Perry, FL – Oct 20-23, 2025 (RV)

Week One was discovery, finding out what we had to do. Week Two was moving forward slowly and steadily. By now, while our enthusiasm was not diminished, despite a good dose of reality having set in, we knew, or at least we thought we knew, what needed to be done.

Tim F. worked under Buster’s house day after day, crawling around in the cobwebs and seaweed that had floated in on the storm surge, trying to figure out the confusing maze of plumbing that Buster himself had done over the years. Cold water, hot water, sewer pipes—hmm, how are they all connected? Tim S. and Mike started laying flooring while Tim F. continued to labor under the house.

At Robin’s house, soft floors were pulled up to reveal rotten joists and spaghetti plumbing. Solutions were discovered thanks to Jim’s expertise. By week’s end, the living room ceiling was down, and insulation and new drywall were installed. The plumbing problems took longer to resolve. The line leaving the house was completely plugged, making us wonder where exactly the waste was going. The bathroom floor was very soft, and after pulling the sink and toilet and removing the floor, we could see that the joist was completely rotted away. We ended up pulling the tub as well in order to replace the floor joists and subfloor in the entire room.

Week Two finished with some successes, such as the new wall in Robin’s bedroom, but still no water or electricity at Buster’s and lots of holes in the floors at Robin’s. Another weekend got us rested up and ready to go at it again in Week Three.