Thrivent Builds

Bathroom insulation pre-drywall

Pete & Sean early morning "planning"

Dining room insulation before drywall

Kitchen wall insulation pre-drywall

Living room insulation pre-drywall

What a fantastic week last week was! Seriously. We passed all rough trades inspections at the end of the week and passed the rough framing inspection, but unfortunately we failed the initial inspection required before  drywall goes up in order to have the certified Energy Star rating that we want when the build is complete. So a compromise was reached by construction mgr. Bill Dunphy and the Energy Star tester guy where additional caulk would be applied at certain seam points between top plates and studs and such as well as some add’l insulation around the attic baffles (not sure what that is exactly, but Andy says it’s a “good volunteer job” that will take some time.

All of this allowed the crew from Ford Motor Company Livonia to proceed with hanging drywall today. This was an amazing and extremely productive crew. WOW! And thanks very much to Mark Frisinger, professional drywaller and painter, for volunteering his valuable time to lead all the drywall volunteers Thursday-Saturday. We want to complete siding before the weekend is over too of course, but we cannot do that until we get drywall on the walls inside. Thursday houseleader, Doug Towner, reported that 65% of the entire house got drywalled today and that we should have no problem completing the drywall by the end of Saturday. This keeps us on schedule to complete mudding and sanding over the long July 4 break and will allow painting to begin on schedule Thursday, July 9. Yeh!

Thanks again to Trinity Lutheran in Ann Arbor for providing a great lunch for our crew. Judi & Betty – you are great!

Saturday morning, before siding begins

Rear siding end of day

East side view end of day Sat.

A large crew turned out this second Saturday of the build and Andy pushed as hard as ever to get siding started along with completing many other tasks. I lost track of the detailed goals for this day, but people worked really hard and the house is 100% dry including all windows, all blue Dow insulation board, the roof is done entirely including the porch overhang and siding got started, the exterior doors are in and the house is secure.  St. Mark Lutheran of Ypsilanti provided lunch today and it was a feast. They started with an amazing mid-morning snack, all kinds of fruit and beverages and cold water and a full feast again at noon. Thanks St. Mark. Folks from this congregation traveled to work with Habitat and help rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast and we are glad they are working with us on this local Thrivent Build. Pastor Julie even worked on the kick-off day!

Roofing became the priority as this day and the week went on. If we don’t get this roof shingled, we will not pass our rough framing inspection this week – even if all rough trades pass theirs. So push, push, push hard by Andy today for anyone and everyone willing to get on the roof and get the shingles on. The rain seemed imminent but somehow held out until the evening so work continued all day. Drywall nailers were added where needed, interior “blocking” was installed where needed (where cabinets will be hung – very hard to hit 2×4’s perfectly when hanging cabinets, much easier with a nice big 2×6 or 2×8 to nail to between the studs.) Blue Dow insulation board is nearly complete with seams all sealed. Caulking, caulking and more caulking has also been done this week in order to seal all cracks to the exterior. We will call for our pre-drywall Energy Star inspection to know if anything has to be corrected before hanging drywall next Thursday. All is continuing to go well. Thanks everyone! Oh ya, before I forget, thanks to Zion Lutheran in Chelsea for a great lunch today. Everyone is always so grateful for the nourishment and refreshment.

Windows now going in after blue board

volunteers framing the medicine cabinet opening

Happened by around lunch

Dayo Burrell, partner family

We have had outstanding volunteer crews all week including the vast majority from our sponsoring congregations. Thanks to St. Paul Lutheran in Ann Arbor for providing a great lunch today. No accidents today, no delays, no incidents and work progressed nicely on blue Dow insulation board and windows are nearly all in. Our homeowner Dayo is a “blue board expert.” It is optimistic of course but we would love to get started on siding before insulation goes in or we have to halt siding activity until drywall is up on the exterior walls. Otherwise the pounding of nails on the outside makes the insulation fall out on the inside if no drywall up to hold it in place.  As always, we are learning so much every day.

Dow board, rear veiw of home

Dow board (insulation) west side view

Beginning of the day, just one wall started with Dow board

Yesterday trades people also began working alongside volunteers including plumbing, electrical and HVAC pro’s. They will work alongside volunteers this week and we even have volunteers assisting them whenever possible, in order to pass the rough mechanical inspections by Friday. These rough inspections must be passed before we can call for the framing inspection so  framing must be done by the end of the week as well. This includes having the roof shingled so we can pass that rough framing inspection late Friday or Monday. This is necessary before we can have insulation blown in and call for that prior to drywall being hung next week. Everything is very tight but trades work looks really good so far and half of one side of the roof got shingled today (thanks to Andy’s son Brian, a professional with a roofing nailer) and a good start got  done on the other side by volunteers. Windows and exterior insulation work continued as expected. Another great day! Seriously.

Many thanks to Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor for providing lunch today.