When SCRFI was formed in 1998 the roof had deteriorated to such an extent that serious damage to the interior was occurring. The east wall of the building had subsided as a result of water damage to the sill plate and and the building was out of plumb. 


Prolonged periods of being wet, as a result of a leaking roof, left the timber sill plate and the bottom ends of most of the studs severely rotted along the east wall.  The challenge was to install a new sill plate and repair the studs.  As if that was not enough, the 130-year-old foundation was judged by engineers as being incapable of handling lateral loads from high winds or earthquakes. 

After a lot of thought we came up with a scheme to utilize the existing rock wall foundation to carry the weight of the building. A new reinforced concrete beam would replace the rotted sill plate and would transfer lateral loads to the corners of the building.  New timber would be spliced onto the existing studs and securely attached to the top of the new concrete beam.  This solution was not expensive and, best of all, could be accomplished in short sections. 

When funds are limited, projects like ours must be carefully designed so that they can be accomplished in increments, each of which we can do ourselves, to the extent possible. We do not have the luxury of awarding a sizeable portion of the work to a building contractor.

By the summer of 2006 we had installed two 16-foot sections of the concrete beam, with Stewart Smith and Rodney Ivie doing most of the work, but we were unable to continue doing the work ourselves.  Until the foundation was finished, Rice Brothers House Movers would not be able to remove their jacks and cribbing to use on other projects.  Joe Rice, always patient and helpful, suggested we call Ted Holmes, a Yuba City contractor.  

Fortunately Ted was able to find some time between his other jobs to help us finish the foundation on the entire east wall.  The jacks and cribbing are now removed and the building is again resting on the foundation.  Rodney Ivie and Steve Winchell finished the stud re-attachments and replaced the east wall siding. Rodney and Steve have also been able to replace a portion of the flooring that was damaged by water. 

With the foundation preparation ready, a workday was scheduled. Everything came together nicely. Stewart and Brenda Smith donated the concreate and the rental of the trailor and picked it up and delivered it to us. This was a really helpful donation at a necessary time.

The volunteers had to unload the concrete one bucket at a time and carry it to the building and pass it to someone inside the building who poured it into the appropriate place. The volunteers included:  Rodney, Steve, Stewart, Brenda, Quinn, Letty, Rick, Dan, and Terry, Camp Singer boys (Anson, Zachary, Eric & Parm their supervisor), and of course Kit and Janet.