HISTORIC HOME HELPING HANDS
As a show of gratitude to the Barry Jensens for saving an historic home (built in 1836) for the whole community to enjoy, the Grosse Ile Historical Society is helping to coordinate a volunteer effort of helping hands to realize their dream to be in their home by Thanksgiving (Christmas, by the latest.) The Jensens have compiled a list of tasks that volunteers, skilled and unskilled, could help with. It is posted on the Grosse Ile Township website ---
grosseile.org---. Anyone wishing to sign up as an Historic Home Helping Hand should email Pam Frucci, a member of the Grosse Ile Historical Society at jpfrucci@yahoo.com.
Task List:
Historic Home Helping Hands – H4
Thank you for your offer to seek help for us with the house project. We are truly overwhelmed. The list of areas where we need help is below. These are the things that I can think of right now. That may change. Anyone is welcome to come by whenever they are available, but they do need to listen to any workmen and stay out of their way. Even when I am not there, the contractor Mike Rickman, my friend Rene, or my brother Brian Jensen are often around and can provide direction if necessary.
We could use help virtually every day, any day. I mostly work on the house on the weekends, but someone is always there.
This is a tentative list. I will update as I think of other items that we could use help with.
Non-skilled help:
• Move lumber to basement.
• There is a big pile of lumber in the back of the house. We need to
bring it into the basement and stack it neatly for use in
building basement walls.
• Remove lumber from basement.
There is a large pile of scrap lumber in the basement. We intend to re-use it, give it to the boys to build a fort, or use it for outdoor bonfires. Some of it will be used in the basement. Ask Rene or me. The rest needs to be moved to the back of the property and stacked neatly on a couple of boards to keep it off the ground and covered with a tarp. We also need to remove any nails that are in the wood.
• Remove large rug from floor in living room so it can be cleaned.
Cleaning: (Always. Mess is a constant problem. We always need help cleaning.)
• There are piles of scrap lumber all over the property that need to be sorted (trash from re-usable or burnable), cleaned (remove nails) and stacked at the back of the property (in the woods, see above).
• We also always need sweeping. Plaster dust and insulation are everywhere. It is important to not throw away any building materials including things that may look like junk (for example old lath), but plaster, dust, dirt and insulation need to be removed. Anyone who does any sweeping will need to wear a dust mask and safety glasses and close off the room where they sweep so that they do not create a dust problem for the workers. We usually have masks and goggles around (or bring your own).
• Wiping. We need all surfaces wiped off with a good wood cleaner, or in the case of painted surfaces, any all-purpose cleaner. We have some wood soap at the site. There is no point in doing this until later. Probably about two weeks from now.
Stripping: (Anytime).
• We need to remove all of the old wallpaper. The grass paper on the stairways is particularly problematic. Some of is will peel right off. Other places need to be sprayed with DIF wallpaper remover and then scraped after an hour or so. Wear goggles and cover your skin when spraying DIF. I have been soaked head to toe with DIF and not had any problems, but the carton says to avoid skin contact. I will bring a garden sprayer for spraying DIF. I will get some DIF as well. Place towels or plastic over the floors, and other surfaces when spraying DIF. Wipe up and that spills leaks or otherwise gets on floors or other surfaces.
Paint stripping: (anytime)
• This is moderately skilled work. This can be done at any time. We have lots of different paint strippers that can be used. Some are extremely toxic and caustic. Others are so mild that you can apply them with base hands (not recommended). We also have heat guns that can be used once we have electricity, but heat guns require some practice.
Helpers. (Anyitme)
• When we work on the various part of the house, we always need helpers. Helpers hold things, fetch tools, wood, water, run to the hardware store so that skilled workers can keep working, etc. It is also a good way to learn. Often I am relegated to this role.
Measuring! (now)
• This would be a huge help, but must be done correctly. We need to measure every window in six places (top middle and bottom; side middle side) and record the measurements for ordering invisible storm windows. Every measurement should be done three times. The invisible storm windows are expensive and if the measurements are off by more than 1/8 to ¼ inch, they will be worthless. We might also use these measurements for curtains and shades.
Packing and moving (not sure when).
• We are going to need in immense amount of help moving when the time comes. When we moved here, we had 15 neighbors help with packing and we still needed professionals to do some of the packing. We cannot afford any professionals this time. Moving furniture will take three or four days. Packing will take one to two months. When we moved here we had over 300 boxes plus about 100 furniture items. We will need a lot more boxes and a lot of moving blankets of anyone has some.
Scrounging.
• A lot of tools and materials were lost over at the old site. Some are probably buried. We need people to scour that site for re-usable materials, tools, square nails, etc. We have a metal detector available, but w do not know how well it works. Probably should get permission from the Finazzos before going over there. It would also be nice to help the Finazzos out by cleaning up, piling junk and cutting the weeds down if someone feels like doing that.
Landscape.
• I collected a bunch of old friends when I attended my 25th high school reunion earlier this year. We moved the huge limestone pavers to the property and stacked them in the front. Eventually we will need to place them wherever they are going. They weigh as much as 400 pounds (an estimate). Once we have grade, we will want to plant some trees if the ground is not yet frozen. Other planting will be done next spring.
SKILLED HELP
• Framing. We are framing the walls in the basement. If anyone can drive nails without hurting themselves and or cut a consistently straight line with a skill saw. We could use help this weekend, and possibly next weekend.
• Sewing. (anytime) Can anyone make curtains? We have no money at all for curtains. Appropriate manufactured curtains are very hard to find. We have no idea where to get fabric, but we can get some fine German lace at a good price (my brothers wife’s father is a manager at a lace factory in Leipzig , Germany ). We really could use help figuring out what type and color of curtains to use. We do not know a lot about curtains. We realize that it is extremely unlikely that someone will volunteer this kind of time and talent. However it does not hurt to ask.
• Painting. We mostly need help getting primer on everything that will be painted or papered. This is not difficult, but it can be messy.
• Ordering/Shopping. The administrative tasks have overwhelmed us. Most of this we have to do, but there are some things that we could use help with. For example, we need to get counts of light switches (one way, two way, dimmers) and order push button switches from Classic Accents in Southgate . We also need help just scouring the phone book or internet and finding the best prices for various items. Even watching E-bay or visiting salvage places or antique stores would be very helpful. Some things require us because people have different tastes, but many things are purely materials. I will work on putting together a list.
• Plastering/drywall. Rene is a professional drywall/plasterer. However he could use some help. Some skill would be helpful, but he also needs people to lift, hold, mix, etc. I will have to coordinate this if anyone is interested.
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Related Items:
Grosse Ile History
Grosse Ile Historical Society
Historic House Pictures
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