The Cube

It has been a little over a week and the cube has been by far one of my favorite experiences ever. I have got to do construction at three houses, the Bakers, the Browns, and now the Deadeux’s home. The Bakers house was a new build but the other two were pre-existing. Our camp has joined up with the Mennonites and made a deal to build 16 new houses from the ground up from December till March. The Browns had lost their roof during the hurricane and the entire house had to be stripped down to the frame because of wind and water damage. It was originally a one story house but the attic has been extended so there can be another family type room and a spare bedroom with a ½ bath. Geoff and I learned how to dry wall / sheet rock at our first house (the Bakers) and have since sharpened our skills. We took over the task of sheet rocking the 2nd level of the Browns and have been slowly learning how to train other volunteers and will hopefully start to be site supervisors soon.

We started working on the Deadeux home in Gulf Port today. The neighborhood wasn’t hit too hard by the hurricane (compared to other neighborhoods) but the winds were strong enough to knock over two trees, both falling into the house. The owner is a younger man who is currently living in a FEMA trailer. However, FEMA is going to be kicking him out in early March so we have taken over the task of getting the house ready for him and his baby by then. This should be interesting. Doug (our site supervisor), Geoff and I started working on the house with around 28 other volunteers. All the other times I work with a group of about six to ten people total. In one day we were able to tear down a shed, remove a chain link fence, clean up the yard, cut and remove two trees, tear down one exterior wall and rebuild its frame, remove all the windows and doors, and remove the majority of the tile flooring in the house. We are hoping to finish the frame of the house, put up outdoor insulation, rap the house in plastic and then install all new windows and doors tomorrow. Unfortunately we should only have about 12 volunteers tomorrow.

The best part about working at our new house is that I get to use power tools and do some destruction too. I got to use a chain saw, circular saw, saws all, sledge hammer, nail gun and the compact track loader! The compact track loader is like a skid loader (bobcat) but has treads like a tank. It’s steered with two joysticks and can demolish, pick up and move just about anything.

This week also marks the first of many weeks to come where we will be at or close to maximum capacity at camp (100 volunteers). Wish me luck!