News Break - November 20, 2011
TV's Fox 5 in Atlanta came out last Friday and did an update on the Christine Home. Be sure to stay tuned to the early morning news, Good Day Atlanta, on Monday with Tacoma Perry.
Read more...Week 6
Week Six
Building for me will never be the same! What progress we have made out on the Christian Farm this week. Famous quote for the week....”You forget who you are dealing with!” Jason Bond of Jackson EMC….more on this in a bit.
We had a great week in our sixth week of construction as we called out the electricians for the pre-wire. John Hadden’s crew from All Bright Electric came out to head up our electrical. I really appreciate John stepping in as the head electrician. Jackson EMC also sent out a crew to help. I want to thank Tommy Minish, Jason Bond, Brian Smith, Ken Gordon, and Brad Moon for all of their help. We had 12 men drilling holes, pulling wire, and nailing on boxes all in one day. It was NUTS…but so much fun to watch. These skilled men had a mission and went to it! Lade-Danlar of Stone Mountain, Wayland Boozer, supplied our rough-in materials. Wayland, you have been with us from the beginning in April, and your support has been tremendous and means a lot to me personally. I thank you.
Tom Fletcher of Fletcher Roofing and his crew were our saving grace this week. Anytime that you can stop a house from leaking is a great day. Tom had signed on to do the metal roofing, but when we hit a little snag, stepped in to do the entire roof…shingles and metal. We appreciate him and his men getting the shingles on and look forward to seeing the metal completed next week. ABC Supply, Fred and Lori Ellis and Joe Couch, we thank you for the beautiful architectural shingles and supplies to do this. Your continued support to the Association is priceless.
As I have continue to say, we have had wonderful support throughout this build with people stepping up with their gifts. Trowell Jernigan of Fells Fargo and his cute little family delivered pizzas, drinks and snacks on Thursday for the entire house full of men. I am sorry that I missed the photo opportunity on this one to share with all of you, but really want to thank this family for visiting with us and supplying lunch for the crews and me! We already have the next couple of weeks taken care of, but if you would like to help with the “feeding of the troops” call Lisa at the Home Office – 706 543-5760.
Kevin Rowe and Wayne and Deanna Moon of Rowe Insulating continue to give up their afternoons and Saturdays to be sure that every plate line is caulked and all the baffles are up and waiting on the insulation. We thank them and their suppliers for this personal commitment. I want to thank Arlene Scarbrough of S. F. Products, Adam Payton and Barbara Hillard of Roofing and Insulation Supply and Shaneaka Harvey of Airgas Safety for the insulation rough-in materials. Nothing is being overlooked with these skillful eyes as we proceed to the status of a Right Choice Home!
Seavy O’Neal of Building Wrights and Renovators came back out to help set another door and do a little punch out for us. The Halloran Masonry Team continue going up the walls with the beautiful brick supplied by Boral Brick. Steve West visited with us to see if we were doing his brick justice this week! I am proud to say that we passed with flying colors! Mark Haney of VNS Corp. also stopped by to check on his windows and was blown away with what he saw. There will be more on Mark and his other contributions later. We humbly thank both of you for everything that you are doing for us. These are “big ticket” items that were a huge asset in the building of this home.
Several of the Jackson EMC guys – Jason Bond, Tommy Minish and Randall Echols came back to run the cable and phone wire for us. They knew we were lacking this and stepped in and just did it! What a blessing. This is where my story comes in….I had asked Eddie Luther of L & L Construction to come back out and help me punch out a few things to get ready for sheetrock. I had told him “You do not need any help…it will just take a couple of hours”…does this sound familiar to anyone? I had forgotten that our super triangle windows from Magbee Contractor Supply, Brannon McFarland, had been delivered for the playroom and needed to be installed! (Thank you Brannon for once again stepping in to help!) I went up to Jason and asked if they had another ladder that we could borrow and could they help in getting the windows up to Eddie? Jason looked at me and said “You forget who you are dealing with!” I just looked at him questioning, and he whips out his phone and said “I am out at the Buddy Christian Home, and we need a bucket truck!” In less than an hour we were installing windows in the bucket truck! You are right Jason, sometimes I do forget who I am working with! I just have to chuckle when He reminds me!
As I said earlier, building will never be the same for me. When you have 12 men pulling wire for electrical, bucket trucks setting windows, foremen laying brick, heads of companies foaming windows and doors on Saturdays, sweeping floors with my 84 year old Dad, 6 plumbing companies under a house running pipe, and the list goes on and on for this home….I will be “Forever Ruined for the Ordinary”. I know that you can each see this. What a special project to be a part of. It is humbling to watch, and I thank each and every one of you.
Blessings to you all,
Karen
P.S….No baby yet!
Fletcher Roofing Crew
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Week 5
Week Five
The clean up award goes to….the plumbers! I am still getting comments about the clean job site and floors inside. I have never been as impressed as I was this week with all the brooms and dustpans that came out at the end of their “shift”. Upon commenting about how much I LIKED this, Casey Nelson of C & C Plumbing said that it was a reflection on him and his work, and that he always left the job site cleaner than how he found it because he wanted to be asked back! Words to live by!
I also understand that we all missed the party. The plumbers celebrated Halloween on Monday night and Tuesday night out at the house. They had cupcakes, candy corn and drinks all ready for the party with lights and drop cords strung all through out the house. Melissa and I had been shopping in Conyers on Tuesday, and the house was “all a-glow” when she turned in. She said she almost had a wreck turning in her drive wondering how the electricity was on without lights! What a team Mark Brannon of Brannon Plumbing put together. We had 6 different plumbing companies represented. I understand that several of these guys used to work together, so it was like “old home week” out at the farm. I want to thank Mike DeVore and DeVore and Johnson for all of the rough-in material needed for the home as well as the fixtures that will be going in later. I want to thank the following guys for a great job of sharing this task and coming together as a plumbing community.
Brannon Plumbing – Mark and Daniel Brannon
Towns Plumbing – Mark Towns, Drew and Dylan McCurley
T & E Plumbing and Drain – Tommy Epps and Jason Ramsey
Carson Plumbing – Mike McCain, Pete Carson, and Stephen Brannon
C & C Plumbing – Casey Nelson and Jeff Yarbrough
Ash Plumbing – Wally Ash
We did have a birthday out on the farm this week. Little Wyatt turned 3! Athens Blueprint, Mike Hodges, worked miracles to have us a banner made and hanging as the family came home that day. Seriously, I don’t usually give these guys a lot of time when I need something, and they always come through for me!
As I mentioned last week, Tom Edge and his crew painted the exterior trim and siding and finished up on Wednesday. Thank you guys for a job well done and protecting the windows and doors and other supplies that had already been delivered to the jobsite. It was very professional and well done, and I appreciate you guys looking after those before you and those coming after you.
We had several great “walk throughs” this week to prepare for the work weeks ahead. One was held with Jackson EMC, Nelson McGinnis and Brian Patton, LECO Mechanical, Carol and Earl Lively and Rowe Insulating, Kevin Rowe. Jackson EMC is keeping us on track for a “Right Choice” Home. This will give the Christian Family one of the best energy efficient homes out on the market today. When completed and we have the certification, this home will qualify for reduced power bills for the family forever!
Another HUGE blessing this week came when Halloran Masonry returned for duty! Pat Halloran called a couple of weeks ago and said that his men wanted to return to lay the 35,000 brick for the Christian Home exterior! This is a huge commitment and required all of them to give up several of their next Saturdays. Halloran is not bringing their crews to knock this out. Let me introduce you to the guys who will be laying the brick for us.
Kirk Atkinson – President of Halloran Masonry
Shane Halloran – Vice President
Roy Dalton – Project manager/Supervisor
Jason Gomes – Supervisor
Alfredo Flores – Supervisor
Keith Duncan – Project manager/Supervisor of all General Contracting operations.
Pretty impressive list right? Again, I shutter to think if I had to pay these labor bills! I cannot thank each of you enough for stepping up to the plate on this.
I also want to thank Boral Brick and Steve West for the donation of the brick. They immediately joined us in the planning stages and gave us several brick samples for Melissa to choose from once she decided on a color. It is going to be a beautiful exterior especially with the red mortar being supplied by Power Brick, David Carter and Cemex, Stephen Henley. The beautiful white sand for the mortar was supplied by Atlanta Sand Co. Jeff Avant, and hauled by Harris Trucking, Teri Harris Joiner. Sutton Construction Specialties, Mike Lathrup, also donated the flashing and weeps for the brick. I thank you all for everything. It is always so exciting to see the items that have been picked out come together and the house start to have an identity all of it’s own.
I have to close by saying thank you to my daughter Jesi. It was her suggestion to keep everyone up to speed on the Christian home-building progress with this blog site. She is about to have her 2nd little girl…our 2nd grandchild…any day now and has so many things that she could be doing in Nashville, TN to prepare her little family for the new addition as well as preparing to be gone from her job at HCA. BUT, she has chosen in part of her “spare time” to help her Mom with the organization of this blog. I am so passionate about what I do…what a dull life it would be if we were not…and my children have always shared this with me and met some of the most amazing people along the way. I am so proud that I get to share all of you with Jesi and that I get to share Jesi with you as we wait for Eliana Starr Malloy to arrive. My heart overflows with pride for my family as well as for each of you – a wonderful community of family and friends coming together to share your gifts to provide this beautiful home. I continue to stand amazed!
If you see a silver blur heading toward Atlanta…that would be Doug and me heading to TN…would someone please tell Chief Lumpkin!
Continued blessings to all,
Karen
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
Week 3
Extreme Home Makeover… Athens style! A little slower but with finesse, style and grace! We now have the rafters on the Christian Home!! What a beautiful home it is going to be for this sweet family! In these “economic down-times” that we are in, you would think that people would be saying “no” to this home and any type of donation of labor, material, or time of any sort. But everyone just continues to give, and I am completely overwhelmed with the generosity and kindness being shown to Melissa, Callie and Wyatt. Some of you have even said that you “can’t wait” until it is your turn! It is completely exciting to watch and be a part of!
During Week 3, the guys worked through the rain on Tuesday and are expected to finish the roof decking this Monday and Tuesday. A & G Framing has done a tremendous job of leading their crew and being accountable of the materials we have had donated. Steve Reuchel, of S R Home Plans, you should be proud of the plan and how it all has come together. Great Job! Doug Kilpatrick of D & D Construction was my “Mighty Man” of the framing package. Doug and I go back to the EARLY Lowe’s days here in Athens. He never hesitated when I asked for help! Thank you Doug, for the material take-offs and checking in on us!
Toby Hines of Toby Hines Crane service was our saving grace for the week. He joined us on Thursday to help with the setting of Harbin’s roof trusses. What a chore this would have been without you Toby. Thank you for watching the weather and coming out to the job site earlier than planned. I can’t believe that we are already battling freeze warnings! I am NOT excited about Winter moving in so quickly…as I have said….I don’t freeze well!
Murrell’s waterproofing also came out this week to seal the foundation and install drain lines. David and Cindy Moore of Murrell’s are from Loganville and were referred to us through their daughter Chelsie, who works with Coldwell Banker. Thank you Chelsie for helping to spread the word of the Christian Home. This build is spreading throughout the area, and we are so thankful for everyone’s help and the outpouring of material and labor of the greater Athens area.
UGA’s news team also joined us during Week 3 for a lead story. We will be featured one day this week. I will certainly try to let you know when that will be for those of you on Charter cable.
We closed out the week Saturday with a crew from Westminster High School 10th grade class coming in to help clean up! These girls really got right down to it early that morning when most of their friends were home sleeping in! What a wonderful way for them to learn what “giving back” is all about. We thank you all and can’t wait to get started on Monday morning with a clean job site!
David Griffeth, of the Athens-Clarke Co. Police Department is our coordinator with Noble Heroes and the Buddy Christian Trust Fund. David has been very supportive and comes out to check on us almost daily. I appreciate his constant attention to detail with all the paper work involved and his caring spirit. David is also a wonderful photographer. I know you will enjoy the additional photos that he adds to the blog each week!
Charlie Upchurch introduced me a few days ago as the “Cheerleader” of this project. As I told the Athens Homebuilder’s this week in our monthly meeting, it is easy to be the Cheerleader for a team such as you! Each of you are an integral part of this project! Keep it up! Week 3 was a huge touch down for us, and now I am ready for the “specialties team” to come in! The “Put me In Coach” attitude is riding high! Stay tuned!
Eternally Grateful,
Karen
10/21/11
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During Week 3, the guys worked through the rain on Tuesday and are expected to finish the roof decking this Monday and Tuesday. A & G Framing has done a tremendous job of leading their crew and being accountable of the materials we have had donated. Steve Reuchel, of S R Home Plans, you should be proud of the plan and how it all has come together. Great Job! Doug Kilpatrick of D & D Construction was my “Mighty Man” of the framing package. Doug and I go back to the EARLY Lowe’s days here in Athens. He never hesitated when I asked for help! Thank you Doug, for the material take-offs and checking in on us!
Toby Hines of Toby Hines Crane service was our saving grace for the week. He joined us on Thursday to help with the setting of Harbin’s roof trusses. What a chore this would have been without you Toby. Thank you for watching the weather and coming out to the job site earlier than planned. I can’t believe that we are already battling freeze warnings! I am NOT excited about Winter moving in so quickly…as I have said….I don’t freeze well!
Murrell’s waterproofing also came out this week to seal the foundation and install drain lines. David and Cindy Moore of Murrell’s are from Loganville and were referred to us through their daughter Chelsie, who works with Coldwell Banker. Thank you Chelsie for helping to spread the word of the Christian Home. This build is spreading throughout the area, and we are so thankful for everyone’s help and the outpouring of material and labor of the greater Athens area.
UGA’s news team also joined us during Week 3 for a lead story. We will be featured one day this week. I will certainly try to let you know when that will be for those of you on Charter cable.
We closed out the week Saturday with a crew from Westminster High School 10th grade class coming in to help clean up! These girls really got right down to it early that morning when most of their friends were home sleeping in! What a wonderful way for them to learn what “giving back” is all about. We thank you all and can’t wait to get started on Monday morning with a clean job site!
David Griffeth, of the Athens-Clarke Co. Police Department is our coordinator with Noble Heroes and the Buddy Christian Trust Fund. David has been very supportive and comes out to check on us almost daily. I appreciate his constant attention to detail with all the paper work involved and his caring spirit. David is also a wonderful photographer. I know you will enjoy the additional photos that he adds to the blog each week!
Charlie Upchurch introduced me a few days ago as the “Cheerleader” of this project. As I told the Athens Homebuilder’s this week in our monthly meeting, it is easy to be the Cheerleader for a team such as you! Each of you are an integral part of this project! Keep it up! Week 3 was a huge touch down for us, and now I am ready for the “specialties team” to come in! The “Put me In Coach” attitude is riding high! Stay tuned!
Eternally Grateful,
Karen
10/21/11
Week 2
We are already putting on the floor joists of the second floor, and the house is looking great! What a view this family is going to have from their second floor porch! They will be able to see the rolling hills with the horses, goats and dogs all before them.
Our first two days this week were of course rained out, but the framing crew of A & G Framing, were not about to get behind. They really got to work Wednesday morning first thing and were putting the decking on the second floor by Friday. I cannot say enough about Alex Triplett and Gary Derreberry and their crew.
Our lumber packages were delivered promptly and have been beyond our expectations. Huber donating our sheet goods was an incredible gift. Dustin Warren with Universal Forrest Products and Jim Thompson of Power Building Supply worked together to supply our floor joist system. Brannon McFarland with Magbee Contractor Supply supplied our studs. Brannon also joined us Friday and helped the framers for the afternoon. He said that he thought riding around in the truck selling lumber was a lot easier than lifting it! Charles Pierce from Builder’s First Choice helped supply the 2x8’s for our roofing material. Harbin Lumber and Todd Lord supplied our roof trusses along with a hefty part of our framing package. Harbin also donated the trucking time of picking up the sheet goods from Huber and the storage of these until needed. Being the closest supplier to the construction site, Harbin has been a true blessing with all of their help. Others that contributed for Week 2 were American Pest Control, Mike Thompson, for the pre-treat for the foundation and Hardeman & Hobson Waste, Mitch Hardeman, supplied the roll-off for construction debris. As I keep saying, it is taking a community to build this home. Each gift counts as a huge step forward.
Thursday and Friday were also spent getting the garage and porches back-filled and ready to pour concrete. Calvin Fleming again came to my rescue to help with moving the dirt. Lafarge Concrete, Alex Forrester, supplied the concrete for this 2nd concrete call. Gantt Bros. Concrete and Classic City Pools again supplied the labor for the slab. So, we have a beautiful garage and “Gator area” that were getting walls by this Monday! Danny Rogers of USA has been my “Mighty Man” for the foundation and has been a tremendous support throughout. Thank you to all you men for everything. You are all awesome in your craft, and I thank you for sharing!
For those of you that missed it….Saturday night with the 5K that Coldwell Banker put on for the Christian Home Build, was incredible! Yours truly brought home a trophy aka hammer for coming in 2nd in the female 55-59 age bracket! The older you get the less people run! Congratulations Charlie Upchurch to you and your entire team on a super event enjoyed by all, and the hammers were pure genius!
We ended our week with another luncheon on the farm last Friday. Todd Lord brought out Zaxby’s for the framing crew for the week. We are getting spoiled by our Friday “feasts”…let us know if you are interested in participating in that as a way to close out a good work week. Now you know why I run!
We should finish up the framing within Week 3 and will be on to the exterior trim and setting the windows and doors for Week4. Please let me know if you would like to participate in any phase of this. We also hope you will enjoy this new blog as a way to stay connected to the project. You may sign up to receive blog updates as emails through the link on the right side of the page or stay connected to us on Facebook. At the top of the page, you will find a link to the updated donations list and contact phone numbers. Please join me in supporting these that have given so generously. If you have a project coming up…give them a call. As always, I thank you for everything. This is an amazing Association, and I am so proud to be a part of this group and all that you are doing in the building of this home for this sweet family.
Many blessings to all,
Karen 
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