosin paper from all floors, sweep and clean them, and put fresh paper down in walkways through each room in preparation for the dedication.  Boy, were the floors dirty!  Diane and Janine hand-cleaned the marmoleum flooring in the bathroom and kitchen, and Lisa cleaned all the hardwood floors with the special cleaning kit the refinishers left.  Things went surprisingly well all day… we all worked hard, got pretty much everything on the list completed, and were able to close up before 2pm.

Scroll down to the bottom of the photos at this link to check out the action for these two days.  Earlier photos are here.  One more workday and the dedication to go, then we’ll hand over the Bonifacio house to Miriam and Armando, and they’ll turn it into their home! 

Leave a Comment

Name:
Email:

Comment:

Help prevent spam - enter security code above: