Thrivent Builds

Front after gutters, etc. removed

Long-time Lutheran houseleader Andy Lakatos, Don Schoenberg, Mark Ritz, Don Stauffer, Gary Vogt, the McQuistons, and others too joined Rachelle Wilson at the 2836 Maplewood house for the first pre-build workday of 2010.  Roofers were scheduled for today (4.19.10 and came) so we had to get some tilted soffits and fascia and gutters off, replace all that wood working before new roof, installed nice Windsor I trim boards and built it all out to accommodate the insulated siding that will be installed on top of Dow blue board on top of new OSB on top of the existing siding.

Mark, Gary and Don Schoenberg ripping a board

The windows will likely be removed and reset in order to not have to build them out so much, but details of that are yet to be determined. The furnace is being replaced with a high efficiency unit so no need for the old chimney anymore. The roofers removed the existing shingles and tore down the chimney before reroofing.  So, the roof is on and we are basically ready for kick-off on June 5, at least from a construction perspective.

Don S. up on the ladder

We need 90 volunteers to “pledge” themselves and another bit of funding pledged too then we will have everything we need to meet our second Thrivent Milestone. WooWoo! We are way ahead of last year and it’s going to be great. We do, however need those 90 volunteers to actually sign up and we also need lunch providers to sign up THEN we’ll be ready to go.  June 5 will include gutting the bathroom and 2 walls in the kitchen and lots of siding work and likely a crew will dive right into the garage, which needs a lot of work.

Burrrr..., Rachelle and Andy Day 1

Example of work done all around the house

Burrrrr is all I can say about last Saturday.

Where is your coat girl?

Rachelle relocating her Peonies

Don Stauffer and sample of new trim

The wind was blowing and we had plenty of lawn bags but forgot the rakes for the morning volunteers.

By the afternoon, we had some on-site just about the time Rachelle found Peonies in the backyard along the back of house and decided to relocate them so they don’t get trampled when the siding goes on.  She LOVES them and doesn’t expect they will bloom the first year after being moved, but is crossing her fingers that next year they do well.  She’s a little worried because of the frost that came Sunday night right after they were moved.

Signing off from the first 2010 blog entry…

Lynne Punnett, Construction Project Manager

Andy Lakatos welcoming and thanking everyone

Dayo expressing her thanks

Wil Mefford of St. Luke's in Ann Arbor with me (Lynne)

Ribbon cutting (note the little family member at front who just had to be a part of everything)

Greetings to all who have followed the 2009 Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity home of the Burrell family on Watling in Ypsilanti. A group of dedication folks from various churches and even some from Miller Canfield law firm in Ann Arbor on Saturday to help prepare the house for Sunday’s dedication.

The only that outshined the fantastic weather was the beauty of the home and the excitement of those present sharing in this celebration. There were lots of compliments on the gorgeous laminate flooring throughout and Dayo’s brand new appliances including a new washer & dryer in the basement.

The celebration began when houseleader Andy Lakatos welcomed everyone and turned the ceremony over the Pastor Julianne Smeck of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Ypsilanti to offer the opening prayer and blessing. Then Dayo’s family support partner, Gwynn Sterken, introduced the family who expressed gratitude for everyone who helped make this day and owning a brand new, affordable home possible.

Rose Marquardt from Christ the King church in Saline presented each family member with their own personalized quilt and then Dayo’s Pastor, the Rev. Deborah South of St. Mary’s Baptist Church in Ypsilanti offered a blessing on the home and family and gave thanks for God’s amazing love and provisions for each of us.

Many churches pitched by providing a variety of refreshments and drinks and paper to serve and eat it all on. There were cookies and some veges leftover, which the family was pleased to take home for school lunches  and snacks.

Thank you so much everyone, I mean that from the bottom of my heart, for all you’ve done this year to complete this home for Dayo Burrell and her two children. It has been an amazing and excellent experience to manage the project and work with all of you.

Lynne Punnett, Faith Relations & Volunteer Coordinator

Greetings Friends of our 2009 Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity project. Just a quick note to say the house is beautiful, very well built inside and out and as a result we passed our final inspection and expect to pick up the CofO early this week. Mr. Bill Dunphy, Habitat’s Construction Manager, passed along compliments of a job well done so I pass that along to all of you.

Please join us Sept. 20 at the house for the dedication of Dayo’s home. We will begin at 2:00pm. Dayona and Deyon are very excited and both want to cut the ribbon, which I’m sure Gwynn can work out with an extra pair of scissors.

Dayo and family and friends are stopping by regularly to water the beautiful trees and shrubs and plants and of course that lush, green sod. Bill and Andy appreciate her owning that responsibility already, it really helps a lot.

Here’s a snapshot of the front of the house. Not much different than the last shot but the trailer is gone now and the lawn refuge and trash bags have all been put out and picked up.

I’ll get some better pictures, without shading and some that show the side porch. It is all very nice. The arborvitaes are really nice.

God bless,

Lynne

What a fantastic build this year! We had great volunteers from churches, corporations and the public come in Friday and Saturday to wrap up the interior (Friday) and pretty much all landscaping was done on Saturday. We extend gratitude and thanks to volunteers from Chelsea Free Methodist Church who were working on the Good News House over on Congress Street and got done right after lunch and drove over and helped finish with plants and shrubs and roll out the sod. The house looks beautiful and once we get the trailer moved, the growing pile of trash and lawn bags to the curb and remove the porta-john, it will look beautiful. Here are some updated pictures taken at the end of the day Saturday.

View end of day Sat., 8/22/09

Extra Arborvitaes along drive to separate the house from the church next door

Laminate flooring throughout the home (except kitchen and bath)

LR view into kitchen (cleaning to do)

Bathroom completed

Front porch, steps & railing - beautiful!

Driveway and sidewalk

We are wrapping this home up and currently discussing a dedication date in mid-September. Once that is finalized, it will be posted immediately and church champions will be notified and in turn spread the news within their congregations.

I was away last weekend and unable to be on-site so sorry about delays in updating this blog. For now I am attaching a few pictures I took Monday. The only reason the entire sidewalk isn’t poured is because we must wait for the gas line to be installed. Once that is done, we will finish the front sidewalk and finalize landscaping. Top soil is expected to be delivered this week so there will be lots of outside work (yep – in the hottest week of the year!)

The interior trim looks nearly complete and beautiful, maybe 100% even as I didn’t walk through every room and inspect. Stove and dishwasher were delivered and will be installed this week. Frig is coming before the weekend is over too. Lots of  clean up needs to be done again on the inside but overall things are looking really great.