All hail David Kramer…and his band of merry volunteers!
With a final BIG push at the end of March, David Kramer reports that Linda’s house is FINISHED! As he put it in a recent email:
I Think We’ve Done It at 1829 Forstall!
The last week in the Lower 9th had done wonders to finish the house for Linda. With lots of help from several groups, including masterful supervising from my friend, Bill Hoeft from California and my wife, Toby, we have finished all except a few minor items. Over the past week we finished all of the painting inside and out. We got started on the outside with a first coat from four local Katrina Seniors from Tulane and then the wonderous talents of a group of Retired Teachers from United Saints who came with their own ladders and brushes to finish the painting over two days. We owe them big time.
The stair railings are done with the help of a contractor who was with a group of high school students that were working with Linda to clear out weeds from the adjoining empty lots. The interior doors are hung and trimmed (and painted by the Teachers). The attic stairs are in, thanks to my nephew, Brent who was in town for business and stopped by to help for the day.
The kitchen cabinets with granite counter tops and breakfast bar are in fresh from China, thanks to Martin Fu and $3,900. He is also doing all the floors for $ 3,150 with us providing the tile and carpet while he will provide the laminate faux wood flooring. Toby did a lot of shopping with Linda but I may never get her in Home Depot again (two times a day is too much for anyone but I think she was secretly motivated to have a place to use the toilet).