Final Results of the Projects

Today was, first and foremost, the day for finishing up the loose ends on the house. The final pickets went on the deck. The last soffits were placed under the roof. Towel racks and cabinets were hung in the bathroom. The door was placed on the pantry. A concrete pad was poured at the base of the steps. In fact, every one of our projects was finished satisfactorily.

We were even blessed with a little bit of time towards the end of the day. In this copious free time, we replaced the exterior door locks and exterior lighting. We scrubbed down floors throughout the house, and worked on the small details like securing the mini-blinds to the back of the side door. We even got the tools mostly sorted and organized.

According to the final tally, our site finished all of the projects AND came in $90 under budget.

Lunch

I know that normally I have not mentioned the meals provided by various churches and groups, but today's was the exception. Today, we dined at New Friendship Presbyterian Church, home of the world's greatest fried chicken. For those of you who care to dispute this claim, you are wrong.

Ms. Black's Return

This afternoon, once the site was cleaned, Ms. Black and her daughter returned from the week in Greensboro. I always find it a blessing when the homeowners are away, because the house can be left in an unlivable state for several nights, but you also get to experience the homeowner's complete shock at the changes.

Many tears of joy were shed as we walked her through her new house. She loved the new deck and deck furniture. She loved the clean, white paint job. She loved the pantry in the chimney. She loved the solid floor in the bathroom. She loved us, and we loved her. It was a very touching moment.

To give her a small token of our gratitude towards her, we gave her a small bell to add to her collection of over 500. On the bell we drew the Salkehatchie hammer and cross, and each of us signed our names.

Tour of Homes

At the end of the week, all of the campers tour each home, just as at the week's start. All of the houses showed tremendous improvement, even the half-finished project that was Carl's whole site. All of the homeowners were so happy with the transformations of their homes.

Closing Service

To end the evening, we experienced a worship service at Union Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (try saying that name three times fast). A small group of singers praised God with their loud songs. Interpretive dancers performed their rendition of a gospel song. Despite the numerous differences between the very white-person worship style we've come to expect and the worship style with which we were presented, the service was one of the most powerful experiences I've had.

Following this time of worship, we came to the symbol ceremony. My symbol for this week was a glass Mello Yello bottle. As this was my first year as an adult, I had to work very hard to avoid doing all of the work on our projects, and instead give the responsibilities to the youth, even when they might not do it correctly or quickly. It was a tough job for me to learn. The bottle represents my struggle this week because I was not the one who found it. Instead, Wanda dug it up while we were both digging post holes. The work was shared, and the end result was about the same.

Final Thoughts

Seeing Salkehatchie from the "adult" perspective was an interesting experience. It provided me with a group of people who were already my family, but it also forced me to change my role within that family. Although I still need to strike a better balance between holding back and digging in, I know that the work our team did was some of the best I've been involved with at Salkehatchie. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this mission for the 6th time. Here's waiting for number seven.

The Deck

I would love to say that the deck is finished. It's not.

We created a template for runners on the stairs, made 8 runners, designed two complete sets of stairs, built the steps, built the handrails, and attached all of the pickets. No, wait, we didn't attach all of the pickets. We were short 6 pickets. The deck is finished except for those 6 pickets. Grrrr.

While waiting for more materials, we have begun to expand the front sidewalk so that it it about as wide as the steps which empty onto it. It should be poured first thing tomorrow

The screen door leading onto the deck has been replaced. It took Wanda and her son four hours. I have never seen anybody so frustrated, but, it's done.

The Inside of the House

The inside of the house is moving along well. The walls are primed and painted. The pantry is almost done. The floor is tiled. The toilet is… still in the front yard. We're working on it.

The Outside of the House

The shingles have been and trimmed. The facia board is replaces, primed, and painted. The window and door frames are painted.

The Deck

Starting with the outer frame of the deck, we cemented the posts into their holes. 2x6 boards were placed inside the frame. Absurdly long decking boards were stretched across the porch and nailed in place. With all of the decking down, handrails were added to surround the porch. It was a rather productive day.

The Roof

The roofing team finally finished replacing nearly all of the rafters on the front of the house. The particle board sheathing was laid down, followed by the tar paper. After several small mishaps involving horribly positioned shingles, the entire roof was shingled.

The Bathroom

THE PLUMBER FINALLY ARRIVED!!!!!11!!eleven!!

Ok, that may have been a bit overstated, but it was a major event. Much of the site had been at a standstill waiting for the plumbing to be fixed. Once they arrived, all of the piping in the house was reconnected, and at about 2:00 we finally had running water. The flooring for the bathroom was cut and positioned in place, and the many layers of wallpaper were completely removed.

The Hallway

Similar to the bathroom, the floor was re-covered with plywood, and the wallpaper was removed, The many imperfections in the walls and ceiling were spackled over.

The Kitchen

Wallpaper is now absent from the bulk of the kitchen. The walls behind the former paper have been cleaned throughly, as has the rest of the room.

Most interestingly, a new project was added today. The unused chimney in the kitchen was torn down, and a the area was prepared to be transformed into a new pantry by David Ward.

Other Thing of Note

Sharp eyed readers may have noticed that the posts of the deck were cemented in place hours before the water in the house was cut on. The thanks for this goes to Chris. Seeing that we had no water available to us, Chris took a large wheelbarrow to the next site over and asked if he could use their tap. Their water was disconnected too. At that point, Chris noticed the ball fields across the street, which were being watered by a series of sprinklers. He took the wheelbarrow to that field and began running around in circles, chasing the water as it was sprayed across the field. As unusual, and frankly hilarious, as this was, we had plenty of water for the task at hand. Thanks Chris!

Daily Status Updates

Pranks

Not everything was doom and gloom, however. As I struggled to find wood which ended up not existing behind the siding, I lamented that the nails I was using were too short. Wanda offhandedly suggested that I needed to find a nail-stretcher. The world fell silent. In the distance, a single angel sang.

We found one of the newbies on our site and sent her with 4 of the nails to go get a nail stretcher. Not finding one at the Cody's site, she traveled to another. Eventually, she was handed this metal pipe clamp, with instructions on how to use it. She dutifully returned with the contraption, only to eventually learn the truth.

It was righteous.

After-Work Fun

After the work was over, we went to the pool. Once we finally found the shallow, heated pool, we all had a great relaxing time. The freezing cold, Olympic sided pool was far too deep for relaxing. On the whole, it was a great time to just relax and, most importantly, stay completely off our feet.