I've been itching to get back to the house I was helping to build in Elizabethtown, PA (which is part of Lancaster County, E-Town for short), so I worked it out with the boss to get a day off. I decided to surprise you all with an extra post!
Let me tell you, a lot can happen in just a month.
When I arrived yesterday morning I was amazed. Before the basement was the only thing in place, and we had been putting in the joists to set the staff and volunteers up to put in the floors. Now there's an actual house structure there, and they've cemented the back patio. The inner skeleton of the house is underway, and all of the rooms have been laid out. The lower level has the windows put in and doors which lock now. Here are some pictures, it really is turning out to be a cute little house!
Left: The back side of the house, which is our typical view as the front is blocked by fences.
Above: The interior of the second level. I'm standing in one of the bedrooms. To the left is what appears to be another bedroom and a living area, to the right is the bathroom (the white thing is the bathtub).
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| John, me, and Jim (Left-Right) |
We got right to work placing the styrofoam insulation material on the home's exterior. In comparison to other jobs I've done, it was much easier to nail the material into the plywood frame than what I've done in other projects. After awhile it started getting a little hairy though-once we did the bottom of the home, we had to start climbing higher to the top of the house. Tom, the staff member I usually tag along with, mentioned me going up on a 20 or 32 ft. ladder to keep working. I was, to say the least, less than enthusiastic. I'm all for conquering fears and breaking out of my comfort zone, but after seeing how rickety the ladders got at those heights and knowing I wasn't harnessed in to anything, I wasn't thrilled at the idea of going that high.
That's something that is super great about Habitat though. The people there always have something for you to do, and they are more than happy to accommodate your comfort level. Instead of going up on the ladder to continue the insulation, Tom had me tape along the edges of the boards we had already done. This seals them together so that water and air don't come through later on, affecting the frame of the home. Afterwards we also nailed some black matting to the corners of the house to seal them. I was a little bummed that so much of the day's work revolved around putting this insulation up, because I wound up standing around more than I'd like. However even the staff and more experienced volunteers recognized the danger in going up that high, so I felt good knowing that I made a wise decision to find safer alternative projects to do in the meantime.
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| Insulation we were installing. See how high the ladders were?! |
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| Sealed edges of home with black matting. |
After finishing this we broke for lunch, and I devoured a delicious Subway sandwich, my go to when I'm here. At the end of lunch a photographer they had come over asked to talk to me, after hearing about my 50 states goal. We went to the top floor of the house and he hooked up all his fancy mics and camera, and asked me about my experience with Habitat, working with the families, and advice I'd give to people thinking about volunteering with Habitat for Humanity (preview: I said ABSOLUTELY DO IT). I probably sounded like a goober, as I usually do, but hopefully they got a few sound bites that sounded decent. If I get a copy of whatever they use it in, I'll post it so you all can see! It's honestly been a little embarrassing getting all this attention. The people at this site love my goal, as do I. However I really didn't expect this kind of hullabaloo over it. I'm more than happy to talk about my experiences thus far, but my goal isn't to get noticed, it's to help families get a home of their own. I hope to use the platform that they are making for me to spread that message, and to get more people involved with this organization.
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| Fitting a sill pan on a window. |
Well enough of that sappy stuff, back to the story.
Once I was done interviewing we were right back at it. I helped drill some blocks into the wall frames near the roof so that the insulation would lay flat against the house (the walls for set back an inch or two high up so you'd notice it in the siding if the walls weren't even). After that I switched from that to working on the windows with Jim. He taught me how to install thin plastic window sill pans, which you just cut, overlap, and tape onto the bottom edge of the openings for the windows. This keeps water from seeping in later on once the windows are installed. We carried one of the windows up and attempted to install it too before the end of the day. However that backfired a bit, as the panes got stuck when we attempted to take them out, and the window opening in the house was slightly too large for the window. Thankfully we fixed the panes and the size of the window hole is fixable, but it was too much work to take on as we neared the end of the day. So we helped clean up the site and called it a day.
I had yet another rewarding day on the job site. I'm leaving for Minnesota soon to visit family and friends over winter break, and I am ecstatic! But I must say, it'll be hard to leave this place for another month. I plan on coming back more often next semester so I can see more of the progress. Look out for more posts, if I can I'm planning on crossing off my third state by working on a site or two in Minnesota while I'm home!
For now, I hope everyone has safe travels and has time to spend with family and friends this holiday season. During this time of year, I hope you all have time to give back to your community. Whether it be through Habitat for Humanity, volunteering with the Salvation Army, or some other project, just get out and spread the Christmas cheer!
Ta Ta For Now,
Lisa
