 Thursday the first morning crew was finishing the floor beams.
Instructor Justin Dietrich said there could be subfloor by the end
of the week. (Rain squelched that plan.)"We'll need to hit it
hard now while the weather is good," Dietrich said. "Every day we
avoid rain and it is warm moves us that much closer to getting a
roof on." Even with rain delays, he expects to be adding trusses by
mid-October.
The class uses the most energy-efficient products possible, so
the house is a green structure.
Seniors Hayden Matson and Jade Leake were on the crew that built
the Humane Society building. They both had some construction skills
before entering building trades class --Matson because his family
members are in construction; and Leake went along on installation
jobs when his father owned Leake Antenna Service.
"This is different than the Humane Society," Matson said. "First,
that was a flat slab and this has a crawl space. The inside was
different than a house, so we had different spaces to work with."
The first two weeks of school time are spent in the classroom
learning safety guidelines and how to use tools and equipment, no
matter how simple it may seem.
"We spend time in class learning safety stuff and how to use a
tape measure," Matson said with a smile, "but if someone hasn't used
these tools before, they need to know how to hold them, what to use
them for and what not to do."
"You learn things the first two weeks that you will actually
use," Leake explained. "Not everyone has been around building, and
they need to understand it."
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The Sherman Street site will be a three-bedroom, two-bath home
with 1,586 square feet of living space. There will be a two-car
garage on the back, with entry on the side. The house will be
handicapped-accessible. A rear patio will be situated in an "L"
where the house and garage connect. The natural roofline will
provide shelter. It will be a private space away from the street and
afternoon sun.
"When we get the roof on and the house is enclosed," Dietrich
explained, "we can bring out some heaters and start on the interior.
"There will be two guys per room, to give them ownership of their
work," he continued, "so they can see their progress and watch it
come together.
"It will take us the entire year to finish everything, and then
we have an open house for parents to see the students' spaces they
built," Dietrich said. "It is sellable by May. We have it appraised
and it goes on the market. Hopefully it will sell quickly, and we'll
be looking at the next project."
We will follow the building trades project as it moves forward
and report its progress with updated information and pictures.
[By MARLA BLAIR]
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