ΔΣΦ, ΓΔ Chapter, Work Weekend Summary – August 13-17, 2009

 

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Summary

Delta Sigma Phi alumni met in Pullman to help the members clean, maintain and make ready the Chapter House for the Aug 24 start of class and for the start of the informal rush period.  Jim Wilson, Chapter Supervisor, Derek Riggs, house workweek leader and Thomas James, alumni project coordinator, prioritized tasks to complement contractor renovations and other summer work to make the house clean and presentable.

 

Alumni present included Tom Stowe; Tom's son and recent high school graduate,Graeme Stowe; Ed Maher; Phil Cummings; Steve Buell; Mike Snyder and Thomas James. House members were present or arriving for the start of the traditional work week clean up, prior to the start of fall semester classes.

In addition, the University no longer conducts a formal men's rush due to reduced numbers of participants. Sorority formal rush continues. There is an informal men's rush period beginning the first week of classes.

 

Renovated Fourth Floor Bath and Shower - DONE and Dedicated

The contractor completed the 4th floor bath and shower renovation on Sunday, August 16th. A dedication ceremony was held on the 4th floor to officially open the room.

   

   


Thanks to Derek Riggs for scrubbing and sealing the tile floor of the 3rd floor bathroom. Later in the work week the 3rd floor bath was repainted. The 3rd floor "facilities" and showers are in good condition and in good working order. Pictures of 3rd floor bath and shower, prior to painting, are shown, below.

   




Project List, Results and Status

Living Room - replace sliding door with windows - DONE

Earlier this summer a contractor replaced the sliding glass doors in the living room with windows, bringing the room similar to its original configuration. Shown below are views from inside and outside. The living room wall has been repainted. This work is complete.

 

   



Deck Stairs and Railing - 95% DONE

On Saturday Tom and Graeme Stowe, along with Phil Cummings, built a small set of stairs leading from the basketball court to the lower deck.




On Sunday, Tom and Graeme Stowe built a new stairway from the parking lot down to the deck. They were later joined by Thomas James who assisted with tread cutting, plus worked with Graeme on the railing posts.

       



On Monday, TJ, Dane, Justin, Matt and Evan completed the railing, including the replacment for the post that ended all work on Sunday, plus they reinforced the landing, added the pickets and blocked off the old stairway.

Note the newly repaired and painted green parking lot railing in some of the photos.

   

   

The only remaining work is to remove the old stairway from the landing.



Dining Room Ceiling Replaced. Walls and Ceiling Repainted - DONE

Jim Wilson and Ed Maher primed and painted the new dining room ceiling, plus primed and painted the dining room walls. Jim also painted the west wall in the living room, where the contractor had replaced the sliding door with windows. After the contractor put new drywall on the dining room ceiling, they also patched and repaired all the drywall problems in the house, such as the 4th floor landing ceiling and 3rd floor bathroom and hallway walls.

   

   




North Side Clean Up - Done

Members and Alumni raked, picked, carried and cleaned the north side of the house, from the street down to the lot line. The Dumpster had been vandalized, pushed off its sidewalk location, which required it to be emptied, not a fun task, then raised back up to the sidewalk level.

During the power washing of the house and the north walkway, Evan encountered a hornet nest in the ground adjacent to the steps to the kitchen, at which time everyone took a long break while Evan successfully dealt with the hornets.

Phil Cummings trimmed the north shrubs and raked underneath while Steve Buell and others toted a variety of trash up to the sidewalk for numerous dump runs.

The first pictures show the area before the cleanup, the last pictures shows the area afterwards plus some of the clean-up team.


   

   

   

   



Third & Fourth Floor Hall, Stairwell and Landing Lights - All CFL - 90% Done

All the hallway lights on the 3rd and 4th floors were changed to CFL bulbs. Phil Cummings got all the lights working in the stairwell, while TJ worked on the hallway and the 3rd floor landing.

The hallway lights were replaced with CFL reflector bulbs.

Many lights just needed bulbs but there were a few that required broken bulb sockets to be removed. Only a few hallway lights on the 4th floor and 4th floor landing have yet to be repaired.





Kitchen Cleaning - 99% Done

An all member crew cleaned the kitchen, appliances, floors and counters, but ran out of grill cleaning blocks. Dane replaced the broken handle on the refrigerator. The back door is scheduled for replacement in the near future. Members also searched the floors to retrieve all the errant glassware, dishes and silver.



Dump Runs - Six completed this weekend

Jim Wilson rented a u-haul open trailer and it was filled many times with all the trash, junk, leftover construction debris and more, as the teams cleaned out

Jim, along with Ed Maher and many house members, made runs to the dump Friday and Saturday. Pictures below show areas prior to clean up.


   

   



Repaint Parking Lot Railing - After Railing Repairs - Done

A contractor repaired the metal railing around the parking lot. TJ primed the new rail areas. Tom Stowe, Graeme Stowe, TJ, Dane, Steve Buell, Justin, Derek and others applied the first and second coats of green paint. Coupled with the sweeping, weeding, shoveling and Evan's pressure washing of the parking lot, the area looks very clean.

   

   



Foundation Opening Covers - Done

Jim Wilson designed and built vents for the foundation openings. Each one has a pressure-treated wood frame along with an screened removable section. The outer section, difficult to see in the picture, is attached to the concrete foundation. The inner section has a heavy-duty quarter-inch mesh wire screen plus an overlaying insect-resistent screen. Each is attached with two screws to the outer section. Jim also sealed the outside edges of each cover, where the wood meets the concrete opening, so no creatures or insects, big or small, should be able to infiltrate under the house.





Roof Exhaust Fan Repair - Done

The house exhaust fan, located on the roof above the 4th floor shower, exhausts air from the bathrooms, showers and utility closets on all floors. Thanks to alumni Ron Stojak, who provided information about this fan system. Only one fan is now operational, the north fan being removed from service when the bathroom for the cook was dismantled sometime in the past.

The fan is accessed through the attic and a hatch in the roof. In the picture, below, the fan is the large bell shaped object to the right of Dane, who assisted TJ in this maintenance.



When the fan cover is removed, the fan motor and belt are exposed. This belt should be changed yearly. What we found was a broken fan belt and a motor that would not rotate and could not be manually turned. We removed the motor and secured a replacement, along with new belts. The new unit was reassembled, tested and put back into operation. It is unknown how long this motor had been non-operational. Thanks to Dane for working on the roof and for taking responsibility for next years fan maintenance. Tools for access and maintenance of this exhaust fan have also been provided.



The power switch for the roof exhaust fan is located in the 3rd floor bathroom, near the bathroom light switches. The unwired switch for the north, not-in-service fan, was removed from the wall. The switch for the working fan was replaced with a motor rated timing switch, making the operation of the roof fan automatic. A new wall plate was added, along with a decal to label the control.




While Dane was on the roof, he took the opportunity to clean out the gutter over the front porch, half filling a 5-gallon bucket with leaf compost and related muck that had accumulated.





More Work Week and Work Weekend Accomplishments





The List - things that still need to be completed -