Putting on the Roof - Women Build 2010

Sat May 22, and Tues the 25th we were busy getting the home closed in. Our focus was sheathing the roof and getting ready for shingles.  The front porch roof and the gable overhangs needed to be in place. The volunteer team on Saturday completed sheeting the full back of the house which was quite an accomplishment. When you can see the progress of installing 4x8 sheets- it's motivating. We are approaching a hot spell in the weather so we are a bit concerned with the heat up on the roof. Bonus: now we have created our own shade!!

I've discovered that not everyone is comfortable with being on the roof. Good thing it's only a 5/12 pitch. We had 2 people handing the OSB up to 2 people on the plank who then lifted it to those on the roof. On the roof, some were tacking the sheets into place and others were coming behind and finishing the nailing. I personally love to nail the OSB onto the roof. On a lower pitch roof  you can actually sit down to nail and move along. If it wasn't hot I think I could do this all day!

Interior walls still needed to be completed so that's being worked on at the same time. At the end of the day, we were ready to put up a wall along the stairs but the hole hadn't been cut out of the floor yet.  I think we all appreciated seeing the stair opening as this helped give a better vision of the floor plan for many.

In order to build the front and side decks, we needed to dig post footings and have them inspected ( in the picture are the cement cookies placed at the bottom of the hole to be filled in with cement). Our building inspector for Leelanau County, Thomas Pope came out  to inspect the holes for depth and I took the opportunity to snap his photo. I have to imagine that this is a bit different for them as well - having the home built by so many women volunteers. Everyone has been very careful to ask questions and follow the directions to the best of their ability. You can't ask for any more that - that's for sure.

We were planning on having the volunteers install the shingles- and I knew hot weather was here this week. In a meeting with Pam - Habitat's Director on Monday I discovered 2 things: first- we could have the roofing done professionally and second- we didn't usually work on  holiday weekend. Yeah!! we could take Saturday off and spend time with the family:).  Victor called John from Mariage Roofing and he volunteered his crew's time to roof the house. That was a blessing as so many women couldn't get up on the roof. Also, we work during the heat of the day which isn't very good for the shingles. The roof would be done before we came back on site after the Memorial Day weekend.

Tuesday May 25th proved to be a very hot day.  Some of the women were really bothered by the heat even though we were drinking lots of water.  One of the jobs was finishing the blueboard on the gable end of the home which was outside in the sun. The ladies really stayed on task and by the end of the day the job was done.  I really have to commend everyone for giving so much effort to complete this home. Thank you all so much-  Nancy Lisabeth(Grand Bay Building and Remodeling)

Next on the agenda: installing windows

The Trusses are Up!

Tuesday May 18th, the volunteers began moving the rest of the trusses into place. This was a fairly easy task as they had already been lifted up onto the walls. What took some effort was the nailing.   Once the main trusses were in- the job of cutting in the reverse front porch gables began. Good thing Victor was on site as this would have been very confusing without his knowledge.

The main gable end of the house was up so the OSB sheathing could be installed. Next step will be covering the trusses with the OSB tongue and groove sheathing. By gosh- it's really beginning to look like a house.

Women Build Trusses Sat.May 15th

Yeah for good weather! We were sure ready for it.  To begin the work day there were only 4 volunteers - not nearly enough to lift and set trusses.  After the initial concern, more volunteers began showing up and the work began.

Nailing into the hard yellow pine of the truss chord proved quite difficult as well as pounding through the metal truss gusset. This crew of women were troopers and really had to use those muscles.

By the end of the day, all of the trusses except the gable truss were up- half were nailed in place and the others were stacked and ready for Tuesday's crew. 

I was interested in seeing how we would like the metal bracing that we used. I discovered MiTek stablilizers in an online article. Mi Tek was great to work with and they shipped enough product to do the home for free so we could trial their product. As their video claimed- the stabilizers saved time. They created exactly 24" spacing and were easy to install. A win for us!!

    

Vic talked Jennifer the homeowner into climbing up onto the trusses to see the awesome view of the area. It really is quite lovely with open farmland directly across the street and trees all around the subdivision.

A much deserved kudos to Victor for working patiently with everyone who volunteers. Actually- sometimes more teaching than building happens at times on this work site.

Tuesday- the rest of the trusses...

Women Build Weather Again!

We knew the forecast for Tuesday was rain. But, the day started out OK- cold and overcast with no rain. We had all women on site and Victor. Today was the day to begin lifting roof trusses into place and we were pretty excited.  Jennifer, the homeowner was working on site today and that added extra emotion to the day. 

We began with the end gable truss that need to be set up on top of the interior walls. The open living room and kitchen area provided the perfect place to maneuver the truss. In by way of the front door worked perfectly. Then the truss was lifted to lay across the interior walls so we could sheet it with OSB and add the gable overhang. This kept the weight that needed to be lifted manageable.

Many women (and Victor) could really do this!!!  While some of the ladies worked up on the gable truss to get it ready- the rest brought in other trusses and got them into place. It made me think of an airport with planes in a holding pattern ready to land.

Things were really beginning to click. Every one had a good feel for the system of lifting and we were anxious to see the  first truss go up. Mother Nature however had a different plan.   About 2 hours into working we were all set to lift the gable truss and nail it to the braces. It began to really rain which wasn't a deal breaker but the winds kicked up and almost blew over the people on top of the truss. Vic and I looked at each other and said "Let's wrap it up" . 

 Safety has to be the number one priority as we work this project.    I understand that Saturday May 15th is supposed to be great weather and we could really use a solid work day.  I'm very anxious to get the house closed up with roof and windows.

After Saturday, we should be ready to sheath the roof with 4x8 sheets of OSB so bring your muscles that day.                                             Praying for good weather, Nancy                                

Women Build Weather

Saturday 5/8/10 was a cold and snowy day.  When we got to the site, there was an inch of slush on the floor decking. Some of the interior door openings needed to be cut out of the bottom plates just to sweep the areas clear of slush.  The women valiantly built more interior walls as their fingers got colder and colder.

Martha's of Suttons Bay provided lunch for the volunteers this day- and then we called the work day done. Doesn't Mother Nature know that we are only working 2 days a week and we really want to get this home closed in and weather tight?

A big thank you to the volunteers for showing up this day and staying with the task until they could no longer bend their fingers.  Please come back another day.... Nancy Lisabeth

5/4/2010 Interior Walls

Before this build day a decision needed to be made... All along I had planned to have a crane/Sky Trak on site to lift the trusses into place. I knew that this would make the job faster and easier in the long run. But, like everything else there would be a trade off. Cost of an operator and equipment would add to the cost of the home. Also, how could I keep 10 volunteers active on site when they couldn't all be involved in securing the trusses at one time? Realizing that the trusses at a 5/12 pitch would easily fit through a door opening, the decision was made to have our volunteers "raise the roof" themselves.

Sooo...the next step was to begin framing the interior walls. It's always exciting to see the rooms begin to appear as walls go up.  Vic and I had already laid out chalked lines to make the placement easier. The women pounded lots of nails that day. Between the walls on Saturday and the interior today, we had used up an entire box of spikes!  We forgot how many nails it takes as we're so used to using nail guns on job sites any more. Many of the women learned about toe nailing and the "cat's paw" as they discovered it's not as easy as it looks. 

It was great fun to see a line of women hoisting the wall they built off the deck and carrying it into place. I forgot my camera that day- sorry.    Nancy Lisabeth

National Women Build Week Event Leelanau County,MI

The Women Build volunteers of Habitat for Humanity Grand Traverse Region have been preparing for the May 1st kick off event for months. We've worked diligently to get the foundation ready.  My main concern was the weather- very unpredictable this time of year. The night before the county had a serious thunderstorm. But...come Saturday morning the sun was gloriously shining on the build site.

The groundbreaking program included scripture readings and prayers from 4 area members of the Faith community. The 4 member female group Sashay performed several songs and the future homeowner family was introduced.  Knowing that the project was funded as a memorial for Lt. Col Sandra Schlueter a Leelanau County resident who served in the Air Force for 22 years, I was most appreciative that Sandra's brother and sister-in-law attended the event. Dave Schlueter was able to give us a real understanding of just how special his sister was and how she impacted the lives of so many people during her lifetime. It seems very fitting that she continues to positively impact the lives of people even after her death.

Lowe's is the sponsor of National Women Build Week and by having over 75% women volunteers on the site our Habitat affiliate will receive a $5,000 gift card from Lowe's- wonderful things will be done with that gift. Every volunteer was wearing the official Lowe's red shirt and this alone was an amazing sight.  All in all we had over 40 volunteers on site Saturday.

Before I took on this project,  my main concern was how to keep a group of volunteers busy and productive every day on site. This particular day we had so many people on site that Victor and I looked at each other and were somewhat distraught. I knew that we had lots to do but the walls had to be up first and that didn't take 40 people! Safety became a main concern. Once enough walls were in place, we were finally able to put teams on various tasks. 

The NMC class had done a great job building the wall sections.  Really-only one window opening needed to be moved over and I thought that was outstanding. The ladies applied 1" rigid blue board to the outside of the walls and taped the seams. A crew worked in the basement and leveled the dirt floor so the concrete can be poured. We had a bucket brigade going to remove excess dirt through the egress window well. The top plate was nailed across to join the walls and bracing was put into place. All in all quite an accomplishment for one day of building!!!

When the day was done and Vic and I shared our thoughts, I think we were both a bit overwhelmed by the emotions of the day. We both tear up when we talk about Jennifer's emotions as the front wall was raised and she saw her front door opening for the first time. That made this whole thing just a little more real for her.

Women who have never pounded a nail in before were using a hammer for the first time! Women who have never used a power tool before were excited to be cutting with the circular or table saw.  Picturing this should give you some insight into the safety concern of it all- there was much teaching and correcting going on. The women were there to help and learn and I think at the end of every day they accomplished that.

Keep checking back as I'll be updating and posting more photos- Thanks to everyone for volunteering. We've been having a great time . Nancy Lisabeth

Volunteers Make Things Happen

As soon as the plans were approved I applied for permits. By now, time was becoming short as we had  a May 1st event planned. The building inspectors and their staff were very understanding and helped  keep us on schedule.

Northwestern Michigan College construction students began to build the sections of exterior walls. Instructor Devin Hill was on board with the project as soon as I asked him if it was a possibility. Nicole, a member of our Construction Team,  was actually a student in the class and helped to build the walls. Sometimes things just seem right!

Popp Excavating graciously volunteered to dig the basement - and we had our hole. In no time the walls were poured and the construction team was on site for the first actual work day. This team of volunteers rocks- they went to work on the floor joists, floor deck and basement foam insulation. Wow- great progress in a short time.

Current status: The site is backfilled and the septic field is installed. Let the wall raising begin......

While the construction was progressing, there were Women Build team volunteers who were working on other aspects of the build.  For example, there are volunteers arranging for lunches on build days (Tuesdays and Saturdays) until the home is complete.  Lowe's has been hosting free Clinics for women volunteers. During these clinics, a wonderful shed has been built and will be donated and delivered to the home.

There's excitement in the air and the women of  the Traverse City area are ready to build. Call Carrie at Habitat to volunteer 231 941 4663

 Hope to see you on site- Nancy

Behind the Scenes -Women Build Habitat for Humanity Grand Traverse

Let me begin the story of the 2010 Women Build here in Leelanau County from Summer 2009... I received a phone call from Carrie- Habitat's volunteer coordinator for the Grand Traverse Region back in June 2009. Habitat had just received an amazing gift from the Schlueter family in memory of Sandra Schlueter. This build will honor her lifetime of accomplishments as a 22 year veteran of the US Air Force.

How could I not get involved with such a  wonderful project? Carrie and I took a road trip in August 2009 to work and learn with the Women Build team of Greater Columbus, Ohio and Terry Gaar,training specialist from Habitat International. We came back to Traverse City inspired and energized by our experience.

There was a wonderful response to the call for committee members volunteers in Feb 2010 and Habitat had a room full of interested people. Since then, these volunteers have been working diligently in teams to make sure this build would be the best thing ever. Rev. Pam Doty-Nation had just moved up from Grand Rapids to become the new director of HFH-Grand Traverse Region.  She came from a much larger Habitat affiliate and appeared willing to take our affiliate to the next level.

With Pam's encouragement, I began working on a floor plan for a 3 bedroom home with a full basement and plenty of closet space- I'm a woman after all and we can never have too much storage!! John Kittle, a friend and local home designer  graciously volunteered to draw the plans for us. With changes to support Habitat's specifications for universal design etc., the working plans became a reality. When Pam  mentioned "energy star" I was in total agreement. With the help of Max Strickland, a fellow Home Builder Association member and local "green guru", the plan was analyzed to be Energy Star and is leaning toward LEED certification.

There are several ways with give and takes to reach Energy Star. Victor (my husband and licensed builder), John Kittle and I discussed the various give and takes.  I was looking for the best R-values and the most user friendly methods for the volunteers. So far I've been extremely happy with the choices. My goal from the beginning was to build Jennifer and her daughters a wonderful home that they could afford to live in forever. I'm looking forward to seeing the utility costs over a year 's time.

This is the first of my weekly updates on Women Build 2010. 
I'm blogging to keep the volunteers informed so they can celebrate the progress of the project along with me- Nancy Lisabeth-