Alice has been pulling triple duty as team photographer, helping with the blog, and of course, working on the house. Here’s her notes on the last few days at Miss Shirley’s home:
We were thankful that it wasn’t cold today (day 4). We immediately got back to work on the major aspects of the house.
1) Bathroom
Kevin, Craig, and Chris were the bravest members of the team for they had to work 2 inches away from the main pipe to the toilet. There were so many problems to the restroom. Half the floor was rotten and had mostly sunken into the ground. Our team pulled out the damaged area to release the floor. Chris C went under the crawl space, despite the smells, to jack up the joists that held up the restroom floor.
“So many problems [with the bathroom]. As we were laying the subfloor, we jacked up the joist in hopes we can level out the floor better. In the end we we had a dip… it was the best we could do [given the circumstances]. The restroom will still work, [but] I’m a perfectionist.”- Kevin T
The next plan to fix the dip in the floor is to level it out with Wonderboard or to level it as they do the actual flooring over the base.
2) Windows and Scrape team
Most windows were up and the scrape team is 80% finished with removing the paint from the walls. Already it’s looking really good. Shirley can still decide on color of the trim- forest green or off white. However, she still has some time. We don’t plan to start painting until Saturday.
“Art and I were starting a window. There were old metal pieces in there that were blocking the way like nails. Chris Hearn grabbed a crow bar and hammer and just whacked them in. Genius! We all have something to learn and everyone teaches each other. “- John.
3) Back ramp
John and Tommy both worked on the back door and completed it on day 2. Right after which, the Ramp team started working on the deck. Paul was the unofficial “architect” for the team. Although it seemed easy on paper, the team met many obstacles. First, the team found out that wood naturally warps, which was challenging in getting things to be straight. Thanks to the group effort, they made great progress, having set in the posts down into the ground with Quickcrete.
“The wood was bowed..[so] it was like piecing like a puzzle, however, the cuts were pretty good”- Randy.
“I dug a hole…[it] took 15 minutes (2 feet deep)..[It was] for the deck post.”- John
4) Plumbing
On day two, we found out that the sewage line was disconnected and clogged up. Due to the bad smell, we all were called to stop scraping on that side of the house. Others, however, still continued to work there to finish the door and start of the deck. But to fix the sewer line, we still had a plumber called in. It was a bit difficult for the plumbers to work since it was right next to the deck being built, however, we all worked to get out of each other’s way. Now the plumbing was unclogged and good to go.
“Habitat volunteers can’t do electrical and plumbing. We can do framing and handyman stuff… those aren’t as regulated. Electrical and plumbing must be [according to] code… you need a license [to do that]” -Patrick
5) Mid-Day Treat
From Eric, one of the Habitat construction staff, we learned that Sonic has a Thursday 50cent corn dog special. Upon hearing this, Peter was immediately sold and graciously offered to buy everyone a corn dog. Lorin sweetened the offer by buying us any drink we wanted.
6) Connecting with Shirley.
Shirley, the homeowner, is incurably sweet. As we were leaving, she asked us for our contact information so she could send us a letter afterwards. Both Alice and Virginia got to know her better as well.
“I was walking around the house looking for something to do after spending 3 hours scraping stubborn paint off the walls. It’s really hard for me to walk away from doing something sometimes. However, it seemed like God was telling me to stop doing what I was doing and move on to other things. It was like He was planting a thought in my head, that I was missing out on the things going on around the house. I hate missing out on stuff so I went and explored. I finally found myself with nothing to do and went inside the house to find Shirley taking a break from scraping due to her bad knees. I suddenly started to talking to her and asking her about things. I can’t recall what. Eventually, she started talking about her husband who passed away last year. She really missed her husband, whom she did everything with. I then asked her about her support groups and she says he has a friend and a daughter. I really hope she can grow her community and that she can experience the everlasting love of Jesus Christ one day.” -Alice
“When Shirley first walked up to the house [on Wednesday], Jeff and I asked her about her meeting with a local agency and how it went. She said it did not go well. She said she was frustrated. Later that day, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to talk to her and see how I could help her with her problem. We sat in her living room and she tried to explain the problem. I was unsure how to help her… I told her that God cares for the widows and he has provided people to come alongside her to help her. I prayed for her and asked the Lord to strengthen her and to provide someone to help her. Still feeling like I didn’t help her, I asked Eric, the site supervisor for Habitat for Humanity, if they had any resources to help her in this area. He recommended that she go to Legal Aid of Oklahoma. I quickly went her to tell her about Legal Aid and she was very happy to hear about it.” -Virginia
7) Dinner with OKC Habitat Crew.
We invited Jose, Serafin, Eric, and Chris from the Habitat Crew along with their families.
Unfortunately, Serafin and Eric’s wife were unable to attend. We had dinner at Hideaway’s, a popular pizza parlor near the church. It was a very casual and relaxing environment for us to get to know the crew we work with. We found out some interesting things. For example, Jose has undergone three miraculous accidents without significant injury. Once, at the AT&T Center in Texas, a nail penetrated his hand, but he did not suffer any blood loss. Also, at the same site, his foot got caught in a cable connected to a crane and he was lifted 20 feet into the air! Jose agreed with us that God must have been protecting him.
“John and I had the opportunity to speak and interact with Jose and his big family. I feel like it was God-ordained, since John and I have some ability to speak Spanish. It was good to get to know them. His kids, ages 2, 6, 7, and 7 months are simply adorable, happy kids. Jose is a good man, and I hope both John and I can continue to follow up with him now that John has his contact information.” -Alice