CONGO STREET GREEN INITIATIVE

Wood Flooring

2010-02-09T22:52:00.001-06:00

Some Exterior Work

2010-02-09T22:41:00.003-06:00

Emmitt Smith comes to visit

2010-01-19T22:55:00.005-06:00

Emmitt, his wife Pat and their four children where on Congo st this past Monday.
In honor of MLK day the Smith family choose Congo for there day of service and bought with them a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm.
But they didn't just come to watch. Emmitt was inside setting cabinets while the kids where outside staining some cedar siding (those kids where sticky!!)
We had a blast and greatly appreciate all 40 volunteers that made it down.

Recent Visitor>>> U.S Rep Eddie Bernice Johnson

2010-01-18T23:00:00.001-06:00

Mr Bowie

2010-01-03T19:59:00.002-06:00

Little known fact is that Mr Bowie actually donated the land that the Holding House sits on.

We owe alot to our friend fred and will be forever grateful for his investment into his community.

Heres fred standing in his back yard, his house under construction and his demeanor always gentle.

Thank you Fred

2009-12-20T19:56:00.008-06:00

2009-11-09T12:11:00.003-06:00

Concrete samples for piers

FINAL SCHEME

2009-10-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

PROPOSAL 2

2009-10-29T23:32:00.002-05:00

PROPOSAL 1

2009-10-29T23:31:00.001-05:00

EXISTING HOME

2009-10-29T23:28:00.001-05:00

2009-10-28T07:58:00.002-05:00

With some research , it was found that there was a creek that ran through Congo Street, in which Mr. Bowies house sits on its direct path .

2009-10-27T20:00:00.004-05:00

This time around, instead of the signature roof lines on the previous houses , the descion was made to go a different route with Mr. Bowies house . Since the structure was pretty much; solid , sturdy, and in much better shape than we would have believed after working on the previous houses .
Together coordinating with Mr. Bowie , we decided that we would " SAVE " this home .
Saving: not just in a since of keeping the structure in tact , but preserving the memories of the house that Mr. Bowie has been living in for many years.
While closely collaborating with Mr Bowie, combined with some demo we decided that we would slightly alter the floor plan and re-use the already existing materials since they were in much better condition than we had imagined . We will essentially be rebuilding Mr Bowies house from the inside out.

2009-10-14T12:03:00.001-05:00

We were ''stumped "

2009-10-14T06:57:00.004-05:00

Making and attempt to pull a wooden pole from the surface of the Earth sure was harder than we could have imagined .

Taking down the " MOUNTAIN "

2009-10-14T06:14:00.007-05:00

We would Like to thank the DOLPHIN CREW for stopping by CONGO ST.

The Concrete slab was no match for Benje

Thank you to all our VOLUNTEERS

2009-10-07T09:26:00.004-05:00

The Head lady in charge of the show... Ripping out old flooring

Bracing the house with 2 x 4 for support once we lift it

9/28/09 Time to get started

2009-10-07T09:06:00.004-05:00

Mr. Bowies House

4525_ Pat & Earnest are back in there home.

2009-10-01T14:39:00.002-05:00

2009-10-01T14:35:00.001-05:00

2009-09-15T23:23:00.000-05:00

2009-09-15T23:22:00.000-05:00

week 10

2009-08-16T21:54:00.002-05:00

week 10

2009-08-16T21:49:00.001-05:00

Week_10 august 3rd_ august 7th

2009-08-16T21:38:00.003-05:00

It's the end of week 10, and our project is beginning to wrap up. Last Monday, the guys from All Foam Insulation came out to spray our foam insulation. While a portion of the team worked to finalize interior framing and prepare for the insulation installation, the foam insulators were able to crawl under the house to spray the underside of the joists. They returned on Tuesday to complete the job while we finished some exterior finishes such as the French Drain and the porch roof soffits; the process continued into wednesday as we started to prep for drywall. Our LEED framing inspector dropped by and gave us a thumbs up, which allowed us to continue on one of the messiest and annoying jobs of the entire project: drywall. Hanging the drywall required all day Thursday and part of Friday; afterwards we were able to patch the gaps with "mud" otherwise known as taping and bedding. With The team needing a final push to get the job done, a small group came out for a half-day Saturday to finish working out the imperfections in the drywall and give the walls a nice smooth surface to paint with a light sand. Other jobs wraped up this week are the back stoop, the floors upstairs, bath tile and flooring and the utility room flooring.

brians dad comes to visit

2009-08-16T21:35:00.000-05:00

week 9

2009-08-06T23:12:00.002-05:00

big man

2009-08-06T23:10:00.001-05:00

metal siding install

2009-08-06T22:55:00.005-05:00

The reason for this metal wall is the fact that because we are so close to the property line, this wall cannot have any openings (windows) and must have a 1hr fire rating. As well as be clad in a non combustible material.

window trim mock ups

2009-08-06T22:54:00.002-05:00

Week 9 window install

2009-08-06T22:46:00.003-05:00

Week_9 July 27th_ July 31st

2009-08-06T22:30:00.003-05:00

Huge week! green tag on framing inspection! This means we can move onto insulation and drywall!

As the project comes closer and closer to completion, the days have begun to run together, and delays bear that much more of a burden on the team. Although a few steady days of rain may have been a nice break from the heat, with a deadline to meet, the set-back was not so welcome after all. Luckily, after a delivery of cedar siding, the team routed out long lengths of 1x12’s to create an interlocking, “ship-lap” pattern with an aim to keep water from seeping behind the boards. The team made an additional precaution by sealing the back side of the boards, as well as applying a coat of stain to the outside face. The stain has two functions. It not only looks good, but serves the function of protecting the wood from the elements. How cool is that?

With the rain gone and the cedar fully prepared, the team applied the cedar to the upper portion of the house above the old, white, washboard siding. The contrast between the two colours emphasizes the relationship between the old and the new, a key concept utilized in the construction of the new house. More tasks completed include sealing and staining the soffits (the boards in-between the white rafter-tails that protrude from the house) as well as sanding and scraping the last bit of paint off of the hardwood floors.

Soid, alex and sarah dis a great job installing the metal siding and the finished wall looks fantastic. The windows came in this week and Jevon swung by to lend an experienced hand in installing them.

Week_8 July 20th_july 24th

2009-08-06T22:15:00.004-05:00

Preparing the old floors for reuse was a huge job. We had to pass all the boards through the surface planer 3 sometimes 4 times to get the old floors to an even thickness. Once this was done they where carefully reinstalled back into Pat and Earnests home. The old board came back beautifully.

Week_8 July 20th_july 24th

2009-08-06T21:53:00.003-05:00

This week we concentrated on the outside of the house. The old siding is completely hung, sanded, primed and repainted. We flash the top of the old siding in preperation for the cedar and begin to trim out ther exterior of the house. As the first piece of cedar trim hits the house we get a preview of our chosen pallete. The roof is on the house and our contractor drops off a sample of the metal siding which we all agree will look great!

The electricians finish up and another green tag is in the bag.

Week_7

2009-07-26T14:25:00.001-05:00

Week 7

2009-07-26T14:20:00.002-05:00

Week_7 July 13th_July 17th

2009-07-26T14:02:00.006-05:00

By the end of week 7, we were completely done framing, and ready to start our exterior finishes while our mechanical and electric subcontractors worked inside. The work that helped us reach that point included finishing our framing; our stairs, a few interior walls, and the porch were completed. The recycled siding that we dismantled from the old walls was able to make its way back into the project to serve as a rain screen on three of the four walls of the house. This is accomplished by running a series of small wood strips vertically along our exterior walls around 16” on-center, and attaching our siding on top of these strips.

The purpose of having an air cavity between the siding and the wall is twofold. First, any moisture that seeps into the siding will have a greater opportunity to dissipate due to the larger surface area exposed to the air, and second, the air barrier allows for less heat transfer to the wall from the siding from being heated by the sun. The fourth wall is required to be fire-rated and will feature corrugated sheet-metal rather than washboard siding, which will be installed soon.

More work was completed on the bathroom, including adding cement backing board to serve as a surface to which our tile will adhere to, while another part of the team finished decking the roof. On Thursday the 18th, the team was able to attend a sustainability showcase in Dallas where Brent spoke on behalf of bcWorkshop, honoring the team’s work so far this summer. The week closed out by fitting the front and back doors with shims, and preparing our windows for our cedar window boxes.

week 6

2009-07-26T14:00:00.003-05:00

Week_6 July 6th_July 10th

2009-07-23T22:12:00.003-05:00

Much of the same this week. This is the first house that we have framed with students and this week has been hard. One Hundred plus degree weather and the intricate roof and porch framing didn't help. We where able to sneak in our plumbing top out, and a the old siding going back on the new walls brings a familiarity to the new form. We decided to use the old 1 x 12's

Details

2009-07-19T22:32:00.001-05:00

Some of our details are starting to slowly emerge

Week 5 JULY 3rd BBQ

2009-07-19T22:26:00.004-05:00

When your a jar of mayo, every sticks a spoon

Week 5 JULY 3rd BBQ

2009-07-19T22:19:00.002-05:00

skip to my lou!!

Construction sign contest_ Mikhail Sookoor

2009-07-15T23:06:00.003-05:00

week 5

2009-07-15T23:03:00.000-05:00

week 5

2009-07-15T22:05:00.004-05:00

week 5

2009-07-15T22:00:00.002-05:00

By framing box headers it enables us to insulate between the 2 x 6 members with foam. This reduces the heat transfer that is typical of other header designs.

4525_Week 5 June 29th_july 3rd

2009-07-15T21:46:00.004-05:00

The second floor walls went up quickly, allowing us to begin laying out the roof rafters along the edge of the upper walls. The walls were covered in ½ OSB, and we cut out our openings for our windows. After all of the primary walls were framed and sheathed, we were able to wrap the house in Tyvek, or our water barrier. Before the sheathing took place we had a quick meeting and deciced that it would be in the best interest of the project to dimantle the old walls. We were able to recycle the old siding and 1x12 boards for later reuse. With the help of a few members from Habitat for Humanity and Central Dallas ministries, we began framing the major beams running along the ridge of the roof while a small team tackled the task of finishing the porch. It has been way to hot to be working out side, with every day this week reaching at least 100 degrees, with no relief in sight. The crew has been awesome and handled the heat well.

thanks for the rendering john

2009-07-02T00:17:00.002-05:00

should look something like this.

2009-07-02T00:08:00.000-05:00

did we mention it's been hot! Dallas Weather

2009-07-02T00:06:00.002-05:00

Dallas Weather: "Thursday
Mainly sunny. Hot. High 101F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday night
Clear skies. Low 76F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday
Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds. Hot. High near 100F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday (24 hours)
More sun than clouds. Highs 98 to 102F and lows in the upper 70s."

flushing out the window details

2009-07-01T23:36:00.002-05:00

WEEK 4

2009-07-01T23:20:00.007-05:00

when in doubt... ask the old timers! Dave from Habitat

framing got a little weird with the old walls in place!

2009-07-01T23:16:00.000-05:00

4525_WEEK 4 June 22nd – June 26th

2009-07-01T22:49:00.004-05:00

Week four has come to a close, and after a few set backs and a visit to our friends at the city, the team is around a week behind. On Monday, the team worked to fasten the floor joists to the girders with metal simpson ties in order to improve lateral strength for the flooring. Although the foundation is rated well above the level of capacity that the house may experience, every precaution is being made to put extra care and consideration into increasing the durability of the house. Our trusty plumber Jack Huffman came on monday and everybody pitched in to get the house roughed in and the new water line set. Jacks work passed the city inspection the following day and we added another green tag to our set. Aswell as some bizarre conversation about stuffing animals and wild pig hunting....this is texas, sorry TEXAS!
At this point, the plywood subfloor is ready to be laid, but after encountering a setback with our foundation inspection, we were left to spend most of Tuesday catching up on design and excavating yet another trench for electrical conduit. In a mad rush, we ran a few more stamped construction drawings ( thank you to Jerry Kunkel our Engineer!!) up to the city on Wednesday morning and were able to begin laying out our subfloor onto the girders.
On Thursday we managed to finish laying out the floor decking, and with the help of Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity, we knocked out our preliminary first floor framing. While the Congo crew was busy laying out sole plates and the perimeters of walls, Habitat built our headers for the doors and windows, along with our pocket door frames. A few members were able to come back out to the site again on Friday to help us finish the first floor and begin to frame the second.
The new house now exhumes its way out of the shell of the old house, creating a wonderful and delicate skeleton of a new home.

construction sign design contest_sarah hamzeh

2009-07-01T00:42:00.002-05:00

4525_WEEK 3 NEW FOUNDATION AND FLOOR FRAMING

2009-06-26T01:17:00.000-05:00

WEEK 3_FLOOR FRAMING

2009-06-24T00:47:00.002-05:00

Once the new 2x12 girders where set on the helical pier caps the 2x6 floor joists where set @ 12" O.C. A detail Reminiscent of the framing of the old house (only up to code)

4525_WEEK 3_ DEFEATED AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF TRYING TO JACK THE HOUSE UP.

2009-06-23T22:51:00.003-05:00

4525_WEEK 3 June 15th – June 19th

2009-06-23T22:44:00.003-05:00

Week three has come and gone, leaving Pat and Earnest’s house standing nobly above the land on a fresh foundation. Monday of last week, the Congo crew excavated trenches for water lines, and to provide for a French drain system to combat the horrible drainage issues that have caused damage to the house before. Our first lumber order came in—a set of 2x12’s fashioned together to create the new girders on which the house now sits. Tuesday was long and laborious, and proved to be quite defeating in the heat.
With the exterior walls as the only remaining portion of the house, the goal was to, quite literally, jack up the house to slide the girders on top of the piers while keeping entire structure intact. With little to prevent the walls from shearing besides a few 2x4’s and only three out of four functioning hydraulic platform jacks, the process was initially a disaster. The walls, although quite heavy, were as flimsy as playing cards under the pressure from the jacks, forcing us to reassess and tackle the issue on Wednesday.
Wednesday was a smashing success in comparison to Tuesday. By taking our time and using cleverly placed supports underneath points on the wall, we were successful in placing the remaining three girders onto the piers, and lowered the walls down to bear on the girders. The process of securing the girders continued on Thursday when the team drilled through the galvanized pier caps and the girders to place bolts for additional lateral strength.
The entire week had prepared us for Friday, which always seems to become our day that we utilize to the fullest. Our lumber order for our floor framing arrived, allowing us to install all of our joists on top of our piers. Our progress for the week proved to be promising after all, and the team was excited to begin laying floor decking down by Monday.
Have a great week! Check back with us soon.

4525_WEEK 3 June 15th – June 19th

2009-06-22T21:57:00.002-05:00

Miss Ella and Michi

2009-06-21T00:24:00.002-05:00

Miss Ella: always telling us how it is.

Michi: always loud. hard working, but loud.

WEEK 2_the house is ready for some new bones

2009-06-17T23:11:00.002-05:00

WEEK 2_drainage issues

2009-06-17T23:08:00.002-05:00

WEEK 2_ the calm before the storm

2009-06-17T23:06:00.001-05:00

4525_WEEK 2 June 8th – June 12th

2009-06-17T22:41:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of week two, the build team met with brent at 7 a.m on Monday along with Helical Concepts for a test pier to be drilled in the earth adjacent to the house. Brent discussed the scheduling with the build crew, addressing certain presentation aspects of the final project and process work. Some additional flooring was removed up until noon, at which time the planning and build team met at Central Dallas Ministries for an Americorp training session.

On Tuesday, the team began the removal of the roof rafters and continued removing flooring. In the bathroom, there was a large, cast-iron, claw-foot tub that was removed from the house, albeit with some hard labor involved, along with the toilet and a few medicine cabinets. The heat was noticeable, and the team lost a significant amount of energy in the waning hours of the afternoon. Remaining work was held off until Wednesday, which proved to be a big work day.

On Wednesday, we removed the large cast-iron vent pipe still standing in the middle of the bathroom, which almost took out the exterior walls. We demolished the porch because the electricity had finally been cut off, removed the windows and tapped the glass into recycle bins, removed the ceiling and ceiling joists, and interior walls, reducing the house to floor joists and the exterior walls. We braced the walls so as to not have them collapse, and cleared the drywall and miscellaneous debris from underneath the house.

There is a change of plans since it rained on Thursday. The team carried out discussions on staircase and porch designs. And took the oppurtunity to look at the drainage requirements for the house and street.

A grid is marked out for the helical piers on Friday. Using a plumb line and string, a level grid is delineated. Steaks are placed to mark out the spot where the piers go.

WEEK 1_saving the old floors for reuse

2009-06-16T22:47:00.002-05:00

WEEK 1_more deconstruction & recycling

2009-06-16T22:42:00.001-05:00

WEEK 1_getting ready

2009-06-16T22:41:00.000-05:00

WEEK 1_pat and earnest get some help moveing into the holding house

2009-06-16T22:38:00.003-05:00

WEEK 1_houlding house and the new crew

2009-06-16T22:30:00.004-05:00

4525_WEEK 1 June 1st – June 5th

2009-06-16T21:05:00.010-05:00

The work continues on the Congo st initiative with the commencement of Pat and Earnests home, our 4th house in a year.

Once again we have engaged UT Arlington’s School of Architecture and are joined by current students, Alex Dahm, Sarah Hamzeh, Brian Mount, Soid Manzano, John Devlin and Dee Roco. Recent graduates Alex Kwong and Mikhail Sooner, along with Congo resident and now Workshop veteran Vivian Garrett round out our team for the summer. Volunteers Chad Ethridge and Parin Ahmadi also join us on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On Monday, June 1st, the students met with Brent on Congo Street to become acclimated with the project, site conditions, and overview of the goals for the summer project within the realms of planning and building. Two teams were created to tackle each of these important issues with respect to the project. The build team proceeded to clean and organize materials in a Mobile Mini storage unit while the planning team began their work at bcWORKSHOP’s office in Deep Ellum.

The following day, the build team met at Helical Concepts in Wylie, Texas to discuss the installment and nuances surrounding helical piers. Helical piers are 6-foot long metal screws that anchor the house to the land, resisting vertical movement from rainwater and lateral movement from wind. Pat and Earnest’s house will be the first project on Congo to depart from traditional concrete piers and use the helical system. Afterwards, the team met in Congo to assist in clearing out a workspace around the site and built shelves for the Mobile Mini containing tools. A few members of the team helped Pat and Earnest move a few of their possessions to the Holding House, while the remaining crew departed for the evening.

Wednesday found the build team developing a comprehensive schedule breaking down the timeline of various building milestones such as installing the piers, completion of framing, and completion of interior and exterior finishes. After the lengthy planning process was complete, the team began removing the remaining large appliances save the heaters as gas had yet to be turned off, removed carpeting, and spent the remaining time preparing to remove the hardwood flooring and the roof, which was continued on Thursday. The ceiling was braced with a series of vertical 2x4’s to allow for a group of the build team to begin removing the roof on Friday.

One of the goals of the project is to minimize waste whenever possible, so when it was time to dispose of the roof shingles and carpet, there was a question as to what to do with the material. The only facility to recycle asphalt shingles in Texas is located in Georgetown, Texas, which is a significant drive from Dallas. As for the carpet, samples were taken to Irving to be tested for their ability to be recycled. Unfortunately, the carpet was not able to be processed by that particular facility. Luckily, all of the scrap wood that we are not to reuse in our project in innovative ways is able to be recycled to more than make up for any unfortunate additional waste. By the end of Friday, a significant amount of flooring was removed and the roof was reduced to the rafters on 90%, with one corner of the porch still sheathed due to the exterior electricity connections.

This summer will be challenging as it is our first remodel of one of the century old homes.

2008 AIA Awards

2009-06-15T23:59:00.004-05:00

a little late but worth a mention.

deconstructing a house

2009-06-15T23:17:00.003-05:00

listen and learn

2009-06-15T23:14:00.001-05:00

2009-06-04T11:54:00.001-05:00

4525 has started

4523_ Verrnessa's House

2009-06-02T00:00:00.001-05:00

4523_ Verrnessa's House

2009-06-01T23:50:00.000-05:00

4523_ Verrnessa's House

2009-06-01T23:35:00.001-05:00

Frankies House: Almost done

2009-01-21T00:31:00.001-06:00

2009-01-18T21:29:00.000-06:00

2009-01-18T21:07:00.000-06:00

Frankies house, 6 weeks into construction. We lost a few days due to ice and holidays, but are moving forward. Drywalls done and will be ready for paint shortly. Cabinets will be in this week and the reuse of the old wood though time consuming, has been rewarding when it comes back into the house. Frankie walked in and after seeing the old floor go back down, exclaimed "my old house is on the indside of my new house." Those verticles on the house are furring strips for the rain screen.

the deconstruction process begins...

2008-11-03T10:27:00.000-06:00

Deconstruction at Frankie & Erika's is moving so fast that this post is a long overdue.

(Looking from their old porch on down to the Holding House.)

Before more pictures, we feel it's important to describe the decision to shift from a renovation to a decontruction/rebuild.

As the crew began peeling back wallpaper and sheetrock they realized that the house had no studs and was supporting itself by distributing the weight of the roof across the interior and exterior walls. Given that news, the renovation began to look more like a foundation-up job. But that wasn't destined to be either.

After determining that the foundation repair would come at a high cost/low guarantee that could potentially undermine the quality of Frankie & Erika's new home, the crew set out to systematically deconstruct the house, storing each piece in a backyard staging area where it has been separated into reuse, recycle and trash piles. All of the pieces in the "reuse" pile will go into rebuilding the house, including wood siding and a sink that is to be refurbished.

Today's pictures should give you an idea of the "outside-in" approach the guys have taken. In this first, you can just barely see Kenneth and Michael as they take down the roof, beam by beam.

From the inside...

From the outside...

Into the backyard staging area...

In other news...

Benje takes a moment to relax; Vivian goes red-orange for fall; Jevon trades his sneaks for steel-toes in a concerted effort to avoid the emergency room; and Embrike reminds us how incredibly important it is for everyone to make their voice heard in the upcoming election.

a bit of history

2008-10-07T15:46:00.000-05:00

Back in the Spring, Benje dug up a good deal of history on the development of Jubilee Park, and on platting in particular. Below is a plat dating from the late 1800's with details about land ownership and lot numbers written out by Mr. R.W. Grigsby.

Congo had not yet appeared, but begins where the creek turns South on the property marked "Jerry Crawford".

they're in!

2008-10-07T14:54:00.000-05:00

Last week was a whirlwind!

Tuesday
Final site inspection.
Touch-ups and sweeping and bill-paying...

Wednesday
Green tag bestowed! (link HERE for a quick run-down of the inspection process)
Appliances purchased.
More sweeping...

Thursday
Oncor and Green Mountain Energy cross wires (figuratively, at least).
Appliances installed.
Electrical gets uncrossed and lights turn on for the first time!
Frankie & Erika pack up.
Boxes and bed-sets move in,

and dancing begins!

moving day approaches...

2008-09-29T13:11:00.000-05:00

Frankie and her daughter Erika will be the first family to move into the Holding House this Thursday, October 2!

Way back when this started, the decision about who moves in first, second, third went solely into the residents' court. There are 5 families (some with 8 members, some with 2) and 5 houses (some in need of renovation, some in need of ground up new construction) leaving loads of details to consider. Those details and discussions with residents led us to believe that the family of 8 would go first, but things have shaken out in a way we feel will enable each family to get the best quality design and construction: with a crew of 6 and funding set to come in the new year, it is better to take on a renovation project than a new construction project.

Kenneth, Embrike and Michael are here!

2008-09-29T13:03:00.000-05:00

We're 'Lucky' to have an incredible AmeriCorps office here in Dallas that always comes through so we can keep folks paid for the wonderful work they do.

Case-in-point: early last week Benje, Jevon and Steve were joined by Kenneth, Embrike and Michael Lucky - cousins who are helping to finish out the Holding House and will move on with the crew to renovate Franke's house. They'll post over the next few weeks, so check back in for the introductions!

2008 AIA Dallas Design Awards

2008-09-19T14:23:00.000-05:00

To all who swung a hammer, drew lines, cooked eggs, taped and bedded, blasted music, hauled lumber, poured concrete, bent re-bar, sat to visit...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Last evening, Thursday, September 18th, the Holding House / CONGO STREET INITIATIVE was honored with not one, but two awards at the 2008 AIA Dallas Design Awards celebration. The Holding House received both the Sustainability Award (.pdf) and the Community Design Award (.pdf). (Check out this video clip - Thanks, Curtis! - and mention in the Dallas Morning News)

Each and every one of you should be incredibly proud of your role in the project and the evolving process of the INITIATIVE - "your input is vital".

metal siding

2008-08-09T19:36:00.002-05:00

This post is dedicated to our brave soldiers Kevin Rodriguez and Stevie Joe Wallace who have sucessfully completed the task of installing the metal siding. Congratulations, and thank you : ) Jevon has been drafted a few times as well.

ikea-white bathroom

2008-08-09T19:36:00.001-05:00

sheetrock

2008-08-09T19:36:00.000-05:00

After days of crumbling sheet rock, dust, coughhing, sneezing, paint, crusty rollers, sour necks, etc. - the sheetrock is finished. Hooray!

roof / insulation / siding

2008-07-26T00:04:00.000-05:00

We successfully received a mechanical and framing inspections. The rafters are painted and the windows are fully installed.
Today insulation was installed but we had a little trouble with the inspection. Steve will contact the inspector to let him know that the main roof rafters are 2X8 not 2X6 as he had thought. The porch is built which makes it very easy for anyone interested to be able to walk through the house at any time.
The roof is done - black comp shingles; looks great. Sheet rock is going up in places where insulation is not an issue and Frank has been showing us how to put the metal siding panels together on the back of the house.
We are almost a week behind schedule at this point but everyone is willing to start coming in early/leaving late, or to come in during a weekend.
Brent brought a few guests today and they were all impressed with the house which of course made us feel really great about the project.
Tomorrow the sheet rocking and siding continues.

Goofy:

summary

2008-07-13T10:19:00.000-05:00

To summarize what has happened up to this point...
The house is up. The framing and sheathing is done on the walls and the roof. Most Tyvek is up on the walls. Plumbing and electrical is done. We are considering putting in a security system before finishing out the interior walls, but that is not settled because it can also be done wirelessly after the house is done. The plumbing and electrical inspections are scheduled for Monday, after that point there will be no more subcontractors.
Everyone in the neighborhood is very interested in the process. We have Vivian on the porch across from construction most days, Frankie is there sometimes, even Ernest has been watching the house go up. There are always kids around, they really want to help. Tommy has been very helpful but we haven't seen him in a few days, Michie plays around a lot but he genuinely helps when we need it. Jermaine, Issac and Erica are also always around.
It is very rewarding to see the neighborhood interest and participation. We try to get their input on some aesthetic as well as functional elements of the house. For example what color shingles they would like on the roof, or what they think of splitting the stove into a separate cook top and a built in stove.

PHOTOS!!

2008-07-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

We know it's not always easy for friends and family to picture all the things we've been sharing, so check out our photo albums HERE.

Framing, ladies and gentlemen, coming up next!

2008-07-02T00:11:00.000-05:00

Yes! Framing, tomorrow morning, 7AM, Congo St., Dallas, TX. We have the piers ready to go; plumbing was supposed to be done today, but alas, it did not happen. The framing starts tomorrow so the plumber will have to crawl underneath for his rough in. Super excited about framing - all the lumber has been donated to bcWORKSHOP.
Some of us have been reworking the kitchen layout - trying to get more counter/storage space and still be able to afford some kind of a built in kitchen table.
Jevon has been working on having some cabinets donated - maple natural. Sounds great, just trying to figure out exactly what we will need.
Unfortunately, Benje, we were unable to sign our names on one of the piers because the concrete was too hard, oh well, maybe next time.

Drilling for piers

2008-06-30T00:14:00.000-05:00

Alriiight! Tomorrow morning we will have guys coming in to install the pier foundation. Super excited - but not so much about getting up at 5:30 in the morning to make it in Dallas on time.
That's alright, we are just hoping nothing goes wrong. On Friday, some of us stayed and dug up a mystery gas pipe that made its way from front to back of the site. Crazy pipe. Hopefully it is not an issue.
*Lights out*

PS: Below are a couple shots of us cleaning out rocks and sticks from the site in preparation for foundation.

2008-06-27T09:52:00.000-05:00

Received our permit!

2008-06-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

Finally after weeks of drawings and meetings we got our permit on Wednesday 6.24.08! Everyone is excited and ready to start building. The plan today [Friday] is to have the foundation guys come in Monday morning to drill piers and pour concrete. The next day, Tuesday, framing starts.

Just to introduce everyone that is taking this summer's course: Steve W., Caco P., Kevin R., Jorge T., Benje F., Carlos M., Jevon A., and Varia S.

We had a meeting yesterday with Rusty, going over our schedule for the next couple of weeks; he was very helpful and gave us some crucial details. I think we were all on the same page as far as recycled materials go - we would like to reuse as much as possible. Perhaps sometime in the next couple of weeks we will head down to the wearhouse Rusty told us about to see if we can reuse any materials in a very design concious way.

Yesterday Benje invited us to take a walk around the neighborhood to check out some of the old vs. new houses around the area. We discussed siding, trim, and roof detailing. Again, everyone seems to agree on the overall look of the Holding House.

2008-04-08T12:43:00.000-05:00

spring time flowers

2008-04-08T12:39:00.000-05:00

SFI8

2008-04-07T20:19:00.000-05:00

Thank you Brent, Megan, and all the sponsors who made our trip possible.

Attending these events, I feel is crucial to my evolution as a person and as a future architect.

Although, I missed the meeting like a drunken sailor, I feel it is now my responsibility to be apart of aiding in making SFI9 even better. Not just to outdo the Harvard kids, but to continue this cycle of informing and educating.