What's Happening At Habitat
Ed Howard
September 2011
Our crew has started work on a new house at 46 East Oakwood Place in Buffalo, in a neighborhood just off Main Street near Sisters Hospital. The family moving into the house includes a woman, her mother, and three children.
At this point, the interior of the house has been gutted back to the framing and work is focused on fixing weaknesses in the structure before we can start improving the interior of the house. We will be working here for the next few months, so this is a good opportunity to see the transition from a crumbling house to a nicely finished home! It should be ready for its new owner by next spring or summer.
This month we replaced a set of joists that formed the ceiling of an upstairs room and the floor of the attic. There had been a fire at the house and when the roof was repaired the joists that were installed as part of the repair were done poorly – they were not level, they were at different heights, and they were not fastened to the frame of the house securely. Our job was to tear out the existing joists, replace them and replace the floor in the attic. It took all day, but when we finished the attic floor was strong and the joists were level, so when drywall for the ceiling is installed in the second floor room it will look good.
Mary Valentine, Ron Galloway and Ed Howard worked this job, and we would be happy to have you join us the next time we work at Habitat. Our group goes to Habitat the third Saturday of every month. If you are interested, please contact Ed Howard. You don't have to commit to coming every month – come when you can. Each month we send out an e-mail telling everyone where we are going and what we will be doing – come if you can. Thanks to everyone at WUMC who supports Habitat For Humanity. . . won't you consider joining us?
August 2011
Our August 2011 workday at Habitat For Humanity brought an end to our work at 35 Carl Street in Buffalo. By the time you are reading this article, the house will have been dedicated and a new family will have moved in! We began working at 35 Carl Street in February when the house was unheated, and now it was finished on a hot August day.
On our last day at this job we finished weatherproofing a garage that we had started two months ago. Mary Valentine and Dave Reichard put finishing trim on a frame that was built on our last visit, and Allan Spring and Jim Jones put the final surface on the roof.
Other tasks during our several months at this house included installing plumbing, exterior siding, preparing interior walls for insulation, hanging doors and door trim, steadying the frame supporting the front porch, and much more.
Next month we're off to a new location, but it will only be an interim stop until our next long-term house is ready. However, we will get to work with construction supervisor George Copeland, an old friend we've worked with over the years. Some of you may recall that George came to our Contemporary Issues class a few years ago to talk about Habitat.
We always have jobs for more Habitat volunteers, so if you would like to try it out please contact Ed Howard. No experience is needed, all the tools are provided, and there is someone to show you just what to do if you need help. We work the third Saturday of every month. I hope to see you there!
July 2011
Our church's Habitat crew continued to work at 35 Carl Street during the summer and the house is coming right along. Plans are for dedication in late August, so we will probably be there one more month before moving on to a new house in September.
In June we worked on improving the garage by reinforcing the rafters holding up the roof, installing a new plywood deck and a first layer of self-stick water barrier. Ron Galloway and Alan Spring cut plywood to the right size for the new deck. Dave Reichard and Jim Jones reinforced the rafters (some were pretty rotted) and then nailed down the new deck surface. Once there was a new layer of plywood over the whole roof, self-adhesive water barrier was applied. It will be up to another group of volunteers to apply the final shingles.
In July we were back indoors installing baseboards and hanging doors. Jim cut the baseboard to the right length and then Alan nailed them in place. We also worked on hanging doors, a finicky job to get the door just right so it hangs right and closes properly.
Our church Habitat group works the third Saturday of every month and you are invited to join us! No experience necessary and all the tools you need are provided. Come work with friendly people, learn a little about how houses are built, and Be The Church in our community! Call Ed Howard if you want to know more about Habitat For Humanity!
June 2011
Many people know we have a crew working each month at a Habitat for Humanity house in Buffalo. Since the first of this year, our crew has been working at 35 Carl Street, which is near ECMC. The house was probably built in the 1920s. The first step in a Habitat house is to tear out everything inside, right back to the framing... known as "demolition." Once that is done, framing for new
walls and ceilings can be installed. In February (with only a minimum amount of heat in the house), Ed Howard and Alan Spring built in new ceiling framing in a second-story bedroom and closet that eventually accommodates new sheetrock and insulation above it. Once the framing was in place "netting" (think of the stuff on the underside of a box spring) was nailed to the wall framing so it would hold blown-in insulation in place. Mary Valentine and Rosemary Elliott went 2x4 by 2x4 making sure the netting was both stapled and glued into place.
Most recently we worked outdoors. In this photo, you see Dave Reichard, Jim Jones, and Ron Galloway working on restoring the framing for the front porch. Some of the frame was missing, other pieces were rotted. While Dave, Jim, and Ron worked on the porch, about 15 teenagers from Amherst (YES!) were cutting the new porch deck boards and priming them.
Later in the afternoon, we started installing vinyl siding. Here Dave, Jim, and Ron, along with site supervisor Bob Waddell (Bob and his wife Marge are members at Central Park UMC) discuss the best way to fit siding over a 4" pipe that sticks through the wall. After careful consideration and measuring, Dave cut a freehand perfect circle that exactly fit over the pipe and made a nice tight seal! Just to show it wasn't a fluke, Dave did it again with the second pipe you see in the photo!
Our group from Williamsville UMC works at Habitat for Humanity the 3rd Saturday of each month. If you would like to join us, please contact Ed Howard. We'll probably be at 35 Carl St. for most of the summer. You don't need any special building skills or tools, everything you need is provided. Won't you consider giving Habitat for Humanity a try - it is a good cause and we learn something new every month.