October 7th was
another day where we worked on three different Habitat homes!
At 320 5th Avenue we worked
on skim coating the walls to refinish them. It was also great to see
that Dave Rasmussen and the PJ crew had
removed the carpeting
and started on removing
the kitchen cabinets. Looks great, keep up the good work.
At 1008 Third we double checked that
all the dry wall screws were set to the proper depth so that the
finisher can keep on…..well, finishing!
And, at the site of
our next new build,
2933 Minnesota,
(across from Tony’s Landscaping), we
stripped forms off
the frost wall, and placed
insulation, readying it for backfill this week.
Our next work day will be
Saturday
October 14th , at 2933 Minnesota, when, with the help of US
Bank, when we will put the final grade on the slab area, place down a
moisture barrier and Styrofoam insulation in preparation for the slab
being poured the following week. We will also be moving some dirt around
so please bring shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows, thanks. After that we
anticipate working Fridays again soon, and possibly working a full
weekday or two in order to get the home framed up as quickly as possible
before the “you know what” starts flying.
Lots going on, please join in.
__________
We had a great group from
US Bank (and
friends) that braved the cold on Saturday, October 14th, and
helped get our
newest build at 2933 Minnesota ready for the concrete slab to be
poured. Using
string lines we
established the grade, leveled the area,
laid out a
plastic moisture
barrier, and placed
sheets of Styrofoam. In floor radiant heat coils will be placed
this week and the slab will be poured.
That means we will
begin framing on Friday October 20th (at 12:30) and will
continue on Saturday the 21st (at 9:00). We are going to
try our best to get the home framed, and the roof on prior to any
more (geesh!) snow flying. In order to accomplish that we may be
working some week days beside the usual Friday afternoon, I will let
you know. We will need all the support you can muster, so please
plan on coming out and pounding some nails. We anticipate working
most of the fall on this project, but we will also be placing
cabinets and trim on the Third Avenue home once the drywall is
finished.
__________
We had a
huge weekend, October 20th and 21st, at our newest
build at 2933 Minnesota Ave. The slab was poured Thursday. Friday
we put down the mud
sill. And Saturday thanks to
a wonderful crew
that included students from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, our
usual great support from Jason and UWSP, and a few guys who if they
aren’t careful I’ll be calling “hardcores”, we had
our first wall
up by mid morning.
After a great
lunch graciously
provided by Israel and Michelle, one of our Partner Families, it was
back to work. By day’s end
we framed up
(the walls really are straight, in spite of how the picture looks
:) ) all of the
exterior walls,
except for the garage. On our Third Avenue home it took us two full
days for the walls. What a difference
many enthusiastic hands
make. Our sincere thanks.
Our next work days are
Friday the 27th
at 12:30 and Saturday the 28th at 9:00. We will continue
at 2933 Minnesota and hope to get the majority of the interior walls
up.
__________
Friday the 27th, we
framed up the garage.
Then Saturday, with a
fantastic crew
made up of our steadily growing group of regulars, some energetic
folks from the university and around town, plus one of our
previous Partner
Families, we
readied the home for roof trusses. We set up the scaffolding, that
Rhonda and Bruce shagged from the Fifth Avenue home, and got busy
nailing down the
OSB around most of the house. Then, with some help from a couple
of the
afternoon volunteers we
cut and
installed the top plate. Once the OSB was mostly secure, we
squared
the walls, secured the
rest of the OSB
, and then re-set the scaffolding and
prepped
the top plate for the trusses .
This coming Friday, November 3rd, we will be placing the
roof trusses with the help of a crane graciously donated by Jim
Anderson of Ellis Stone Construction. This is the third time Jim has
provided the crane, and it is a HUGE HELP! Thank you! Saturday we
will start sheeting the roof.
__________
On
Friday November 3rd and Saturday
the 4th we at
CWHfH had another great weekend with a wonder group of
volunteers. We continue to receive tremendous support from UW-SP,
and from a truly dedicated and
enthusiastic group
from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Oh, and those crazy
hard-cores just keep coming back for more. Thank you all.
Boys (OK and a few girls) and their
toys sums up Friday. Thanks to the generosity of Jim Anderson of
Ellis Stone, we had a great big toy to play with.
Travis and
the crane
returned to help us place
trusses. This is
the third time we have had an opportunity to benefit from the crane,
and a huge benefit it is. We started by
putting the first
truss up by hand. Then Travis arrived. He would make a
pick,
fly a truss in,
we would scramble
to brace it,
plumb it,
unhook the buckle,
and by the time we almost caught our breath he had
another truss flying
in. Within an hour and a half we had all
the trusses
in place and Travis
was packing up. A huge thank you to Ellis Stone. The crane
realistically saved us at least day’s work, and a whole bunch of
aches and pains. As we were placing the trusses we also put the
sub fascia board
on. By 3:00 we were prepared for placing the sheeting on Saturday.
On Saturday, after our
safety huddle, we
started sheeting
the north side. We finished that side by lunch (again graciously
provided by Israel and Michelle) took a quick break, and
started in on the
south side. Wasn’t long (OK it did take a while and
a lot
of hammering) and
we had the sheeting on,
the roofing felt down and
put on the finishing
touches. Thanks to all our wonderful support we had the roof up
in record time.
Our next work days are
Friday November
10th, at 12:30, and Saturday the 11th at 9:00
at the 320 5th Avenue site. We will be working on skim
coating the walls, and placing some furnace duct work. We may also
send a crew to work at Third Avenue.
Also, on the 11th we
will be installing a computer in our most recently completed home on
Franklin Street. Working with One Economy and AT&T we
are participating in their AccessAll program. Through this program,
in any home we finish in 2006 and 2007, our Partner Families will
receive a Dell computer and 2 years of DSL internet. This is a
great program to bring what has become a necessary educational tool
for the children, and for their parents, into the lives of our
families.
__________
On Saturday December 9th we
installed a
temporary door on the garage, and readied the inside for framing
walls. We will begin that interior framing in January I
suspect.
__________
Friday
January 5th, and Saturday the 6th found the
gang was back at it after a couple weekend
off. Trying to take advantage of the mild (and for me, welcome)
January weather we started to fill
the interior with
walls. An intrepid
gang of hard-cores, with a couple new recruits managed to
bang out nearly
half the interior walls, from
the hallway to
three of the four
bedrooms.
We will be continuing at Minnesota on Friday January 12th
(12:30) and Saturday the 13 (9:00) hoping that the weather holds
a bit yet. We should be able to finish up most of the interior
walls that weekend. We will also be aligning the trusses and
readying the walls for drywall soon. When that is finished, we
will concentrate on 320 Fifth Avenue for a while as we cannot
get too, too much more accomplished at Minnesota until we get
the shingles on this spring.
__________
Things
are moving quickly with the home on Minnesota. On Friday and
Saturday , the 12th and 13th, we wanted to get the
interior framing
finished so that the subs would be able to get in and rough the
electrical and plumbing. And that’s just what we did this
weekend. We framed
all the interior walls,
placed blocking
for the drywall,
insulated where the tub will go (and had fun doing it!), and
placed the truss that will support the porch roof. We will
continue to work at Minnesota this winter, but not having the
shingles on somewhat limits what we are able to do.
Guess (no not guess)….it could have been a whole lot
worse, but it was bad enough working outside on Saturday January
27th. Friday wasn’t too bad….other than the icy water dripping off
the roof….onto our necks…..
But.
Working at 2933 Minnesota we managed
to wrap the home in
Tyvek, open up all the
window openings,
place all the
windows, and
apply insulating foam
sheets to the exterior…..that, and we finished by 1:00!!
We will move to 320 Fifth Avenue
this coming weekend, (Friday the 2nd at 12:30, and
Saturday the 3rd at 9:00) where we will continue to tape
and mud the drywall. Oh sure….exciting stuff…..but hey, at least it
is inside!!
__________
To celebrate
the return of warm weather we had
a brat fry on
Saturday April 14th, and I’m telling you brats weren’t the only
thing cooking!
We had a HUGE turnout from UWSP
including students from Psych 270, Pointer Women’s Basketball,
Lambda Pi Eta, and Phi Mu Alpha, (this is all Greek to me!!). And
our crew of diehards was present in force. We finished
nailing the
windows, put the
plastic guard on the ground level foam, put
lookouts on
the gables, got the F-channel on,
established the
elevation for starter strip
for the vinyl up, and
built
and sheeted
the roof for
the porch. LOTS
DONE!!
And.
If squares, felt or drip edge mean
anything to you please stop by at 2933 Minnesota on Friday the 20th
(at 12:30) or Saturday the 21st (at 9:00) as we are going
to be roofing! Big fun eh? Stop by and join in.
__________
On Saturday April
21st we raised
the roof (or at
least shingled it) with a
HUGE turnout of
over 30 volunteers!! We were about 10 shingles short of finishing the
job, but nonetheless we did an unbelievable amount of work. We repaired
the roofing felt that we put on in the fall,
placed the drip edge,
snapped lines, nailed
down what seemed to be 10,458 shingles, and used foam to insulate around
the windows and all the outlets and light fixtures. It was a sight to
see, thanks in no small part to professor Jeana Magyar-Moe and her
Positive Psych students from UWSP……speaking of which, please check out
the
updated fund raiser info about what the class
is doing for us, and for the Salvation Army.
Speaking of UWSP students, Steven Heller
graciously produced a promotional video
for us, take a look at it when you have a chance.
Our next work days are Friday the 27th
(at 12:30) and Saturday the 28th (at 9:00) at 2933 Minnesota
where we will begin with the vinyl siding. Progress on this home is
flying, please stop in and join the fun.
__________
Siding was the
main order of
business Friday the
27th and Saturday the 28th, and man did we
get a great start!
Aside from siding we
pretty much finished
placing the soffit
and fascia that the PJ crew had been working on, finished up
the roofing, and as usual our gang was
proud to show off their
work! We also did a couple jobs at the Fifth Avenue site.
Our next work days are Friday the 4th,
at 12:30 and Saturday the 5th , at 9:00, at 2933 Minnesota
where amongst other entertaining endeavors we will continue with the
siding.
Thank you if you made it out to the
brat sale this weekend………a sunny, warm, spring day and a brat, or
two….yum!
Please attend the UWSP Kiddie Carnival
this Saturday, May 5th from 1pm - 4pm at the Multi-Activity Center in
the UWSP Health Enhancement Center.
Admission: $5.00 per child (all
children must be accompanied by an adult)
Admission includes 10 game/activity
tickets, one popcorn and one beverage. Additional game tickets and
refreshments will be available for purchase.
Games, activities, prizes,
face-painting, Pointer Mascots, UWSP Dance Team and Athletes,
refreshments and much, much more!
__________
Siding was the name of the game again on Friday the 4th and
Saturday the 5th, and
after lots of
measuring and
ciphering,
some exact…..some
not so exact…..we completed all the siding expect for the front
and side walls where we are awaiting the arrival of entry doors.
Aside from siding we did
some tweaking and
finishing on the
roof, installed “insul-guard”
and finished some
interior framing. Oh,
and ate pretty well too.
Our next work
days will be Friday the 11th at 12:30 and Saturday the 12th
at 9:00 when we will install the doors, finish up the siding and
work on installing insulation and vapor barrier in prepare for the
dry wall.
Please attend the final
Positive Psychology fund raiser ,POINTSTOCK, this weekend. We
have a great line up of bands, and a fun time is guaranteed for
all. That, and yep….the money is going for a great cause.
__________
Hmmmmmm…….
Looks like no pictures for the web site this week…….my camera has
gone missing!
One of three scenarios;
-
It actually is
here at home buried under several pounds of assorted Habitat
stuff…..don’t think so, but ALWAYS a possibility.
-
It is at the job
site buried under many pounds of assorted Habitat stuff…..again a
possibility.
-
It got stolen
from my truck at the Wally World parking lot Friday afternoon.
Hmmmmmm……..
At any rate. We installed the front and side doors after a little
minor tweaking of the rough opening. And that allowed us to finish
up the siding…..YAY!! Looks great! We also hung 2 rooms worth of
ceiling dry wall after the PJ crew completed putting up poly
vapor barrier last week.
So.
Not only does the exterior look finished, the interior is really
taking shape with the dry wall going up.
We will continue with the dry wall this Friday 18th (at
12:30) and Saturday the 19th ( at 9:00).
If you see my camera walking around please let me know.
__________
Dry wall was
where it was at this weekend (May 18th and 19th)….ceiling dry wall, roto-zipping, dust, volunteers looking unnaturally gypsum gray…..
But.
We had fun.
And.
We finished (other than the garage)
putting up all the ceiling dry wall.
Next comes insulation, then hanging
the dry wall on…..the walls!
But.
That will have to wait until Friday
June 1st (at 12:30) and Saturday the 2nd (at
9:00), at 2933 Minnesota, as we are taking Memorial Day weekend off!
Have a safe weekend, looking
forward to seeing you this summer.
__________
It is amazing
what a difference dry wall makes….all the rooms you have been
imagining suddenly
appear!
The crew managed to nearly finish the
dry wall this weekend, June 1st and 2nd. We started in the
back bedroom and worked
our way to the living room…stopping
just long enough to put in the
door to the garage ,
cut some creative window
openings….oh..and munch a few doughnuts and lunch….
Our next work days are Friday the 8th
(at 12:30) and Saturday the 9th (at 9:00) at 2953 Minnesota.
We will finish the dry wall, and probably disperse to a couple of our
other homes for finishing touches.
__________
I
am happy to report that all of the
dry wall, except for
the blue board in the bathroom, has been
hung with the
greatest of care and
precision!
Jackson and Rhonda also braved the wild
and mowed our other lot
on Minnesota. By the by, if anyone would be able to assist with the
mowing this summer, please let me know…..thanks!!
Our next foray in to the wonderful world
of construction is Friday the 15th at 12:30, and Saturday the
16th at 9:00 when we will begin taping and mudding the
drywall. This is great way to learn a new skill set that is always
handy to have for the occasional overzealous picture hanging scenario.
Please join us.
__________
As of June 16th, the
dry wall has all been hung, and the next step is to continue the process
by taping, mudding and sanding. We will continue that work starting
Friday June 22nd (at 12:30) and Saturday the 23rd
(at 9:00).
This is when the home really starts to
take form. Please stop by and lend a hand.
__________
On June 22nd
and 23rd we
had a
great
group
of mudders in (kinda
sounds like a rugby team) and the
first coat of mud is
down and the sanding and the second coat have begun. We will continue
with the finishing of the dry wall next weekend. Please join in, thanks.
__________
What….it’s Fourth of July already??? OK, may be a week late, but we
are taking a well deserved weekend off, and the next work days will be
Friday July 13th (at 12:30), and Saturday the 14th
(at 9:00) at 2933 Minnesota Avenue. We will continue finishing the
drywall on Minnesota, and will also send a group to our newest lot on
Second Street North, where we will rake the recently spread top soil.
This last weekend
we mudded and
sanded…….and from the
looks of things we had a
rather determined
crew!
Hope to see you soon, please have a safe
Fourth of July, wherever the Holiday finds you.
__________
Well………….we are nearing the end of the drywall finishing, and we are
hoping the light we see at the proverbial end of the tunnel isn’t an
onrushing train! The drywall finishing is both tedious and
ultimately critical to the final “look” of the whole construction
job, so we are taking our time and doing it as best we are able.
Aside from the drywall work we installed a storm door at Third
Street, and will install the other one there this coming weekend. We
will also try and finish up the drywall and move on to cabinets,
trim, countertops, doors and flooring. Still lots to do on
Minnesota and we will appreciate your help.
__________
Well……I think
all the fun we have been having finishing the dry wall is just about to
come to an end! We should just be doing some sanding this coming
weekend to finish the job. Then we will will start hanging doors, placing cabinets
and countertops and nailing up trim.
Over the next several weeks the
transformation will be amazing…..please stop by and help out!
__________
Well, well…….we have finished the dry wall……………YAY!!
Actually Brian Komarek has graciously offered to “put the finishing
touches on”…..and believe me, we left him plenty to touch up! We
anticipate having the drywall sprayed by the end of the coming week.
THAT means we will be hanging doors this coming weekend, and soon we
will be starting on trim, flooring, cabinets and countertops.
This last weekend we
fitted
window sills, and
fire-caulked the garage
on Minnesota, placed a storm door on Third, and finished up some Insul-Guard
on Fifth.
Or next work days are Friday August 3rd,
at 12:30, and Saturday the 4th ,at 9:00. We will be working
the same hours on August 10th and 11th
respectively. All work days will be at 2933 Minnesota.
Enjoy the last few weeks of summer, but
come share in some of the fun and fulfillment that Habitat brings.
__________
We spent the morning on Saturday getting
organized by pulling things out of the garage, and hauling them to
storage. Then, of course, we had to re-organize the storage. And on
and on!
We will not be working on Friday August 24th. But, put
on your painting pants on for our next work day, Saturday, August 25th
at 9:00when we will be lathering up the walls. We also may be doing
a little “weed whacking” at our lot on Second Street……anyone have a
Weed Whacker to
spare?
__________
UW-SP is nearly back in session, and true to
form, a group of CA’s from
Hyer Hall (this is
their third year volunteering, thank you very much!) was there to
help with painting. Working along with
other volunteers,
there was painting….painting...and more painting…..around
windows,
walls,
ceilings, and some
managed to get a little
on themselves too! When it was
all said and done,
and cleaned up, we
got most of the priming done, leaving a couple ceiling yet to do.
But wow, many brushes make light work.
We are not working over Labor Day
Weekend, except for Steve Decker who is working with the “Labor of
Love” project again this year (YAY Steve!). Steve and a group will
be working on Labor Day, and if you are looking for something to do,
please drop on in.
And stay tuned for the announcement
of our next ground-breaking in the next couple weeks……big plans for
this fall.....please join in, we need your support.
__________
The weekend of September 7th and 8th we
prepared the
back yard at
2933 Minnesota,
and the front yard at 320 Fifth for grass seed.
Thank you Denny
for bringing the Troy Built it was a back-saver! While some
of us were out playing in the dirt, others, including our newest
Partner, Jenny,
were busily painting
inside.
At our
Board meeting we
presented Dave
Rasmussen, our PJ Jacob’s tech ed teacher, an award from the
Lion’s Club in recognition of the outstanding volunteer service that
he and over 500 PJ students have provided over the past 13 years.
Thank you Dave, and all the students!
Our next work
days are Friday the 14th (at 12:30) and Saturday the 15th
(at 9:00) when we will be planting grass seed, and also hanging
interior doors.
__________
It has been another
busy week at Habitat. On
Thursday we were at the UWSP Involvement Fair and had the opportunity to
chat with a couple hundred interested students….it was great! Then this
weekend we painted a
little more, hung
more
interior
doors, and put
down the grass seed both at
Minnesota, and at
Fifth. Then just for fun we
slid the dumpster
around. AND we managed to finish up in time to see most of the Badger’s
game too!
__________
Nail guns,
cutting
and fitting the
casing and baseboard, and sanding the window sills was the assignment
this weekend. We had a great turnout from UWSP through their Service
Saturday, the Campus Affiliate, the Positive Psych class and students
that saw us at the Involvement Fair. THANK YOU!!
Our next work days are Friday the 28th (at 12:30)
and Saturday the 29th (at 9:00).
We will gather
at 2933 Minnesota
and possibly split our crew between there
and 2717 Minnesota, the site of our newest home. We plan on having the
foundation in this week and will be doing some backfilling around it
next weekend. It will be one of those “many hands make light work” days,
so if you are able to help, please do.
__________
On September 28th
and 29th nail guns,
cutting and fitting
the casing and
baseboard, and varnishing
the window sills was the assignment .
If that sounds last LAST weekend, you are
correct and give yourself 4 bonus points!! We
also did some highly
technical wrapping of string.
BUT……………….
We also worked at 2717 Minnesota placing
the solar shunt loop….(huh?)…… When the solar collectors are collecting
excess heat, and by excess I mean heat that is both non-storable and
unusable, the system shunts the hot water to a closed loop that runs
around the footings of the home……cool.
Our next work days are Friday the 5th
(at 12:30) and Saturday the 6th (at 9:00).
Let’s gather
at
the site of our newest home
at 2717 Minnesota.
But if the weather is bad, and/or it seems
no one is about, please trek on down to
2933 Minnesota
. We plan on having the frost wall in this
week and will be placing foam down and readying things for the slab. It
will be one of those “many hands make light work” days, so if you are
able to help, please do.
__________
October 6th
91………………………….
The sign said the temperature was
91………………….
Things are rolling at Habitat…..we are
working on not one….but two houses!
On Wednesday this week we scooted over
to 2717 Minnesota and applied
foam to the
exterior of the
frost wall so it could be backfilled.
Then on Friday and Saturday, along with
a great group from US Bank (here for their third year….at least), we
cut,
fitted and
nailed trim and
casing at 2933 Minnesota, then trekked over to 2717 Minnesota. Did I
mention it was 91? Wow, the crew from the bank got to work
sweeping off
the frost wall in preparation for the mud sill, then they grabbed the
shovels and rakes and worked on
leveling off
for the slab. I pitched in for a bit with the shoveling and I am here
to tell you that group worked…..Thank you!!
__________
On Saturday October 13th,
a group of volunteers
worked on cabinets and
trim at 2933 Minnesota and finished installing the
kitchen,
bathroom and
powder room cabinets.
This home is all but finished, with just the countertops, closet doors
and finish plumbing to go.
__________
December 15th
Moving into the nice WARM house, we
placed the closet
shelves and rods, and our
determined
volunteers finished the kitchen countertop (what?.....under the sink
again?). But
ahhhhh............. the bliss
of a job well done!
__________
January 4,5
We worked at 2933
Minnesota this weekend, putting on the finishing touches for a mid
February closing.
Kitchen cabinet pulls were
placed, the
countertops were
trimmed out, the range
hood was installed,
pantry shelves were perfected, the cover for the
attic access hole
was crafted, a shelf for
the utility room was installed,
door knobs were placed, and a little
trim was carefully nailed up over the garage door……..carefully??......hmmm
equipment or operator error……
Also a
kind soul crawled up into the
attic and found
the long lost kitchen
ceiling fixture that somehow disappeared during the drywall
process……..
This Tuesday the solar panels for 2717
will be installed, stop by and watch the process if you like!
__________
January 11, 12
Just doing a little more finish work,
we finished installing
the door knobs,
pantry shelves, and
bathroom towel hooks
and shelving.
About all that is left is wrapping around the garage door with aluminum.
__________
BIG
news. We
are having a dedication and open house at our recently completed home at
2933 Minnesota. If you worked on that home, come see what a great job
you did. If you didn’t work on it, see what you missed out on! The
ceremony will be Friday the 15th at 4:30pm with food and
refreshments. Please attend.
__________
We
dedicated the home
at 2933 Minnesota on Friday. It did not take long for the
family to settle in,
with the children making their
own contribution to the
festivities. The family was presented with
a quilt from the
Undercover Quilters, a
Bible from CWHfH, a
three-month membership
from the YMCA, and a
one-year membership from the Children’s’ Museum. Father Al Burkhardt gave the Litany of Celebration and the Blessing of the home,
and the UW-SP Positive
Psych students and the Salvation Army provided the food. This
is the 18th
family the we have Partnered with to build safe, decent, affordable
housing….right here in Portage County. The real estate closing was
Friday also, and Jenny joins our other families in home ownership.
Their mortgage payments are fully reinvested in helping to build more
homes, for more families.
__________
Check on our
.
