December 11th, 2010

Last year at this time we were in a mad dash to finish our house by the end of the year. Our house was to be dedicated on the 17th of December only to be postponed due to a two foot snowstorm that brought Baltimore to a stand still. So in respect to the weather and hustle of last year, this work day was mellow. The weather although a little cold was sunny and allowed for lots of progress on the deck that now has all its floor planks and most of its railings completed. The framing of house is nearly complete as well, where only one basement wall is missing. The HVAC work has already begun and spray insulation is just around the corner. That means that our house is nearing the finishing stage when the drywall goes up and house takes on a drastic new look. That is also the point where doors and trim get installed, painting occurs, and each room nears completion. However, that process will probably have to wait to 2011 due to the holidays and having to wait for the electricians, plumpers, and spray insulation folk to finish their work first.

Here Tonya shows off the new brick work done on the front of the house:


Here Jean and Urban finish off the deck planks:


Here is a picture of the whole team standing on the deck:

Updates since August

As you may have well realized, it has been a while since we published a post about the progress on our house. It turns out that Andrew and Kurt are great at making progress on the house but not so great at documenting it here. Since I've been away working on my own projects and travelling for work, that meant that no blog entries have occurred since late August.

No biggie though because the house continues to progress thanks the helping hands of many Northrop Grumman employees and their friends and families. We've had five regular work days at the house and 2 team build opportunities, where specific groups from NGC work on the house on an off Friday. As a result the house is looking good. The roof was finished including securing the original hand-crarved lattice vent to the new roof. All the internal framing has been completed, and work has begun on a deck to overlook the beautiful sod that was recently put in. Two tubs have been put in each of the upstairs bathrooms, and a storage area was added under a turn in the stairs to use all the available space in the house. All the fireproofing has also taken place. Soon the professionals in electrical, plumbing and HVAC will come in to the house to do their jobs. We also got the great news that spray insulation will be used. Not only does it do a great job of insulating a house, it also keeps us volunteers from having to install fiberglass sheets of insulation, which is one of our least favorite jobs. So thanks to everyone that can out and supported us so far, now we are reaching that sprint before the dedication where the framing starts to look like a house, and then at the dedication, the house turns into a home for Tonya and her family.

Check out some of the latest pics:
Check out the tub waiting for some plumbing.


Here is a great picture from the 3rd floor of the deck being constructed:


Here is a great view of the new lawn and the team from the last team build of the year:


Here is a nice view of the deck and stucco along the back wall:

8/20/2010 and 8/21/2010

On Friday August 20th and Saturday the 21rst we were able to work on our house and make a lot of progress. On Friday, a team build activity involving the Space Systems Mechanical Group at Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems gave up a day off to work on the house. Organized by Paul Lisiewski, the group of eight volunteers helped install the stairs in the house, which is not an easy task but one that probably valued as much as having a roof over your head since stairs mean no more climbing up steep ladders with tools, or lumber or 50lb bags of mortar. As you can see, the stairs look great. The exposed brick along all the stairs will also be a lovely feature for this house.




The crew also worked on building the wedges for the roof which are nailed to the top of the third floor framing and give the roof a slight pitch so rain water runs off the roof. New homes today have much steeper roofs, but the row homes in Baltimore, built in the early 1900's or earlier have this slight pitch, and it works well. Roof rafters are nailed to the wedges much like the floor joists are nailed to the exterior wall framing, and then plywood is nailed across it, much like subflooring. Felt roofing paper and then tar is added on top to complete the roof. The Friday crew got a few rafters in place, and on Saturday we picked up right where they left off, with the goal of getting roof plywood over the brand new stairs to protect from the elements.

Here a crew works from the neighboring roofs to get the rafters in place. We were planning on using 2x10 wood from rafters, but decided to use the I-beam boards instead since they are just as strong and weigh a lot less. The next picture shows a second crew completing the wedges further down roofline, while the last picture shows some of the plywood in place.







All in all it was a good day and much progress was made, unfortunately though, we had our first major accident. John, a brand new volunteer was the victim of an angry nail. While we were nailing stop blocks in between the rafters, a nail from the nail gun went into the wood it was supposed to, but got deflected by a large knot in the wood. The nail traveled out of the wood and flew four feet through the air until it found John's arm. The 2 and 1/2 inch nail completely lodged itself in John's arm. It was a total freak accident, but ruins our streak of nearly six years without any incidents. John went to the hospital and x-rays showed the nail did not hit any bone, tendions, or ligaments. So we feel very lucky for that. He is in good spirits and has just a little soreness after a few days. We wish him a speedy recovery.

7/24/2010

Well I may have stated in the past how hot our workdays were this year, but as the ol' saying goes, we hadn't seen nothing yet. Temperatures this workday topped 107 degrees! Despite the heat, a dedicated crew including the home owner wanted to work.
Since the last time we were in the house, which was back during Summer Build Week, the habitat staff added the landing for the stairs in the house. This made it slightly easier to get up to the third floor were most of the work needed to be done at this point. The rain two weeks before had not done too much damage thanks to our new system of shellacking the subfloor once it is nailed down to the floor joists.

So work kicked off on the third floor by our small crew. Despite the heat and the smaller number of people, we managed to build several exterior walls, including the front wall which is probably one of the most important. That is because it supports the 100 year old ornamental roof work that is irreplacable. Once this wall was in place we could finish removing the last old roof rafters to get ready to build a new roof. We also got a large portion of the back wall up, complete with plywood exterior. Not a bad work day for packing up early to avoid heat exhaustion. Thankfully no one got sick or even sun burnt thanks to sunscreen and lots of cold water.

The first picture is of our working day sans Kurt, Rob, and Randy (who served as our photographer as well as a volunteer)


This picture is looking down from the third floor at the landings for the stairs:


Here is the crew placing the front wall to hold the ornamental wood work which is not pictured:


Finally a view of the back of the house with exterior plywood on the third floor.

Our 7/10/2010 workday

For those of you in Maryland and the general area, you know that things have been a little hot lately. Our summer build week was during a major heat wave and following week included another heat wave with temperatures breaking 100 degrees for three days. Despite the heat and near 100% humidity in the air, we had no rain in the Baltimore area. We were actually approaching drought conditions, so it was with mixed feelings when we awoke to a rain storm on Saturday. On one hand, we really needed the rain, and it would keep the nasty temperatures down during our workday. But, with no roof on our house yet, we knew it was going to be a soggy day - wet floors, wet lumber, wet workers. After arriving at the warehouse, though, the Habitat staff informed us that they had a magical plan to keep us dry . . . move us into a house with a roof! So we left our roof-less house and headed over to 1412 Mount Street - another house in the Sandtown area sponsored by T Rowe Price. They were short on volunteers for the day, so our crew of 15 headed over there and found an interesting house. Here are a pictures of the house, with Dan and Jess posing in the front "window".



The house is so interesting because it is a row home, like so many others in Baltimore, but its neighboring row homes are missing. It's large window areas also are unique to the area - signifying that this house had a make-over since it was first built in the late 1800's. Unfortunately for us, it is also unique because some mistakes were made in the floor plan of this rehab. So a large portion of our crew spent the day ripping out a portion of the first floor and entrance landing to fix the entrance into the house, which was too steep. We had to make the entrance area larger in area, so more steps could be added to cover the vertical distance without each step being too steep. This meant cutting floor joists, removing the landing, and creating a potentially not-so-safe environment. So we whipped up a temporary wall for support for the joists, and were very careful and cautious in working on that part of the house. The rest of crew tackled laying new joists and subfloor on the second floor. The rain kept the temperature in the house in the mid 70's which made working much more pleasant, but we look forward to working on our own house again soon.

Here are some more pictures of us in action:

Summer Build Week - Part Two

Despite the increasing heat as the week continued on so did progress. Wednesday we had a small crew come out but were joined by our homeowner and her family, and a few other independent volunteers. The day started of with a bit of re-work but we were able to make significant progress in laying down the sub floor on the third level. After a short post lunch hiatus due to a lack of generator fuel, we were able to get most of the framing re-work completed.

Wednesday's Crew




Thursday we had a huge crew including a dozen Northrop folks plus a group from Erickson's IT department joined in. We were able to complete the second floor exterior walls and finish laying all of the sub floor on the third floor. A team started constructing the third floor walls.



We were also able to get the stairwell on the second floor framed in, helping to eliminate the un-obstructed three story drop.



Thursday's Team



Friday we had another good turnout of Northrop folks. Picture taking was kept at a minimum, but framing progressed well. We started to frame and sheath the back walls on the third floor including working the logistics of moving the required plywood and gypsum sheathing to the third floor. A landing was built between the second and third floors which will ultimately accept a set of switchback stairs. A brave crew was able to cut back the roofs on the adjacent houses allowing our house to have a higher roof line to meet an 8 foot ceiling height throughout the third floor.

Friday's Group

Summer Build Week underway.

Monday June 21rst and Tuesday June 22nd was the kickoff of Summer Build Week, an annual event at Sandtown where hundreds of volunteers show up during the week to work on 20+ houses, landscaping, and to see and feel the work being done in the community. This year marked the 19th year that Sandtown held the event, but the first year where Northrop Grumman had a significant presence. This year also was poignant due to the recent passing of Allen Tibels who founded the Sandtown Habitat Affiliate.
May we remember Allen, his vision, and his ability to get all people to believe in building Sandtown as a community, not just a bunch of restored houses.


After starting the morning with announcements, many thanks to all the sponsors, churches, homeowners, schools, and groups that volunteered for the day and singing a few songs, we headed to the house. On Monday, we had group of about 12 Northrop folk that showed up and Tuesday we had a mix of three Northrop people and a few friends from Stanley Black and Decker and the US Coast Guard. In that time we made a lot of progress on getting the second and third floor ready. We framed the exterior walls on the second floor and the homeowner and her family exposed the brick wall in the front foyer. We also got all of the joists laid for the third floor and began laying subfloor down on the third floor. All this occurred in the 90+ degree heat. Thankfully the Build Week support group did very well to make sure we had lots of cool liquids available, as well as slices of fruit. Our lunch break was also nice to cool down in the shade and to sit and meet other volunteers from various locations around Maryland and even New York City.

Here are just a few pics I took at the end of the day Tuesday. In the first one you can see us packing up the tools and power cords for the day, and well as the rear of the house where the new second floor windows and framing and the third floor joists are visible. In the second is the view from the second floor.



Many thanks to everyone that came out Monday and Tuesday, and I hope that the 19th Annual Summer Build Week continues to be safe and productive.

-Rob

May 15, 2010

Another wonderful Saturday work day. This week we had a fairly small group, however were able to enjoy the company of several people who had not been out before as well as several we had not seen in a while. We were also joined once again by Tonya, our homeowner.



We started the day by moving a fresh load of material into the house that was dumped in the alley earlier in the morning. 100+ 2x4s and 25+ sheets of plywood. Figured it was best to take care of this while everyone was still fully charged rather than after everyone was beat and the crew started to 'dissipate'.

In picking up where the Manufacturing group left off, we had several additional I-joists to install on the second floor. In addition there were more squash blocks and rim joists to install before we were ready to lay the subfloor.



The task of framing out the fist floor bathroom was also completed including the stairwell framing for the stairs up to the second floor.



Despite several of us being covered in glue by the end of the day, we were able to lay all of the subfloor on the second level and get a protective coat of shellac to protect our work from the weather. We also started to sheath the back framed section of the house to start being able to close up and secure the house at the end of the day.



We are taking the next 2 week cycle Saturday (the 29th) off for Habitat's observation of Memorial Day, but are looking forward the 12 of June as well as Summer Build Week June 21 through 25.

May 14, 2010

We would like to extend a special thanks to the Manufacturing / Operations group who held a team building event on May 14. This group really found their rhythm and made amazing progress.

When the group arrived they were greeted with a clear first floor deck, and when they left the house was almost ready for the second floor deck installation. Walls were constructed down both sides of the house and most of the second floor I-joists we placed.



Additionally the basement stair well was framed in allowing for the 1st floor half bath floor to be installed.



The Manufacturing / Operations Team

May 1, 2010

Our workday was a gorgeous sunny day which is fairly normal for May. But, what was not so normal was the 90 degree thermometer making our workday feel more like July than May. Despite the heat and sun, though, we had a great turnout and accomplished a lot. Our big focus was to continue working on the first floor's subfloor. Most of the joists had been laid during the last workday, so all we had to do was glue and nail sheets of 3/4" subfloor plywood onto the joists. Seems easy enough but execution can be difficult since the plywood locks up with its neighbor sheets and since you have to be a careful balance beam walker if on the joists themselves. Walking on "doubles", where two joists are connected to each other is easy though since a 6" beam is a lot easier to walk on than a 3" beam.
Another major task of the day was getting the fencing installed. Poles installed immediately after the foundation was poured were trimmed to the right height and capped. Fence pole was strung through the caps for support and then the fence is clamped to the poles. Although not quite finished, the fence is looking great already.
To prevent our lovely new first floor from warping in this rainy time of year, and coat of shallack was applied to the floor. This causes the water to run off without being absorbed into the wood. Our last house had to have two floors reinforced with more plywood because too much warping occurred during rains. So tarps we used were not full proof and water that got under the tarp would be trapped and cause more damage.

Here are some photos of our efforts:

April 17th

Since we were late in kicking off the new house, we decided to have back to back volunteer days in April.
Another great showing from Northrop volunteers helped us put together another successful day.
Work continued removing old concrete from the back yard and leveling it out with extra dirt from the basement. There was still a good deal of old contrete to haul to the dumpster. Also, contractors poured the basement floor and put in the fountation wall in the back of the house where there previously was nothing, so we had to clean out the the house as the contractors left lots of rubble in the basement.



Once the basement was cleaned out, we started framing the basement walls.



We put together a very efficient assembly line and even before lunch we were putting in the 1st floor beams.

After lunch we continued working in the back yard and with framing the basement and putting in beams. By the end of the day we had made some great progress. We were able to finish up most of the first floor, build the opening for the first flood-basement stairs, and get the back yard completely cleaned out and ready for contractors to pour a small patio.

The weather was terrific and everyone had a fun time. Great job everyone on a very successful day!

Kick off of our New House

For those of you who followed the progress of our original house at 1606 North Gilmor St, thank you. But, that house is complete and the Smith family are enjoying residing in their new home. Our focus has now shifted to another big project - namely refurbishing 1118 North Fulton Ave. - another three story row home in the Sandtown area of Baltimore.

A lot has happened behind the scenes to get this new house, first Jim Pitts and Ted Imes informed us that Northrop would sponser another house at the dedication. We then sat down with Habitat to decide which house would be a good candidate for us. The city sold the house to Sandtown Habitat, and an architect drew up the refurbish plans for the house. Permits were acquired for the plans, and the Habitat staff gutted the house which was in aweful shape due to lead paint in the house, and just lots of rotting wood.

By the time Kurt, myself and our newest team leader Andrew got there on 4/08/2010 the house looked like this:


There is no roof, no back wall, and nothing but dirt in the basement, not so good. But, with a little love, a lot of hard work, some paint, and before you know it, it will be a home.

We got started on adding the love and the hard work on Saturday April 10th with a large turn out. That was essential because the goal for the day was to dig a pit around the basement to add a drainage ditch. Here we are digging away.



After the 12 inch deep and 12 inch wide ditch was dug, we laid in pipe all around the ditch and filled it with gravel. The pipe has holes in it where water can seep into and if the ground is fully saturated, like after a large rain, the water will run into a sump-pump collection hole and be pumped out. It was a grueling amount of work, but we managed to find time to dig out the concrete pad in the backyard, fill in the big holes in the backyard and mortar up a bunch of joist holes along the walls. Great job everybody!

Here is what the finished product looked like. Habitat and professionals are now in the process of cementing the basement over this gravel and drainage system.


Here is the happy crew, walking back to the warehouse to drop off all the tools we used. (Happy to go home and take a nap after all that shoveling.)

House Dedication

This past Saturday was our Dedication Ceremony for our Northrop / Sandtown Habitat house at 1606 North Gilmor Street. The dedication was originally scheduled for December 19th, and so we had been working every weekend since October 17th (except for Thanksgiving weekend) to prepare the house for its ceremony. For the dedication isn't just about declaring the house finished, it's all about celebrating the workers who worked on it, Sandtown Habitat for getting one more house refurbished, the local community to see the work accomplished, . . . but most importantly it is about handing the house keys over to its new owners.



Despite all our hard work to get everything ready for the 19th, Mother Nature had other plans, big plans in fact. At first the weathermen were calling for an inch or two of snow, no big deal. Then that turned into four to eight inches, okay well over a day that's not too bad. By Thursday morning they were calling for around a foot of snow, and by Thursday afternoon even that had grown to a forecast of around two feet. Now that's a problem. Maryland comes to a stand still sometimes even with just a little snow, but two feet would definitely be impossible to overcome, so we had to quickly cancel the dedication for the 19th. This was the first time a dedication ceremony was ever cancelled by Sandtown, so we weren't sure what the plan would be. Normally Leticia Smith and her family (the family chosen by Habitat to be the home owners) would begin to move in right after the ceremony. Thankfully, Sandtown decided to allow Leticia and her family to move in late Friday and early Saturday and the dedication would be postponed. January 23rd turned out to be that day. It was a good decision, since the last forecasts turned out to be correct. We got over two feet of snow. Here is a picture out of my house looking at a few cars totally covered.




The weather was quite nice, especially compared to December 19th, it was sunny but still a little crisp. Still we had the ceremony outside as is the custom, until the ribbon cutting ceremony after which folks are allowed inside for an open house. Leticia was graceous enough to let folks in her home, even with all her stuff already moved inside.

The ceremony itself was wonderful. Folks were present from the Sandtown Habitat board of directors, New Song Urban Ministries and New Song Community Church (backers of Sandtown Habitat and located in Sandtown), Northrop Grumman, and friends and family of the Smiths, to make a rather large gathering outside Leticia's new home. Jim Pitts, the President of Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, and Ted Imes, the Director of Community and Educational Outreach were present and helped Kurt and I and everyone involved give the house over Leticia.

Leticia and her family were very greatful for all the hard work we had put into the house and for showing her, Paula, Jerome, and Stephanie how to work with us on the house. It truly was a magical moment especially for Kurt and myself. Not only did we get to help cut the ribbon, but we got to see Northrop get the credit it deserved for sponsering the house and labor that went into refurbishing it. We had to jump through a few hoops to coordinate between Northrop and Habitat, which required a bunch of volunteer time outside of constructing the house, but it paid off with a big dividend.

We also found out by Jim Pitts and Ted Imes, that another 50,000 dollars has been allocated for a new house for 2010! So come back soon to follow our progress on that house.

Here are two photos from the ceremony. The first is of Leticia giving her remarks about receiving the house, with her family off to the right. The second is of the actual ribbon cutting ceremony, note the giant yellow scissors.




Here are some photos of the house including a bathroom with nice tile, a bedroom and the back yard. The kitchen looks great too, as do all the other rooms, but the house was soooo full of people we couldn't get any good photographs.






A special thanks to all of the folks who volunteered on 1606 North Gilmor, but I want to give a big shout out to the following folk:

Danny Waid and Bo - our Habitat construction managers
Mike Barb - our Habitat point of contact for press releases and public relations

and to:
Holly Bennett
Tim Bernadzikowski
Craig Cambias
Andrew Clark
Eric Fenelon
Randy Kuning
Michael Lean
Liz Reigel
Robert Reyes
Dana Rittermann
Eric Rittermann

All of which had over 30 hours of manual labor volunteer time. Thanks again.

-Rob and Kurt