Bro. Cantalupi's Fundraising Drive
for Repairing of DPE House
Gets Going
Recent alumnus, former House Manager, present House resident Bro. John Cantalupi, Al-'05 (171st Line),
holding the first $2,200 that his fundraising campaign has received this summer
for needed House repairs.
That money, collected almost entirely from current student brothers and recent graduates,
caused Bro. Robert E. McHugh, Al-'60 (81st Line),
to start up a complentary fundraising campaign among 1960s-era alumni,
resulting in about $10,000 more money for the House.
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This Year's Projects:
I. new furniture for the Living Room
After 25 years of service, the living room's couches, love seats, and chairs sorely needed replacing:
House Manager Christian Assaad, President Justin Charity, and Sergeant-at-arms Denis McLaughlin
carrying out the first of the six threadbare old couches.
Grayson Badgley carrying out the second of those old couches,
while Justin Charity acts presidential on the first.
(The girl was brought back into the the House)
Mike Kuebler and Terry Boyle making another heavy donation to alma mater,
this time of one of the old couches, but considerately packaged in a crate of one of the new.
The new furniture pieces, all commercial grade for longevity, arrived in early April:
Still in their plastic wrappers.
Outgoing Chapter President Stephen DeMatteo unpacking the new furniture.
Quite an improvement .
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II. new computer circuitry for the Furnace
In 1986 DPE replaced its decades-old, enormous oil-burning furnace
with a state-of-the-art, compact gas-burning Crown-Freeport furnace
(that was donated by Bro. Martin Kennedy, Al-'86 (134th Line), the father of
Bros. Brian and Kevin Kennedy, both also Al-'86 (134th Line)).
A free new furnace, but its installation at the time cost us $35,000.
In the winter of 2007-8, however, following more than twenty years of perfect service,
the furnace's Honeywell computer (which operates the whole contraption)
began malfunctioning. A whole new Honeywell unit was needed,
costing us almost $4,000.
The living proof that big, fancy prices don't always correlate with big, pretty things.
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III. new walls, ceiling, and sink for the Kitchen
Years of leaks coming fromthe porch roof above
caused serious damage to the kitchen's walls and ceiling,
leading not only to the paint's blistering and peeling,
but also to the underlying plaster's breaking off.
Tony Santos, who in the last eighteen years has re-plastered and re-painted
three of the House's upstairs bedrooms
is shown here, working his magic with the kitchen.
Two days before the re-plastering, Bros. Justin Charity and Joseph Hart,
in order to save money, had organized a "Weekend Warriors" turnout
of over a dozen brothers, who for six hours did the prep work,
by stripping off the kitchen's old paint and plaster.
The whole kichen being renovated.
The former kitchen sink cabinet, over twenty years old,was hauled away (another heavy donation to alma mater).
The cabinet gone, the kitchen's plumbing was exposed.
The brand new kitchen:
The new kitchen sink cabinet goes well with the newly plastered and painted walls.
There was a lot of re-plastering
Now, if only they'll keep it clean.
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IV. new floors, toilet, and shower stall for Bathrooms
The existing 2nd floor bathroom toilet.
Its flushes were too weak to do the job.
A commercial grade replacement was needed.
The existing floor tiles surrounding the 2nd fl bathroom's drain had broken loose
and, as a result, water from the shower was seeping under the floor
rather than going down the drain. New floor tiles had to be laid.
The existing basement bathroom's shower stall.
Water was leaking from a crack in the floor pan
across the bathroom floor and under the room's walls
into neighboring bedrooms.
This stall measured 2'11.5" wide by 2'11.5" deep .
A replacement of the exact same size was therefore needed,
to fit into the small space between the wall and the sink.
Note that, with this kind of stall, there are no openings for faucets
(they were set above the unit entirely), and, thus, by not their coming through the stall's wall,
cleaning the stall is much easier).
Note also, because this kind of shower stall has but one horizontal and one vertical seam,
the stall is much easier to keep clean.
Moreover, the existing stall had a crack by its floor drain
that let water leak out and run into the neighboring bedrooms.
The brand new shower stall:
Unfortunately, when the new basement shower stall was delivered
already assembled, and therefore wouldn't fit through the House's back door.
So, back it had to go. Better luck next week,
when it was to return broken down into its three constituent pieces.
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V. re-painting The House's exterior
The wood beneath most of the House's exterior doors and windows,
and of the fascia just under its roofs, was peeling or missing paint and caulk
Bare wood was therefore exposed; and, unless soon primed and re-painted,
would begin to rot.
The peeling problem could be seen all over the House.
In the photo above, note how because the porch's overhang was recently rebuilt
five years ago at the time that all new copper roofs were put on the House,
one can see the sharp contrast between the new overhang's fresh painting and caulking
and and the painting on the on the fascia and pillers
shown below over the dining room and kitchen windows.
In November 2008 all the exterior woodwork of the House was repaired, primed,
and given two coats of new paint. Tony Santos and his crew could only get to the top of the House
by tying two ladders together (and they lived to tell about it).
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VI. new carpeting for the Main Staircase
The carpeting on the House's main staircase was so threadbare,
with new rips appearing regularly, that several sections had to be held together
with duck tape . It needed replacing - and very soon - before someone tripped.
The pledgees of the 179th Line saved the House money
by their doing the prep work of removing the old carpeting and the many nails.
The new main stairwell carpeting.
The new carpeting on the stairs from the Library to the Party Room.
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WORK STILL TO BE DONE -
IF ONLY THERE WERE THE FUNDS
VII. new walls and ceilings for the Main Staircase
Numerous leaks from the House's roof have over the years caused much damage to the main staircase.
In the last few years all new copper roofs were put on the House, and the House's exterior brickwork completely tuckpointed,
thereby stoppongthe leaking; but all the harm to the House's interior remains.
Another example of the condition of the plaster and paint
on the main floor's hallway.
Quite the eyesore.
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Now You Can Pay Your Dues,
and/or Become a Life Member,
and/or Make a Donation to the House
electronically
by using your credit or debit card
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[How to do it]
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or the old-fashioned way
by mailing your personal check or money order
(made payable to "Delta Phi Epsilon") to:
Delta Phi Epsilon
P.O. Box 25401
Washington, DC 20027