Wednesday - Unforeseen Adventures in Construction

Each night after cleaning up and eating dinner we have a time of devotion and game planning for the next day. Our plan for Wednesday was to complete a few last tear out projects and move on to doing some drywall work. The main focus for our work today was going to be reconstructing the small bedroom off of the kitchen. The group had noticed that the ceiling was sagging or bowing in the middle. Since the home is almost 80 years old no one thought too much about it - that's what happens in older homes. We will work around it.

During one of her routine stops by the house to check out our progress the site manager, Kim, asked about the bowed ceiling. She was watching and asking questions about how the ceiling was going to be drywalled, all the while sitting on the steps that looked into the room from the exposed wall. This exposed wall allowed her not only to see into the room we were working in, but to also see very clearing into the section of attic over the room being worked on. Kim noticed that the ceiling joists holding the ceiling up were in poor condition and that structurally it was unsafe. Andy went upstairs to investigate and came up with a game plan to help stabilize the ceiling and remove the bowing. The only problem was that Andy and Phil spent considerable time in the attic working on a project we did not plan on doing. This also meant that the rest of the work crew had to work on small jobs until the room was safe to resume work. Jason built a huge t-bar that was used to brace the ceiling and raise it up to the proper level and then the guys in the attic secured it - fixing the problem. We are blessed to have some talented people on this trip.

Once the ceiling was back in place the next phase of the project could being. Strips of 2x4 had to be nailed on onto the ceiling so that sheet rock could be connected to something of substance to form the new ceiling. This was no small feet but Andy, Del, and Jason got it done. Ben, Phil, and I cut lumber and took care of details as they arose.

Kay and Judy provided a fantastic lunch and helped clean up some of the messes we made as well as placing a new bracket in the living room for an existing ceiling fan.

The next big adventure surrounded the replacement of a window in the room. The old window was hanging in there by a prayer. Jason built a new structural support, bracing, and framing for a new, bigger window to be installed.

At the end of the day from an outsiders perspective it didn't look like much had been accomplished. Yet, from an insiders view the group got a whole lot done that will serve the house and the family well into the future and provide a safe living environment for them.

Tomorrow the group hopes to begin the process of drywalling and then taking a short trip to Port Arthur to see hurricane damage and then traveling on to Sabine Pass which was the epicenter of Hurricane Rita. This location was also highlighted on a recent episode of Extreme Makeover because of the new firestation that was built for the town. Pray that our efforts go as planned tomorrow.