Rancho Sordo Mudo (“The Ranch”) is a school in Mexico dedicated to serving local Deaf children and providing them with life-changing resources and education. Chumley Construction has become a regular visitor, providing skills, labor, and leadership to assist in larger projects.
Rancho Sordo Mudo
Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico
Joseph Chumley
talks about
what The Ranch
means to him
Our Work Around the Ranch
2009
Replaced roof structure above boy’s dormitory building
Once we arrived to the ranch we were immediately hit by the love that the staff showed the kids, and realized how important it was to do our very best job on the roof that needed replacing. I actually met my future father-in-law on that trip and established some other life-long relationships. The project entailed building a new roof, frame and all, over the top of the existing low-slope roof. This was right up my ally with my framing experience. Working in 70-80 degree temps while it was in the 50s back home was a very nice change for that week!
2015
Replaced roof structure above girl’s dormitory building
We were able to lead a group of 30 people to conduct the demo and rebuilding of a 24’x72’ roofline over the girls’ dormitory building. I drew up all the plans and measurements to construct the roof trusses in a tetris-like fashion, with non-skilled volunteer labor. It went fabulously, and we were able to complete the demolition, reframing, straightening of cinderblock walls, and roofing in a 4 day time span.
2016
Constructed staff housing addition and bathroom facilities
The lead up of this project was interesting due to the amount of concrete work needed and, more importantly, the amount of excavation needed for the thickened edge slabs to be poured. The ground in the Valle de Guadalupe is almost like concrete itself, except when it rains. And rain it did: the days leading up to our trip and then the first couple of days during the work were record-setting and made for very short work of digging. The trenches were perfect and we were ready for concrete in no time. We added several hundred square feet of staff housing and a much needed bathroom as well.
2017
January: Started remodel of boy’s dormitory restroom
After replacing the roof of this building back in 2009, there were still much-needed improvements on the younger boy’s dormitory restroom facility. Most of the work at the Ranch was completed back in the 1970s and 80s by volunteer helpers, which is great, but comes with drawbacks as a lot of the construction is sub par. This project required us to cut and jackhammer troughs through two layers of concrete, tile, and cinder block: very tedious work. We were then able to run new waste lines and create the proper slope for new showers and floor drains. Additionally, we were able to finish pouring an apron of concrete to create added space for sinks and storage and prep the interior space with studded walls for a follow-up group of volunteers to complete sheetrock and finishing.
2017
October: Returned to the Ranch to pour a 60 cu. yd. thickened edge foundation due to wildfire
In the months before our arrival, an unfortunate event happened when workers were creating a fire break line by removing vegetation from the hills above the ranch. A wildfire started and the shop and several other buildings were razed, but thankfully no homes were lost. This trip was unexpected but brought some cool experiences as I was able to take along two of the company’s young employees, my dad, and an old high school carpenter friend. Our job was to set the forms for a new foundation (40’x60’) and pour the ~60 yards of concrete needed. It was hot, upper 90s, but we were able to complete the work needed and the time spent with my dad will forever be a treasure to me.
2018
Poured concrete aprons around newly completed shop
This particular trip was different, because I threw out my back on a job site the day before I left. Laying on my back in pain, I had to postpone my flight for a day and travel down separately. The rest of the group did an astounding job with grading the dirt roads, painting, and setting up concrete forms to finish access to the shop, and adding restroom facilities for large groups to use during the summer months. Thankfully, my back was feeling better by the day that the concrete arrived, and we were able to complete the pour.
2018
Constructed A-Frame house for staff family
Joshua Everett is the son of one of the Everett brothers, Luke, and is currently employed by Chumley Construction. This was an opportunity to help him build his own home on his family’s property for future use by his family and others. As one of the most unique framing gigs I’ve been apart of, it took some extensive planning and creativity to arrive at the final product. It was a bit scary lifting up the rafters that were only held by a small strap to the foundation (they were heavy and 24’ long), but once we stood up the first one, we knew it was going to be something special. The dimensions of the building are important to Joshua: The equilateral triangle represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Very cool build indeed!
The Fruitland Grange
South Hill, Puyallup, Washington
The renovation of the historical 1930s Puyallup Grange started off with some weekend volunteer work with the South Hill Little League. In an effort to help save the Grange building from decay, a small group of volunteers worked on coordinating work to reside the exterior of the large 60’x100’ gambrel style structure. We stepped up to help, which in turn led to us removing and replacing the steel roofing on the entire structure! James Hardie fiber cement siding panels were installed on the exterior with classic batten trim. The roof was then replaced with vintage green panels, making this building look hugely improved!
A Step Ahead
Tacoma, Washington
This project was provided to ‘A Step Ahead’ in Tacoma at their learning facility for preschool aged students. This simple set of stairs created a much needed short cut to the classroom location from the parking area. A huge time saver for families to get their kids where they need to go safely!
