1008 Franklin Home

The blueprints are finished, and the permits pulled for the next home on Third and Franklin in Stevens Point. The excavation and foundation are out for bids, and once the bids are in we are going to begin. I am not sure when our first work day will be, but I will keep you up to date.

The sewer and water laterals were put in on May 11th. Our schedule has been pushed back a couple of days, but we plan on excavating on May 13th and possibly pouring footings that afternoon.

The new home at 1008 Franklin is well under way. The basement is complete. Our first work date will be Saturday May 28^th when we will place the insulating foam around the exterior block walls. The basement can then be backfilled, we will start on the mud sill, and we off and running.

We started (ok, not we, I wasn’t there!) on the new home on Third and Franklin on Saturday the 28th. The supporting walls in the basement were constructed and the mud sill was placed. Hopefully the PJ crew will finish the insulating foam on the exterior of the basement this week.

This coming Friday and Saturday we will begin placing the rim joists and the floor joists. We hope to have this home well along by August when we plan on beginning the second home on that site.

The PJ students finished foaming the exterior basement wall, and they are done until September. We will certainly miss their help this summer. Dave Rasmussen and the students put in over 3,000 volunteer hours on the Rice Street home. Thank you!!

Friday June 3rd we started placing the floor joists and completed the job Saturday morning. After the rain stopped, oh and the lunch break provided by Amy and Jose (thanks!), we welcomed about 10 volunteers from Woodlands Church. They knocked together the bracing for the joists. Then, I am here to tell you, the hammers and nails were a fly’n and by the end of the day that crew had the entire sub floor down. Hearing all the hammering by a group like that is music to my ears, thanks!

This coming weekend we will begin framing the exterior walls. Stop on over this weekend, or sometime this summer. Join in the “music”.

On Friday, June 10th, While hammering through the rain, dodging lightning bolts and hail (knew those hard hats would come in handy some day), and hanging on while the wind tried to blow us over to Shantytown, we managed to get a few nails in and slap a few boards together.

In the end, we framed the west wall on Friday along with another supporting wall in the basement. On Saturday we framed the north and east walls, and raised the three framed walls to place.

The slab for the garage and the front porch were poured earlier in the week.

This coming weekend we will continue framing walls including the garage, then it will be time for the trusses.

On Friday June 17th and Saturday the 18th, the south wall of the home, and the walls of the garage were framed and erected. It is really taking shape!

This coming weekend we will finish sheathing the walls, work on the window framing and work on the joist cross bracing in the basement. The roof trusses are on order, but they probably won’t arrive for this weekend.

I am not sure if we will be working the July 4^th weekend, but I will let you know in next week’s update. Sorry for the lack of photos, but Doug nor I were at the site this weekend.

The home is moving right along. We got a little wet on Saturday June 25th, but nobody complained. Friday and Saturday saw us finish the exterior sheathing, place ladder blocking, and erect the bathroom walls. It is amazing how putting up two walls can give definition to the entire house, but it does.

We will be working this coming weekend, cutting out the windows, placing Tyvek and putting on the temporary garage doors. Also some interior walls may be knocked together, but won’t be erected.

The crew was hard at work over the Fourth of July weekend. All the windows openings have been cut out with a router, the basement stair entrance has been framed in, the temporary garage doors are on so that we are able to lock the house up, and one roof truss is up. As usual, a good weekend, thank you!!

This coming weekend we will begin to place the rest of the roof trusses. Again, this is a big job and if anyone is available Friday afternoon, or Saturday, please stop by. If you are only available for a portion of the day, that’s fine, we would appreciate any time you are able to spend with us.

The forecast for Friday and Saturday is in the upper 80’s, so please dress appropriately, bring a hat, and we will have plenty of liquids to keep people hydrated. Also, any time you are on the site, bring work gloves, and eye protection.

Hey, it is only 91 in the shade, let’s go ahead and put those roof trusses up. Zow, that’s what we did! Friday July 8th, we made all the preparations and put three trusses up. Saturday we put up a whole bunch more and have three-quarters of them done. We have found a couple more hard cores, thanks Sharon and Jo Anne, and we saw a couple new faces too. It was hard work, but we got a lot accomplished, thank you!

Amy and her mom provided lunch, including sandwiches donated by Arby’s on Hwy 10 east, good stuff, thanks.

We will finish tossing the trusses up this coming weekend, put on the hurricane clips, and the fascia board on the trusses. We’ll finish bracing the trusses then it will be time to put the sheathing on the roof.

Please stop by any Friday afternoon or Saturday and lend a hand.

The Master Gardeners from Stevens Point will be putting up a split rail fence , and doing landscape plantings at the Nunez home on Rice Street this Monday and Tuesday. Our thanks to your group, we always appreciate your time and know how.

Ok. So we chose to build our home over the summer for the first time in years. And of course it is the hottest summer we have had in just as many years. Just how hot was it Friday? Without going into all the gory details, the new stick of deodorant I happened to have in the truck (and the windows were open) melted. Needless to say we quit early on Friday, but not before we hefted the remaining five trusses to the roof. Saturday I was conveniently out of town (watching the Blue Angels in Milwaukee, I know, too much information) but the crew set the last five trusses and spaced and braced all of the trusses. So come this Friday we will begin placing sub fascia board and throwing the sheathing on the roof. Lots of work, lots of nails available for you to pound; AND the advanced forecast says a chilly 85 degrees so bundle up.

Finally, we got a break from the heat, but if you were in town today you know we had a little storm to deal with. We placed sheathing and lookouts on the gable trusses, nailed up the sub fascia on the west side and started throwing the roof sheathing on. We had just finished the west side of the roof when Bob said, “ahhh gentleman…. You may want to consider coming down off the roof at your convenience”. OK, that may not have been an EXACT quote, and I am not telling you we always do what Bob asks, but one look at the squall line coming in and butta-bing-butta-boom, we were on the ground, racing around to put things away. Quite literally we had two minutes to spare before Mother Nature cut loose. As of 6:30 Saturday the power is still out on the North side, many tree limbs and a few trees are down.

HOWEVER.

The house escaped absolutely unscathed due to its superior design and workmanship

So, next Friday and Saturday we will continue with the east side of the roofing.

The first week of August we are fortunate enough to have a group of 14 volunteers from Illinois graciously giving us a week of their time to work on our home. The 12 students and two chaperones will arrive Monday August 1^st mid afternoon and work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They are staying at Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church. The community has been great in supporting us with donations from Grazies, Rogers Cinema, Riiser Energy, Wisconsin Valley Fair, Perkins, Bill’s Pizza, the YMCA, Point County Market, the Stevens Point American Red Cross, a somewhat anonymous dentist, and Stevens Point Parks and Recreation. Thank you all!

Our goal for this weekend was to get the house covered in preparation for our volunteer youth group from Mount Prospect, Illinois next week. We needed to finish the sub fascia on the east side, place all the orientated strand board (OSB) sheathing on the roof, place the drip edge, the snow and ice guard, and finally the roofing felt (tar paper)

There is absolutely no way we could have gotten it all done, UNTIL the cavalry, in the form of 20 hardworking students from the Teen Leadership Portage County program, came to our rescue. After the safety briefing this group of juniors and seniors put their collective shoulders into the task and by Friday at 4:00 we were well on our way to meeting our goal. And, they brought cookies too!! You have to love that!

Saturday we sweated a little (OK a lot) but managed to finish getting the roof covered. Shingles should be going on in the next week. Monday August 1st our group from Illinois arrives, and they will be working at the home Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00 until 2 or 3. Stop by and say thanks.

I am going to be gone a week, and the site won't be updated until the 13th or 14th, but here is where we are at as of August 4th:

The group of youths from Mount Prospect Illinois made tremendous strides this week. The Tyvek and foam was placed, along with the windows and most of the interior walls. This group worked!! Thank you to them and their advisors Dave and Rachel. And thank you to Bob, Bob, Doug, Jack and John for working with, teaching and leading the group. Also thanks to our corporate sponsors, Grazies, Rogers Cinema, Riiser Energy, Wisconsin Valley Fair, Perkins, Bill’s Pizza, the YMCA, Point County Market, the Red Cross, Culvers, Stevens Point Parks and Recreation, and a couple somewhat anonymous gifts.

This weekend it is interior walls and soffit and fascia. We hope to have the rough plumbing and electrical next week, start on the ceiling drywall, insulation and vinyl siding all in the next few weeks.

In mid September we will begin on the second home next door.

An amazing amount of progress was made on our home during the last two weeks!! The group from Mount Prospect really hit the ground running. In three days they; placed Tyvek, foamed the exterior, picture framed the windows, placed the windows, built interior walls and finished the stairs. Thanks again to Dave and Rachel, the students, and the “hard cores” that helped Bob pull it all together. What a great group.

Last week the plumbers and electricians completed their rough-ins. This weekend, August 12-13, with the help of several new volunteers (thanks!!), we placed the front window, the front and back doors, finished the interior walls, and completed the soffit and siding on the west side. We hope to have the shingling completed this week which will enable us to place the drywall on the ceiling in preparation for insulation. We will also continue with the soffit and siding.

If you have not stopped by for a while, come take a look. The home is really taking shape. We still hope to start our second home on that site in mid to late September. We will then need a huge push to get that home “dry” before the (dare I say it) snow starts flying. Come join in!

It was great working this weekend, with the weather being a little cooler. Unfortunately in another 8 – 10 weeks we’ll all be looking for those 90 degree days. On Friday the 19th the attic area was prepared for insulation by placing the venting. Also an entryway closet was framed up. Saturday the siding was continued around the North and East sides. Also foam was placed on the North gable end in preparation for siding. We hope to get the roofer started soon, and then we will begin with the dry walling.

It was a “good karma” weekend for Habitat. On Saturday the 27th in the morning we participated with the local Boy Scouts and the American Red Cross in our first annual “ Good Turn for America” event in Portage County. The project not only showcased the tremendous spirit of volunteerism we enjoy in Portage County, but more importantly it gave the Scouts the opportunity to become involved, at an early age, in a worthwhile community project. It is our hope that the Scouts, (along with our PJ Jacobs crew, and our terrific crews from UWSP) will carry that spirit of giving throughout their lives, making their lives richer and the world a better place.Thanks go to Dick Judy for organizing the event and getting us the great PR, to Adam Freund of the Scouts and to Sherri Galle-Teske of the Red Cross. Also thank you to Channel 7, Channel 9, the Stevens Point Journal, and the Portage County Gazette.

Not to be out done by the morning's collaboration, the RA’s from Hyer Hall at UWSP arrived in the afternoon, rolled up their sleeves and got to work. By the time the afternoon was over, all the siding except for the front of the garage was finished. As usual, these UWSP students rocked! It looks great, thank you all.

Although we will not be working on Friday or Saturday of the upcoming Labor Day weekend, there is a chance the roofer may need some help during the week. If I hear anything I’ll send out a note.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend. See you at the site the following weekend.

Ok I know I told you in the last update the roof was finished. Well….it wasn’t quite, but we did finish it off on Friday, September 9th. And….I know I told you the charming story of Cindy’s son volunteering to do the roof….well I guess I took a little poetic license there too, as it was actually Steve Lansing, an independent contractor, that donated his talents for the roofing. Thank you Steve. OK, I think the remainder of this update is pretty close to the way things actually happened this weekend.

Again, Friday we finished with the shingles. Saturday brought several new volunteers, thank you all, and sweltering heat. We worked on getting the porch ready for the soffit, hung the vapor barrier for the ceiling, and put up the ceiling drywall in the three bedrooms. It is really taking shape.

We will continue with the drywall this coming weekend, and also work on the siding and soffit if time and numbers permit.

A quick note to our strong UWSP contingent, come say “Hi!” at the Student Involvement Fair this Tuesday from 7 – 9pm at the UC.

As to the start of the second home, we need City Plan Commission, and Common Council approval for the site from the City. We hope to receive that approval with the next two weeks and we will be off and running. Again, we will need as much help a you are able to muster to get that home enclosed by winter (winter?? It is 7:30 and still 85 out….don’t worry it will be here soon enough).

I did receive a response from Habitat International concerning our offer to help. I suspect any firm details will be a while in coming, but I will keep you informed, please keep the victims in your thoughts.

Things are rolling along at the house. CWHfH attended an Involvement Fair at UW-SP this week and we had over 100 students submit their email addresses in order to keep apprised of our work, and to volunteer when they are able. This weekend we had 10 students, including volunteers from Roach, Pray-Sims, Steiner, South and Watson’s residence halls. And we also enjoyed our continuing terrific support from the community. Thank you all!

We dry walled half of the living room ceiling, finished the siding around the front door and deck, and finished the majority of the soffit. The coming weeks will see us finish the ceiling dry wall, insulate the walls, “rock” the walls and finish the siding. We are still awaiting city approval of our site plan for the corner lot. When we start on that home will we need a big push.

As to the Katrina mission we are still awaiting firm information from Habitat International. In case you missed it, Habitat was mentioned by President Bush as the leading charitable organization involved in his proposed “Urban Homesteading Act”. As you can well imagine, the planning and coordination of HfH’s involvement is daunting. As information is disseminated to local affiliates, I will pass it on to you. HfH knows of our interest in assisting with the relief effort.

We had a great crew again this weekend and got a lot accomplished. All the soffit is finished, the siding on the roof top gables is done, the ceiling dry wall is almost completed and we got a good start on the fascia. The front door was adjusted, the siding on the garage was started, and the vent in the attic was improved. Oh, almost forgot, we have about half of the back deck done too.

This week the PJ Jacob’s ninth graders start their volunteer work. They will be placing the fiberglass batts in the walls and hanging the vapor barrier. The rest of the drywall will be delivered this week and we will start hanging it next weekend.

Hope you are enjoying the unbelievable weather. It was a great day to be out working on Saturday, October 1st, and the Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority and the Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity from UWSP was out to volunteer. While some of the crew finished the ceiling drywall, the rest of the gang prepped the south wall for siding. And with the placement of the final piece, all of the siding was finished!! With the ceiling drywall completed, CAP Services will be in to insulate the attic.

During the week the PJ Jacobs team did a great job of insulating the walls and placing the vapor barrier. They will begin with the dry walling this week. We will continue the dry walling on Saturday and also work on the fascia.

The Plan Commission approved the site plan for our next home, and the Common Council finalizes it in a couple more weeks. We anticipate starting the excavation soon, and having the slab done by the last week in October.

We had a good day Saturday, October 8th at the house. It started out with Bob Hoogesteger from Pittsville Homes stopping by with a truck full (over $4,000 worth) of donated windows, thank you Bob!

Then we had a crew working inside and a crew outside. Outside we finished all the siding, fascia and soffit. Inside we continued with the drywall that the PJ crew had been working on during the week, and placed the egress window in the basement. We will continue with the drywall this week.

The start date for the next home has been pushed back to the end of November because of the process of site plan approval. All we will do with that home this year is pour the slab. We are in the process of obtaining a home that needs some remodeling, and we anticipate starting that this year yet.

This is the week Habitat will release some firm information on “Operation Home Delivery”. I will forward the info to you when I receive it.

As to Katrina, Habitat will be making a major informational release October 10^th. I will forward that to you as soon as I receive it. The Today Show on Monday October 3rd televised the first “Operation Home Delivery” home being raised in Mississippi.

If you stop by the house you’ll see it looks almost finished from the outside! The railing on the front porch was done Saturday October 15th, and the back deck was finished too. The steps will be completed once the final grade is established. Inside the drywall is coming right along, and the door to the garage was placed.

This weekend (October 22nd) we will have the UWSP Women’s Basketball team volunteering from 10:45 until 3. The team has been volunteering with us for many years and we appreciate their support.

If you haven’t been to the house in a while stop in and take a look!

Next week I’ll be away, so…..I know it is tough to take…….no update.

I have been away the last two weekends, and as usual in my absence (hmmmm….) lots was accomplished. Two weeks ago on October 22nd, we had Coach Shirley Egner and the UWSP Women’s basketball team volunteering, and this last Saturday, October 29th, it was the Boy Scouts. All the dry wall is done, the retaining wall around the lower egress window is completed and the back deck is finished. The dry wall will be taped, mudded and sprayed once the attic insulation is in and a furnace is installed. We hope that all will happen this week and next.

We took possession of a home that will require some rehabilitation. This coming weekend we will begin hauling trash and carpeting out of that house. Then later we will repair doors and drywall, do some work in the basement and get the home back up to standards. TO THAT END WE WILL BE WORKING AT 320 FIFTH AVENUE IN STEVENS POINT THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5^th. Please bring work gloves. The following weekend I expect we will be back at Franklin Street, but stay tuned.

We are currently waiting to have the heat installed at the Franklin Street home. Once that is done the sub-contractor will be in to mud, tape and spray the drywall. When that has had a chance to dry, we will be doing some painting, and then begin on the doors, trim and cabinets. In the mean time we will begin site preparation on the adjacent lot, and will have the slab poured in the next several weeks.

WE WILL BE WORKING AT THE THIRD AND FRANKLIN LOCATION ON NOVEMBER 12th.

Hope you have those snow shovels greased, yipes! The shovels Skyward Inc. volunteers used Saturday may not have been greased, but I’m telling you that crew moved a ton (actually several tons) of dirt. We also had new volunteers from UWSP, some relatively new continuing volunteers, and the old standby hard cores. All in all we had about 25 people pitching in. Aside from the shoveling we were able to mix and apply the Insul-Crete to the Styrofoam, fire-caulk the garage drywall, insulate the top of the foundation, and give the home a good cleanup. That and wolf down a few doughnuts and some great pizza provided by Skyward. Thank you all, it was a great day!

This Saturday, the 19^th,………does that mean Thanksgiving is next week?....................we are shifting back to 320 Fifth Avenue. We will continue with cleanup and evaluation. The cleanup will include cleaning out the debris from the garage and starting to tear out the carpet and pad. The evaluation phase will involve checking all the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and structural components to see exactly what needs some help.

We will not be working the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26^th.

The drywall will be finished the week of December 5th, and we will be painting with the primer on December 10th.

WE WILL BE WORKING AT THE THIRD AND FRANKLIN LOCATION ON DECEMBER 10th.

Wow, we had some PAINTERS working this weekend. With another great turnout from UWSP (thanks Sarah and Jason) and with volunteers (and some brushes and rollers, thanks) from the Church of the Intercession, we had the entire home on Franklin painted in under four hours, unbelievable!

We also had a crew working on the rehab on 5^th Avenue and we got another wall taken down, and put another couple up.

This coming Saturday, the 17^th, we will be working at the Franklin Street home. We will be starting to hang doors and place cabinets.

Not to be out done by the painting crew we had last weekend, Amy and Jose painted all the walls and ceilings last week, and it looks great, way to go! That cleared the way for us to bring the kitchen cabinets up from the basement and hang the upper cabinets and place the lowers. After a great lunch of home made chicken noodle soup we also hung a couple doors (just looks like snow on the picture!) this weekend. Dave Rasmussen and the PJ crews will be in during the week to continue with the doors and start with the finish trim. What a difference a couple of weeks make. If you get a chance to stop by in January please do, you’ll be proud of what you accomplished, thanks.

We are not working on December 24^th (Merry Christmas!!) or December 31^st (Happy New Year!!!).

My heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of you for your support, and for sharing your most precious commodity, your time. It is only through the dedication of our volunteers that we are able to further our mission.

On January 7th, after having a couple weeks off, it was good to get back together with the gang and back to work on Amy and Jose’s home. Just three more work weekends and their home it is!

We had a good turnout of volunteers. After some redesign to add more living room space we finished setting the kitchen cabinets. This coming weekend, or more likely the following weekend, we will place the counter tops. We also worked on fine tuning the doors, putting up some trim, and placing a temporary front stoop.

Our next work day, Saturday the14^th, will be at Franklin again. We MAY work Friday the 20^thin addition to Saturday the 21^st, stay tuned.

Well it is crunch time at Third and Franklin! We will be working the next two FRIDAYS and Saturdays (January 20th, 21st,27th, 28th). Fridays we work from 12:30 to 4:30, Saturday the usual 9 – 4:30. This weekend, January 14th, we were able to set the final kitchen cabinet, put door knobs on, assemble the closet hardware and work on the stairs to the basement.

This week the countertops will be delivered and the floor coverings will be installed. So, over the next two weekends we will install the countertops, the bathroom vanity, place the closet doors, finish the handrail on the stairs, have the HVAC and plumbing finished and cleanup! So, we’ll keep ourselves busy.

As I mentioned, the floor coverings will be in, so as usual at this point we will leave our shoes outside and wear slippers (sure those big floppy bunny slippers are fine….) or socks inside. Holes are optional.

So, we will wrap up Jose and Amy’s home this month, then move on to the Fifth Avenue home.

Things are progressing well at Amy and Jose’s home, and I guess they had better as we close in 10 days! We placed the bathroom vanity, and the countertops in both the bath and the kitchen. The trim around the garage was wrapped in aluminum and the weather stripping placed. The final set of locks and door knobs were installed, and about half a dumpster of “stuff” was hauled out. The flooring other than the carpeting was installed on Friday. The plumber and heating contractor should finish Monday or so, the stove and fridge come on Tuesday, the carpeting is coming on Thursday (remember those slippers or socks!) , and some time the “blower door” test for our “Energy Star” certification will get fit in.

We will work on Friday and Saturday (January 28th and 29th) this coming weekend and see if we can’t finish the job up!

The dedication for the home will be Wednesday February 1^st at 4:00. Stop by and check out your handiwork, and take a well deserved pat on the back.

Well we did it! We finished Amy and Jose’s home with an hour and a half to spare. OK, as you can imagine the landscaping still needs to be done (thank you Master Gardeners for your help on that down the road), and three pieces of bathroom trim need to be placed, but hey, that’s it! We finished off the stair rail, the blinds and the closet doors....had another great lunch, hit it hard again that afternoon.........................and picked up our mess.

We are having the dedication this Wednesday at 4:00. Please stop by. Amy and Jose did a wonderful job with coordinating the colors and floor coverings, and if you’ll allow me, we all did a great job on the home. On behalf of our Board of Directors, a huge thank you to all of you We at Habitat know it doesn’t work without you.

The next work day is Saturday February 4^th at the rehab on Fifth Avenue. We’ll be working there until the frost is out and we are able to begin on the next home at Third and Franklin. As usual I’ll let you know when we will be working Friday.

The dedication of Amy and Jose's home was a great event. Thanks to Steve his organization, and to Martin and Pastor Chris Schwab for their involvement. And thanks to all who attended, especially Laura and Colleen who drove up from Mount Prospect for the ceremony. Laura and Colleen were two of the students from Mount Prospect High that volunteered for a week this summer. Amy and Jose were presented with a beautiful quilt that was graciously donated by the Undercover Quilters of Stevens Point. And Doug Henderson provided them with a DVD of all the great pictures he took of the construction.

Thanks for all your support in making Amy and Jose’s dream come to be.

I’ll keep you informed as to which home we will be working on each week, thanks for your indulgence.

I’ll keep you posted as to our next projects as soon as I am able.

So, keep involved, keep volunteering, and keep helping…not only with CWHfH, but with every opportunity that may present itself, no matter how big, or how small.

As always, thank you!!

Thanks for all your help and keep that feeling in your hearts. If you aren’t sure what feeling I am talking about, stop by, help out, and it will all become very clear.

The construction schedule is progressing well, but there is always room for another hammer or two.

Check back for the latest updates and photographs. Most of the photos are courtesy of Doug Henderson, thanks Doug (we rarely get a picture of Doug working.........no, no it isn't that he doesn't work, he does! But he is usually on the wrong side of the camera).

We are always in need of volunteers for construction. Your level of skill is not as important as your level of enthusiasm. If you have an interest please email our

, or fill out our online