RVing With a Purpose

Saturday, May 28, 2021

The week continued to be very hot and Tuesday was pretty brutal.  Ken and Robby were back up on the hot roof, installing the felt and making additional repairs.  The bedroom temporary wall was removed and trusses were reinforced.  Caulking was removed in the kitchen and cabinets were sanitized again.  The living room wall was also insulated. In the afternoon we all worked together removing the siding from the end of the trailer.  Recall we removed the other end two weeks ago.  It was way hotter today, but we completed the job and covered the end with tarps to protect the wood from the weather.  At this point the double wide is structurally secure and can be separated and moved as soon as the new site is ready.  The agency will have a contractor who moves double wides regularly handle all of that work.

Wednesday morning (while still somewhat cooler,) we cut down a large cedar tree that would have prevented the trailer from being moved.  There is additional landscaping that will have to be removed but it was great to remove the large cedar while Ken was still with us.  He has a lot of experience downing trees as a fire fighter who worked a lot of CA wildland fires. The roof was also re-tarped since the singles will not be replaced until after it is moved.  The rest of the day was spent insulating the walls, ceilings and helping Robby hang the drywall on the ceilings – another tiring day.  Wednesday night we visited the Glory House, one of the sponsoring agencies of this rebuild, for dinner and got to know Hope and Grant.  What a sweet couple who have such a heart for the people of Laurel.  Thanks for a great evening!

Thursday we completed hanging drywall on the walls and began the taping and mudding.  What a difference in the house this week!  It’s really starting to look like a home again – one that is safe.

Thanks so much to Heidi and Ken for their dedication to the Laurel community and for their ten weeks of hard work here.  We were very sad to say goodbye to them but they certainly deserve some time off.

Friday, we drove back to Alabama to have one additional document notarized and recorded.  No, we did not close. We drove back to Laurel Friday afternoon.  It turned into about a 13 hour day. The documents are now in the hands of Quicken and we have again been told this is the last thing they require and we should get closing scheduled next week.  This is the fourth “last thing” needed so we are not holding our breath.  But – it will close when it closes.

Stay safe and enjoy this Memorial Day weekend, while also remembering all who gave so much for our freedom.

Monday, May 24, 2021

As we start our third week in Laurel, the short spring has turned to summer.  We will have 90 degree temps this week and will have to be careful to keep everyone hydrated.  We of course began today with a planning session with Robby and then our morning meeting with Ken and Heidi.  Our number one goal for this week is to get the roof repairs completed and the roof was where Max, Ken and Robby began their work day.  Heidi and Anne were outside helping as needed.  The guys got all the rotten and warped decking removed and replaced with new material over the master bedroom as well as the master bath.  They also reinforced more trusses.  They then moved back to the front, investigating the area in the living room that has been leaking.  There they removed more shingles and found there was also rotten decking there as well as the valley tin needed replacing.  So, they again reinforced the trusses in that area and replaced the decking.  The shingles will not be replaced until the trailer is at home on the new property so the tarps will remain on the roof until after the move.  Cannot believe how much work was completed on the exterior today!  The inside is also coming along.  Everyday there is more cleaning done and the house smells so much better.  Today the insulation was replaced in the living room wall.  All the old caulk was removed in the hall bath and the tub re-caulked.  We will be needing some new trim for the vanity.  Heidi also did a great job cleaning and painting several ceiling spots that had mildewed.  Some cabinet repairs were done and a few more are needed in the kitchen.  It was a very productive but hot day.  We all made sure we were drinking lots of water and we extended our breaks a little due to the heat on the roof.  We should all sleep well tonight.

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Since, once again the closing company and lender did not have everything ready for closing we had a quiet weekend in Laurel. We spent Friday dealing with the closing company and taking care of NOMADS business then walked around downtown and visited some of the stores.  On Saturday we after working a while in the RV we walked around one of the residential sections of town admiring the old homes.

Today we streamed our service for Lester Memorial UMC and attended church at Laurel First UMC again.  Both services were so good and again today Ben and Erin and their sweet little girl worshiped with us.  For those of you that don’t know, Ben’s Dad  is a Methodist pastor.  The rest of the day we tried to avoid the heat.

Friday, May 21, 2021

Gumby got a rest this week.  We didn’t have to be very flexible because we worked on the trailer all week as expected.  The master bedroom is coming together.  We all worked at doing different things at different times and helping each other wherever we were needed at the time.  The rotten subfloor was removed, and all the floor framing was reinforced as needed and the subfloor replaced.  The new exterior wall was built with new studs, new top and bottom plates and new sheathing installed, the windows were reinstalled and the vinyl siding was reinstalled.  We began removing the roofing and decking and reinstalling the decking and got the area of the largest hole in the roof repaired. There is still a lot of roof work to be done.  The kitchen cabinets were scrubbed, sanitized and the interior painted.  The other two bedrooms walls were cleaned.  The walls in both baths were washed down, and the hall bathtub and surround were scrubbed and sanitized.  There were also hundreds of staples and tack strips removed from the flooring.

Wednesday morning we were able to go to the location were the agency will be moving the trailer and see the condition of the home that was destroyed by the storm.  We also got to meet our homeowner.  He is such a sweet man, in his seventies.  His home was in the direct path of the tornado that destroyed so many homes in the Soso community.  The home was built by his grandparents and he has wonderful memories there.  He is currently removing the last of his belongings which will be placed in storage.  The agency plans to have the fire department burn the house (very sad for him) and then after the pad is prepared, the trailer we are repairing will be moved in.  The trailer will look very nice in its new setting.

We are working very hard to prepare a nice home for him.  We know we will not be able to complete everything or see the trailer moved to its new site but we will do all we can.  The team this week was so amazing.  Everyone worked so well together.  Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Nell and Randy Friday morning as they left for Atlanta to check on Nell’s family.  It was a very productive and fun week.