Transform Chattanooga » Riverbend House 2008

The Home Becomes Real

transformchattanooga — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:56:18 +0000

It was one of those moments when there is a lull in the action and a break in the pace of pushing to get the house further along. Director of Construction, Dennis Neal, our homeowner Alexia Taylor and I were walking through the house to discuss the next steps and tasks to be done. Alexia stopped in the doorway to one of the bedrooms and pointed up and asked, “What are those boxes for?” Dennis started explaining some of the details, “The lower electrical boxes are, of course, for the wall outlets. These, beside the doors, are light switches and the ones higher up are for the smoke detectors.”

Dennis went on to point out the boxes along the ceiling where the light fixtures would go. Light literally dawned! “You mean my hallway will have THREE lights, THREE lights?” Alexia squealed, her voice portraying her excitement. “I know real houses that don’t have three lights!” It was a moment to savor – where the reality of all that had been accomplished in the furry and flurry of work took Alexia from standing in a house to standing in her new home.

The Calm Before the Storm

transformchattanooga — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:05:04 +0000

Volunteers from Bethel Bible Village volunteered on the house on Monday – here is a shot of their group painting trim for the house – this is the “calm before the storm” photo …

More About the Make A Difference Village

transformchattanooga — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:20:32 +0000

Check out WDEF News 12s web page for info and content on the Make A Difference Village opposite the Habitat house build at www.wdef.com/the_make_a_difference_village

The Village is an area of interactive and or informational booths that focus on how you can make a difference in the community – the Village is sponsored by WDEF News 12, the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga.

Here is a list of the activities at the Village this week:

Earthscapes – “Making A Difference in The Environment”

Featuring: planting grow socks.

Chattanooga’s Kids on the Block – “Making A Difference With Kids”

Featuring: puppet shows for kids/ puppetry how to

Habitat for Humanity – “Women Making A Difference”

Featuring: information about how women can help change our community.

La Paz de Dios Chattanooga – “Making A Difference In Culture”

Featuring: information about hispanic culture in Chattanooga

Rock Creek Outfitters – “Make A Difference In Wellness”

Featuring: nightly drawings for Rock Creek Gift Cards

The oak project – “Making A Difference In Families”

Featuring: information about helping homeless families in Chattanooga

Another Shot of the Walls

transformchattanooga — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:00:43 +0000

Here is an image of what the build site looked like this morning – its a warm day for this kind of work, but the volunteers are on track to have the house under roof by tonight – this image was taken around 10 am this morning.

Walls Go Up!

transformchattanooga — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:56:55 +0000

A faithful crew of volunteers from Rivermont Presbyterian Church was hard at work this morning when I rolled up to the jobsite – the side walls of the house were up, and they were about to raise the end, when we stopped for a bit for a press conference.

Here is an image of Charlie Belcher, just on of the dedicated folks from Rivermont Presbyterian who have partnered with Habitat for many years – thanks Charlie and everyone from the Rivermont Crew!

Floor Decking/ Wall Sections

transformchattanooga — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:19:13 +0000

Here is a shot of Habitat construction staff and volunteers at work – the floor decking is down, and they are working on the exterior walls – the frames in the foreground are for interior walls.

Building Preparations

transformchattanooga — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:15:50 +0000

Just came back from the Riverbend build site – its a nice sunny day, with a heat index of something like 97 degrees. Here is an image of the build site – these two hard working folks are Don and Diane Barnes – full time volunteers with Habitat for many years – at the moment they are attaching sheets of OSD to the outside of wall sections for the house.

Getting Ready to Raise the Roof on Riverfront Parkway

transformchattanooga — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:27:56 +0000

Riverbend officially starts on Friday, June 6. Although that is when the festivities begin, activity has been going on all week long. This has been especially true for Habitat as we undertake our second Riverbend blitz build. Building a house from start to finish in 9 days is no easy feat.

Our preparations began early Monday morning as the steel I-beams were brought in for the house to be temporarily built on. Necessities – such as a pod for supplies and materials and a port-a-potty were trucked in as well. The floor joists and lumber were delivered on Tuesday and Wednesday morning we hit the ground running with two groups of volunteers coming in to set the joists, shore up the foundation (which hangs over the sides of the I-beams) and make sure everything was perfectly (and we do mean perfectly) square and level.

Six of our regular volunteers from Rivermont Presbyterian Church – Charlie Belcher, Jim Ford, Ken Haralson, Bob Reid, Sterling Creamer and Rick Phillips – were on hand as well as two framers – Daryl Spaulding and William Buckhart – from Scenic City Builders donating their time.

By 4 in the afternoon all the joists were placed across the beams, reinforcements set, shoring up done and the OSB board laid across it to actually become the floor of the home.

Thursday brought another flurry of activity as the wall-kit was brought in and the roof trusses delivered. Volunteers again worked to make sure all was ready for our first day – Don and Diane Barnes, long term, 40-hours a week volunteers I might add – were on hand along with Steve Amos another of our “steady eddies” to place the walls up on the decking and prep them for putting up on Friday. William Buckhart from Scenic City joined us again and his capable hands helped with the hauling, moving and placing of materials.

So, after 4 days in 90+ degree heat, having consumed gallons and gallons of water and sports drink and munching countless granola bars (thank you, McKee Foods Corporation) we are ready for Riverbend to B-E-G-I-N!