This last Saturday, November 5th, we did some very preliminary work at the 320 Fifth Avenue home that we just took possession of. The home has been vacant for a while and we picked up the yard, arranged to have an abandoned car removed, took an inventory of just what repairs will be needed, and began the general cleanup. We had a great group from UWSP’s Rotaract Club volunteering. In the coming weeks we will be removing the carpet and pad, repairing the trim, cabinets, doors and walls, ensuring the mechanicals work correctly, and just generally restoring the home to a “like new” move in condition.
We had a HUGE turnout from UWSP this weekend, thank you! I do apologize that there was not enough work to go around. Please don’t be discouraged and plan on returning to volunteer again soon (maybe just a few less at a time !! ).
We worked at the Fifth Avenue site, and a little at the new Third Street site. At Third Street we set up fencing to help protect the plumbing that has been done. At the Fifth Avenue site we loaded more into the dumpster, unloaded and brought lumber into the garage, knocked down walls, put up walls, took out doors, put in doors………if it sounds a little hectic, it was, but we got a lot accomplished.
This coming Saturday December 10th we will work primarily at the Franklin site and possibly at the Fifth Avenue site. “Painting” is the buzz word as we will be putting the prime coat over the drywall at Franklin. After that it will be time to start with the trim, doors and cabinets.
We will not be working December 24th or 31st. So if I don’t see you on the 10th or 17th please have the Happiest of Holidays.
We had a short workday on Saturday February 4th. We organized some of the clutter we unceremoniously dumped there last weekend while cleaning out Amy and Jose’s home, we got a little dusty doing some demolition, we managed to get the four foot shower unit down the stairs……look out below, Kurt!........and we did the framing for the shower’s installation.
Our next work day will be Saturday, February 11th, at the Fifth Avenue home. We will be at that location until the ground thaws, then we will start in earnest on the new home on Third and Franklin.
On Saturday February 11th, we got the garage cleaned out (yet again…..I think it will stay organized for a while this time….maybe?) and generally organized all the tools and materials we brought over from Amy and Jose’s home.
Yesterday, February 18th, we took the carpeting off the stairs in preparation for replacing several of the treads and risers, and we repaired one tread that had come loose. We also framed up a wall in the basement in preparation for placing insulation and a moisture barrier.
We have the Sig Tau’s from UWSP volunteering this coming Saturday, the 25th. Our work site will continue to be the Fifth Avenue home.
Our mission for this weekend, February 25th, was to remove the downstairs carpeting, demolish some unusable drywall, (it did get a little dusty) and to rework the stairs. The Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity from UWSP showed up in force and made short work of the carpet and drywall. I mean these dudes were finished in less than an hour. That allowed them a short breather, and then they were off to “Bowl for Kids” for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Central Wisconsin. The Sig Tau’s are great, thank you. A couple of us worked on the stairs until 3, and then called it quits.
We are NOT working this coming weekend, March 4th. We need to see about getting some sub-contract (read “the pro’s”) plumbing and electrical work done. I will let you know when our next work day will be. In the meantime take a well deserved weekend off.
OK, seems as if spring really is on the way. And with that thought, we are hoping to have the slab poured for the new home at Third and Franklin in 2 – 3 weeks. After that, it is off to the races again!
This weekend, March 11th, we “deconstructed” a couple more walls, removed old fixtures and fans, and got the kitchen cupboards ready for a facelift. We will be starting to “skim coat” the drywall upstairs hopefully this coming weekend. So plan on it being a work day on Saturday March 18th at the Fifth Avenue home.
Kind of an inside deal. but can you find the "stubby one" in this picture?
On March 18th we did just a little “deconstruction”, tearing the carpeting and padding out of two of the upstairs bedrooms. Next the walls in the bedrooms were washed, and we started to apply a skim coat of “mud” to cover the “knock down” finish that is on the walls. The knock down does not lend itself to patching and matching, and with all the patching that needs doing, the flat finish is the way to go. It is a long, tedious job, but it will look brand new when completed. Downstairs we roughed in a couple of doors and secured the shower unit.
Our next work day will be Saturday March 25th, at the Fifth Avenue home.
Please remember the jazz fundraiser on March 28th. It promises to be an evening of great music.
OK, OK…..I know you all have been thinking “where is my Habitat Update??? I hope Tom is OK…….” Alright, I know, dream on.
Anyway.
My computer fried last Friday but the Geek Squad got me back on track.
We got a whole lot of mudding done last Saturday the 25th at Fifth Avenue. We put a skim coat on two bedrooms and have the living room ready to go. Also started hauling some of the landscape rock from the front yard.
Our next work day is Saturday April 1st (no fooling!). We will gather at the 320 Fifth Avenue home at 9:00am. Then, depending on the weather we’ll probably head over to Third and Franklin and get that site ready to pour the slab next week. Yup, that means we are going to start the construction of the new home SOON! Real soon. Once we are rolling we’ll probably work Friday afternoons too.
We worked at the 5th Avenue home on Saturday September 30th, taking out unnecessary electrical boxes, organizing the garage, and generally getting things ready for Dave Rasmussen and the crew from PJ Jacobs to come in and start working. The students have a big task in front of them with the rehab, but we know that they are up to it.
Our next work day is Saturday October 7th, at 320 5th Avenue when we will continue to remake the walls by applying a skim coat of drywall mud........now that sounds like fun, eh?
Friday, November 10th, we braved the blizzard and trudged through the snow to work at 320 5th Avenue. We did a little fine adjustment on a kitchen cabinet (as fine as you can get with a “SawzAll” ) in order to remove it, did some work on the framing downstairs, and slapped around some “mud” to refinish the walls.
Saturday, we continued at 5th Avenue and worked in the basement, prepping the framework, installing the exhaust fan in the lower level bathroom, and adjusting framing around the HVAC ducts. The rest of the gang continued with the mudding of the walls.
Also, on Saturday, we installed a computer and high speed internet access at the Franklin Street home we finished in February. We are working in conjunction with AT&T and One Economy in a national initiative called AccessAll. We hope to install the same cutting edge technology in three homes next year. The educational and information portals that will now become available to our families will provide them with opportunities that may not have been attainable without this initiative.
On another note, and another national initiative, we are working with Lowe’s through their “Homes for the Holidays” program. Local affiliates across the country, including ours, will benefit from having patrons of Lowe’s being able to donate directly to Habitat as they check out.
Our next work days are Friday the 17th at 12:30, and Saturday the 18th at 9:00. We will meet at 320 5th Avenue and possibly disperse from there.
We had a great group of Dietetics/Nutrition students on Saturday the 18th. After donning masks they set in to sand the skim coat of mud we have been putting up on the walls. Then they washed the walls down, and applied another coat of mud where needed. We'll sand again, and maybe need an additional coat here and there, and the walls will look great. Thanks ladies, great job!
On Saturday December 9th, Steve and the crew from the UWSP HfH affiliate, who by the way were also doing a brat sale at Wal-Mart, continued the mudding, sanding and priming the walls, and they are looking great!
The PJ students have finished hanging the drywall, thank you all!! On Saturday January 20th, we started prepping the drywall for taping and mudding, and finished the first coat on the downstairs bedroom. We also ripped some boards in preparation to continuing our work at 2933 Minnesota.
Our next work days are this Friday (at 12:30) and Saturday (at 9:00), at 2933 Minnesota where we will install windows, Tyvek, and foam insulation. We will be working outside, so please dress appropriately.
In the coming weeks we will be back finishing the drywall and installing cabinets and trim at Fifth Avenue. And as time allows we will also keep working on Minnesota.
We worked INSIDE this weekend, February 9th and 10th,……a GOOD thing!! With the help of UWSP’s Psych 270 students (who are working this semester with Habitat and with the Salvation Army), we continued at 320 Fifth Avenue. We replaced the bathroom tub/shower unit with a donated new unit (the good news), but as it would not fit through the bathroom door we needed to make a hole in the wall from the adjacent bedroom closet (the bad news)…………but….don’t you worry, by the time we were finished it looked better than new. We spent the remainder of the day sanding, and mudding the walls…..did I mention sanding?
Our next work days are Friday the 16th (at 12:30), and Saturday the 17th (at 9:00) at 320 Fifth Avenue where we will continue with mudding, sanding and painting. We are planning on having the home done by the end of March, and in the next several weeks it will really take shape.
On February 16th and 17th we had a super group of volunteers, including a group from UWSP. We are still working on the walls, and we managed to get a second (and third) coat of mud on, and sanded, cleaned, taped, primed and painted where we could.
The next work days are Friday the 23rd (at 12:30) and Saturday the 24th (at 9:00) when we will continue at Fifth Avenue. We hope to finish the work on the walls!!!!! Then it will be placing trim, cabinets and countertops and letting the subs get the flooring in. We have 6 weekends to complete the home, and if all goes according to plan (just who is this Murphy guy anyway?) we will close April 2nd and James and Amber will move in!
As usual on February 23rd and 24th we had a happening time at Habitat. The plan was to get all the walls primed……..and thanks to a great group including UWSP students, a SPASH student, and the usual gang of suspects…….mission accomplished!! We sanded, patched, painted, sanded some more, painted some more….and did I mention PAINTED? And when it was all said and done, the new and refurbished walls looked great! Thank you to all our dust-coated, paint-speckled volunteers.
The cabinets will be delivered this week and we will begin installing them this coming weekend (we may need to paint a little too). Then it will be time for interior doors, trim, countertops, flooring…..and turn the keys over to James and Amber April 2nd. Another family….another home……nice.
Wow….lots done at the house on March 9th and 10th which is a good thing as we are still planning on closing the first week of April. With a little cabinet making, and a little help from our friends, we hung all the kitchen cabinets, and they look great! We placed the vanities in the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms and fitted the countertops. We also got a good start on installing and replacing the doors ……..5 down….maybe 7 or 10 to go!!
Oh.
And there always seems to be a little more painting to do.
Things are really coming together at 320 Fifth Avenue. This weekend, March 23rd and 24th, we finished the installation of the countertops, and installed and hooked up sinks, faucets, toilets and showers. Tomorrow the carpet will be laid, and next weekend we will place closet doors, door knobs, finish the kitchen sink install and generally try and get all the finishing touches done that are needed to, well……..finish the home!!
So.
Our next work days are Friday the 30th at 12:30 and Saturday the 31st at 9:00. If we are unable to complete the home next weekend we may need to work Good Friday and that Saturday…….otherwise we will take a well deserved weekend off.
As the carpeting will be in by this coming weekend please bring slippers or socks to work in as it will be a “shoes off” environment.
We will be enjoying a ribbon cutting and home dedication at both 835 Third Street, and at 320 Fifth Avenue on April 2nd beginning at 5:00 on Third. If you have been able to help on either of these builds, or you just want to see what Habitat is all about and partake in the celebration please stop by!
Once we finish at Fifth it will be back to 2933 Minnesota.
Well we did it! We worked Friday the 30th, Saturday and Sunday and we finished the plumbing, the trim, the door knobs, smoke detectors, closet doors and shelves, hooking up the appliances, caulking and general clean up. And on Monday we passed the occupancy inspection, closed on the home, and with the help of Professor Jeana Magyar-Moe and her UWSP Positive Psychology students we cut the ribbon and dedicated the homes on Third Street and on Fifth Avenue.
Except for a couple “die-hards” we are taking this weekend off. Our next work days will be April 13th and 14th when we will meet at 2933 Minnesota and continue with the construction that we began last fall.
Another Portage County family in a home....thank you all.
The week of September 3rd the Master Gardeners planted their masterpiece and we readied the front yard for grass seed.….THANKS Master Gardeners!
