September 24, 2026 – Meeting the homeowner and Making progress

Another glorious weather day here in Sullivan, IL.  It was a great night to sleep with temperatures in the 50s last night … no AC or heat needed – only a comfy blanket.  The first thing that goes on in the morning in our RV is our fireplace heaater (which, when we bought it I thought we’d never use it … lol).   By the time we got to job site it was in the mid-60’s.

Once again, a local pastor stopped by to start our day off with a prayer.  It was special today because Shiela, the new homeowner joined us for work this morning.   Then it was back to work.  As Bob the builder said many times ” … same as yesterday, just a little different”.  Everyone picked up on their projects from yesterday and got right back to work.    

Did I mention that it is Donut Thursday?  A local donut shop once again brought fresh delicious donuts for our break today.   The Sullivan community is so wonderfully generous ♥

Joe and I finished up securing the fascia board across the back of the house. Fascia is the flat white piece that helps to cover roof edges and creates a finished appearance.  Joe predrills the small holes and we nail small finishing nails along the bottom of the board.  Jo on our team suggested that I use needle nose pliers to hold the nail … whew, what a great tip.  It made it so much easier.  We are just learning how to do the soffit and fascia, so Bill gave us some tips about how to form the corner.

 

After moving the scaffolding the the front of the house, Joe was back to installing the soffit across the front of the house.  Jo taught me how to use their custom jig to cut the soffit pieces.  I’m still learning, but getting better with each cut.

 

While we were busy on our project, there were so many other things getting done.

Inside, there was a team working on installing insulation on the exterior walls. They had quite a process going.  Shiela, the new homeowner, (pictured below) cut the pieces to length.  Then, the rest of the team fitted them in each bay and stapled the edges.  They completed all the walls that they could (some areas are still waiting for plumbing work).  

Bill and Jo were working on finishing up the ‘birdhouses’ (the small framed box built at the roof corner where the two fascia boards meet) and the corner posts (that provide a finished edge for the siding corners)  They’ve been doing this for years, and certainly make it look easy.

 

I helped Gary install a flat piece of metal on the bottom of the header post on the porch.  It will become part of the fascia wrap when completed.

Richard, Roger and Gary were working on the front porch posts.  They were anchoring the post into the cement.

Richard had the fun job of running the dryer vent through the crawl space.

Ambucs volunteers came to measure for the handicap ramp.   You may recall that we join bi-weekly Ambucs dinner meetings, and hear about their amazing work to build ramps for those in need.

A contractor installed the drywall in the furnace room today.   We are working to get the walls and floor installed on this small room so that the furnace can be properly installed.

At the end of the day, we were all gathering under the tent.  When I looked back at the house, I saw some orange things on the top of the roof.   Well …. we needed something big enough to cover the vent stacks since they are not fully connected in the house.  Yeah, those are upside down coolers.  Very creative!

Another great day working with an amazing team.  God is good!