Saturday, 3/15/08

Note: We are planning to be working the Saturday before Easter.

It was another beautiful weekend and we had 26 volunteers working on the house! We arrived Saturday to find that the Thursday crew was able to get the windows and doors installed. So the Saturday crew was on to install siding and trim.

When installing the windows and doors, flashing is also installed to help keep water out. Then J-trim or J-channel is installed around the windows, doors and the A/C connections, etc. that stick out of the siding.

The basics of how-to-install-vinyl-siding is not the siding at all, but rather, the flashing ,the eaves, soffits, windows, and door trims. Part of this is remembering that vinyl expands and contracts with temperature changes. As a result, we make an effort not to drive the nails in too tight and to leave a little gap at the corners where it will need to move. While some folks were installing the first strips of siding, we had a few others installing vinyl fittings for all of the external outlets and spigots, outside lighting fixtures, and the dryer vent.

Next weekend’s tasks: Continue work on siding and trim, and possibly begin interior wiring.

References: Make Your Own House; Fine Homebuilding.com; Ask The Builder.com

Saturday, 3/8/08

Saturday was a beautiful day and with approximately 26 volunteers, we were able to get the entire roof covered in tar paper and the flashing installed. The ridge vent was completed last week when the sheathing was installed. Working on the roof is a hot/dirty/smelly job and a BIG THANKS goes out to the guys who were up on the roof all day getting this done!!

While those great guys were up on the roof, another crew set to work on wrapping the house with Tyvek. The Tyvek is held on with short nails through aluminum or plastic disks. The disks are used to keep the Tyvek from tearing up over the nails. A third crew finished up the porch construction, including all of the sheathing (top, bottom and front) and the tar paper on the porch roof. The Tyvek will need some additional work on the front of the house this week that the Thursday crew should be able to get done.

In the middle of all this, “Hey Bob” came out with the shingle color samples for our new homeowner. She and her children looked at the siding and trim chips for a little while and made their choices. The house will be “wheat” and the trim “forest green.” It will look really great and should blend into the neighborhood nicely.

And now, A SHAMELESS REQUEST FOR HELP: If there are any volunteer groups interested in helping out but construction just isn’t your thing, we’ve got a very special job for you!! While there are occasional sponsors for lunch, our volunteers are usually on tap to provide their own lunches. It would be a really nice gesture if we had some additional group or community organization sponsors for lunches. If you know of a restaurant or bakery that would be open to donating food, please let us know – our e-mail address is texascityhabitat@yahoo.com.

Last but not least, next Saturday’s tasks will include installation of the front and back doors and the windows. The siding will be delivered Saturday, and we will also start working on the interior wiring and install the electrical box outside along with a number of other tasks. We hope you’ll come out and enjoy the beautiful spring weather with us!!

Saturday, 3/1/08

March came in like a lamb at our Habitat house, which made for good working conditions to finish up sheathing on the roof and get the porch framed in. We had 27 at our peak today. When we arrived, more of the trees in the back were cut down and the fence is mostly down. Quite a few of Thursday’s UTMB volunteers were on hand again today to help put the plywood sheathing on the roof.

As you can imagine, sheathing the entire roof is a big job and requires lots of hands and lots of time. One of the first tasks was to ensure that the rafter tails were straight and cut those that were not. Sheathing is installed one side of the house at a time and from the bottom of the roof to the top. The seams are staggered and line up on the centers of the rafters. The plywood is marked with a chalk line on the ground at 16″ centers. Once on the roof, the plywood is lined up to the rafters on those centers and tacked down. The remaining nails are placed at 6″ intervals, similar to the sheathing on the outside walls. Once the roof sheathing is complete, we install a roof vent and tar paper the roof to prepare for shingles. The outside walls of the house will be wrapped with Tyvek at the same time.

While the majority of the crew worked on sheathing the roof, another crew worked on getting the porch framed and put together. This started out to be an all-female crew but after lunch we allowed a couple of the guys to help. We were able to get the porch all framed and the rafters complete today.

References: St. Louis, MO Habitat for Humanity Construction Manual

Next week’s tasks: Install sheathing on the porch roof; install tar paper on the house roof; “wrap” the house with Tyvek; install plywood “flooring” in the attic; install windows and doors and start the wiring inside the house.

Saturday, 2/23/08

We had a decent day to work today with about 22 volunteers. It’s really starting to look like a house!! All of the rafters were installed and collartized (attached with the opposite rafter at the top), which were our major tasks for the day. We had a few people checking the nail gaps on the plywood for the walls – this is where either the nails missed the stud and had to be re-nailed, or the gap between nails was 7-inches instead of 6-inches, and we also installed the outlookers on the rafters. We also worked alongside Dennis the Tree Man, who’s cutting back all of the trees and brush in the back of the lot, and also cut down the big sycamore tree that was within 7 feet of the foundation.

Thursday’s crew got 21 pair of helping hands from UTMB. The Nursing program sent volunteers that helped install hurricane clips and continued checking and fixing the nail gaps in the plywood for the walls. The crew also installed the front gables, which required re-working one rafter. The plywood is now on the front.

For next weekend, our main task will be putting the plywood on the roof and putting the front porch together. After the plywood is up on the roof, we’ll get the tar paper up and wrap the house with Tyvek. Bob is ordering the doors and windows, which we may be able to start on next week or the week after. For those not familiar with Tyvek, it’s a really neat material that helps stop moisture buildup and keeps air from getting through the walls behind the siding.

With the exception of last weekend, we’ve been pretty lucky with our Saturday weather so far. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for fog in the morning with partly cloudy skies.

Saturday, 2/16/08

The weather hampered our efforts today. It was windy and a little rainy almost all morning. Fortunately, it mostly misted on and off rather than actually raining. With the weather the way it was, we didn’t have a very large crew, and by the time we started packing up for the day, it started raining for real.

Thursday’s crew got the strongbacks finished and sawed out the openings for the windows and doors, which allowed us to concentrate on getting the roof beam up today. We were a little worried about it because there were strong storms with high winds forecasted. Dennis the Tree Man started clearing the lot at the back of the property, so there were a lot of branches laying all over behind the house. Where are those teenaged kids when you need them?

In order to put up the roof beam, we needed to be able to walk around on the ceiling joists, so we nailed a few sheets of plywood to the joists. Eventually, we’ll cover the whole attic floor with plywood. There were 3 or 4 of us working on the roof beam, which we were able to accomplish despite the imminent rain.

Next week we should be able to get all of the rafters installed as long as the weather holds. That will be our main project for the weekend.