From the summer of 2013 to Aug 2014, we have managed several required projects at the Phi Kappa Tau house. We did a major repair of the front porch, including installing all new floor boards. Plus I had two 4" X 4" cement based support posts placed under the porch to support the weight of people going in and out of the house. These were between the front door and the steps leading down toward the street. Rotten floor 2" X 6" stringers were also replaced or supported. We had to lift the floor porch up one inch to replace the flooring under the porch posts. This was probably the first time those old rotten boards were replaced since the house was built-- it was a scary process. Suspect wood beneath the porch was sprayed heavily with copper green to prevent wood rot. We then repaired the back porch, which was in much worse shape than we realized. There were rotten main supports, including one that not only supports the back porch floor, but it also supports the entire second floor porch. Currently I'm awaiting a bid to install a new electric fan with an exhaust duct for the new stoves. We have two brand new gas stoves with ovens in place two weeks ago. Last year, I discovered several large areas of failing mortar in the brick walls, which support the entire house. An old-house master foundation expert repaired the damage. Jesse Erven, house manager, is on top of a lot of projects: each room has a working fire alarm, each floor has a new C0 alarm, there is a fire extinguisher in each sleeping room as well as in several communal rooms. All toilets and urinals are working, and the broken kitchen sink nozzle has been replaced with a heavy duty faucet. Those living in the house completed a major removal of junk the past two weeks: 4 old TVs, a piano, a couple of dumpsters full of assorted things dating back to many years ago. Several doors are getting fixed as this is being written. I profusely thank Scott Vincent for his advice and support of many projects. Recently he donated a brand new lawn mower to the house. Much of our success in keeping the house so well maintained is because of the many contributions from the Alumni back during the 2013 fund drive. I thank each person that donated. Tony Edler BOG House Maintenance Advisor NEW PORCH -- PHI KAPPA TAU HOUSE 611 West 5th Street, Chico, California The contractor and I finally finished the year-long porch project on 18 June 2014. We quit working over the winter as I still had to submerge about 75 more porch boards, and we didn't have enough hot days to dry them. So this May, once we hit above 85 degrees, I made a new trough and finished the boards. I dried them for 3 weeks in 90 degrees in direct sun.

Below, you can see the beautiful caprail, which has a lip. Hope the water readily drains through the boards and doesn't pool.

The newly repaired back porch.

Back oak tree was trimmed dramatically. Cars now have assigned slots to park

Twin new stoves

The Iota Sigma room to honor those who made it possible for us to become a chapter of Phi Kappa Tau in 1958.

Front room

Stairs leading to front room