June 21, 2016

Phil has had all hands on deck from the start and we are making good progress toward our ambitious goals for this summer’s work.

We had a good turnout for the walkthrough June 11 that included the reunion crowd, locals, some who were in town for various other reasons, and 4 actives Ben Foley organized to help out with setups. A couple local PiKA elders also came by to see what we were doing and get some ideas for potentially fixing up their house. A good portion of the crowd stayed around until 1 to visit, drink a beer, and enjoy some ham biscuits and Scott’s cornbread.

Attendees included Tom Hicks, Peter Schmidt, Pete Pittroff, Jay Standing, Coy Monk, Burton White, Hugh Milmoe, Kevin Mahony, Scott Sinclair, Kevin Willis, Charlie Daniels, Michael Chapman, Ben Foley, Wilkerson Anthony, Roddy Rodriguez, Park Snead, Phil & Don, and several other older brothers whose names I did not get. I think Burton White’s note about the project summarizes the way many of us feel  — “As I’ve said many times, I’m eager to see the house rebuilt, but even more so, eager to see the network of alumni rebuilt through the process. I’m looking forward to having a place to circle up again.”   Another brother said he had already written a check but that seeing things first hand had inspired him to write another as he had overcome some of the skepticism (many of us shared) about things being different this time.

The attached picture file illustrates some of the progress we’ve made during the 2nd and 3rd weeks of work.

Work Slides
Scaffolding going up around the whole house 10-11
Old insulation taken out of the attic (replaced with foam) 13-14
Plastering in progress 19-25
Condition of old windows (new ones being built) 26-27
Walls before sheet rocking and re-plastering 31-33
New sheet rock on walls 34-35
A/C installation in progress 38-40
New boiler (much smaller and more efficient than the old one) 41-45
Old lofts coming down (to be replaced with permanent ones) 48-50
Roof work 53-74
Upstairs bathroom and shower before repairs 78-89
Old doorframes and windows (to be replaced) 90-93
A/C – more installation progress 94-96
Rotten and sagging sections of stairs to basement (to be rebuilt) 97-100
Stairs & support in poor repair 102-103

Please contact me anytime you have questions or I can be helpful.

Don Laing
434-296-1400 (o)
434-981-8755 (m)
dlaing@cstonellc.com

Click to see all photos