A few pcitures

Putting down the new plywood.

All the plywood is down.

Finally got materials.

Some structural repairs.

A new window.

New interior walls.

With some old siding back on.

Its coming along.

Miss Barne's House

This week we started to put the house back together. It has been somewhat of a struggle. Since there is no funding for this house, it is hard to get materials, as well as other important things, like window sizes. But by the end of the week we had some window sizes and some materials, but no funding yet. We started out by putting 3/4 inch plywood over the whole floor in order to stiffen the floor a little. It work quite well. We then had to deal with the sagging cross beams of the rafters. The code down here says that if a house has ceilings shorter than 7 ft 6 in, it needs to be demolished. With the added 3/4 in of the plywood, and the sagging crossbeams, depending on where you measured due to the sloping floor, the ceiling was consistently under 7 ft 6 in. So we had to brace up the cross beams in order to raise the ceiling. We put some braces pulling it up the the angled part of the rafter.
Once we finally got some material, we could frame the interior walls and frame in the new windows. Once we got some of the windows framed in, we could also start covering up the exterior of the house so it can be insulated. Since it would have been to expensive to replace the old rotten siding we tore off with like material, the whole thing is going to get vinyl siding. So we just need to roughly cover the exterior so there is something nail the new siding too.

Friday Lunch

Today I got to go to a client's house for lunch for a catfish fry. I got invited because I worked there on Wednesday because of the rain. When the client, Mr Harper saw me he said, "Alright, its the big guy tha dont need no ladder."

A Funny Little Story

I was working at the Little Rock church yesterday, and a few of the church members were helping out. One elderly gentleman asked me where I was from, so I told him Canada. Another man standing around asked where in Canada, so I said Ontario. "Ah," the elderly gentleman said, "Do you know Peter?".

A Few Pictures

A nice open house.After we tore out a few ceilings, a pile of insulation which wouldnt fit in the dumpster.
Miles of white sandy beach, just a few blocks south of us.
The house, with some missing beams.
A few sections of beams we replaced.
Yes, I fell through.

Well, 11 weeks to go. This week went by fairly quickly. I met a whole new crew of people. New names and new personalities. Our crew is around 20 or a few more. Gulfport is an interesting city. The neighbourhood we are in, as well as the surrounding ones, are quite poor. Just down the street is around 10 Habitat for Humanity homes. But, only 1 or 2 are occupied. Apparently the water main isnt large enough to handle the new homes, so the city wont provide the occupancy permits. But weve seen crews out there working on a new home the last few days, so maybe the city worked something out.
On Monday and Tuesday I worked with another guy doing a few odd jobs. Fixing some holes in drywall, leaky drains and so on. On Wednesday we were given the go-ahead to tear apart a house. So myself, the other guy, Don and another gentleman, Henry, went at it. We filled a dumpster and started making piles. We replaced about 50 ft of the exterior beam supporting the house as it was rotten and termite eaten. We tore off some old siding, all the drywall, the ceilings, kitchen and a few patches of the floor. Quite a site. Lots of work to be done. And now that they have funding for it, on Monday we can start putting it back together. Replace some studding, put plywood on the floors and all that other good stuff.
Today, Saturday, the same 2 guys that I work with, went down the street to help with putting on a new tin roof on the Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church. A couple from Michigan, one who I worked with in Slidell, are helping with that. He works on the roof with a few guys from the church everyday. They really appreciated the help today. The old roof was too flat and leaky, so a whole new set of trusses is going up and all new tin. Its quite a job. I have a feeling I may be back there on my other Saturdays here.

Back Down South

After having delays in both Ottawa and Chicago, snow and baggage, I made it to New Orleans. I was picked up and brought to Slidell where I had parked my car. I was glad to see it was still there and that all my tools and my bike were there. I had lunch in Slidell and then made my way east to Gulfport. The drive was under an hour. I arrived at the site around 3. The OSM had gotten my email and was expecting me sometime in the afternoon. I was showed my apartment and started to settle in. The lodgings here are in 2 small apartment buildings, with 4 units in each. Each unit has 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, washroom and sitting area. I believe I will be sharing the apartment with another single guy. One of the units is used as the dining area and kitchen and the head cook's bedroom. It is going to be very tight once we get the whole group dining together. Another one has the lounge, the OSM's office and their bedroom. We are a few blocks north of a beautiful looking white sandy beach. The sign says it is closed. But its just a sign.
There is one man and a couple here that work with shorter term DRS groups. They stay in our lodgings, while the groups are housed elsewhere. Friday night we went out to IHOP for supper, the OSM, the CS, the man and couple and myself.
I think I am going to enjoy myself again, but I just need to readjust. It didnt take me too long to readjust to the weather. I will try to keep this updated with stories and pictures so that y'all can stay informed.