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Those fears were for naught as several large groups of volunteers arrived at the new home site on Glover Street Friday morning.
“We were really quite surprised and very pleased by the turnout,” said construction manager and Habitat board member Dave Apps. “Bobby Johnson and his group from Dominion Power really jumped right in, and along with the church groups, just got things done.”
The reason for all the worry was because the Halifax-Northampton Habitat chapter is trying out a new type of home construction for this, their 18th home in the Valley.
The home is in the form of a “kit,” which the manufacturer calls a “panelized home,” because the stud walls are pre-built as panels. The kit arrives as a complete package in the back of one 18-wheel tractor trailer. That was the cause for concern. How would they get the “package” unloaded and where would they store it until the individual pieces would be needed, were questions that needed to be answered.
Just days before the Friday delivery date, there was no storage container on the site. Some items could be stored at the Habitat Store on Second Street in Roanoke Rapids, but that is miles away from the construction site. Enter Mobile Mini Storage Systems, which donated the rental of a 40-foot long mobile storage container that could hold all of the roof trusses and most of the windows, doors and siding. The rental unit arrived on Thursday.
Several local church groups stepped up, providing the much needed manpower to unload and organize all of the building materials, but there were not just men moving materials. Many women were involved in the strenuous process.
New partner, Annette Blanding (New Habitat homeowners are called “partners” because they must actually participate in building their homes) and her church group from Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Scotland Neck were there, as were many members from Valley Community Church in Weldon. Local builder John Haverstock was there lending his building expertise in laying out the materials that would be needed right away, since many of the volunteers went straight to work on the floor joists and flooring.
Fortunately, the foundation and concrete blockwork had already been completed by Timmy Crowder and many of the usual Habitat volunteers, so as soon as the necessary flooring materials were laid out, work could begin while the unloading continued said Apps.
Halifax Community College teacher April Conner was one of the volunteers who went straight to work along with Haverstock and the Dominion Power volunteers. Apps said Conner is an example of some of the newest Habitat building volunteers. Conner teaches carpentry and cabinetry at the college. “My degree is in accounting, but I inherited a love of woodworking from my grandfather, who was a general contractor. This is what I love doing,” Conner said Friday.
As for the Dominion Power group, “This is not the first time the company has stepped in to help out the local Habitat chapter.
Bobby Johnson, the operations manager for Dominion Power, was instrumental in obtaining a $10,000 donation to the chapter in 2008,” Habitat Board Member Jim Landers said. This time Johnson and his group donated time and effort into actually building one of the Habitat homes.
The large Dominion line trucks were one of the first things other volunteers saw as they drove into the construction area on Glover Street, near Chaloner Recreation Park, Friday morning.
The Dominion crew of 14 employees joined in with the usual Habitat construction volunteers and together they had the flooring completed and sealed by late Friday afternoon.
Many of the neighbors in the Chaloner Recreation Park area dropped by to see what all the commotion was about and some even pitched in to help out. One brought several pots of coffee out for the workers. Java Junction, in Roanoke Rapids, also provided free soup to all of the volunteers Apps pointed out.
By late Saturday afternoon, the construction site actually looked like it had a house sitting on it, as the crew had all of the walls up, the outside sheathing in place and all but two of the roof trusses in place. “Not bad for just two days, huh?” Landers said with a smile.
Apps was also pleased with the two-day progress. “I was a bit apprehensive about trying this type of home, but it has gone very well. It was taking us a year to build each home, but at this rate, we could do two per year. I just can’t thank all of these volunteers enough. They all really stepped up.”
Apps said the group is still in need of a qualified and licensed part-time construction supervisor to oversee the construction project. “We will also need some good sheet rock people and a licensed plumber as we move forward.”
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