Katrina Recovery Update

For those of you following my daughter's Katrina saga....

I have some *VERY* good news.

Victor Martinez...

I'm glad to hear things are looking better!

First, Erin and Greg finished putting on the new roof last weekend (they did
it *BY THEMSELVES*). They've also finished replacing all the studs inside
the house that were damaged (and while they were at it they rearranged the
floor plan to open the house up by putting a bar between the living room and
kitchen instead of a wall, and taking down the wall that created the hall).

Monique Y. Mudama...

Nice!

Then they got a nice surprise - they heard last Friday that an out-of-state
branch of their church is sending a "mission team" to help Katrina victims

Monique Y. Mudama...

Even nicer! What a relief it must be to get some help.

rebuild. They arrived today at Erin's house. The team includes a licensed
electrician and a licensed plumber and they were able to purchase all
materials (including bathtub, sinks and toilets) at out of state at cost
(which will save Erin and Greg a bundle since prices for building supplies
along the gulf coast have sky-rocketed). This week they will finish

CatNipped...

Just to clarify the above, Erin and Greg will be paying for all the
materials, but this will save them a lot of their loan money since the
materials were purchased out-of-state and at cost. The biggest help is the
manpower (and the expertise of the professionals) - there will be 10 people
doing this work instead of just Erin and Greg (mostly just Erin since Greg
has to work during the day).

Jo Firey...

This is wonderful news. And it is most likely that the team will be better
qualified than anyone they could find to hire right now. Do it yourself
roofing is OK but do it yourself wiring is iffy. Bet they will learn a lot
from the pros.

Purrs that they can get into the house and be able to start of the yard as
soon as possible. I know those kids just want to be HOME.

rewiring the entire house, lay all the pipes and plumbing (they enlarged the
bathroom so the placement of the tub was moved), and float the dry wall.
They estimate they will be done with all this by the end of this week. This
will put them *WAY* ahead of the schedule they'd planned!

polonca12000...

I'm so glad they managed to do so much already! And for the plumber and
electrician to help them is just wonderful!
Best wishes,
Polonca and Soncek

After that Erin and Greg will have to apply the wall and ceiling plaster and
paint all walls and ceilings, hang their kitchen cabinets, put down the
flooring (they're going with ceramic tile, I think), and start replacing
essential furniture (beds and table and chairs). By then the house should
at least be far enough along for them to move back in - they'll just have
trimwork and yardwork after that.

Erin took pictures of the new roof last Saturday and she'll be sending them,
along with pictures of the result of the work they'll be doing this week, in
a week or two and I'll post them as part of the pictorial journal we're
keeping online.

Sam...

Soooo happy to hear the good news!

ladyjane...

How very exciting! I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.
As awful as it was to lose everything like that, I bet they feel
really good about rebuilding their own house like that. What a glow.

Adrian A...

That's wonderful news! I'd been wondering how they were getting on. I've
also been thinking about Gypsy and Digger, how are they doing?

CatNipped...

They're both doing fine. I'm sure they're glad to be back in their own home
too.

Just think, in 20 years they'll be able to relax and look back on
'the time we built a house by ourselves'.
You must be very proud of them.

Jane
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