My Sister's Dream Home - Week Two

My youngest sister has worked long and hard to qualify as a partner homeowner with Habitat for Humanity. Tami and her three sons have sacrificed, scrimped and saved to earn this opportunity, and they continue to work hard while they look forward to moving day with great anticipation. I have volunteered to help build their home... and to tell you about the HFH process from the perspective of a family member and volunteer. At the risk of infringing on NBC's copyright... These are my stories:

Week Two, Work Day Three:

I arrived at the work site bright and early Friday morning and found that I was the lone female volunteer (save those who brought coffee and breakfast, for which we were all thankful!). I believe most of the guys on site were carpenters by trade (or maybe they just wore their fancy tool belts to look the part).Right out of the gate the carpenter-types headed to the roof to complete the previous week's work on the ceiling joists. My non-carpenter cohorts and I were put to work carrying the roof trusses/rafters to the north and south sides of the house. The carpenters then dragged those boards onto the roof and began installing them.

Once the trusses/rafters were in place, the roof decking needed to be installed. The carpenters hollered out the plank size they required, and we runners relayed their need to our cutters (Mike and Sam) who cut the plywood to size. Then we walked the plywood to the house and handed it up to the carpenters. This was more difficult than it sounds. Houses are tall-ish, and though I'm 5'7", the weight of the plywood, combined with my relative weakness, made hoisting those sheets heavenward a good deal of work. Thankfully the guys up top were understanding. They even cheered my efforts every so often to keep me encouraged!

As soon as the rafters were up another crew of volunteers busied themselves with sheeting the gables and wrapping the exterior walls with Tyvek.

We dodged a few sprinkles throughout the morning, but it really began to fall just as lunch was delivered by the congregants of a local church. As we dined on delicious BBQ pork sandwiches in the rain, lead carpenter Mike commented that "it would sure be nice to black it in today" (meaning apply the felt paper to the roof). After lunch I was asked to begin cleaning up the work site by taking tools and power cords to the trailer. As I did that, several brave men climbed back up on the slippery wet roof and blacked it in!

When I left the site there were just a couple of guys in the house cutting out the thresholds and preparing to install the framing for a few pocket doors. It was a very productive day, even if work was cut a bit short due to rain.

Week Two, Work Day Four:

Work was rained out on day four. Major bummer! Next week we'll pick up where we left off when the rain halted our progress. The schedule calls for installation of front porch beams, drywall catches, soffit nailers, gutter boards, exterior doors and windows, and tub/shower insulation.

I am looking forward to another productive work day! The weather forecast for the weekend calls for still more rain. Say some prayers that we can accomplish our goals through the raindrops.

XO

Jodi

Note: the technical jargon contained in these recaps was provided to me by the build schedule, the carpenters, or my resident architect. I don't know nothin' about buildin' no houses... but I'm learning!