Week 4
If you build it, they will come…and come they are! As I said last week, the specialties teams are stepping up now and coming in droves to help us! We have also gone “International” and “You Tube”! More on both of these coming up!
On Monday, we had to say good-bye to the A & G framers! They were enjoying themselves so much, I think they may have stayed with us. After two weeks of framing, the decking crew was called in. Seriously, if you have never watched a decking crew, you should. Andy Price and his guys are amazing as they walk 35’ or so in the air with sheets of our Huber ZIP roofing product above their head. Notice on the pictures below that ZIP requires no clips or felt…just the tape for the seams. This has been a great time to learn about new products on the market and their application. I want to thank Luis Imery of Imery Group for taking time out to come and walk through the house with us to share energy saving tips in the framing stage.
Our windows and doors are in and look fabulous. VNS Corp, Mark Haney and the Greensboro branch of Choo Choo Building Products supplied the window package for the Christian Home of Silver Line windows. Bryan Gabriel of Athens Window and Door was very instrumental in finding Tim Crocker of Classic City Door and Hardware, who supplied all of the exterior doors for the home. Tim is an old Armstrong and Dobbs guy who went off and started his own successful business. He also went to school with Buddy and wanted to step in and do something for the family. Mark works closely with Mitch Malcom on his large projects, and was very excited about helping with the build. You will read more about VNS Corp. later, as the windows are not the only items they are donating. We thank you all for these generous gifts and for all of your help getting these valuable assets for the build.
On Monday, Carol Williams of Coldwell Banker, sent an email introducing a fiber-cement exterior trim product that I have not used before. After reading, I called the Company that was started in Japan, has a home office in Norcross, GA and a manufacturing plant in Macon. In one hour, Michael Cobb of Nichiha, had volunteered to provide all of the siding, cornice trim and porch ceilings for the home…an amazing donation that saved us tremendously! I encourage you to go on the Nichiha web site and explore their products. I was taken with the fact that they manufacture this right here in GA and thought of the jobs their plant is producing for our state. If you are a LEED builder, you get points for using this local product. Charlie Callaway of Athens Building Supply also supplied our finishing touches to the exterior package and supplied the hauling of the Nichiha products to the job site. As I continue to say, each one of us bring our “gifts” to this project. It may be labor, it may be a product, it may be a contact. It is taking all of you to build this home, and I thank you for listening to your heart to contribute. Doors are being opened, and we are walking through them!
Next we had 13 men from four different Co.’s come out for the installation of the exterior trim. Seavy O’Neal of Building Wrights and Renovators, brought out his crew to set the windows and doors on Tuesday. Wednesday brought Jared York of J.W. York Homes and his guys to also help with the setting of the windows and doors, apply some of the ZIP taping and several other details that needed to be finished up. Chad Tracy of Patriot Construction sent out his crew for the rest of the week running the cornice detail. Eddie Luther of L & L Construction and his crew also ran the cornice and all of the siding. I was in Heaven as I had a cornice crew on the front and one on the back, with windows and doors going in from the inside! We were multi-tasking to the max…and I was loving it!
On Friday I went out to the house site and found Mr. Alton Rowe of Rowe Insulation, sweeping up the inside! As I have said before, I have never seen such expensive labor as we have had on this job site! His guys, Wayne Moon and Kevin Rowe were right behind him sealing up the plate lines and applying insulation behind the tub areas in preparation for the plumbers. More on the insulation later but I have to say thank you for the dedication of these Madison Co. men. Their office is just around the corner from the Christian farm, and this hit them personally…Buddy was their neighbor. I have also included a picture below of a quick trip to the local Certainteed Plant, where Brett Ostrowski had my car loaded for this task. I have ridden by these huge plants almost daily, and it is so amazing now to put faces with these corporate signs and also to again think of the local jobs created by them. What an impact they each make in this area.
We closed out the week on Saturday with the painting crew of TDE and Tom Edge. Bless them for being patient and starting the painting of the cornice and siding despite the rain on Friday night, AND being the GA/FL game day. Sherwin Williams and Ben Perry is supplying our paint. Bless them also for being patient as 7 samples later, Melissa and I, finally had the siding color that we liked!
The house continues next week with more of the specialty teams coming out to join us, so stay tuned. I continue to be humbled and filled with pride as each one of you contribute to this beautiful home. Join me as Melissa and I share your story on a spot that UGA’s news team and Amanda Santiago did for us. It can be found at:
http://youtu.be/k5VLLN5Q4MY
Blessings to you all,
Karen
