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It was nice to wake up to comfortable temperatures, in the high 60’s to start the day.   By the end of the day, it did get a little warm in the house with highs in the low 80s, but overall another wonderful weather day to work.  

We were told yesterday that the two workers from Agri-Fab would not be available to help us, and we would be missing two local volunteers.   So we started the day thinking that the team would be 6 Care-A-Vanners and one local volunteer.   With such a small team, I was thinking that we would not be able to hang much sheetrock today.    As we started to gather for our team meeting, we were all pleasantly surprised to see FOUR Agri-Fab employees … AND two more local volunteers.   So, we basically doubled our team size.   Yeah, God provides … stop worrying!   After our inspirational devotion and prayer, we broke into teams and each took a room.  

We jumped back into the closets.   Even though they are the smallest rooms in the house, they take a lot of cutting and fitting.  

Joe got the task of cutting out the switches, outlets, windows and doors.

By the end of the day we had installed all of the 12 footers that we had in the house.   All the bedrooms were done!    Here are some pictures from the progress during the day.

Another 13 sheets will be picked up, so we can finish up on Monday.   The bathrooms need to be completed, the hallway ceiling and walls need to be done, along with a few wall sheets in the living room.  

Before all the walls were covered, we wanted to make sure we signed a stud :-).

Today is the end of week four of the build.  At the end of each two week session, the local Habitat affiliate treats us to a dinner.    It’s a special treat to go to Yoders kitchen, an Amish owned restaurant with an all you can eat buffet.   

Overall, it was a very productive workday.   God does provide us with everything we need.  God is good!

 

 

Amazingly enough, the forecasters were right.   It rained last night and this morning, so it was great that we unloaded the delivery of sheetrock into the house yesterday.   It was warmer to start the day, but only got up into the low 70’s which made it a great day to work inside.   Today is donut Thursday, which everyone looks forward to (just in case we don’t get enough goodies everyday…lol).   After our donuts, our devotional and prayer we started back to sheetrocking.

We had started the second bathroom ceiling yesterday (the easy sheet).   Today’s challenge was to carefully measure the fan opening and cutout around the tub.   We were extra careful about measuring and re-measuring …but we were experts by now?

After we were sure of the measurements, we used a jig saw to cut it out.

Well, let’s see if it fits…

Whoo hoo!  First shot :-).

That was the last bathroom ceiling, so we moved to installing wall sheetrocking.   Walls are much easier!   One sheet on top and one sheet on the bottom covers the entire wall.  

One straight cut and rasping before installation.

Ta da – our first wall sheet done.

While we were busy in the bathroom and closets, the rest of the team was making great progress on the rest of the house.

After work, we are being treated to another Ambucs dinner.   Those ‘good ‘ol boys’ know how to grill!   What a great way to end another productive and safe day.  God is good!

 

We were blessed with another beautiful workday.  Maybe we are getting used to the cooler weather, but it did not seem as cold this morning.   Our gift of two young Agra-Fab employees came to work to help us today.   We put them right to work helping to install 12 foot sheets on one of the bedroom ceilings.  One of them was able to measure on the ceiling without using a ladder … being tall definitely has some advantages!

We started the day with measuring and cutting a challenging piece of sheetrock in the bathroom.  We had to measure and cut out a corner by the bathtub with a scroll saw.

The moisture resistant green sheetrock is heavier than the regular kind, so there were four of us holding it in place.   After a few attempts, we got the job done!

Next up was the laundry room ceiling.   We thought this one would be easy, but we quickly found out that it was not square.   But, since we now have all this experience (…lol) it went up the first shot!

We then jumped onto the second bathroom.  We were able to get the first sheet up before we were called to help unload the trailer of MORE sheetrock for the walls.  We are expecting rain tomorrow morning, so we wanted to make sure we got this moved into the house.   The trailer was loaded with 57 pieces of sheetrock!    We all were VERY happy to have those two young strong men to help us unload.   They make it look really easy!

During our happy hour after work, we were entertained by the harvesting of the corn fields behind our campsites.   It’s amazing how fast those machines are able to cut the plant, separate the corn cob, husk the corn and pull off the kernels.   Farming technology is incredible.

Overall, another productive day.  Our small team is making slow but steady progress.   God is good!

God blessed us with another perfect weather day today.   It started off cool, in the low 50’s and by the afternoon reached a high of close to 80 with a nice breeze.  Today was the first day we decided to have our morning devotional inside, where it was a little warmer.   After a local pastor shared an uplifting devotional and prayer, we got our assignments.    Since there were two other people that wanted to do insulation, we gladly gave that job over to them.   Our job was to start sheetrocking the ceiling closet in the bedroom.  We quickly realized that all of the temporary lighting needed to come down, since it interfered with getting to the ceiling.  

We then realized that a few truss claws had been missed- so those had to be installed.

We also noticed that we needed a nailer on the inside wall to provide a surface for the sheetrock mounting on that edge.   The challenge was that there were wires in the way – so we had to get creative.   Joe cut out sections of the nailer so that it could be installed around the wires.

Now we were ready to start measuring.   We carefully measured both the ceiling sheetrock piece and mapped out where the attic cutout and lights were.   After we install the sheetrock, those areas need to be cut out.     Ta da!  First cut done 🙂

The next step is to shave the ends to assure they are smooth.

By the end of the day, we had completed two bedroom closets and got one sheet up in the hallway bath.  

While we were working on the closets, another team was making good progress on the living room ceiling sheetrock.

All the windows were sealed and taped.

The front beam was wrapped, and porch soffit completed.

The insulation was completed and the HVAC and plumbing contractors are making good progress.

After work, we joined another couple for Taco Tuesday at the local VFW.   What a great way to end a productive day.  God is good!

Brrr… it was 49 degrees when we woke up this morning.   Once the sun comes up, it warms up nicely.  By the afternoon, it was in the mid-70’s.    We had another really small team today with only four Care-A-Vanners and four local volunteers.   After another wonderful devotion and prayer, we got our assignments.   Joe and I had insulation duty.   Our job was to install insulation on all of the exterior walls.   As you can guess, we needed to wear long sleeves.   Since it was cool this morning, our heavy sweatshirts worked fine – both for warmth and protection from the insulation.   By the afternoon, it did get really hot.   Now that we know that we will most likely be doing insulation tomorrow, we will bring lighter long sleeves.

We started insulating without masks, but soon realized that wasn’t a very good idea.   Once we started sneezing and coughing, we knew we had mask up.

Insulating is very simple,  First, cut the piece to size.

Then stuff it into each bay, and staple the edges.

Repeat :-).

We finished a little less than two rooms today, so more to do tomorrow.

While we were insulating, the other teams were installing windows, and finishing up the soffit work on the porch.   Each day we’re making slow and steady progress.   God is good!

We woke to an outside temperature in the 40’s … so happy Roadie keeps us warm!   By mid-day, it was a bit warm in the sun with a high in the low 80’s.   After our morning devotional and prayer, everyone was eager to get started.   Half of the team worked inside the house, mostly on windows, while the other half was working on fascia and soffit.   Our job was to help the fascia and soffit team.   It seemed like a fairly simple job, but we definitely had some challenges … and opportunities to learn … lol.   It was just ‘that kinda day’.   

We installed the fascia on both the back and front walls.

We then started to wrap the front beam, and ran into some additional challenges.   I guess we will will get back on it on Monday.

The rest of the team was making slow but steady progress on the windows, installing three of the five windows.

A team also worked on installing the flooring and sheetrock in the utility room.  This needed to be done before the HVAC unit installation this afternoon.

Overall, it was a slow, but safe day.  We’re here to help, and will see what Monday brings.  Looking forward to a relaxing weekend.   God is good!

 

 

When we got up this morning, Roadie was a cool 55 degrees … brrr.    We are very grateful to have multiple forms of heat (all of which we used this morning):   an electric fireplace, a heat pump and a furnace.   When the sun came up, it warmed up nicely getting into the mid 70s by afternoon.  

Our small team of 6 Care-A-Vanners and 4 local volunteers gathered for our morning meeting.   We were all wondering what we were going to be able to do today, since we were waiting for windows and siding delivery, and could not start sheetrocking until the electrical and plumbing inspection was complete.   While we were waiting for our local pastor, the President of the Agri-fab company stopped by.   Agri-fab is a company located in Sullivan, directly behind our build site.  In fact, the land for the entire Habitat community was donated by Agri-fab .   The Agri-fab President had heard from his wife (a pastor from a local church who comes by every week to share a devotional with us) that we were short handed.   He offered to send over 4-6 workers from their Agri-fab job to help with our build anytime we need their help.   It was an amazing blessing!  

During our team meeting, we were told that we are going to go ahead and pick up the sheetrock for the ceiling.   We were hoping that the inspections would happen soon, so we could get that task going.   While we were waiting for the delivery, we got to work on remaining tasks that need to be done.   Joe and I had the job of filling any penetrations with either foam sealer or silicone caulk.

We also sealed around the exterior doors.

By late morning, Gary had come back with the sheetrock.   These are mostly 12 foot long sheets – extra long to reduce the number of seams to be taped and to get some good ceiling coverage with each sheet.   It didn’t take us long to take Agri-fab up on their offer.  They sent over 4 strong young men who were able to help us move the heavy sheetrock into the house.  Amazing!

Sometime late morning, we were very happy to hear that the windows were ready… whoo hoo!   Not only did we get good news about the windows, but the plumbing and electrical were ready for inspection.  Gene was able to call the inspector, and he came right over.   So, by lunch time, we had the green light to proceed with the sheetrock.

Right after lunch, we jumped in to help with the team working on the facia.  

I got some instruction on how to install the soffit above the porch.   I definitely need some practice … I’m sure I’ll figure it out by the time it’s done tomorrow :-).

While we were working on the soffits, another team got the first sheet of sheetrock on the ceiling.

It was an amazing day.   When we came in this morning, we were worrying about how we would be able to proceed.   By the end of the day, we had the offer for additional help, sheetrock and windows delivered and the inspection done.   God was showing us that he’s got this – don’t worry.  He will provide everything we need to get this house built on his timetable.  God is definitely watching over us.   God is good.

 

 

 

We were once again blessed with a beautiful cool workday today.   After our devotional and prayer, everyone got their assignments.   

The electrician and plumber were both there today making progress.   We are waiting for them to finish to the point where we can get an inspection.   Once the inspection is completed, we can proceed with installing the insulation and sheetrock.

There was another team working on setting and squaring the bathtub and adjoining walls,

and another team working to install the soffits.

Our job today was to finally finish the crawl space cover.  Since we were going to be using metal to wrap the cover, Gary brought in an old Stanley tool called a Unishear – an automatic shearer.   It certainly could be an antique and weighs over 10 lbs.   Wow, did it work well!  It cuts through metal like butter!

We wrapped the sides with a metal soffit, making sure the ends wrap around the corners.

Then we installed the drip cap on top.

We’re finally ready to start installing the shingles.   I did not realize how heavy shingles are – they added quite a bit of weight to the cover.

After installing some handles, the crawl space masterpiece was done!   Ta da!

After we returned to the campsite, we enjoyed a happy hour with our Care-A-Vanners team.   What a great way to end another productive day – sharing a beautiful, cool evening with friends.   God is good!

It was another chilly morning, but God gave us another beautiful cool workday.   We were a small team again today, with four Care-A-Vanners and three local volunteers this morning.    We are very blessed to have another local pastor start our day off with an inspirational devotional and prayer.  Then, it was off to work.  Most of the jobs today were a continuation of yesterday, so no job assignments were needed.

Most of our work is focused on outside, since the electrician and plumber are making some progress inside the house.   The electrician is actually Becky’s mom, who owns an electrical business.   She has most of the rough wiring done.

Another team was making some great progress on the soffit work.   It looks great…

Our job was to continue building our experimental design for the crawl space.   First, we installed the remaining braces and back support.

We then brought it over to the crawl space to check for fit ….. perrrrfect (as Bob the builder always said).   We were amazed at how much lighter it is!

Well, it is about to get a lot heavier.  The  next step was to cut out the top plate out of 3/4″ OSB, and secure it into place.

Since we were using OSB this year, we needed to wrap it with Tyvek paper for waterproofing.  It was like wrapping a big package :-).    By lunch,  it was a wrap!

It was literally a wrap for us for the day.   After a delicious lunch hosted by a local church, we had to get back to Roadie for an important phone call.   We will definitely finish this masterpiece up tomorrow.

Since it was Taco Tuesday at the local VFW, we joined Richard and Ramona for some good food and companionship.   God is good!

We enjoyed a relaxing weekend, and took the opportunity to complete some ‘to-do’s’ on Roadie and get some shopping done.  It was sad to see three couples leave our team.  It’s always sad to say goodbye, but we look forward to seeing them again at a future Sullivan build. 

We shall never forget.

It was a beautiful, cool and cloudy day to work today, with the temperature only getting into the mid-70’s.  It was nice to see that the roofers had come over the weekend, so we now have a shingled roof!

With one of our remaining couples not feeling well today, our small but mighty team was down to 4 Care-A-Vanners and 4 local volunteers.   We were assigned tasks that need to be done while we are waiting for the windows to be delivered.   Richard and Gene installed the front and back doors, Ramona and Sandy marked out the locations for the kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, and Howard built the bird boxes that allow for soffit installation around corners.

Joe and I had the job to build a cover for the crawl space opening.

In previous years, we basically built a box with custom built trusses from 2×10 lumber.   As you could guess, the finished cover was super heavy – and needed two strong people to move it.   We were given the challenge to construct the cover using all 2×4’s and OSB.    So, the first step was to draw out some plans, and figure out how to provide strength and keep the weight down.   After we got some sketches done, we set to work on building the box, and cutting the angled sides from OSB.

In order to make the angles work, we had to rip the front piece at an angle and customize the side supports.

We started to build the bracing, but it was time to call it a day.   We will finish our masterpiece tomorrow :-).

After work, we were treated to a gourmet home cooked meal by a local church.   They brought all of the food to us, and we enjoyed it in the Faith Lutheran gathering room.  We had meatloaf, hamloaf, salad, mashed potatoes, corn, and amazing desserts.   What an amazing way to end another great day.  God is good!