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Physical Plant
Rob & Todd Leo ‘09, Twin House Managers After 3 years of hard work and intensive problem solving, the house is now ready to hold 45 and Fire Inspector Sean Kaufman remarked "this was perhaps the best inspection he’s ever done on a fraternity house!" With a year of experience under their belts, House Managers Rob & Todd Leo ’09 have a lot to report. As mentioned, we’ve experienced some major problems in our 100-year-old house. These problems include water damage, plumbing problems, damage to the foundation and, of course, cosmetic disruptions. These guys not only have to fix existing issues but they have to try to stay ahead of additional problem areas which arise from the reality that our house is aging.
One of the most important and daunting tasks facing the Phis every year is meeting the Rental Property/Fire Code Regulations. Every semester, we are checked by the Centre County Housing Authority to make sure we are complying with all of the right codes. In years past, the house would be given three to five pages of bulleted items that needed to be fixed within 30 days of the initial inspection. Somehow, someway, it was always done in time. This year, Adam & Grant Anderson ’07 and Rob & Todd were prepared. “We basically asked for as much help as we could get,” Todd said. “After rounding up the troops, we got to work four days before the inspection.” The four-day clean-up/repair-job involved three solid nights of work – that’s right – ALL NIGHTERS, fixing and cleaning the house, to insure that we were up to snuff with fire regulations.
“It was the most successful fire code inspection in recent history,” Todd further explained. “Not only because we were given a good report, but also because we had so much to work with – the house was in terrible condition.” Other projects included patching up moldy ceiling tiles in the kitchen, making Bathroom D functional again, fixing causes for water damage in the bathrooms and other normal procedures for fire code inspection. When the day had finally come, instead of those three long pages of repairs, the inspector gave the Andersons and Leos just one page of remaining items! Inspector Sean Kaufman himself remarked that it was perhaps the best inspection he’s ever done on a fraternity house. Along with keeping everything up to code, here is a list of some of the other great things Rob & Todd have done...
Rob & Todd may be the House Managers at this point in time, but we cannot forget those of the past. The original Twin House Managers, Adam & Grant Anderson never wore out their welcome during their time with Phi Delt. In just 2 ½ years, the Andersons helped repair what seemed to be a house ready to collapse. The Andersons were honored at the Homecoming Stockholder’s Meeting with a scholarship. We wish them the best of luck in their life after Penn State!
Major Plumbing & Bathroom Repair We repaired many water leaks which have resulted in a combined water and sewer savings of over $5,000. One of our biggest challenges was getting all our bathrooms in working order. We had to replace a lot of the drain piping that had disintegrated and clean most of the other drains that were still intact. We replaced or rebuilt all the toilets and repaired and reinforced the flooring where necessary. We also repaired many water leaks which have resulted in a combined water and sewer savings of over $5,000. Maintenance of the toilets was another tough task for us this semester. A lot of them were basically rusted out of the ground. This meant we needed to replace the cast iron pipes and put new sub-floors in. Continuing with that, we are currently trying to fix the bathrooms up so we can accommodate 45 people living in the house next year.
Many Repairs needed for Code Compliance and Fire Inspection We had many code Compliance issues throughout the house that had to be addressed in order to meet our goal of 45. The largest project was to build an access hallway between rooms 1 & 2. With the help of Nick Wagner ’07 and Kyle Heimbach ’07, we were able to rebuild the wall and provide more privacy for the inhabitants of Rooms 1 and 2. Bedroom doors were another issue that we had to face this semester. Several rooms needed new doors or door frames and a number of other doorways needed to be repaired. We also had to reinforce or replace the stair railings.
Major Roof Leak and Water Damage Repair We repaired, patched, and painted all our internal water damage. This of course is only worthwhile if we fixed the root cause of the problems – all our many roof leaks. We consulted with a roofing contractor but ended up doing most of the work ourselves (as usual) to save money. We’ve fixed many of the leaks that have been headaches and wallet-busters in the past. A lot of water damage has occurred in the floors, but most of these damages have been repaired.
We also repaired many of the partitions and rebuilt many of the ceilings and replaced or repaired many of the light fixtures. Bathroom A’s ceiling needed to be torn down and repaired because of a toilet leak in Bathroom C, which created an immense amount of mold – this is never good for the occupants of the house. We fixed the problem and put up a whole new ceiling in Bathroom A. All of the tiles near the door in Bathroom B were rotting off of the wall, as well – we were able to replace the wall there. We also fixed the ceiling in this bathroom.
Board Room Leak & Ceiling Repair When it rained, it poured in the Board Room. Our new Board Room (Command Central) is an essential part of our Leadership Initiative and Chapter Management Plan as long as you schedule your meetings on sunny days. Like most of our house, it had a terrible leak in the ceiling and would rain inside as much as it would rain outside. We first had to patch the roof and then fix the ceiling. This included replacing and reinforcing the ceiling joists and then patching the hole for cosmetic purposes. The floor had also sunk in a little, so we had to replace and reinforce the floor joists and then install new sub flooring and then repair the carpet. Now we can stop taking umbrellas to Exec Meetings.
Hard-Wired Internet to handle 45 users Mass downloads at 2am overwhelmed wireless routers We knew our wireless network would never stand up to 45 users so we took the plunge and launched a major project to install a complete hard-wired network. The new system is a huge success with 12.67 times the throughput of our old wireless system.
Fall 2006 Phikeia Take Initiative to Refurbish the Basement A big pledge class calls for a big pledge project. Every semester, the House Managers come up with a collective list of big projects that the Phikeia could possibly work on as their “Pledge Project,” which is then voted on in the middle of their pledge period. Previous classes were assigned duties like building a new table for Sharon or getting the house in tip-top shape for Blue & White Weekend. But, with a class of 22, a project was needed that fit the caliber of the work a class of 22 could actually do.
Looking around the house, Rob & Todd Leo saw need for the bathrooms to be fixed up, the yard to be cleaned up and taken care of and the kitchen to be cleaned and fixed up a little. However, they also saw a need for a dark and dreary basement to be refurbished. After years of abuse, it was time to make the basement a happier place to be.
The Leo’s and some other actives set up the plan and headed out to Lowe's to get supplies. “It looked like a dungeon. We really needed brighter lighting and a lighter floor to make it a more cheerful place,” Todd Leo said. Close to $500 was spent on supplies, but the work put in was invaluable. “I was pretty much given the job of leading the Phikeia in the entire project,” said Jeff Dunning ’10, from the Fall 2006 class. “I have a lot of experience in wood-working and electricity, so I feel I was the correct choice.” Dunning was given the task of directing his pledge brothers in the project. Some of the duties included:
“For the more inexperienced guys, I basically showed them how to do certain things. After we started, I went around and scoped out who would be good at doing which jobs, and showed them what they needed to do if they didn’t know how all ready,” Dunning explained. The pledges worked long and hard, spending a whole week on the task, with the help of some of the actives. In the end, everything turned out just as we all had imagined. “Right now, I really like how the lighting turned out, because basements can be dark places, and a brighter atmosphere made ours a better place,” said Dunning.
There are still a few things that need to be done and everyone is motivated to do everything to perfection. “We still need to fix the rest of the cracks in the paneling. We also need to figure out what we want to do with the bar. It’s pretty dilapidated right now, and there’s serious talk about fixing that up. The floor could use another coat of paint, or two, but for now, those are the main projects,” Dunning concluded.
These pledge projects are not only a great way to form a bond between the Phikeia and the brothers, but it is also a great preview to any guy that wants to take a position. Dunning hopes to take the House Manager position when it becomes available, and described this project as a “great preview to the task.”
In the end, we came out with a tighter pledge class and a better looking basement! “Good job all around.” - Jeff Dunning ‘10
Major Crest Room Clean-up and Repair! We launched a major effort to clean and organize the crest room. We also repaired much of the water damage and mold problems that have been building up for years. We were able to place all scrap wood in a corner that didn’t conflict with fire code, organize the tools, throw away useless items, such as old bed frames, broken from frequent use, and clear up water leakage with the Shop-Vac.
Volleyball Court Repair and Drainage System Our volleyball court has become an important icon of PA Theta and one of our most important rush tools. On a nice day, anyone walking across the center of the Penn State Campus sees something like the photo to the right. However, after a little rain, our beautiful volleyball court looks a little different. The court floods, takes forever to dry and worse, drains into the basement and causes some serious water damage.
To fix the problem, we dug a trench and added a leach pipe underneath the sand to allow the water to naturally drain through the underlying soil. Not only does it keep help the sand dry, but it helps keep the sand on the court and not draining away with the water.
Landscaping & Preparation for Blue/White Weekend 2007 The yard was in very bad condition due to a great amount of water runoff, so we solved this by leveling spots in the yard that were severely affected with new soil, grass seed, and fertilizer. We mulched the flowerbed and added new plants and various shrubs. These two fixes alone now make the house look better than ever, but the volleyball court was the area that really needed some attention. We ordered 20 yards of sand, and spread it out over the court.
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