Ingrid helped clean up the site.
The foundation for the first house of 2024 was poured and the blueboard installed and filled with concrete.
The back step and walk at Leo and Maria’s house was also poured.
On Saturday, September 30 we had volunteers from Ingrid’s church – Inglesia Redemcion Eterna in Gibbon. Pastor Marco and his wife Mariella were there, but Pastor John Gosswein and his wife Judy gave a morning devotion about “Surprise!” and Daniel Medina translated. Was a fun morning and we made many new friends!
Mariella and her crew served a great authentic taco lunch!
At the site, volunteers worked on the foundation of the first house for 2024 by installing the support boards which will support the frame, installed pea gravel in the foundation, and then put in radon tubes and then sealed that with plastic sheeting. Next in that process will be sandfill and plumbing runs and then the concrete flooring.
At Ingrid’s house, Judy painted the door frames and corner boards while a great crew of lots of volunteers laid the sod in her front yard. They were so efficient, the job was accomplished in less than one hour! Ken immediately started the water to make sure we got a good growth. The sewn back yard grass is looking really good! Volunteers then swept the walks and drives after all that sod was laid.
At Justine’s house a great crew of volunteers including Justine and her sister Julie, laid the sod in her front yard. The second load of sod was delivered prior to break, and the efficient crew had it finished in no time! Ken immediately started the water to make sure we got a good growth. The sewn back yard grass is looking really good! Our President Patrick helped water the newly laid sod.
Our volunteers found other jobs to do – like sweeping the walks and drives after all that sod was laid.
Bob was here with all his tools to continue installing drywall in Leo’s house.
This week the T-TH volunteers accomplished a lot. . .
At Ingrid’s house they installed the countertops in the bath and kitchen.
The HVAC unit was installed.
Woodwork trim installation continued.
Steve and Dudley installed the window ledges.
At Justine’s Sandy and her husband installed tile in the bathroom and the rest of the cupboards were put in the kitchen and bath.
At Leo’s Dennis and Dudley worked on building the back step and Roger worked on electrical connections, Bill and Phil insulated the walls.
Ken and Parker Hannifin volunteers worked on getting the front yards ready for sod.
On Saturday, Bonnie and Judy hosted and Carolyn took photos. Pat Skiles from the PEO HP gave the devotion at coffee break and Barb and Melissa served the chicken dinner.
Justine and her sister worked on painting her doors and trim in the warehouse.
Mike (pink room) continued installing trim in Ingrid’s house while others installed her stove and refrigerator.
Milt and John installed blinds on some of the windows
While outside Judy G. sanded the door trim so that Judy D. could paint it.
The grass in the back yards at Ingrid and Justine’s houses is up and looking good. Hopefully we will lay sod in the front yards next week.
House #95 has the bathroom floor in place now and the upper cabinets are up and part off the base cabinets are in place. Steve picked up a new blade for the saw to cut molding with so we can move forward with that as time allows.
House #96 has flooring going in today or tomorrow. I believe all of the landscaping timbers have been installed and filled with rock except on south side waiting for stoop to be poured.
House #97 Siding is finished and painted ay least once, soffit and trim are being installed, wiring inspection has been done and maybe the second shower needs to be installed. So I think we need to do a little house keeping so the drywall and wall mesh can start.
Just a reminder that we are getting concrete thursday at 1:00 o'clock for the stoop. on house 96 and the sidewalk and driveway approach on house 97, Jerry also shared that Cudaback will be here to 14th of September to dig footing for the first house of 2024.
A few things on the to do list are to:
clean garden sheds and build benches in them,
soffit and facisa,
rake around garden sheds and fences to get ready to seed grass,
lay sod,
finish fences,
get shim shingles,
check on furnace vent,
run driveway.
For Ingrid’s house, Dale Jansen and associate installed the flooring.
For Justine’s house, they poured her driveway and installed shelving supports in closets.
For Leo’s house Buffalo Roofing shingled the house!
On Saturday, August 19. . .
It was a very hot day, reaching 97 by noon! Even with that, our volunteers accomplished the following:
At Ingrid’s house volunteers placed the landscape timbers around the house.
At Justine’s house Mike and Tracy built the back step.
At Leo’s house, volunteers started building the safe room in the master closet, moved dirt, readying for sod in September, and continued with siding.
During the week Building Committee members braced the walls of Leo’s porch, put in hurricane clips to stabilize the house against storms, and put in blueboard.
On Saturday, Bonnie and Carol hosted and Lori took photos. Bonnie gave a reading from Habitat Build Site Devotionals. For lunch, Buzz’s Marine provided pizza and cookies and volunteers from Faith United Methodist Church helped serve.
Today was a pleasant day and much was accomplished - even Bonnie climbing on the mower to clear the area around the picnic tables!
Ingrids house is awaiting the flooring to be installed by professionals.
At Justine’s house volunteers put on the first and second coats of paint and prepared her driveway for the concrete.
At Leo’s house volunteers prepared the sidewalk for concrete, finished installing blueboard and then wrapped the house in Tyvek, installed the foundation boards around the house, and installed windows. John sanded the siding boards readying for installation, and others measured for siding.
What a day!!
During the week the Building Committee framed the sidewalk in front of Leo’s house and Justine’s driveway. Ingrid and her nephew work partner Jonathan painted the color on a couple rooms in her house.
On Saturday, August 5, skilled paint volunteers finished the second coat of paint on Ingrid’s interior walls, making way for the vinyl floors and cabinets to be installed next.
At Justine’s house, the painters cleaned and completed the primer coat to the interior walls. Next for her is the paint color, then vinyl floors and then cupboards.
At Leo’s house volunteers, aided by our skilled partners, Zach and Paul Jackson and Jerry Willis, put up the trusses of the house and got some of the sheeting installed.
A great amount of work was done today, thanks to our faithful volunteers!
Thank you all!
Hosts for the day were Maria and Patti from St. James Catholic Church, and the recording all the work in photos was Cindy. Barb Naber gave a devotion at coffee break and First United Methodist Church Seekers Class served a fried chicken lunch. Thanks all!
At Justine’s house Keith and Zach Rasmussen mudded the drywall, making ready for painting.
On Saturday, July 29, 2023 –
It started out rainy, so we weren’t sure how much we were going to be able to accomplish today, but we started by dusting and wiping down Ingrid’s walls to ready them for painting, and by 9:30 things cleared up outside and we were ready to go!
At the warehouse Sue and Beth hosted coffee and Beth provided a devotion. Becky and Bonnie took photos. At lunchtime, Justine’s mother and step-father, Lynn and Walter Labrie provided sandwiches.
With Ken’s direction, the volunteers painted the primer coat on Ingrid’s house while Steve and Roger worked on installing light cans and the outdoor lights.
At Justine’s house the electricians worked more on installing switches and outlets.
Justine started looking at the paint samples. . .this is going to be hard!
At Leo’s house, volunteers continued putting backer boards on the framing, built in the porch supports, and moved some dirt and weeds.
At Ingrid’s house Zach and Keith Rasmussen mudded and finished the drywall, getting it ready to paint.
On Saturday the 22nd, Beth and Carol hosted, Lori took pictures, and PEO EG provided a great sloppy lunch and gave the morning devotion.
There were over 30 people on site, as a group from New Life church volunteered.
Judy and Carol pulled the weeds on Ingrid’s property and later Judy power-raked the front, which really helped keep the property neat.
Justine and many volunteers put the second coat of paint on her house.
Bob and Kay worked on drywall installation inside and Steve worked on electrical connections. Roger worked on installing the soffits.
Leo was happy that we were finally able to raise the walls of his house while another group put the Tyvek up on the garden shed as well as the roof edging.
Installed the soffits on Justine’s house and started blowing insulation into the walls of the interior.
Sanded the foundation at Leo’s house and leveled it.
At Ingrid’s, the drywall is all up and we are now waiting for the professional drywallers to mud and finish the job so we can paint.
On Saturday we had a group of 30 volunteers at the site and lots was accomplished. Holy Cross Lutheran Church were our providers today. They brought a great soft taco lunch. Jerry Gloystein gave a devotion about eagles, and the group enjoyed catching up with conversation. Bonnie and Sheryl hosted and Carolyn took photos.
A group of volunteers worked on the fence at the back of all three properties.
Ingrid’s house is awaiting the drywall finishers to come and work their magic!
At Justine’s house, painters were busy putting on the first coat of beautiful green paint to the garden shed and the house. At the same time the painters were working on her house, the siders were finishing their work on the west side, thanks to John, who sanded the boards so they would be ready to be nailed in place. Bill and Phil blew the insulation into the interior walls of her house.
At Leo’s house, Dave Waggoner Plumbing made all the connections in the foundation and then the last bit of sand was added and packed in well so that next week the floor can be poured and smoothed by the experts at Dandee Concrete and Construction Company. Jerry moved dirt around the property, and Tep led a group to build the garden shed.
The week prior to the July 4 holiday, volunteers poured the foundation base at Leo’s house, then installed the blueboard foundation supports, and filled them with cement. This is an important point in the process, as the house needs to be square and level, so much measurement and bracing is needed.
In the meantime, drywalling was completed at Ingrid’s house and now we are awaiting the drywallers to finish.
July 8, 2023 –
Danae and Maria from St. James Catholic Church hosted the Saturday build day, Cindy took photos, Danae gave a devotion at our coffee break and the Knights of Columbus provided lunch.
Today our volunteers painted the dark gray final coat of paint on Ingrid’s house and garden shed and Judy painted the white trim.
At Justine’s house volunteers started putting up the netting for insulation on the inside walls. Bob and others worked on the safe room in the master closet and Steve Dennis worked on electrical connections. Outside, volunteers continued siding her house with our multicolored materials.
At Leo’s house, once volunteers braced the foundation walls, blueboard was laid in the foundation for insulation and gravel and sand put on top of that, and then volunteers put the plumbing and heating runs in the foundation.
Sue and Judy hosted today, and Becky recorded activity with photos. Sue gave a devotion during the coffee break.
Painters came to help today at Ingrid’s house, but we had to wait until the temperature and dew point were correct and we finally started – and got the first coat of paint added to the house. Kay and Bob worked on drywall.
Justine helped clear the yard of rocks and helped dig holes for the future fence at the back of the properties. Steve and Mike worked more on electrical hookups and lights, Rodger reinforced the safe room outer wall.
Dennis leveled the grade stakes so we know how much concrete to put down in Leo’s foundation.
Habitat is all about making connections, helping people and making friendships. So during coffee break, people connected with each other.
It seems as though we are always pouring concrete and putting up siding this time of year. . .and our volunteers are getting really good at doing just that! This week we laid more sidewalk in front of Justine’s house, poured that concrete and leveled. Siding installation continued and you can see the house looks like a patchwork with all the different type of siding. Tracy put up the final piece at the top of the front peak!
Inside Ingrid’s house drywall installation continued with the help of Parker Hannifin employees. Another PH employee helped the electrician in Justine’s house and the third helped with the sidewalks.
On Thursday Cudaback men came to dig Leo’s foundation! Yeah! They do such a great. Job and really know how to handle that backhoe! Keith was a gofer for the Cudaback guys by making sure they had the right supplies.
At Ingrid’s house her son and a friend helped Kay and Bob install drywall.
At Ingrids – put in soffits, started drywalling ceilings, finished bulding the safe room and sanded and prepared boards for siding.
At Justine’s – laid out more sidewalks, and marked the house readying for siding.
At Leo’s – Jerry started leveling the land so that Cudaback could come dig the foundation.
On Saturday June 17: Danay, Patty and Pablo from St. James Church hosted and Lori took photos of the activities. The Reverend Dr. Rick Calson gave a devotion at the warehouse and First Lutheran Church provided a great lunch.
At the Warehouse Jerry marked boards to lay out the interior walls for Leo and Maria’s house and others started building those walls.
At the site, volunteers continued putting up soffits at Ingrid’s house, and siding.
At Justine’s the electrician worked on wiring the house while other volunteers laid out more sidewalks.
Dunkin Donuts provided a lot of day old donuts for the crew, then the remaining were given to the First United Methodist Church Food Pantry for distribution.
On Saturday Beth and Sheryl hosted and Cindy took photos of the activity. Beth gave a devotion at the warehouse and Walter and Lynn Labrie (Justine’s mom and step-dad) provided a great Taco lunch.
It poured again this week, so the site was very muddy, but there was still lots of work to be accomplished.
Bracing was removed from the sidewalks and laid out for more sidewalk towards Justine’s house. Electricians continued to work with wiring. Volunteers built the Safe Room in Ingrid’s closet. Other volunteers hung the netting for the insulation and blew the insulation into the walls.
Drywall was brought into the house ready for installation as soon as the electricity is inspected.
Carol and Bonnie hosted, Jerry welcomed volunteers and introduced home-buyers and gave an update on the building progress. Carol gave a devotion, and Prince of Peace Catholic Church provided a great goulash lunch.
The electricians were busy getting their supplies in the house to wire everything.
Windows were installed in Justine's house.
On Saturday Sue and Judy hosted, Becky took photos, John Gosswein gave the morning devotion and Zion Lutheran Church Women provided the lunch.
Justine and her work partner Jacob helped other volunteers put blueboard siding on her house while other Volunteers finished sheeting the roof.
The electricians continued wiring Ingrid’s house and Bob started getting ready to put up the drywall. Ingrid and her helpers put the first coat of paint on the garden shed.
Windows arrived for Ingrid’s house.
Dandee Construction’s great crew poured and leveled the foundation for Justine’s house.
Saturday, May 13 was a wet day but volunteers and staff were on side and ready to go when the walls for Justine’s house were delivered.
Unfortunately, once the walls were removed from the flatbed, the mud captured Jerry’s truck and it had to be pulled out with the tractor!
The walls were braced and set for raising. Justine and her step dad enjoyed participating in the raising. Men from the Industrial Distribution Department at UNK helped get both the exterior and interior walls up.
At coffee break Beth gave a devotion and at lunchtime Kearney Women’s Club provided lunch. Beth and Sheryl hosted and Carolyn took photos.
Other volunteers started stuffing insulation in the upper walls at Ingrid's house and installing the venting panels in the roof interior.
It was finally a nice day at the work site on Saturday. Charlie Pickens provided a devotion at our coffee break and Dobytown Kiwanis provided lunch.
At Ingrid’s house volunteers finished putting sheeting and edging on the roof, so we are ready for roofers. They then started marking the house for siding and putting siding on the garden shed. Once we get the windows and doors, we will be able to start siding the house. Inside volunteers continued putting up hurricane clips.
At Justine’s property, volunteers put up the garden shed.
Sue and Judy hosted today and Becky took photos. Carolyn Forney from Faith United Methodist Church provided a great devotion at coffee break at the Warehouse and at lunchtime a chicken strip lunch was provided by her church.
