Job sites: Day 1

Quote of the day: "If you were inside a can for two years, what would you taste like?" - Inspired by the distinctive flavor of the Anheuser-Busch and Miller purified water that was donated to the Katrina relief effort.

Alrighty, day one is over and what a hot day it was.

We started the day by taking tours of what are to be considered our 3 main job sites while we're here although we will be taking on plenty of other work after these are done. We split the groups up into several teams to manage them. We also got started very late because of this tour, which meant we were working in the hottest part of the day. Tomorrow we'll be starting at 6.

Job site 1: Resetting some piling posts so framing can take place.
Team: Howie, Jade, Kaitlin, Kevin and later in the day, Brad. Could have used everyone.
Complications: No shade, no bathrooms, 97 degree heat with index of 103.
Description: The reason for us working here was to fix what a previous team had done improperly. The build plan used for most of the houses being built by this group calls for 15 8"x8"x12' to be placed into 24"x4'6" deep holes with concrete footers, with posts set at a depth of 4'6". The problem was that the previous group had only dug to 4'6" and then set a block and poured 60 lbs. of concrete into each hole, then set the posts. This caused the posts to only end up at a depth of sometimes no more than 3', and required us to remove the post completely, remove the concrete, and set a new block and replant and level the post. At least half of the 15 pilings required this to be done. Translation: We had to do the work a 2nd time, and with concrete the fun is limited.

We were fortunate in that another group, unaffiliated with ours, had a Grad-All across the street we were allowed to use which made the work go faster. It still took us from 10AM to 6PM to move 8 posts into the proper position.

Job site 2: Digging 15 footer holes, setting posts, framing out a deck supported by those posts.
Team: Brad, Josie, Tom, Michelle, and Andy. Michelle and Josie are BFF's now.
Complications: Fire ants and a 97 degree heat with index of 103.
Description: We're starting this house for a family who is currently living on the property in a small camper and a shed. Another group will be along later to frame and finish the house once we have the joists and decking on. The framing we'll be putting will be the same as the footers and framing we were fixing at Job Site 1.

The group started by marking out all of the holes and getting stringlines in place. Once that was finished, they used a rented bobcat with an auger to drill out the footers. The promised lumber didn't show, so they moved on to other sites/jobs until the lumber arrives tomorrow. Apparently we were able to secure another Grad-all to drop the posts in place.

Job site 3: Finish rough in framing, trusses, and sheeting. Setting in windows.
Team: Chris, Pete, Dan, Que, Crystal, Randy, Carol, and Kevin once he gave up on the giant posts
Complications: 97 degree heat with index of 103 and a brush burning pile that kept blowing smoke up into the worksite.
Description: Another site where we're waiting for lumber to keep going. We were able to secure some 2x4's for some of the interior framing but it wasn't enough to finish it off for the rest of the day. We were also waiting for the trusses to arrive for the roof, but they didn't... Apparently all the lumber is set to arrive "tomorrow".

By the end of the day, most of the felt paper was up and one full side of the house has sheeting attached. Shade is plentiful.

Love you all very much - God Bless and keep us strong for day 2!