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This morning started very early, especially for us retired folks…lol.    We were able to get moving, and have enough time to make our regular oatmeal and fruit breakfast.   Since we’re on the end of the line at ‘Camp Faith Lutheran’, we enjoyed a piece of the sunrise over the fields of soybeans.

The house that we are building is in Lovington, IL which is about a 25 minute drive.    We were ready to go at 7:30am sharp to catch a ride with another volunteer.      As we always do, we started our day with a devotional from a local pastor and followed with joining hands and saying “Habitat is not a hand-out (hands in front), but a hand-up (hands raised up)”.   It is an amazing way to start every work day.  

Bob the Builder then handed out our daily task list and provided some (very needed) instructions about how to measure, assemble and install the foundation mudsills.   If the foundation is built correctly, we would be able to start the mudsills once we get our refresher.   Unfortunately, this foundation was not square.    The corner to corner diagonal measurement was off by almost 2 inches (it’s typically within a quarter of an inch)…. ouch!   So the mudsill team was on ‘hold’ until Bob figured out how to adjust the measurements to assure that the mudsills were square.    This was not an easy task, and took about 1.5 hours.  As you can imagine, this is a critical step, and needs to be done right.

A local Habitat volunteer lives across the street from the build site.   They offered to use their shady yard as our break area which we used during our ‘hold’ time this morning.   The new homeowners grandmother brought some home baked goodies for our break … yeah, so much for loosing weight on this build!

While the mudsill team was on ‘hold’, the team installing the main beam was making good progress.   

By around 10AM, we were ready to start assembling and installing mudsills.   The measurements had to be modified to assure that we were square to the newly created chalk lines.  Our goal was to place pressure treated wood on the top of the cinder blocks.   The steps:

1. Cut holes where the foundation bolts came up through the concrete
2. Lay down a thin aluminum sheet that is used as a termite barrier
3. Staple a moisture barrier to the lumber
4. Staple an 18″ wide piece of house wrapping that provides a tighter seal along the foundation

As we got closer to lunch, it started to get really hot.   I was very happy that the local Sullivan churches organized a way to bring lunches to us at a local church, so we were able to get a break from the heat.   After lunch, we were back at it … but the humidity and the sun were intense with a heat index of 100F.   We did our best to stay hydrated.

After all of the mudsills were done, it was time to start on the Rim Joists.   We got a few of them completed prior to quitting time.   It won’t take long tomorrow morning to get the rest of them completed.

We’re expecting heavy rains this evening, so hopefully it will break some of the humidity for tomorrow.    It will definitely be an early night for us tonight….lol  🙂

We left Celebration, FL on Friday around noon for our next Habitat for Humanity adventure in Sullivan, IL.   Just as we did last year, we decided to stay and help for the entire 6 week build so we will be here until October 8th!  I’m tired just thinking about it … lol.  

After loading up ‘Roadie’ (the name of our motorhome), we left Celebration around noon on Friday.    Let the adventure begin!

Our plan was to arrive in Sullivan, IL on Sunday prior to the 3PM groundbreaking ceremony.  The travel plan on Friday was to drive about 7 hours to a Cracker Barrel in Kennesaw, GA.   On Saturday, we would drive about another 7 hours to a Cracker Barrel in Mount Vernon, IL.  We would then only have a 1 hour 40 minute drive to Sullivan.

Yeah, that’s a ton of driving by an amazing driver!    With a 5 foot x 8 foot windshield, the views are amazing.  The mountains of Tennessee are especially beautiful.

As we got closer to Sullivan, there are miles and miles of farms full of corn and soybeans.   Thank God for farmers!

We couldn’t possibly pull Roadie into Sullivan with all those bugs on the front (we think it was the start of love bug season …uugh…), so we stopped off a local campground to dump our tanks and use our portable power washer to clean the front of the coach.  

We arrived in Sullivan around 1PM, and were greeted by our Habitat build family.   It was wonderful to see everyone again!   As we’ve done every year, all the Habitat motorhomes are pulled behind Faith Lutheran Church.  The town provides 50 amp electrical service for each unit, and we figure out how to get water hooked up.   We were able to fully set up everything before we had to leave for the ground breaking.  

At 2:30, we left for the groundbreaking ceremony.   It was attended by around 30 people, which was wonderful.   We were introduced to the new family – Jennifer and her two children Abby and Maddox.

It was time for the first shovel of the build!

After the ceremony, we attended a dinner hosted by the Habitat affiliate.   Just as in the past, there was a ton of food … and plenty of desserts!

After everyone got back to the campground, we gathered under the covered pavilion to relax and catch up with everyone.

Tomorrow morning will be a very early morning for us retired people so I’d better end this very lengthy first post :-).   We’re ready to get started!

 

 

Today is the last day of this adventure!   All of the punch list items were done, so today was cleaning day – both inside and outside.   With this great team, Bob thought we should be done before lunch.   Joe worked with the team outside to remove our pop-up tent, relocate the tool trailer, clean out the shed, paint the shed door, and touch up the driveway and sidewalks.   They were pretty much done by late morning.   I was on the cleaning crew inside.  Our task was to give the house a thorough cleaning by washing windows, cleaning and vacuuming floors, cleaning the kitchen and cabinets and deep cleaning both bathrooms.   This should have also taken a few hours …. but ….

the plumber still had not installed the toilets, shower faucets or sink faucets.    Actually, we had no water in the house until around noon!   Finally, one of our volunteers (a retired IL. licensed plumber) convinced the house plumber to let him install the toilets and bath fixtures.   That was really a life saver.   Oh, and did I mention that the carpets in the bedroom were not installed until late morning?   Needless to say, it made the job of cleaning the house a real challenge.   By the grace of God, we finally got the house cleaned and ready by around 2:45.   The homeowner was coming by at 4:00, so plenty of time (lol)!

Here are some pictures of the finished house.   It really looked great!

We got back to Faith Resort in time to work on a new mounting strategy for our motorhome front grill for a few minutes, then it was time to get ready for the key ceremony.   As you can see from the video below, the key ceremony was touching (the sounds you hear in the background are from the new homeowners two special needs adult sons).

We also managed to get a team picture before we left today!   What an amazing team, and a wonderful experience :-).   

God willing we will be back again next year!

It was a rainy day here in Sullivan, with some pretty heavy downpours.   I’m definitely glad that most of our work is indoors.

After another wonderful devotional from a local pastor, Bob handed out our task list.   It was a full sheet today, but I was glad to see that it was only one column long ;-).    As Bob typically says, … the same as yesterday, but a bit different.   It was the final push before the cleaning and carpet installation tonight.    Most of the activity today was around painting:  continuing to paint the doors, floor molding final coat, and any touch ups as needed.   It is amazing how detailed this crew is …. as you can tell from the picture below.   Ramona is using a fine painters brush to touch up the wall paint!   This house is certainly getting a lot of love 🙂

Another team used the Habitat for Humanity Restore box truck to pick up the refrigerator and get it hooked up.   There were also door knobs and door stops being installed.

The last couple of ceiling fans and lights were installed.

Most of the team was done by late morning.   Around that time, I got a call from FedEx telling me that our crate from Tiffin motor homes had arrived at the Habitat ReStore.   We ordered a new front grill for our motor home, since our last one snapped on the trip here.   Unfortunately, the original grill had a poorly designed mount, which caused it to fail.    When we ordered the part from Tiffin, they said they would ‘crate it up’ and ship it, so we didn’t really know how big a box to expect.    Since the crate was delivered to the ReStore, we were able to use the box truck to pick up the part and bring it over to our motor home.

The good news is that the new grill has been redesigned with better bottom mounting.   The bad news is that we will have to customize our fiberglass hood to get it installed.   Joe was able to call Tiffin to find out how it should be mounted.   So…. that’s the project for tomorrow after work.

Tonight, our team was treated to a steak dinner at the local Ambucs.   This is the organization that builds ramps and provides special trikes for people locally who are mobility disabled.   It’s a real ‘good ‘ol boy’s club that has a lot of fun, and really helps the community.    They have a huge grill out back so they can cook a ton of food.   The menu today was delicious steaks, baked potatoes, salad, ‘famous’ cowboy baked beans and dessert.   To me, it’s a wonderful example of how great the heartland of America really is!

Looking forward to the key ceremony tomorrow!

 

 

Today was a cool day with rain on an off this afternoon.   Besides the mud that it creates, it was a nice day to work inside.   After our morning devotional, Bob handed out our work assignments.   Not only was today a full sheet task day, but it was a LANDSCAPE with TWO columns!   That’s a first.     The best way to describe all the tasks for today is to look at the sheet … whew, what a list!

With our amazing team, almost all of those tasks were done today!   I often tell Bob how critical his work is to making this house happen.  He stays up late every night working to come up with a daily task list that will be most effective, while making sure all the material we need for the day are available.    It is quite a ‘behind the scenes’ project management job.

There was a lot of work done on the finish work today.   We had a team  working on cleaning up the moldings in all of the rooms (door moldings, window sills, floor moldings, etc.).   They  would check and putty all the nail holes, sand them down until smooth, clean them off, caulk the edges, and then give the baseboard trim a third coat of paint.   Neal, who was a professional painter before his retirement, continued to touch up the doors, shelves, and anything else that needed a touch up.   They completely finished the bedrooms in preparation for the carpets that will be installed tomorrow.   They look great!

The lighting team installed the ceiling fixtures/fans, and finished wiring any remaining switches.   The electrician came in, and turned on the circuits.    Everything worked as designed!!

The kitchen trim was completed, and the stove was installed.   They also installed a desktop in the custom designed desk in one of the bedrooms.

Another team worked on installing the bathroom mirrors and lights.

Joe and I had the task of installing shelving and rods in all of the closets.

While we were working in the master bedroom closet, I heard folks asking for Debbie to come to the front porch.   I couldn’t figure out why …. but soon found out why.   The love of my life sent me a beautiful bouquet of roses for our 37th anniversary!   He seems to be able to get these delivered anywhere ;-0.

For our anniversary dinner, we wanted to get a taste of Disney.  Mickey waffles to the rescue … lol.

What a great way to spend our anniversary!    After today, everyone feels more confident that we will be more than ready for handing over the keys on Friday!

 

 

 

So much more to do … so little time :-).    After our morning devotional, it was another ‘full sheet’ task list.   Just about everyone on the team had their own punch list of things to work on….. and most of them were taking place near or around the one central hallway.   The door case trim team continued to work installing molding on both sides all of the interior doors.   There was a baseboard trim team that was measuring, cutting, fitting, filling the nail holes and caulking.    The window sills were also being measured and installed.  Since the saw was outside, each cut from those teams required a trip down the same hallway.   While all that was going on, there was a painting team that was working on getting to the doors to clean up the hinges and paint the outer edges of the door.   It was like rush hour at Grand Central Station … crazy busy, but organized.

Joe and I were on the door repairs/painting team.   One of the requirements of the local Habitat affiliate for future Habitat homeowners is to put in 200 hours into the house prior to move-in as part of their ‘sweat equity’.   As part of these hours, many future homeowners paint the interior doors and trim at an off-site location.   It gives them some flexibility on when this task can be done, and it saves us some time in getting them installed.     This all sounds great … assuming they are painted correctly.   Unfortunately, when our doors showed up they needed a lot of re-painting and repair work to get them up to our standards.    So, Joe and I spent a good part of the day, doing something sooooooooooooo exciting!    Can you guess?   OK, it was removing all of the hinges from each door (one at a time) and hand scraping off the excess paint.    The good news is that they are all done, and look much better!

When we finished that task, we had to stain some molding to be used tomorrow.

 

We then joined the team that was working on the baseboard trim.   It’s time consuming to fill the nails, clean and caulk, and then put another coat of paint on them.   The master bedroom/bath closet is close to having all that work completed.

In the kitchen, they were making great progress.   The counter top and microwave look great! Although donations of building materials play a large part in keeping the overall cost of the home down we have never had all of the kitchen cabinets and the counter top donated – until this build. While we knew in advance that the cabinets would be donated, Bob found out early this morning when he went to pick up the counter tops that the company, who usually gives us a good discount, had decided to completely donate this years counter tops!! 

The town of Sullivan was working to install the sewer line, and the electrician and plumber were hard at work getting things hooked up.

The countdown has begun!  Just three days left!   Should be another exciting day tomorrow 🙂

 

 

We woke up to a cool morning, with temperatures during the day getting up to the mid-seventies …. great working weather!    After our devotion and prayer, Bob handed us a FULL sheet with our tasks for the day (typically our tasks fit on a half of a sheet of paper).    

The first task for everyone was to unpack the kitchen cabinets and use the cardboard to protect the floor.  We taped the cardboard 3-4″ away from all of the walls to allow room for the molding.

While we were taping, the kitchen team was starting to layout the placement  of the cabinets.   They then mounted the wall and base cabinets.   The kitchen is certainly coming together!

There was another team working on installing the door case trim.  They started with the front and back door, and then moved into the bedrooms.

Joe and I were on one of the door crews.    After a refresher from Bob, we were able to install the door to one of the bedrooms, and the door to the bathroom.   The other door teams were hard at work.  By the end of the day, we had all the doors installed!

I’m thinking that floor trim is on the agenda for tomorrow ;-).  

 

Happy Friday!   For most of the team today, it was flooring day.   One flooring team worked on the Kitchen/Living Room/Hallway,  another worked on Master bathroom and the third (our team) worked on one of the bedrooms .   The master bedroom and third bedroom will be carpeted, which made our job a bit easier.   

The first task was to scrape the debris off the floor (there were quite a few plaster drips from the mudder), and vacuum thoroughly.   The flooring is a very good quality.   The Habitat Restore was able to get a 50% discount from Home Depot, which made it affordable.   Bob showed us how the flooring snaps together, and how to start the first strip.   After we got the first row set, he put in some temporary screws in – so that the floor stayed stationary during installation.   It is a floating floor, so once the floor is in, we will have to remember to take those screws out.  

Joe is very strong …. look what he did to the rubber mallet 😉

We didn’t quite finish the bedroom today, so we will be joining the rest of the team tomorrow morning (Saturday) to try to get the flooring finished.

Below re some pictures of the progress from the living room and bathroom flooring teams.

While the flooring teams were hard at work, there was another team painting the front and rear doors.   The painted doors were reinstalled at the end of the day, and look great!

No extra sleep for us tomorrow – we are starting again at 8AM!

 

 Today was painting day!   Everyone showed up in painting clothes – ready to go!   After our morning devotion and job assignments, the teams started right in.   The future owner had picked two colors – sky blue for the master bedroom area and grey for the rest of the house.  We had 3 painting teams working on different parts of the house.   Joe and I worked with Karen and Terry to paint to paint the Master Bedroom, closet and bathroom blue.    The  goal was to get two coats of paint on the entire house today.

I had ‘cut in’ duty.   When I’ve done this in the past, I like to tape the ceiling …. but I was encouraged by all to just go free-hand.   It turned out fine.  Just another first at this build ;-).

We had the first coat on the master bedroom, bath and closet by 10AM – just in time for our morning break!   During the break today, we celebrated Gene’s 70th birthday with a card and some delicious cupcakes.    We were told by our retired professional painter that we had to wait about an hour for the 1st coat to dry.   So, we started the second coat around 11AM, and finished before lunch at noon!

After lunch, the future homeowner stopped by after work to drop off some items.   It was fun to see her reaction to the paint colors.    Her first reaction to the master was “wow, it’s very blue” ;-).

While we were painting this morning, there was another team blowing insulation into the attic. They ran a hose from a trailer (with the insulation equipment) into the crawl space.   There was a team in the truck feeding insulation into the tube while the team in the attic directed it.   I’m sure they were glad to get an early start, so they could be done by about 11AM … especially given that it was over 90 degrees this afternoon.

By around 2PM, the entire house had two coats of paint and a fully insulated attic!   

It looks great :-).   

It was another beautiful day today, but hot … especially in the sun.   This afternoon, Accuweather said it was 88 degrees, with a real feel of 94!  

Today was focused on getting two primer coats on and the ceiling painted.   Since they used a paint sprayer, there were two people working on this task.   It was a tough job, since they had to wear masks all day … and there was absolutely no breeze inside the house since everything was taped up.

There were contractors working on the HVAC vents in the crawl space, and the electrician was hooking up the main electrical connection to the house.

That left the rest of the team to finish up on the few remaining items left to be done on the outside of the house.   We rolled out some driveway fabric, and smoothed out the gravel that was delivered this morning.

We then traveled to Gene’s workshop in Bethany to load the flooring that was being stored in his building onto a trailer then transport it to the build site and stack it in the shed.   As we were loading, I noticed a really nice woodworking shop next door.   When I peaked in, I saw the owner working on a custom table.   He came out to talk with us for a few minutes, and shared with us that he grew up in a Habitat house.   It really touched our hearts knowing how good housing can make a difference in people’s lives ;-).

We installed a new mailbox, finished up the shutters and installed the outside lights.   Our work on the outside of the house is done!   It looks great!

Tomorrow is painting day!   Should be fun 🙂