Hurricane Ike – Our Home
Basically, you’ve seen the damage and repair of Camp Dularge. Now it’s time to take a peek into what’s been going on “down the bayou” at our home since BB arrived.
You see, BB is a much younger and more energetic woman than I. So she drove herself here from Mississippi to build a little fire under me and get me going on preparing our old house down the bayou for “re-entry”.
This is a photo of our home the day after Ike made landfall over Galveston, TX this past September. The water reached about a foot and a half high inside the house. It was several more days before we were able to actually get inside.
This was after the water receded a little. If you look closely, you can see the watermarks on the laminate flooring, the mold on the sofa, and the water line on the wall paneling.
Behind that wet paneling, and beneath that flooring is lots of wonderful smelling mold and mildew that somehow must be dealth with before we can move back.
BB and I both had the same idea of cutting out the wet paneling and insulation . . .
then scrubbing the plate and wall studs with bleach and water solution, killing all the resident mold/mildew. We placed fans around the room to help dry the wood before sealing the walls up.
We recycled old ceiling plywood from the patio roof of Camp Dularge. BB marked the plywood into one-foot wide strips for the walls. . .
and then cut them . . .
We primed both sides with Kilz, a mildew-killing primer, and then painted them with leftover paint from the kitchen of Camp Dularge.
Tomorrow, we will nail them into place, clean and replace the baseboards. Later, I’ll have to actually buy some molding to cover the paneling/plywood joint. That’s only cosmetic. It can wait.
What is so great here is that the room no longer reeks of mold and mildew. We will be able to breathe in this family room without the worry of black mold creeping up the inside of the walls (as it was already doing).
To be continued . . .
Yea, BB, for coming through! I’m glad she lit a fire under you – great progress.
It is amazing how much better things smell just getting the damp insulation out of the walls . . . .
There is a light at the end of the tunnel! I think BB is holding it. I hope y’all have taken precautions will doing this work. I found out the hard way, without a respirator, which I don’t have (dust mask didn’t help) I cannot do this type of work any longer. I can offer only encouragement, and that you have.
What a great helper! Its nice to have help from someone that is so willing to work hard! Those kind of people are worth millions! If I didnt have 5 kids to wrangle – I would have so been there BW!!!! LOVE YOU!!!
Yes, Steffi, we wore masks, but some of the dust still got through. We also wear rubber gloves.
Heidi, I know you’d be here if you could. But that sweet lil Milk Dud needs you right now and this is no place for children! Just your words and Steff’s words of encouragement help a lot!
BW
Getting started seems like the worst part of it. I remember when one of my libraries flooded, 4 feet up the walls. We did the same thing you’re doing–cut out the damaged part of the walls, washed everything down, hosed it off, dried it with big industrial fans. All the furniture and most of the books were lost, of course. It’s hard, hard work, but just trying to figure out where to start was the hardest part. You will get there, and good help like BB is sent from God.
What a daunting job. But now you’ve got heart in the friendship of a wonderful giving person.
And to think, some people don’t believe in Angels.
Reading this and seeing what you are facing is overwhelming…have you thought of submitting a tape to Extreme Home Makeovers??? 🙂
How wonderful to have BB’s vigor and enthusiasm to kindle the strength you need to accomplish yet another miracle in your home! There is such encouragement in walking side-by-side, isn’t there? And I concur with the warnings to be careful with the masks and mold!
Praying for you!
Sent from God, angelic, and side-by-side encouragement. That is what BB was to me these past 3 days.
Vance, you are the third person who has mentioned the idea. But I don’t want or need an “extreme” home. The people who receive those new homes have way more need than we, and many of them live such sacrificial lives and often their homes offer community services to underprivileged. Thank you for thinking of us, though. And the prayers are very welcome! Love ya!
Nice. Send her up here. I’ll just leave she can work that fire brewed magic without my interference. I have been actually cleaning this dump up before my Loozy visit.
What a daunting job. But now you’ve got heart in the friendship of a wonderful giving person.