We had no new arrivals this week so after recovering from all of Saturday’s banana pudding, the team attended church together on Sunday and enjoyed a quiet Palm Sunday afternoon.
Monday had us returning to the Turpin Hill house. We all worked hard at this location all week. We completed all the flooring, painted and installed all the baseboard we could until the kitchen is completed, installed seven doors, trimmed out nine doors, and installed seven lock sets. We also installed decorative shutters on the front of the house, cleaned all the electrical boxes and panel per inspector’s report, and cleaned up inside and outside the house.
Jim installing baseboards
Sandy and Jim installing decorative shutters
Anne applying floor leveling compound to the laundry room floor
Pat and Anne installing the last piece of flooring
Laundry room floor finished
Jim and Dave – our champion door installers – installed 7 doors and trimmed out 9.
Because the exterior door jambs were thinner than the walls, Jim and Dave had to rip filler strips to make the door casing fit.
The inspector wanted all the electrical boxes cleaned before they would pass inspection.
We spent some time getting the kitchen cabinets organized, but ran out of time before we could install them. Another volunteer group is coming in a few weeks to continue work on the house.
The bathroom at the end of the week
The back bedroom at the end of the week
Kitchen doors and floor at the end of the week
The house at the end of the week
Unfortunately, we never got to meet the homeowner due to his work hours. However, the entire team signed his Bible and we left him a note with the Bible for him to pick up when he gets his mail.
After work on Thursday, we all went to dinner at a combination Mexican and Italian restaurant and after the great meals we all walked across the street for some wonderful ice cream. We are so grateful for this hard-working NOMADS team and all they accomplished. It was really rewarding to see the sharing of knowledge and skills by this group. Thank you Dave, Rita, Jim, Pat, and Sandy!
Week 7 (Our Week 3) Team Picture
Please keep all the homeowners in Augusta and Ashville who are still not back in their home in your prayers. NOMADS currently are scheduled to return to both locations in the fall to continue the work. May God Bless you all.
After saying goodbye to 6 volunteers last Friday, we had three more volunteers arrive on Saturday, Pat and Jim, and Sandy. Week two began with seven hard working NOMADS.
We moved to a new work site Monday in the Turpin Hill area of Augusta. The plan is for the seven of us to work here until the project closes April 2. We are hoping to complete the house by then. This home was destroyed by a very big tree. Christian Disaster Service volunteers rebuilt the house on the original foundation and installed the drywall and first coat of paint before we arrived.
Our next assignment
How the house looked on January 26th while CDS was rebuilding it.
Monday, we got a second coat on all the walls and ceilings and began preparing the floors for laminate flooring. We began installing the laminate flooring in the two bedrooms. Tuesday, we completed the two bedroom’s flooring, and began installing the flooring in the kitchen and living room. Wednesday we finished the flooring in the living room and kitchen and began installing base boards. Thursday, we completed the flooring in the bathroom and continued trim work. We are so proud of this team. They accomplished a lot this week. Fortunately we didn’t have any storms this week but the temperatures were in the 80’s two days.
Living room when we arrived
Front bedroom when we arrived
Bathroom when we arrived
The house had no power so we had to use a generator each day.
Pat painting
Rita helping Dave
The bathtub after Sandy spent a couple of hours cleaning off overspray from the wall and ceiling texturing.
Jim setting protruding screws
Anne and Jim installing underlayment
Flooring teams worked separately in the kitchen and living room but made it all come together in the middle.
Jim, Sandy and Anne flooring
Pat cutting flooring
Rita cutting flooring
One of the bedrooms at the end of the week
Rita and Pat after finishing the bathroom floor
After a lot of hard work last week, and some rest Friday, several of the team went to the State Banana Pudding Festival and Tractor Show in Milledgeville, GA. on Saturday. What a fun day! Lots of great food plus getting to choose our favorite banana pudding. We tasted 10 different puddings brought in by charitable organizations and then voted on the one we liked best. There was all the usual fair foods plus banana pudding ice cream, banana pudding nuts, banana pudding nachos, banana pudding popcorn, banana pudding funnel cakes, and banana pudding pastries.
On Monday, March 16th, we joined the NOMADS Disaster Rebuild Project in Augusta, GA. This was the fifth week of the project but we were here for the final 3 weeks. The week got off to an interesting start since the Storm Prediction Center had placed this area in a 3 of 5 risk of severe weather. So, before we left for work on Monday, we pulled all our slides and awnings in and prayed for safety. We carefully watched the weather all day and fortunately, all we got was some rain and a little wind.
Just rain
Our 10 member team all went to the same house that last week’s team worked on. We had 6 members from last week’s team, so they could get us caught up on what needed to be done. This house was damaged when Hurricane Helene came through Augusta in September of 2024. Trees throughout the neighborhood came down on the homes. Evidence of the damage remains everywhere with some homes still displaying tarps.
There were many items remaining to complete in this home. In the master bath, the subflooring was leveled, the flooring was installed, ceiling repaired, textured and paint. A new vanity was installed, toilet reinstalled, the bathroom was painted, trim was installed and caulking was done.
Back bathroom when we arrived
Jim leveling the bathroom floor
Jim preparing a place for the new vanity
Kevin working on the new vanity
Finished back bathroom
Tuesday afternoon Max and Dave went to a home in Thomson, GA. The new home was completed, and they were tasked with disconnecting the travel trailer where the homeowner has been living since Helene destroyed his home. It was quite the job removing all the mobile home tiedowns. A funny moment occurred when after several unsuccessful attempts to move the porch and steps away from the trailer, they looked under the porch and found another mobile home tiedown.
Dave disconnecting water line
Max unstrapping the porch
The semi-permanent sewer line disconnected
Dave removing a chock block that was fastened down with 4 inch screws
The hallway bath required ceiling repair, texturing and painting, caulking, and trim. Flooring was replaced in the foyer, and kitchen. The kitchen also needed some painting. Downstairs in the family room, the ceiling required repairs, texturing and painting as well as all new flooring. With a lot of effort, the team completed the repairs Thursday afternoon and we presented the Bible to the homeowners.
The kitchen floor when we arrived
The kitchen ceiling when we arrived
The downstairs floor when we arrived
The downstairs ceiling when we arrived
Dave sanding downstairs ceiling
Tom spraying the downstairs ceiling
Rita and Joan installing underlayment
Rita and Anne installing a transition strip
Laurie painting baseboards
Joan and Anne installing flooring downstairs
Kevin cutting flooring
Tom waiting on last piece of flooring
The old icemaker line started leaking when we moved the refrigerator so we had to install a new one.
Finished kitchen
Finished downstairs floor
This week’s Bible presentation
During the week we celebrated two birthdays one for Laurie and one for Dave then on Friday we had to say goodbye to the 6 NOMADS from last week, Joan, Tom, Jim, Irene, Kevin and Laurie. We really appreciate all their hard work and wish them well on their next projects.
Week 5 (our week 1) team picture
Laurie and her birthday cake
Dave and Rita with the birthday peach cobbler
Saying “See you down the road” to our team members
On March 5th we left our friends RV site and moved across town to the Florida Horse Park for this year’s Class B Rally sponsored by Sunshine State RVs and Coachmen Class B Division. This is our 5th year to attend and we enjoy it every time. It is in conjunction with the Ocala RV Show, so this was our third RV show this year – and we are not even shopping for a new RV. Like at all RV get-togethers, we reconnected with old friends and made new friends. We were asked to arrive early to help with parking the 100 RVs that were coming to the Roundup. The rest of the time we relaxed, helped out any way we could and got to talk to people about volunteering and NOMADS.
100 Coachmen Class Bs
Aren’t they parked nicely?
The Roundup opening session with the sponsors
An education session with one of the component manufacturers
At our potluck two of the four tables were covered in desserts.
Fresh popcorn!
Helping install a weather station on a friend’s RV
After we left the roundup, we spent one more night at our friends’ site before heading north again.
RVing With a Purpose 