House Corporation visit to Pullman 10/06/08

Wendy R. and Kallie drove to Pullman and visited with Kim when we first arrived. No major problems with the girls or with the house.

We toured the house. The paint and furniture are fabulous. The lights in the hall, and the breezeway are a great addition, thanks to the Mackleits! There were girls in the living room the whole time we were there and the girls commented they use the living room much more than in the past.

The bathroom: The changes are really nice, but there are some issues:

1. When you walk in the door, since the curtain is gone and the door for the tub room didn’t make it into the bid, the first thing you see is the pink tile, and a messy room.

2. Related to that, the curtains at the outside of the dressing room do not work! They were cut and not finished, they also are too light so when there is any breeze – door opening or hair dryers blowing they blow into the room.

· We asked Heather and Kaia, the President and the House Manager, to look for the cloth curtains we bought two years ago that should have been saved before the demolition started. If they can be found they should be used again for the shower entrances and the cleaning room. Caroline, when the guys demoed the room did they save the curtain rod that was mounted in the cleaning room? If it was saved it should be remounted and if not, a replacement should be purchased and mounted.

· If the original curtains can’t be found, they should be replaced and they need to be a heavier cloth than what is there. The inside shower curtains keep the water from getting into the dressing room so they don’t need to be “shower” curtains.

3. Next issue is the floor. Because the tile wasn’t sealed the grout is wet and the entire floor looks awful. It looks worse than the original tile that is left on the toilet side. It is also not clear whether the tile are different colors or if it is just dirt, but it looks like there were two different colors and if there are different colors (and not just dirty) they weren’t placed in a pattern throughout, they are in a couple of blocks.

· Before the subfloor is ruined the tile needs to be cleaned and sealed. Because of constant use it can’t dry out so we will need to have it done either at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

· The teak floor mats are too small to be used by the girls when they are standing in the dressing room and they don’t absorb much water anyway, so we need to find something that can be on the floor of the dressing room area that will absorb water. As it is now, the water spreads out into the room and thus the problem with the tile there.

4. The counter top is a nice change, but the girls are not being careful about not getting water on them between the sinks, or if water is spilled not cleaning it up so there are already white calcium stains in several places. Also, there is no grout or sealant between the counter top and the tile wall.

· Asked Heather and Kaia to remind the girls to wipe up water, after it spills. Recommended something be there to use such as a sponge or wipe so the girls don’t have to use their own towels.

· We need to have the edge sealed – clear would be good rather than trying to find a grout to match.

· Does anyone know of a sealer we can put on the countertop to resist the calcium deposits too?

5. Wanted to know whether the ceiling was repainted as part of the remodel? If it was, wondered why the area that is peeling wasn’t fixed?

· The peeling area needs to be repaired and repainted.

6. On the toilet stall side, we found out from the girls later that several of the doors don’t have locks, or if they are there they don’t work.

· Recommend that Shannon be asked to fix that issue ASAP

5. The Breezeway kitchen – the layout works, but we found out from the girls that there is an “electrical” issue. The stove, microwave and refrigerator are all plugged into the same outlet, and the stove and microwave are on a power strip and not plugged directly into the wall, and the result is the breaker blows almost every time the microwave is used. The problem is if no one checks the refrigerator it is sometimes not reset!

· Kim said that Rick Mackleit was going to see about fixing that, but if he can’t do it immediately we need to have an electrician in to make it so they aren’t plugged into the same outlet. It is probably an insurance risk having appliances plugged into a power strip and not directly into the wall.

6. Heather and Kaia also asked about whether we could change the seating in the dining room. With the round tables (eight with six chairs) doesn’t even sit everyone in the house and makes it difficult to serve when they are having a “sit down” rather than buffet. They are doing that once a month and it isn’t convenient for the House Boys to serve. I “volunteered” my daughter, Sheri, to get her to see if there isn’t a different seating arrangement that would make it efficient, and also be able to sit 70 (69 girls and Kim).

7. It also appears that the study needs to be the next major project. Heather and Kaia talked about it and the girls also brought it up in their discussion. The issues – not efficient – different size desks and the layout of the room creates blocks, and blank wall space, the chairs are not conducive to moving around the room (don’t fit under the desks), the desks in the middle of the room have no extra storage, the new desks we bought don’t have any drawers so they don’t work well either. Many of the desks are damaged enough that there are places that snag clothing, etc. There is no place to put anything to personalize the space especially for the middle group, and of course the electrical is all jury-rigged with extension cords. The air conditioner is not working so the room is really hot! Not specifically related to the study, the wireless system has dead spots around the house.

Recommendations:

Immediate – Ask Shannon to inspect the air conditioner if he knows how to work on them, and if not find someone who does so it is working. The girls should inventory the desks to see what can be fixed easily – nails replaced, laminate reattached, etc. to get through the year and ask Shannon to fix them. The girls should check with the internet provider to have them check the service to see if it can be fixed.

Long-term – look into changing to built-in carrels like a library. Determine whether it is possible to upgrade the electrical at the same time.

The guest room also came up in both meetings. Recommend – first, update linens, curtain, shower curtain, and towels. The bed is not in bad shape, but it is only a double, there is room so could be upgraded to a queen (if that is to be done, wait on the linens!). If we upgrade, we should also get a new headboard too. The love seat should have a new slipcover – something other than pink! The girls auction it off on both Dad’s and Mom’s weekends, so if it could be done by November for Dad’s weekend it would be great.

The thermostat doesn’t seem to be working. It is set at 50 (bottom) but radiators are coming on anyway. The house is “hot”. There is/was a leak in the hotwater heater that goes along with the boiler. Kim is going to check whether we need to have a heating air conditioner person in or if an electrician can do everything around the house that needs to be done.

The kitchenette – doesn’t work well for breakfast – can it be upgraded (enlarged) somehow? The water filter is not working well – cold water not flowing, and no one remembers to change the filter, either. Kim is going to check with Culligan about getting them to provide the filter system and also service it…it would be something the girl’s pay for.

The downstairs sleeping porch has two issues. The first is the bed frames are squeaking so makes it hard to sleep. Second is the window can’t be opened at night (gets pretty hot) because of safety. Recommendation – have Shannon check the beds for the squeaks. Check into some sort of “bar” system that can be put up that will allow the window to be opened, but still complies with the fire code for egress.

Next Meeting, November 2, 2008