Buddy Christian Family Home: March 2012

Week 21, 22, & 23

Well, here we are on the last week of construction for the Christian home! The landscaping is going in as I type, and the Open House is scheduled for this Friday, March 30^th. To say that we are excited would be a complete understatement! Melissa and the children are beyond ready to move into their beautiful new home! It is certainly time to “Move that bus”!! First, let me back up and take you through the last three weeks, so that you will once again know how we got to this point.

The kitchen is the heart of any home, and this one has just turned out to be incredible. Ferguson’s, Jimmy Brooks and Mandy Wilkins supplied us with a professional Jenn-Air duel fuel range and also matching dishwasher. Athens Refrigeration, Marilyn Wilkes gave the vent hood mentioned on the last blog along with a side-by-side Electrolux refrigerator and Frigidaire microwave and trim kit. To have the propane gas installed, I turned to Acker Heating and Air, Brian Acker and Mark Brannon of Brannon Plumbing for this and the gas log connection. Marilyn, I thank you also for sending J.D. for the range conversion to propane! A dear physician told me once that his new home didn’t need appliances since Dominos delivered every night! Melissa we are expecting GREAT things!

If the tile guys in the Athens area are any indication of the economy, we should all expect a rapid turn-around. Every one of them are at least a month out and some even more on labor! I was totally blessed to find Mat Hambrick of Mat Hambrick’s Tile, who went right to work on the upper porch floor, the kitchen backsplash and Buddy’s Study bath backsplash. He did a fabulous job! The beautiful tile and setting materials for the porch and kitchen backsplash were supplied by Traditions in Tile, Patrick Vaughn, along with April Chamber’s talents of picking out the perfect tile. Be sure to call for an appointment with April first if you are thinking of going in!

Some of the best days in construction are the first time you turn on lights, or flush a toilet, or drive up to the new home on a freshly poured surface! I want to thank Rick Garrett of Garrett Paving for doing a great job in heading up the paving of the driveway. and for the donation of the labor and materials it took to do this for us. Harris Trucking, Teri Harris, once again stepped up to haul several loads of base donated by Rick. Terri is another who has never said “no” during this build. Michael Tolbert lined up the “Calvary” to haul the asphalt for the pour. These guys attended church with Buddy and were super excited to be able to participate in this part of the build. A huge thank you to Elliott Lindsey of Lindsey Enterprises, Randy Jones of Randy Jones Trucking, and Jerry Fowler of Aiken trucking for providing this. The cutest part afterward was watching Callie and Wyatt take off on their riding toys at the top of the driveway and ride all the way down. In fact Melissa had to buy Wyatt a new pair of boots since he put holes in his the first day of testing this out!

We have also called the specialties in for the finishing touches. These include:

The beautiful shower doors for Buddy’s study, frameless door for the master bath and also the mirrors for the up-stair vanities were provided by Clark Glass & Mirror, Curtis Clark. Thank you Christy and Curtis, another local Clarke Co. Fireman, for volunteering your family business for this.

The interior blinds were supplied by Keith Porter and Greg Richards of Keith Porter Specialties. Not only do they finish the window trim off perfectly, but provide much needed privacy and sun shading. Keith, thank you for your continued support throughout this entire build. You are another that has never said "no".

The beautiful exterior shutters were provided by: Wayne Butler, Bill Ross, Ken and Jackie Carson, D & D Development, Gary and Linda Porterfield, and David and Kathy Jackson. I want to thank Doug Weirauch for heading up this team. I’m sorry that I missed this installation date, for I know it was a “hoot” at the house that Saturday!

The garage door and opener was installed and provided by Northeast Georgia Gutter and Garage Door, Mike Huff, and CHI Overhead Door. This door is not only stylish with the current trends for garage doors but also insulated to give added warmth to the bonus room floor above the garage area. It also has a Lift Master Garage Door Opener for easier access. Thank you Mike, for heading this up for us.

A central vacuum system for the entire house was provided by The Clean Home Vacuums Store, Gary Waters and installed by Wally Ash of Ash Plumbing. This is necessary in my house with the pups, and such a treat not to have to lug vacuums around! I am sure that Melissa will love this!

The telephone/coax jacks, the surround sound speakers and receiver for the den, and the additional speakers for the playroom and deck were all supplied and installed by McGinn-Wilkins Automation, Mike McGinn and Jeff Wilkins. What a find these guys were at the Athens Area Home Show a couple of weeks ago! Thank you Brandi McGinn and J. J. Henderson for coming out and “never missing a beat” going forward. We had the house “rocking” that first afternoon!

Last is Jerry’s Lock and Key for providing the exterior door locks and deadbolts. These guys had a retail store at the Athens Mall while Buddy was stationed at the ACCPD West Precinct. They said he was the nicest guy and was constantly stopping by to check to see if they needed any help. It was certainly in his honor and for this kindness they felt called to step in to help with this house. That was the “Buddy Christian Way”, and they knew he would have done the same for them.

While working through the winter months and waiting to backfill the foundation, we battled some water issues. I want to thank Servpro, Peter Wood for stepping in to treat the floor joist for mildew. These guys were excited that I finally called them to help! What a great service and coupled with Crawl Space and Basement Solutions, Charles Southerland, and his drain lines, sump pump and dehumidifier, the encapsulated crawlspace area is perfect and staying on a perfect humidity level. We were then ready for the insulation installation provided by Paul Robison Insulators, Paul Robison and material again provided by our local Athens Certainteed plant. Thank you to all for helping with this important stage of the building process.

As we finished the sealing of the underneath the house, we called in Home Diagnostic Solutions, Brandon Pagel to perform the blower door test for the house. Working closely with Jackson EMC, Stanfield Air Systems, and Rowe Insulation, we passed the test with flying colors and achieved the Right Choice Status. This will allow Melissa to have a 5% discount on her utility bills FOREVER!

Bless Tom Edge of TDE, Inc.! I told him at the Homebuilder’s meeting last Tuesday that I needed Rick and George ONE more day…of course it turned in to two, but I think we have finally finished the painting! Thank you Tom for hanging in there with me! Recently while in route to TN, I saw a Sherwin Williams semi-truck. I figured they were headed up north to restock after finishing the house with us! I want to thank C. V. Medrano and his crew for stepping in to lend a helping hand with the exterior painting and the finishing of the interior staircase. They came just in the knick of time…before Tom shot me! I have also had my favorite interior trim carpenters back for the finishing touches. Baxter Hammock of Colonial Woodworking and Michael Tolbert of Tolbert Trim came out to install the pickets on the staircase for the last time. I think they are cemented in now! They along with Lawrence Tolbert and Billy Wilkinson ran the final shoe and ¼ round and any other “loose end” that I could think of. I have had a few “surprises and prizes” in building this home. My latest was a warm...right out of the oven warm...pound cake made by Mrs. Delie Tolbert! Are your mouths watering yet? Seriously, delicious!

In the last blog I introduced you to Kane Cruce Construction, Kane Cruce. He and Matt returned and put the finishing touches on the beautiful deck. We used a Timbertech flooring in a brand new finish. Thank you Kane and Athens Building Supply, Charlie Callaway for introducing me to this product. What a super entertaining area for the family in their back yard. To begin the work on the grounds, College Pro Landscaping, Jaime Allgood and Mike DiPalma did the finish grading and also the irrigation system for the entire yard. In doing this and making the first testing, we found out Friday that we will need to run another new water line for the irrigation to work properly due to some well conditions. Jaime did not even hesitate and said they would be here next week to install this. Thank you…thank you!

As I close, I want to remember this past Thursday, March 22^nd,which marked one year that Buddy was taken away from his family. There have been a lot of firsts without Buddy that they have been through….the first Easter, the first Christmas, the 5^th birthday of Callie and the 3^rd of Wyatt, Valentines Day, and their first anniversary apart. Many hearts ache as everyone remembers what a special man Buddy was and how he would have enjoyed these times with his family. Thursday night was marked with three special services. The first being at the ACCPD Eastside Precinct with a special bench dedication in his honor. The second held at the Evergreen Memorial Cemetery where Melissa announced the Buddy Christian Foundation will now turn to assist and give financial aid to other families of fallen police officers. She said she appreciated all the assistance that had been given to her family, and it was now time to “pay it forward” to others. Callie and Wyatt also released 200 balloons to go “up to Heaven to be with Daddy”. The third was at the Athens Mall and ACCPD West Precinct for a candlelight vigil and to unveil Buddy’s name on a traveling wall for fallen heroes in the state of GA sponsored by the Blue Nights. He was number 663 on this wall.

As we prepare for our final week out at the Christian Farm, I remember our sermon Sunday morning. “When God wants something done, He works in waves” of people and of time to accomplish His goal. He does not just put on one person’s heart what His plan is. He lays it on many hearts. That is what has happened here. You are all part of the wave to support this family and support this Community. We are seeing the wave continue with the Foundation that Melissa has started to support other families of fallen officers. May our eyes continue to be opened to what our gifts are and what each of us can offer to help others in need, and the wave will continue. Let us hear His calling and all ride the wave together.

Many blessings,

Karen

Ryan Roberts, April Chambers & Patrick Vaughn at Traditions in Tile supplying kitchen backsplash, Master bath & upper porch floor tile and setting material.


Melissa choosing exterior locks at Jerry's Lock and Key with Herman Fields and Jennifer McCarty

Ferguson's crew delivering the Jenn-Air range

Wesley and Brandon Sears of Acker Heating and Air installing the gas line for the range and gas logs.

Mat Hambrick of Mat Hambrick Tile installing the kitchen backsplash.

Mat Hambrick and Michael Walsh of Mat Hambrick Tile installing the upper porch floor tile.

Jason Mobley and John Goodman of Keith Porter Specialties installing the interior blinds.

Steve Williams and Curtis Clark of Clark Glass & Mirror installing the shower doors.

Mike Huff, Brian Ferguson, Jesus Vera, & Leslie Wilder of Northeast GA Gutter and Garage Door installing beautiful new CHI Overhead Door with Lift Master Opener.

John Boudway of College Pro Landscaping adjusting the final grade.

Parks Williams, Kane Cruce and Matt Gordon of Kane Cruce Construction provided the labor for the deck framing and finish.

Callie helping Matt Gordon of Kane Cruce Construction with the deck.

Paul Robison of Paul Robison Insulators installing the Certainteed batts in the crawlspace.

Mike Johnson, Ronnie Haley, Travis Haley, and Blake Haagen of Garrett Paving ready for the day to begin. I will get Rick's picture for the next blog!

Elliott Lindsey of Lindsey Enterprises arrives with the first load of asphalt.

Randy Jones of Randy Jones Trucking delivering a load of asphalt for the driveway.

Jerry Fowler of Aiken Trucking also delivering asphalt for the driveway.

Garrett Paving installing the asphalt driveway.

Jared Johnson and Ricky Daniel of Servpro addressed the mildew problem under the crawlspace for us.

Matt Gordon and Kane Cruce of Kane Cruce Construction installing the Timbertech flooring and bench for the deck.

Jeremy Spagnoli of Athens Refrigeration installing the Electrolux side by side refrigerator.

Wayne Thomas of Athens Refrigeration installing the microwave and trim kit.

The friendship that allowed all of this to happen. Daniel Brannon of Brannon Plumbing and Michael Tolbert serve together at the 5 Points Fire Hall and introduced me to Melissa. Thank you guys for trusting me.

College Pro Landscaping installing the irrigation system.

College Pro Landscapers Marcos Galvan, Juan Carranza, Pedro Rosa, Moris Interiano, & Omar Bolanos installing the irrigation system.

Rex Coker of Stanfield Air Systems, Brandon Pagel and Josh Jackson of Home Diagnostic Solutions performing the "blower door test" to achieve Right Choice Status.

Wally Ash of Ash Plumbing installing the central vacuum system provided by Clean Home Vacuums.

J. D. Dillard of Athens Refrigeration converting the range to propane gas.

Melissa with Chris Robinson and Herman Field's of Jerry's Lock and Key installing exterior door locks.

Chris Robinson, Stephen Pugh, & Herman Fields of Jerry's Lock and Key.

Gary Waters of Clean Home Vacuums provided the central vacuum system.

C.V. Medrano Painting's Gorge Gantes, Miguel Juarez & Candido Medrano lending a hand with the exterior painting and the finish of the staircase.

Baxter Hammock and Michael Tolbert installing the pickets for the staircase.

Michael Tolbert installing the pickets for the balcony.

J. J. Henderson and Don Harmon of McGinn-Wilkins crew providing and installing the surround sound system.

Surround sound speakers and receiver installed and provided by McGinn-Wilkins in the den sitting area.

Lee Mixon, Charles Southerland, Rico Lozano & Will Mixon of Crawl Space and Basement Solutions of Cordele, GA.

Doug Weirauch of D & D Construction installing the exterior shutters.

Exterior Shutter Crew - Wayne Butler - Harbin Lumber, Bill Ross - Evergreen Nursery, Doug & Susan Weirauch, Gary Lee, and Doug Kilpatrick of D & D Development.

Beautiful appliances from Athens Refrigeration - Marilyn Wilkes.

Candlelight vigil for Buddy on the one year anniversary at the Westside ACCPD.

Wyatt and Callie releasing 200 balloons at the service held at Evergreen Honor Garden.

Balloons going to Daddy in Heaven.

Week 18, 19 & 20

Well, here we are coming up on the last few weeks of construction. As you will be able to tell, we are finishing with the same special hearts as when we started the building of this precious home. The stories just continue as the “troops keep marching in”….maybe I should say “Saints keep marching in” for that is what they are for us…Earthly Saints…pure and simple. Let me again introduce you to a few.

Pat Halloran of Halloran Masonry made a special gift for the home that is now mounted on the brick wall of the front porch. For you see, Pat, in his spare time, is a stonecutter. On the front of this particular piece of Jerusalem stone, he carved a Bible verse that kept coming to him as his crew was working on the Christian home. On the back, he carved a blessing as if Buddy had spoken it to his two small children. Pat also made 2 additional and identical stones for Callie and Wyatt to take with them when they have their own homes. The pictures of this special gift are below, and truly tell the story of the giving hearts that we have had the pleasure of working with during this entire process.

Another wonderful gift for the home came from Lade Danlar Lighting. Picking out lights for an entire house is not an easy task. Melissa and I went to their showroom in Conyers months ago to start the process. Wayland Boozer and Jimmy Royals of Lade Danlar have been wonderful in this entire process not only supplying the lights, but the wiring, receptacles, switches, cans and everything else to make the house work! You guys are the best, and the lights are incredible! Of course, when you have lights, you have electricians. All-Bright Electric, John Hadden sent us out two of the best that I have ever worked with. These guys can hang lights and fans like you would not believe…and such attention to detail! I thank you John for being the “Head Electrician”. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and your guys.

One of the things that progressed and changed, as we have been building, has been the deck/patio area on the back of the house. We wound up with a super deck that was framed by Cruce Construction Inc. Kane Cruce, Matt Gordon, and Parks Williams did a wonderful job and are due back to put the finish boards on next week. The deck framing package was provided by Lowe’s, Stacy Tolbert. More on Stacy later but at this time, I want to say how helpful everyone in Lowe’s has been for this project. I believe that I could actually work at the Eastside store since I know where everything is, AND it is probably one of the deadliest credit cards that I own!!

At our first Athens Area Homebuilder meeting that I spoke of the Christian home, T.J. Gay of K & G Installations, Inc. volunteered to provide whatever his Co. could contribute. I had NO idea at that time what all they could provide…but boy do I now! T. J. and his partner Omer Kacevic installed the closet shelving, interior door knobs, all bath accessories, door bumpers, shower curtain rods, and the full length mirrors! They do more, but others had already stepped up to provide these services. They are certainly a one-stop shop and the installation was superb! Such a super contact for all of us builders!

Stanfield Air Systems, Sally Stanfield Allen, and her guys were back to install the Lennox air units provided by Lennox Industries, Randy Head. What an incredible gift these units are for this home. Again I want to thank you for allowing us to have the furnaces installed and running during the Winter months. We would not have made it without the heat! Sally, I thank you for sharing your contacts and your talented installers with me. They are as talented as they come, and it has been a pleasure working with them. Stanfield also installed the professional vent hood provided by Athens Refrigeration, Marilyn Wilkes. When you have a professional range, you need a professional hood, and Marilyn we thank you. More on Athens Refrigeration next blog!

The plumbers on this job have been nocturnal! I rounded the corner one night at almost dark and there were 6 plumbing trucks in the driveway! As I entered the house, each Co. seemed to have claimed a room and busy installing the new plumbing fixtures. As I have said so many times…just like Christmas! I want to again thank Brannon Plumbing,-Mark Brannon, T & E Plumbing - Tommy Epps, Towns Plumbing - Mark Towns, Seay Plumbing - John Seay, and Ash Plumbing - Wally Ash. You guys were terrific. I also want to thank DeVore and Johnson, Mike DeVore for the entire house of plumbing fixtures. The kitchen and all the bath fixtures are just beautiful. Nothing has been left out, and I thank you. Gary Armour of Armour Plumbing and Well was responsible for procuring our two water heaters. They were supplied by Marathon Lifetime Water Heaters, a division of Rheem Manufacturing. Thank you both for this wonderful gift.

I have told the story of how building this home was affirmed within three days after reading Melissa’s story that Sunday afternoon almost a year ago now. One of the first people that I ran into while trying to confirm this calling was Stacy Tolbert. Stacy is our District Commercial Sales Rep for Lowe’s who attends our Athens Area Homebuilder monthly meetings. When I shared the story, he immediately signed Lowe’s up to participate in the build. Mark and Daniel Brannon of Brannon Plumbing were my second confirmation who volunteered to line up the plumbing labor. Mike DeVore of DeVore and Johnson volunteering all of the plumbing fixtures and rough-in material was my third. None of us knew what those affirmations were going to lead to. Just steps of faith at that time, and now look! A beautiful new home almost complete. I thank you all for being part of this journey.

A few finishing touches came from Webber Coleman swinging through with final trim for the den cabinets. Baxter Hammock of Colonial Woodworks was back to install the iron pickets of the front staircase. Eddie Luther and his crew with L & L Construction came back to install the front porch columns. I had a “blast from the past” with Church Phillips coming to install murals for the children’s rooms that Melissa had purchased. Chuck’s wife, Kathy works with the Athens Clarke County Police Department and heard of our efforts early on. Chuck and I worked together YEARS ago, and he is still the best at what he does! We thank you all for sharing your amazing talents. I also want to thank Larry Gill and his crew at Paul Davis Restoration who spent hours researching pre-finished hardwood floors for the build. We thank you. As I keep saying...it is taking a community!

Our floor crews hit the farm like a whirlwind! Jerry Long headed up the installation of the beautiful carpet provided by Dalton Carpet, Mike Blanton AND the pre-finished hardwood floors. Jerry had spoken with Buddy about the new home he had hoped to build for his family and was ready to get on board as soon as he heard about the build. He enlisted several to help including Jim Marucci and sons Matt and Rick, Bobby Whitlow, Jerry’s dad Jerry Long, Sr, and Joey Gilmore also joined us and installed the medallion and border in the front foyer. The medallion was a special touch that Buddy and Melissa were planning to incorporate while building their new home, and it turned out just beautiful. Mike Blanton of Dalton Carpet was another that stepped forward to volunteer all flooring for the home at that very first Athens Area Homebuilder’s meeting. Mike I cannot thank you enough for all that you have given to this family. Your support at the very beginning was absolutely one of the deciding factors of going forward with the building of this home, and I thank you.

In closing I want to thank two very special men…my “unsung heroes”. David Griffeth, was introduced to me as my liaison between the Christian family, the Athens-Clarke Co. Police Department and also the Noble Heroes Foundation. David is actually with the Crime Analysis Unit with the Athens-Clarke Co. Police Department. For me he became a bookkeeper, confidant, prayer partner, and friend. David, you have made my work so much easier and there is not enough space here to express this! Bless you. I would also like to thank my husband Doug. From the very first day that I introduced the idea of building this home, he has never said “no” and truly understood the “why”. As a married couple at times, we are each other’s strongest supporter AND worst critic. I believe for us, we have a good balance of both. Your love, support and “cheerleading” mean the world to me.

The year anniversary of Buddy’s death is coming up in a few weeks, and we plan to finish up the Christian home very close to this date. What an emotional year this family has had with a lot of “firsts” without their husband, dad, and son. My hope and dream is that in the middle of this loss the Christian home will always stand for the love and support shared by this community for one of our own fallen heroes. For these men and women in blue are our true “unsung heroes”. They provide us with so much and usually with very little thanks. We pray “His faithfulness will be your shield”. To you we say…”Hey, let’s be careful out there.”

Many blessings,

Karen


Roy Dalton of Halloran Masonry adds Jerusalem stone cut by Pat Halloran to front wall of porch.

Front face of Stone

Back face of stone

Lade Danlar Lighting of Conyers delivering entire house of lights.

Lowe's delivering framing lumber.

Lowe's, Stacy Tolbert checking on material and delivering hammer to Matt Gordon and Kane Cruce of Cruce Construction.

Kane Cruce, Parks Williams and Matt Gordon of Cruce Construction framing back deck.

T. J. Gay and Omer Kacevic of K & G Installations ready to work.

Josh Callaway and Matt Hawley of Stanfield Air installing outside Lennox units.

Omer Kacevic of K & G Installations installing closet shelving.

Baxter Hammock of Colonial Woodworking installing pickets of the interior staircase.

Melissa, Callie and Wyatt looking out at their back deck.

Matt Hawley, Ted Richey, Josh Callaway, & Tony Stratton of Stanfield Air Systems ready to work.

Plumbers are here!

Mark Towns and Dylan McCurly of Towns Plumbing working on 1/2 bath.

Drew McCurly of Towns Plumbing, Tommy Epps of T & E Plumbing, Mark Brannon of Brannon Plumbing & Wally Ash of Ash Plumbing finishing up the kitchen plumbing.


John Seay and Jason Ramsey of Seay Plumbing installing the whirlpool tub provided by DeVore & Johnson.

Melissa thanks Carpet installers Jerry Long Jr., Jerry Long Sr., Bobby Whitlow, Jim Marucci, Rick Marucci, and Matt Marucci. Carpet, tile and vinyl rovided by Dalton Carpet, Mike Blanton.