The 2011 construction for Good News House volunteers will begin on Thursday, May 12 - under the watchful eyes of the Good News House Onsite Coordinator, Bob Whitacre, and Habitat for Humanity House Leader, Tim Raquet.  These two gentlemen will provide direction for and assistance to the construction volunteers as needed.  We will be working on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of each week, with the exception of a couple of holidays.  All construction volunteers will be required to wear hard hats and safety glasses, which will be provided on-site.

The general plan is to have a crew working at each of the two houses for the entire building season, although there will probably be days when all volunteers will work only on one house.  For the purpose of this discussion, a crew will be defined as 10-12 persons.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we are trying to schedule one crew, which will be divided between the two houses.  On Saturdays, we are attempting to schedule two crews - one for each house.  Work will begin at 8am and generally conclude for the day at 4pm.  There will be a break for lunch at noon.  On days when a congregation is scheduled to provide a crew, they will also be providing a lunch.  Ocassionally it may be necessary to request assistance from volunteers who have indicated they are willing to be contacted on a short notice basis when either additional work days are needed and/or when insufficient volunteers have been scheduled.  If you are willing to be a Short Notice Volunteer, please contact Bob Whitacre.

Following is a note from House Leader Tim Raquet, outlining the kind of work which is planned for the two houses.  While it is always impossible to guarantee what you as a volunteer might be asked to do on a given day, this helpful schedule of planned activities should be of assistance to you in scheduling your work days.

Work Schedule for 1229 Warner
Date	Work to be completed
May 12	Siding
May 14	Siding
May 17	Siding, form shed pad
May 19	Form any other concrete replacement areas
May 21	Pour concrete
May 24	Build shed and finish siding
May 26	Seal duct work, remove staples from first floor, frame closet doors
June 2	Begin basement dry system, clean walls, begin caulking
June 4	Continue basement dry system, prime walls
June 7	Continue basement dry system, prime walls
June 9	Continue basement dry system, caulk
June 11	Continue basement dry system
June 14	Finish basement dry system, caulk, paint walls
June 16	Repair bathroom floor, install duct work for bathroom, install duct work for range hood, paint
June 18	Paint
June 21	Paint and landscaping
June 23	Flooring and cauling
June 25	Flooring and caulking
June 28	Flooring, caulking and landscaping, paint trim
June 30	Flooring and caulking
July 5	Install underlayment in kitchen & bathroom, install base molding & toe kick
July 7	Install kitchen and bathroom floors
July 9	Install kitchen cabinets and interior doors
July 12	Install interior doors, trim interior doors, install base molding & toe kick, install vanity and Rx cabinet, caulk interior door trim and base molding
July 14	Landscaping, finish base molding and toe kick and caulking
July 16	Insulate hot water pipes, install appliances, paint trim
July 19	Landscaping, paint trim and other touch up work inside
July 21	Landscaping, paint trim and other touch up work inside
July 23	Landscaping, paint trim and other touch up work inside
July 30	Finish all miscellaneous work

A Little History of Past Builds

For twelve years, the Good News House group had built homes on empty lots, and the construction process for each house followed the same, general pattern.  Generally, the process began in April, with the work planned in two parts.  The first part included all preparation arrangements through completion of the main floor deck of the house, and was generally completed by the end of May.  The second part began in June and was generally completed by mid-August. 

In 2009 we rehabbed two existing homes instead of building one from the ground up, so the best way to proceed was unknown to us.  And, there were all of the complications one might expect to encounter in uncharted territory.  Our building season began in April and went through November! In 2010, we again rehabbed two houses, but we now knew better how to proceed and what to anticipate, so we finished our work in August.  

Through most of these years, Bob Whitacre was either THE HOUSE LEADER, or part of a team of house leaders.  And, he will again be overseeing our efforts this year as the On-site Coordinator, working closely with Tim Raquet.  Thanks very much for everything you have done and continue to do, Bob!