South Carolina: The Final Day - Believe it or not

When we began our day this morning, our main goal was to finish all the jobs which we started this week and possibly pick up another job to take us to the end of the day tomorrow.  Our departure for the day was a bit later than the rest of the week but all three groups got moving quickly after they arrived at their sites.

One of the groups had started another roof yesterday. They had removed all old shingles, nailed felt over the entire roof, completely finished nailing shingles on one side of the roof, and covered about one third of the other before finishing for the day.  Today, they picked right up where they left off.  The group worked well as a team and looked like real professionals.  In fact, Brightbill proclaimed that no one  would think their finished product was done by a bunch of teenage volunteers.

A second group spent their fourth morning with Mr. Carroll putting the finishing touches on replacement windows and doors.  This group had to be very creative because not all windows matched the size of the opening.  As you can see, this finished product was also very nice.

These two groups wrapped up their work by noon.  After lunch, the 10 students, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Deiling, Mr. Carroll and Mr. Brightbill went to another site where they were able to repair a roof and give the homeowners another 10 years of dry housing.  Once again, the team bonded quickly and was able to finish the job despite extreme heat and a lack of materials.

The third group spent the entire day finishing a large job which they had started on Monday.  This was the type of project that keeps increasing in size - as you finish fixing one problem you find another.  These four students spent the week fixing "soft" spots in the floor by removing spots in the subfloor, filling them in with plywood and luan, then covering with vinyl tiles.  When the day was over, this family had a much safer floor throughout their home.

 Unfortunately, the organization in South Carolina is not prepared with another job which will keep all of us busy for another day so we have decided to come home tomorrow.  While we are disappointed in losing more time to bond with each other, we are excited to sleep in our own beds.  Thanks for your support and well wishes during this week and we look forward to sharing with you on our next adventure.

South Carolina: Day Three

Hello, I am James Kearney Jr. I am a sophomore in Carpentry at Dauphin County Technical School. This is the first Building Construction Cares trip I am participating in. I remember late freshmen year finding out that I made the cut to attend and be a part of this trip. I worked hard on my application plus the essay to make it possible for me to participate in the trip. 

As the day begins Wednesday morning we were served sausage and scrambled eggs. After that we met out front of the church parking lot for our usual meetings and daily goals. When it comes to job sites, there were 3 today. One site is replacing windows and fixing door frames, another site is roofing, and at a third site was floor/vinyl installation. Part of the group started on their second roof after finishing up the first roof yesterday. 

Today some of us switched positions in the groups to get a different experience.  I went from doing the roofing to the window and door frames with Christy and Bobby as well as Ms. Johnson and Mr. Carroll. It was pretty hot as usual but it was tolerable. Today I had to repair the frame for the storage unit door because it was crooked and barely latched on. I also had to clamp the drilling jig 36” above from the ground and hook up an impact driver to drill a hole for the locks. After helping a gentleman from UMCOR get rid of broken doors and windows, we had to pull out the air conditioner to replace the window that it was installed in. After we replaced the window and got the air conditioner back in place, we had to tear out the three crank out (awning) windows. It took a lot of sweat and effort to get the old, rusty screws and nails out of the frame and I had to take my hammer and hit the sides and corners to get the windows out. After that was taken care of we cut some 2x4 and put them into the frame and installed the new sliding windows. Not long after the windows were installed, Ms. Johnson and I were bending sheets of metal to go over the outside framework. Even though it was my first time doing it and I got it a little mixed up, it was the easiest part of the day because I got to work in the shade so it made it more convenient for me to keep working. The best part of the day was getting the awning windows replaced and out of the way. Tomorrow all that is left is some trimming and indoor finishing on the windows. Today was different than the first few days because of the switching of the groups. Some of us had to work in different conditions and work on different parts of the house so our knowledge was really put on the test!

The last part of the day was a picnic dinner at a local park with a great pavilion and a lake. We had burgers and hot dogs, walked around the lake, played football and had a really nice time as a group enjoying the last hours of the day. Good night!

South Carolina: Day Two

Hello, this is Jayliz DeJesus. I am a Junior in BCT at Dauphin County Technical School. This is my first BC Cares trip, I was so excited when I found out I was accepted to participate. I put a lot of effort into my essay to make sure I had the chance to come along.

The day started out Tuesday morning with breakfast together as a group. We had pancakes and bacon. Afterwards we met in front of the church for our daily meeting.  The meeting is where we talk about what our goals are for the day and assign students to both jobsites since we are working at two different locations.

I was working at Miss Melinda’s house where we were installing a new roof and repairing the subfloors inside her home. My job today was to install shingles. Brightbill and Flavio taught me how to align the shingles and nail them. Since this is area is a hurricane zone, we used 6 nails per shingle. I worked on several different areas of the roof including large areas, valleys and other sections that required more detail.

It was hot today, so we took several breaks in the shade and drank a lot of water. In the afternoon I worked in the house. We measured the hallway for luan plywood and cut and fit it into place. Later, Christy and I removed carpet in a different area, removed some doors, and marked and cut out rotted subfloor. We installed new nailers and subfloor in those areas and sistered up some new joists. We used an oscillating saw, a circular saw and one of our new cordless nail guns. There was a lot of clean up to do and then we had to put the rooms back together so they could be used tonight.

The best part of the day was at the end of the work day. The homeowner, Miss Melinda came out and took pictures with our group and thanked us and hugged us. She told us we were a blessing and told us how much she appreciated our efforts.

Mr. Carroll's crew went to another job where we continued to work on replacement windows and doors. The  installed three replacement windows and trimmed out the exterior with new wood and aluminum. Mrs. Johnson came and learned how to use the break to bend aluminum for the exterior. A storm door was also installed and the group worked hard to custom fit a new door on a storage unit in the back of the house. The team’s carpentry skills were put to the test!

South Carolina: The First Installment

Hello, my name is Angel Steckman. I am a junior in the Carpentry Program at DCTS. This is my first trip on BC Cares and we are in Lake City, South Carolina. We traveled here yesterday in two vans and a truck. There are 14 students; 9 Building Construction students and 5 Carpentry students. Adults that have come along are:

 Ms. Connie Kennedy (counselor) with us on her 7^th trip

 Mr. Carroll (Carpentry instructor) on his 7^th trip

 Mrs. Johnson (DCTS retiree) on her 2^nd trip

Mrs. Deiling (Instructional coach) on her 13^th trip

Mr. Brightbill (BCT instructor) on his 14^th out of state BC Cares trip

We are staying at a very nice church in Lake City called Lake City First Baptist Church. We are staying in rooms that they have set aside for volunteers. The damage that was done here was caused by two storms that occurred in the last few years. The main storm they call the “Great Storm” in 2015 when a low pressure system sat over this area and dumped rain for days. Almost one year later Hurricane Matthew hit the area and caused even more flooding and wind damage. This area was on the southern edge of Florence so the damage that we are repairing is older.

This morning, we started off working on two jobs in the area that are a few miles apart. The first job was to replace windows and several doors. Mr. Carroll led a crew of students who removed old window sashes that were no longer weather proof and they installed new replacement windows. One of the seniors worked with a junior and used skills that he learned last year to teach the junior how to install a new exterior door and hardware, making Mr. Carroll very proud that he retained hard-earned skills from previous years.

The other crew, led by Mr. Brightbill went to a house that needed a new roof. Much of the original shingles had severe roof damage from 2016. Several tarps had been placed on much of the roof. We had to carefully remove the layers of tarps to ensure that the roof deck had not been compromised. We then were able to strip 20 square of shingles from the roof, remove the old underlayment, install new high performance underlayment and ice guard and we were able to re-shingle about 1/3 of the roof. Zildjian, a CD East Football player carried many bundles of shingles up the ladder. It was quite a workout.

Some of the students worked inside the home where the floors had been severely compromised. They removed rotten subfloor and installed new to make the house much safer.

There is still a good bit of work to be done on both jobs tomorrow, before we move on to other projects. I am glad that I had the chance to work on the roof today, I  am a bit afraid of heights. Knowing I am going to be a carpenter, I knew that I had to get over my fear. I started on the ground but decided I had to put fear aside and get up there. I was scared on the ladder but Mr. Brightbill talked me through the process of climbing the ladder and accessing the roof, but the scariest part was climbing back down. I am proud to say that I did both successfully, several times!!!

Another trip completed - but no posts this time??????

Building Construction Cares has added another trip to its adventures; however, technology was not available and the blog could not be written.  Here's a quick recap of the week:

This group was challenged to add skirting and decks to an improved trailer, install metal roofs on several porches, and erect a community playground.  Buck, our host, indicated that he had a few other projects to complete but would be happy if we were able to finish these jobs.  Assuming that the playground would be a piece of cake and the other jobs would just take some patience, the advisers were ready to take on the entire list.  Well, we quickly learned that playgrounds are not the quick and easy job they appear to be.  No one on this trip will ever look at a playground quite the same way again.   Consequently, this BCC group almost finished Buck's happy to do list - we left with two sliding boards unattached to the set.  Here are some pictures of our adventure:

Until next time....

We are at the end of Day 4 and we have met with success!  Our only disappointment was not meeting the noon deadline that we set for ourselves today; otherwise, the new roof looks excellent.   Our work crew increased by one today; a young man named Zach, employed by Hopeforce International, seemed to enjoy working with our students.  This crew learned a lot this week about working as a team, finding a way to focus in adverse conditions, and overcoming a fear of heights. 

After dinner, we once again took a trip into War; this time to gas up the vehicles for our trip back tomorrow.  This should have been a simple task, but the only employee at the station had a difficult time with the idea of putting the cost of gas for two vehicles on one credit card.  In the middle of the transactions, he ran out of paper and was unable to print a receipt (sorry, Maria.)  Our quick trip ended up taking us about an hour.

We returned to the house with plans to have a movie night and watch “October Sky” in recognition of this area’s most famous former residents.  Just as we were getting ready to settle in, the homeowners dropped by to visit and share their gratitude for what we have done for them.  This is the best part of being involved with Building Construction Cares, understanding that we can impact many lives through the use of our skills.  We wish to thank everyone who supports us in every way; it is only through your generosity that we are able to continue with this organization.

Thanks for following us on this the 12^th trip for Building Construction Cares.  Please join us we when make our next trip during the first week of October.

Catch Up, Mustard, and Relish

It has been another beautiful day in West Virginia.  Day three of our adventure started a little earlier so that we could get ahead of the predicted heat.  We also paid more attention to the crew’s hydration needs before the temperature went up.  These plans seemed to have worked since we were able to finish shingling the rear of the house, complete most of the tear off of the front of the house, remove a chimney which was about to fall down (the homeowner will have to do some reconstruction of the other active one so that he doesn’t lose that one too), and start installing ice guard, felt and shingles on the front of the house.  Currently, our goal is to finish the job by noon tomorrow – fingers crossed.

During our trip to War last evening, we saw signs to Lake Berwind, and we decided to pack a picnic dinner and check it out.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a nice park with lots of benches, tables and small pavilions for public use.  After Brightbill warmed up for field day by cooking us hotdogs and burgers, the seniors told stories of the antics in shop over the years.  We definitely wore them out today; at least one of them fell asleep on the 10 minute drive back to the house, and they all crashed upstairs in the bedroom by 7:15 – definitely a record for Building Construction Cares.