Ever think that old houses could be rehabilitated? Think once more. St. Luke's Ballard has four old houses (two from the 1950's, one much older, and one too far gone to care) that have been lived in by a sort of half-way house-church for the past seventeen years. They left unpaid utility bills of nearly $5,000 and four very tired houses.
Here's a bit on what we (me and several volunteers) have been doing to provide residences for the SERVE program (I'm hoping this web site gets some content soon):
Seattle
Episcopal
Residential
Volunteer
Experience
which is associated with the Episcopal Service Corps.
- Checked the houses for structural problems. We eliminated two as having sagging roofs and slanted floors. Then we discovered a rotten floor under the bathroom of one, and the rot extended under walls on both sides of the bath. The cause was bad plumbing. That house was ruled out.
- Cleaned the site. We still have eleven old tires, used motor oil, and a lead battery - all expensive to dispose. Not to mention three full garbage cans and scattered refuse from six months of squatters. Still have a dilapidated garage and shed to dismantle and remove.
- Turned on the water, tested the water heaters. Had to rebuild the kitchen faucet. One toilet works fine, the other needs to be replaced. Both showers generally OK.
- Found that two of the electric meters were stolen while we were away for a week. Took over two weeks to get one replaced.
- Now Ben could map all the outlets and lights to circuit breakers. We found many broken outlets and three-prong outlets not wired to ground. Also two junction boxes over-crammed with connections and a few outlets with no junction boxes.
- Noel got all the bedroom windows to open (a safety code requirement) and repaired or replaced three windows. Doors are next.
- One door lock required three jiggles to unlock - even without a key! Had to replace that lock. All other deadbolts were installed upside down, and that is still on our work list. One door needs a deadbolt, but the door needs to be replaced first. All the doors have been kicked in, so they need rebuilt doorframes and more secure strike plates.
- Then there is the usual scraping and sanding, priming and painting of all woodwork, sanding, filling, priming and painting of all walls. Fortunately all the ceilings are in good shape.
- But we had a water leak in one wall. Turns out that squirrels had chewed through the inside of the rain gutter, pouring all the rainwater from the west side of the house through that wall. Moldy. Yuck. We got the gutter patched today but need to demolish and rebuild that wall after treating the area for black mold.
- The the bathroom sink in one house has no cold water connection. Since the vanity was trash, we get to start over, relocating the sink so it is not blocking the shower stall. None of the bathrooms has towel bars.
- One house (built in the 1950s) is at ground level, with concrete foundations and even, level floors. It was on our first choice list. The other house, probably 40-50 years older, has steps front and rear that must be rebuilt. The floor in this house was rebuilt by total amateurs, so is neither level nor even. The kitchen floor was tiled with 24" stone tile. But since the floor is uneven, the tile emphasizes the bumps and valleys. Not pretty, but probably too expensive to change. Bedroom floors were covered by dirty carpet, which removed. In the older house we will replace the carpet. In the newer (1950s) house, the oak floors can be refinished.
- The utility room has water and power for laundry, but the drain was removed, leaving an open sewer pipe. We will move the laundry tubs in here (from the kitchen, where they were used as kitchen sink) and restore plumbing for washer and washtubs. We need to test the power, then will try to move the electric dryer, after adding a vent. Then this room needs insulation and wallboard.
- While we are fixing the walls in the utility room and one bedroom, we will demolish the interior of one closet - which is very awkward and has cracked and patched walls. We will cover the walls with new wallboard, re-orient the closet rod, and install drawers.
- There is no kitchen counter near the stove kitchen in the smaller house (the kitchen we will use). It has 'quartz' countertops. So we will move three base cabinets from the larger house (which will be used as a living room) and the matching countertops to complete this kitchen. Mostly.
- The refrigerator had no handle was was real stinky. So it went to the dump, and will be replaced by a new fridge from Mirabella - which installed new refrigerators in every apartment when it was built three years ago, but some tenants brought their own appliances, so Mirabella is selling the unused refrigerators at a great price.
- None of the bathrooms has heat. We will add a small electric wall heater to each. Fortunately, the old gas wall heater in the larger house works. The electric furnace in the smaller house has very damaged ductwork, and we have not yet tested the furnace. More fun ahead.
- Then there is the exterior. Basically not bad, with the exception of about 25 square feet missing siding shingles. We will pressure-wash the exterior, prime, and paint. Add a couple of light fixtures.
- The volunteers will want Internet. So I will string an Ethernet cable about 250 feet from the church office through a couple of classroom buildings, over the parking lot, past two sheds, and install a wireless router. The office uses Internet during the day and the volunteers will use it evenings and weekends. No conflict and no added cost!
- When we are all done with rehab, we have to furnish these houses with everything - beds, tables, seats, drawers, cookware, eating utensils - everything that Goodwill sells plus new beds. Whew.
I think I will be working on this for a while. I estimated about 200 hours of skilled labor plus nearly $10,000 in materials - and Carol says my estimates are about half the actual cost. Of course we have no funds for this yet, but we are taking tax-free donations. :)
St. Luke's Church - SERVE setup
5710 22nd Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107