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!