September 4th was our last workday at the Refuge, and we had a busy few days trying to get a bunch of projects finished. Since the rental lift was still available we concentrated on "up high" tasks.
First was replacing the facia board on a double-wide mobile home used for housing interns and volunteers. The existing trim was rotted and falling off, and refuge staff asked if we could get it replaced. Teri had finished painting the boards a couple of months ago, but we hadn't had the time to get them mounted. The boards were 16' long and we had to get them transported from the shops over to the double-wide. All of the trailers were being used, so we just tied them to the top of our truck. Problem solved!
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| 16' Trim Boards on Top of Truck |
To get the boards up I used the lift, and Maury (another volunteer) held up an end off of a ladder. We got the entire job finished in a couple of hours. The rest of the mobile home is in pretty rough shape, so the facia boards are now the best part of the structure!
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| New Facia Trim on Mobile Home |
The next project required driving the rental lift 3 miles over to the maintenance shops. At absolute top speed it took me 55 minutes to drive over there. That is a slow drive!
First job there was to repair a light fixture that was mounted in the back corner of the shop, about 25' in the air. Access to that corner was blocked by an vehicle repair lift, so we got the rental lift as close as we could and started extending every segment of that thing. We were barely able to reach the back corner with all of the arms extended to their maximum range. It was tricky to maneuver into that back corner without getting tangled up in other items.
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| Repairing Light Fixture |
The old maintenance building has clear fiberglass panels to allow light into the building. One of the panels had been broken in a storm a few years back, and the roof has had a hole in it since. So we drove the rental lift to replace the broken panel. It took several trips into the building and then around the back to get the replacement done. At one point I was outside on the lift while Gabe (the new maintenance man) was inside on a ladder.
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| This Hole Shouldn't be Here... |
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| Maneuvering Inside to Repair Roof |
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| Pushing the New Panel into Place |
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| No More Hole! |
Stay tuned for more of our final week.
Mark
It is so nice to come to the final countdown!
ReplyDeleteSeems like the last week(s) are the busiest. It always feels good if you actually get to COMPLETE a project!
ReplyDeleteSo now you're on your way to hot Texas?
ReplyDeleteYes, we are (slowly) making our way to Texas. So far we've been in the rain the entire way. Feast or Famine!!
DeleteTry to stay dry, away from all this rain and flooding. Are you going to work at LANWR? I am leaving the island on Sept 30th, heading up to San Antonio to help the kids get settled, then not too sure which way I am heading after that.
ReplyDeleteHi Teri - We're not going back to Laguna, we'll be staying in the Texas Hill Country around the Fredericksburg area.
ReplyDeleteSafe travels where ever you end up!
Teri