Habitat for (SBR) Humanity

Over the past year it has come to our attention that the Ranch house is too small to comfortably sleep all fifteen of us. It's okay for a quick weekend, but anything longer than 48 hours is not always pleasant. "The Guys" decided that an add-on is necessary and this weekend they began the first of a several step project.

The project is to enclose the front porch, creating a new living space. Once complete, the original "enclosed porch" (aka playroom) will become a bedroom and the "newer enclosed screened in porch" (aka the carpeted living area) will become a playroom. They'll have to cut a door where the window (between rooms) exists and eventually put up doors that have long since been removed.

Day One:
When the girls and I arrived, the guys had already taken out all of the porch posts and railing. They had two fires going (three if you count the smoker) and it was chilly and damp outside.

David cutting the support post from the existing roof. The rest of the day was spent getting the foundation level and straight around the porch.
Then they started building some of the framing.
Meanwhile, the girls and I went for a short hike around the back pond.

We saw many animal tracks heading to the back tank. Raccoon, Armadillo, something that looked like it could be a small cat or a large rabbit (it was very sandy).

In honor of Thanksgiving, here Cameron points out the easily recognizable turkey tracks. By far the most interesting thing we saw on the hike were the ants. Great, big, huge, red ants carrying leaves or pieces of leaves. The kind of ants you would watch in documentaries in elementary school.

The day ended with watching the OU-Tech game on the big screen. (Well, the OU game.. was Tech there?)

Day Two:

Day two dawned with rain and though it stopped soon enough it threatened much of the day. Still, the guys spent the day burning the tree and framing the room.

Brian decided the tree stump just had to come out - this poor tree had been struck by lightning and died. The guys cut it down on Labor Day weekend 2004. This time they tried to cut the stump down with a chain saw, but only made a three-inch dent after ten minutes of sawing. Brian (the Pyro) came up with the idea to burn the stump out. This was a common sight all weekend, though I'm told it's still there tonight, still smoldering. While visible progress has been made, it will take additional attention before it comes down.

Day two ended with the framing up and several ideas for the next day. They might have finished more, but we realized too late that it was Sunday and one hardware store was closed, and the other closed before we could get to town. Another huge factor was the fact that it was Sunday and there were football games playing. Naturally, the guys had a television plugged into the corner under the remaining roof and it was common to see them pause to watch the Cowboys make a play.

Leah and the kids drove in mid-afternoon from Austin. Cameron and Brenna had a ball playing with their cousins.




Day Three
We left mid-day on Monday and the guys were busy putting in the rafters.

After we left they finished setting in the windows, with a few adjustments required, ran the electrical (Romex) and put on about half of the roofing.

Day Four
Today they finished the roofing, installed the moisture barrier, and put on the exterior siding.

Bryan took these with his cell phone camera.

Bryan says they still need to add insulation, put down hardiplank flooring, frame the closet, put up the interior wall and ceiling paneling, tile and carpet, and paint.

I know we all can't wait for this to be done! What amazing progress in just four days.