Author: Jason Bush
This weekly update is broken down into two parts: The typical progress made throughout the week, and an update of the status of the existing home:
The Existing Home
The existing home continues to haunt the Southmayd family, and over the course of the last 6 weeks, several new cracks have developed in the sheetrock, there is a section of sub-flooring that has extended up about a ¼ of an inch out of plane that was not there before, because they now stub their toes on it. During the recent cold snap, they were unable to maintain 68 degrees in many areas of the home including the Kitchen which was at 57 degrees while trying to prepare dinner. Many areas of the home were not insulated properly, if at all.
They had the smoke alarms start howling all at the same time and were unable to silence them, and so Misty, our Veterans wife, went to the electrical panel and turned them off. When she went to shut the panel door, she received an electrical charge through her fingers and hand. John, with Builders Electric sent an electrician out there for me and determined that water has been getting into the panel somehow. He got the smoke alarms back operating, but indicated that it was quite a mess in the panel. He also added a few lights at the front and back porch because we had live wires in areas, with only wire nuts on them. The water will continue to infiltrate as much of the roof shingles were face nailed and stapled.
When the kitchen sink is turned on, water runs out on the floor from below the cabinets. I stopped by and learned that the sink vent pipe was not even connected to the drain pipe. It was about 5” below, so since Easter, every time they would use the sink, it was draining down in the wall, and under the house. We got it patched with a fernco fitting. When the contractor walked off the job, he failed to install portions of the home with a proper foundation, nor to even secure it against rodents, so they are experiencing a huge rodent population problem. Another issue that is continuously getting worse is the black mold in areas of the attic and around the exterior eaves, adjacent to the few ventilation openings. This is not a healthy environment for a family to be living in, especially with Jayson’s medical conditions.
The biggest concern at this point is the failing roof. This is where the contractor built homemade scissor trusses, that are obviously failing, as it can be monitored pretty easy from the outside where there is a large 12×12 area with a severe depression. It is adjacent to a skylight, and the skylight continues to lean into this depression. What alarms me the most about this is that it’s the main gathering place for the family where the wood stove is that’s keeping them warm. In fact, they have set their alarm for 3 AM, so they can stoke the fire in order to keep the home as warm as possible.
Typical Weekly Update
I have obtained all the interior & exterior stud wall lumber from Doug Henton of Goshen Forest Products, which was 790 pieces of 2×4 and 2×6 (PET) Precision End Trimmed to 104 5/8” long. I have also received confirmation that Star Fire, the Swanson Group, and Hammer Lumber Company will be able to help with the lumber, but at this point I don’t know who will supply what. I have an email in to Frank Lumber Company and Sundance Lumber Company in hopes of spreading the donations of lumber out. Many lumber mills utilize this time for shutdown and maintenance, so most are out of the office.
I received word today from the Clair Company that they had received the hard copies of the plans from Central Print and Reprographic Services, have stamped them approved for issuance, and has forwarded them on to Lane County. I also spoke to Lane County and they anticipate the plans being ready to pay for and issues early next week.
I was copied on an email from Jerry, owner of Bridgeway Contracting, to Rich at L & W Supply who indicated he had 40 squares of Pabco Premier 30 laminate in “Prairie Wood” color, so I contacted Allied Building Products and Roofline, who indicated they could help. I sent them the Home Depot roofing materials Bill of Lading and they are all three seeing if they can complete the order as a donation.
I spoke with Debbie Jenkins with EPUD, to see if we needed to provide a surveyor to develop the required easement or if there was anything we needed to follow up on. She indicated that they would take care of everything and are working on a timeline to schedule the work.
We are diligently continuing to work on creating the (FSA) Fiscal Sponsorship Agreement that would allow folks to claim their donations on their tax returns, which can be a significant issue.
The biggest news of the week…. Ron Bradsby, City Engineer for Cottage Grove, has been working with a group of people the past couple weeks that have been working hard to help us in the most productive, advantageous, keep the project moving, way possible. And, I just learned Wednesday that they plan on donating $30,000 to our project. This is a giant step in providing the backing needed to bridge the gap in the material donations and the financial backing providing the assurances needed to fulfill phase one of the project, which is being able to place the foundation, frame it up, install the siding, and put a roof on and dry it in.