The Reason We're Doing This

The baby (well, now toddler) has never lived in a house.  The 8-year-old was only three when the house flooded and doesn't remember living anywhere but the RV.

This is the last year those children are going to live in the RV--because we've all said, "No more!  We're going to fix this."  We're going to get their house finished in 2012--and this year's Christmas tree will be in their new home.

The PayPal account is ProjectEVA99@gmail.com.  To paraphrase the old politician, donate early and often.

Where it is today

A bedroom currently being used as the workshop.

The downstairs bath/laundry room. 

These fixtures have been removed.

The living room.

The master bedroom, looking into the master bath.

The other downstairs bedroom.



Looking from the living room into the kitchen.

I'm just musing here and I am far from a pro, so please jump in with better ideas.



I'm thinking that the electric and water hookups need to be done first and that they need to be done by professionals.

The master bath will have a shower, the downstairs bath will have a tub.  Both need all fixtures.  (The ones in the photo are no longer on the site.)  Installing toilets and sinks is intermediate DIY stuff, but installing the water lines from the inlets to the faucets takes somebody with the tools and know how.  It would be nice to get that done before everybody comes for a work party, though!  Maybe our plumber can get there a day early.

Sheetrocking takes a bit of strength but not a lot of skill, except when doing weird angles and up high, like in Tracy's master bedroom.  Taping and bedding sheetrock takes--in my opinion--an artist.  It takes at least two coats with drying time after each before the walls can be textured.  So I'm not seeing a lot of need for painters the first weekend.  Anybody who can tape and bed or who will learn to before coming will be the hero of the weekend.   (Can you tell I'm a really lousy tape-and-bedder?)  Sanding it and vacuuming up after doesn't take skill, just doggedness.  Windows, doors, floors, and wood walls will have to be covered, electrical outlets taped, etc. before texture and paint can be sprayed, so there's plenty of work for less experienced workers. 

Spraying texture only takes one person, but it needs to be a person who knows what they are doing.  If everything to be painted is going to be the same color, it might be easier to just rent a sprayer and get it done than to bring in a bunch of people to roll paint, expecially if everything to not be painted is already covered up from the texturing.  Timeline wise, I like to let primer dry overnight before painting.

I'm also a messy painter and like to paint before I put flooring down, but everybody else may have different opionions about that.

I guess what kind of flooring is going to depend on money.  A worst-case scenario would be to put vinyl down in the bathrooms and kitchen then paint the subfloor in the other rooms and put area rugs over it until Tracy can do something else.  Laminate is cheap and easy to install if we can do that--it really is something a beginner can do.  I can tell that hardwoods are not going to be in our budget. 

If we can get a deal on kitchen cabinets and someone can install them, that would be great.  If not, I can get the freestanding ones from Ikea that will at least get the kitchen functional until Tracy can do something else down the road.

Comments?  I'm going to see if DDR will do a post about what needs to be done from a much more skilled point of view.

We can't schedule the work weekends until the plumber and electrician have done the tie-ins, if I am correct about getting those done first.

The Prehistory of Project EVA

The flood:

Goodbye, old house:





The next chapter:

 Dried in and ready for the interior to be finished:



Correction

Because EVA never complains, I did not know the back story on the trailer.

Here it is in EVA's words: "[T]he story is that I lost my house 5 yrs ago and everything in it to a flood. We did get insurance money after a year of battling but we also had to jump thru a lot of red tape with the county like we had to put a brand new septic system in. That was not covered by insurance. Nor was the wetland mitigation we had to do or the fact that we had to pay for Fish and Wildlife to do a survey since an eagle's nest is across the street. And we had to also do a survey of our land since we are rebuilding and the county didn't have on on file. So about $50,000 of our insurance money to rebuild went to all of that."

And then they started rebuilding and got almost through--but not far enough along to move into.

Jana

Getting This Project Started!

Most of us know Tracy as EVA, her user name on a horse forum.  A whole lot of us have never met her in person but consider her a friend because she's always available in our online world to offer encouragement, advice, and the occasional much-needed kick in the rear.

Because she never complains or looks for sympathy, it has taken a long time to put together the occasional comments and realize what her current situation is.  She and her husband bought some land and planned to build their dream home and raise Arabian horses near Seattle.  To save money and make the dream happen sooner, they decided to move into a travel trailer with their two young sons and live on the property while building a house.

The house was started and isn't too far from completion.  But another child has been born, the marriage has ended, and Tracy has seriously injured her back.  She and the three boys are still living in the little trailer, and the house is still nearly completed but not ready to move into.  No child support is coming in, the boys are getting bigger, Tracy's back pain continues. . . something has to change.

It would be wonderful if some fairy godmother could swoop in and fix everything, but who has the ability to that?  None of us can do everything, but I hope that if enough of us can do something, we can finish the house for Tracy and the boys. 

It took a bit of convincing for Tracy to accept help from virtual strangers (or virtual friends, so to speak)--she's much more of a giver.  But it's her turn for something good to happen--and our opportunity to each be a fairy godmother/father.

If you can help financially, we've set up a PayPal account for ProjectEVA99@gmail.com.  If you donate, please send an email to the ProjectEVA99 account so that I can be sure to thank you and as a way to doublecheck on deposits.  We will be posting copies of the PayPal statements and copies of receipts for the building supplies bought with donations.

 For those who can help with actual work, we will figure out work weekends soon.  They'll be this spring so that we have time to raise the money and so that the weather will be better.  People with experience with wiring, tiling, plumbing, installing cabinets, etc. are especially needed, but anybody willing to work is very welcome.

We will  get photos posted soon and lists of what exactly is needed.

Thank you all for your support and friendship for Tracy.  Together, we can do this.

Jana