3/18 and 3/19 The dash to the finish.

With the dedication now less than a week away, we had to ralley around our volunteers to get our shelter looking more like a house. So we had work days both on Friday and Saturday and had plenty of volunteers on both days. I was a bit worried since the Northrop Grumman web-based volunteer tool that we used to handle all our events went down. But with a little elbow grease we kept everyone informed and managed to get volunteers out both days. Our thanks to everyone that came out since we got a tremendous amount of work done, from pouring a concrete slab for the deck stairs to hanging a bunch of closet doors, bathroom vanities, and banisters, to caulking, painting, and staining all around the house. Randy also finished his extensive work in the stair area by finishing the storage area under the stairs to be fit for a child's favorite hiding place. The deck got its final attention by completing the stairs to the grass and all top plates and railings as well. We sanded the top plates and routed them as well for a really nice finished look.

All in all almost 200 Northrop employees and their friends and family committed 2500 hours to building this house. Considering we started with a dirt floor, three brick walls and no roof, we came a long way in a short amount of time. Thank you again to everyone who supported this effort and definitely come out to the dedication ceremony Saturday at noon.



Here are some pictures from Friday:
Here Randy shows off the covering blinds of his piece d' resistance

Here Tom and Steve enjoy the nice weather on the deck while cutting some wood.



Here Dave paints one of the many places that needed a touch up:


Rob stains the top plates of the half walls on the third floor.


Here are some more pictures from Saturday's efforts:
Jean vacuums up in preparation for painting.


Mike and Rich add banisters on the first floor stairs.


Hirsh and Dave add the finishing touches to a closet.


Nina adds final touches to the second floor bathroom.


The deck in all its glory taken from the kitchen door.

3/5/2011

The dedication date is fastly approaching, and only a few more workdays are scheduled between now and the March 26th dedication date. Thankfully we had a team build event on Friday where the team installed the upper cabinets in the kitchen. On Saturday we finished the cabinet install by securing the lower cabinets and glueing down the counter top. Due to the great weather, Hirsh, Kurt, and Craig made big strides in getting the railing of the deck finished, and began adding the decorate posts between the main railing posts. A lot of progress was also made in the wood working aspect of the house by creating a bunch of decorative window sills and top caps that are placed on partial walls throughout the house near the stairs. The usual caulking and painting was also taking place, since there is always so much to do in that department. The big projects that still remain are finishing the exposed brick walls throughout the house and adding the bathroom essentials. Great job to the hard working team this week, and we hope to see you at the house soon.

Here is a view of the kitchen with the upper cabinets installed:


Here is a picture of one of the exposed brick walls at the stairway between the first and second floor that will be finished soon with polyurethane. Decorative wood work is visible on the right hand side where the stairs meet the brick.


Finally, here is a photo of the second floor front bedroom that has been painted eggshell.