Although we are in the business of creating businesses, HOMEtogether itself is an entirely volunteer organization, and we need lots of volunteers.
As we hope to serve the community, we need your time, talent and expertise. Are you a recent retiree, free to choose how you want to spend your time and looking for an interesting project? Do you like to teach and have some skills to share, or would you like an opportunity to learn some new skills? Are you looking for a way to help solve some of the community problems that surround us now? Are you interested in old houses? Do you just like to help?
We will be contracting out the big stuff – a new roof (three storeys off the ground!) And re-wiring the whole building – the present wiring is knob-and-tube. Structural repairs on the framing of the kitchen ell. Getting the heating system working – But there will be many unexpected challenges, as can be expected in any 173-year-old house.
We want to do an exemplary job of energy efficiency upgrading. We don’t want to own a house that we can’t afford to heat! And we would like to make this a demonstration of just how much can be achieved in reducing the energy costs (and the carbon footprint) of an old building – of which there are many in Bath. This will involve, for the most part, (after a thorough energy audit) meticulous carpentry and a lot of patience.
We want to re-engineer the stairs – all of them – so that they are easier to use, and install railings where they are needed. We will be dividing two of the large bedrooms and installing a new kitchen, with used appliances in good condition from Uncle Henry’s or Craig’s list. We would like to build-in as much of the furniture as possible, and shop yard sales or solicit donations for the rest. The plumbing will need some modification. We may need someone with a license to help us here.
The paint is peeling off of all the ceilings, because paint won’t stick to calcimine, which the original ceilings were finished with. Sheetrock could solve the peeling paint problem and at the same time sequester the lead that is certainly there.
These are some of the challenges that we are looking at, and we are sure that there will be others. We are all going to learn a lot, and look forward to sharing the new knowledge.
If you are interested in joining us by volunteering in some capacity, please call us at 207-443-9005, or Email Us! You may also fill out the form below.
