005/25 build day

Hey Folks,

Sorry for the delay between posts. I've been preparing for and traveling for my sabbatical. I'm writing from a home along the water of an inlet on the western Irish coast. It's a bit overcast today but for the last 4 days it's been beautiful. I'm told it was unusual for this time of year as it was in Oregon when I left with temperatures in the 80's.

Anyway, on to the post for the work we did on the 25th of May.

Looks like there was more progress made during the week in the Thrivent house. 

 We had a wonderful group, Friday Girls working with us on the Women Build house. These ladies meet on Friday evenings to do fine needle work and this day, they took up hammers to volunteer for Habitat. Crew leader Ri Len, showing the Friday Girls how important it is to make sure each row of siding is level.

 

These women were quick studies and were off and running in no time. 

One of our future homeowners working on a neighbor's home as part of their 500 sweat equity hours.

By end of the day, it looks like we're doing a pretty good job making sure the side rows are even with the back of the house.

Another group of folks were busy installing drywall in house 5. When installing a partial piece of drywall on the inside top of the closet opening, you can take measurements and precut a piece or you can do it the 'quick & dirty' way by finding a piece that fits the width then zipping it using a RotoZip.

      

  

The yellow contraption unfolds to lift a sheet of drywall up to the ceiling until it's screwed into the TJis enough to hold it in place. The lift is lowered then the rest of the sheet can be fully attached to the TJIs

Mold resistant green drywall board installed in the upstairs bath in house 5.

Hal, one of our Site Supervisors and other volunteers, reaching a tough spot.

 

Before & after pics in the upstairs bedrooms.

 

 

This last shot doesn't look very impressive but  it involved making one strip of vinyl fit around the electrical box and the window. Normally I'd go through who knows how many sheets to make it work. But to my & everyone else's amazement, I managed to get it right the first time. I had to do a little dance. :)  

My hope is to continue to post regularly with photos Ri Len has sent me. Access to wifi as was the issue recently may prove to be a challenge. We shall see.

Until next time, live your best life, however big or small it may be!

Nanette

The final bake sale

Today was the final bake sale in my efforts to raise funds towards the purchase of the materials needed to build the 2013 Women Build home. Thanks to Celebrity co-baker Katie for helping me close out five months of tempting my co-workers with delicious treats. And it was a great end! The executive Director Mark & my pal Mollie (remember she got me started with all this) from WWHH stopped by to thank the wonderfully generous employees & partners at Vernier Software & Technology for their enthusiastic support of my endeavors.

The photo below of Mollie, myself & Mark was taken about 20 mins after the sale started. Much of it was already gone!

In the end we raised $93.55!!! Fantastic:)

Nanette

Taking a little tour

Hey Folks,

House 1 kitchen

H1 upstairs bath/laundry

One of the bedrooms in H1

Started Saturday the 18th with a little tour of the homes that will sell to two of our families very soon. House's 1 & 7 just need a final clean and they will be ready for the families that have worked so hard for them. By now they have bought their appliances and they're all installed.

House 7 kitchen

H7 downstairs half bath

H7 livingroom

A bedroom in H7

 Further progress was made on the siding on the Thrivent house during the week.

 Once we finish the siding on the Women Build home, as well as completing all the caulking, we'll be ready to insulate between the studs before we install the drywall.

 Kevin lead a crew of volunteers in house 5 to work on the drywall there. There are quite a few odd angles that cuts need to be made for and some of them are a challenge to nail in.

 I spent the day drilling holes for electrical wiring using a tool called a Hole Hawg. It was a bit heavy but it had the power needed to drill through 3 layers of 2X4s.

To bring electrical
wiring to the front porch light

Through 3 layers of 2X4s to
take the electrical up to the second floor

Hole Hawg :)

Working on something called a chaser that fits along the length of the ductwork from the back to the front of the house. The chaser will allow us to drywall around the ductwork that brings heat to the second floor.

 Unfortunately, I needed to leave a bit early so no end of the day photos for this post.

Until next time, live your best life however big or small it may be!

Nanette

Continued bake sale success

Hi Folks,

Last Wednesday we had another fabulous bake sale! With Celebrity co-bakers Gladys & Angie, we raised a whopping $99.28! Yowza!! Many, many thanks to the generous folks at Vernier!

The next & last bake sale is the 29th of this month with Celebrity co-baker, Katie!

Nanette

Saturday May 11th

Hey Folks,

Walked on site on Saturday the 11th to find the Tuesday & Wednesday crews had completed the siding on houses 5 & 6. Great job!

They also wrapped the Thrivent/Women Build houses with Tyvek weatherproofing. 

I'm embarrassed to admit, but since I started Habitat, I swear I thought they were saying tie back, which didn't make sense to me but I thought 'Oh well, construction jargon'. On Saturday, I finally read the big blue letters and...yeesh! Obviously I've had a very long Homer Simpson moment. :-P

The plumber was deep into the plumbing in the WB house so it was outside work for us. He brought the pipes from the subfloor, branched them out on the first floor for the kitchen & downstairs bath, through a wall and up to the second floor bathroom. 

You can see the hot & cold water valves in the outlet box for the washer & dryer that will be in the first floor bath.

 It's been so interesting to see what goes in behind the walls of a house and why things go in certain places. The planning of the plumbing, ducting and electrical really do take an experienced mind to plan out well.

I had to laugh, he's got several big burlap bags of elbows and whatnot, that he dumps all over the floor and picks out pieces here and there as he needs them. It seems like a bit of a crazy way to do things, but he gets the job done for us. :)

We had two fantastic groups helping out. The wonderful folks from St Puis X Lutheran Church came and gave their usual best getting siding installed on the Thrivent house as part of their church wide commitment to service. Too, they were kind enough to bring and share lunch with all of us.

Also working with us was an enthusiastic group of women from NW Natural's Women's Network. I found it interesting this network for women began in 1992 to offer a place within NW Natural for women to discuss related issues in the workplace. As time has passed, men have joined, the organization has proven to provide good networking opportunities for members throughout the company and they also reach out to serve their community. 

In doing this, members are able to participate in activities (like building homes!), they may never have done before. And we all know it can be easier to move outside of your comfort zone when you're surrounded by supportive peers. Cindy explained the organization's goal in a nutshell, “Build your network within the company and bridge to your community.” That sounds fantastic to me! More power to them!

J channel

One of the fellows I had the good fortune to work with during the week, Mike, showed me how to add what are called 'J channels” to some back porch covers. We will slide in some of the house siding in between these channels so the porch roof will have a look consistent with the rest of the house.

We also finished the sheathing. We could only get so far on this project as we ran out of trim wood and needed to wait for more to be delivered during the week. After lunch it was siding for me too.

It ended up being a beautiful day and we were all glad to be outside. :)

Siding colors are English Wedgewood for the
Thrivent house, Desert Sand for the WB one

Until next time, live your best life, however big or small it may be!

Nanette