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As some of you may know, a group from Nautique recently went down to Puerto Rico to build a house for an older couple who lost their house in Hurricane Maria a couple of years ago. When the hurricane hit, they rode it out in their concrete bathroom. Most of the rest of their small house was destroyed. They have been living with neighbors since then, in a small room. These people were older, had trouble walking, and are not able to work. They had little means to rebuild on their own, and government support was not an option for them.
I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Puerto Rico with the crew from Nautique to help build this house.
Here is what was left of the original house:
We got there on a Thursday afternoon. After dropping our stuff off at a small hotel a few miles away, our group got right to work.
The original house was demolished, except for the concrete bathroom which we built around. That way, they have a safe space for the next hurricane.
Next, the pilings and floor were constructed, and then work started on the walls. You may see some people you recognize in these pictures. Below you'll see Erika Lang, Byerly, Jodi Grassman, John Akerman, etc.
Here are Byerly, Jodi and Murray working on the front wall.
More front wall work:
While that crew was working on the walls, I was working with John Akerman, Ken Stafford, and Scott Bauer building roof trusses. Once the front wall was up, we started hanging those trusses. That's me on the ladder in the black hat.
While we were working on the roof, Murray and Jodi and their team were busy building interior walls. They framed out a bedroom, and installed plywood skins on most interior walls. Shaun and Jodi were definite standouts as far as how much work they did, how quickly they did it, and the great accuracy they achieved.
Another team, including Brian Sullivan and Jeff McKee, was installing siding and windows while all of this was going on. At the same time, my team was cutting, venting, and installing the soffit under the roof edges.
Others helped with the buildout of the front porch.
A back porch was also built, and we also built a ramp for this porch (not shown) so that the owners could get in and out easier.
Murray, John and Ken put the finishing touches on the rear interior wall.
As the interior was being finished up, we realized that they had very little in the way of furniture, so we took up a collection and were able to purchase a few things like a small dining table, a bed, sheets, some kitchen appliances, dishes, and even a small TV and antenna.
We also realized that there were still a few key pieces of furniture missing that would benefit the owners, and there was no time to go buy more, so two teams jumped on building the needed items out of scrap lumber! When you've got people like Murray and Byerly and Jodi Grassman building them, you know they're going to be right!
With the TV table and the end table complete, and the kitchen being finished up, it was almost time to turn the house over to the owners.
As we lined up to pass the keys up to the owners, it finally hit us that we had built a whole house in three days!
The owners are ready to go inside for the first time!
Here we are giving the owners the tour of the house.
And here's the finished product!
This was really an incredible few days, spent with some of the people I respect the most in the world. This group in the picture above started each day at about 6:00 AM, and worked straight through until dark. There was no complaining, no slacking off, just hard work in order to give back to others in need. That's what Correct Craft is all about -- Making Life Better. These people live those values every day, but they really showed it here. If they hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to build a whole house in three days! I am so glad to have been able to be a part of this experience. I am better for it, and I am glad I was able to contribute to this awesome project!
I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Puerto Rico with the crew from Nautique to help build this house.
Here is what was left of the original house:
We got there on a Thursday afternoon. After dropping our stuff off at a small hotel a few miles away, our group got right to work.
The original house was demolished, except for the concrete bathroom which we built around. That way, they have a safe space for the next hurricane.
Next, the pilings and floor were constructed, and then work started on the walls. You may see some people you recognize in these pictures. Below you'll see Erika Lang, Byerly, Jodi Grassman, John Akerman, etc.
Here are Byerly, Jodi and Murray working on the front wall.
More front wall work:
While that crew was working on the walls, I was working with John Akerman, Ken Stafford, and Scott Bauer building roof trusses. Once the front wall was up, we started hanging those trusses. That's me on the ladder in the black hat.
While we were working on the roof, Murray and Jodi and their team were busy building interior walls. They framed out a bedroom, and installed plywood skins on most interior walls. Shaun and Jodi were definite standouts as far as how much work they did, how quickly they did it, and the great accuracy they achieved.
Another team, including Brian Sullivan and Jeff McKee, was installing siding and windows while all of this was going on. At the same time, my team was cutting, venting, and installing the soffit under the roof edges.
Others helped with the buildout of the front porch.
A back porch was also built, and we also built a ramp for this porch (not shown) so that the owners could get in and out easier.
Murray, John and Ken put the finishing touches on the rear interior wall.
As the interior was being finished up, we realized that they had very little in the way of furniture, so we took up a collection and were able to purchase a few things like a small dining table, a bed, sheets, some kitchen appliances, dishes, and even a small TV and antenna.
We also realized that there were still a few key pieces of furniture missing that would benefit the owners, and there was no time to go buy more, so two teams jumped on building the needed items out of scrap lumber! When you've got people like Murray and Byerly and Jodi Grassman building them, you know they're going to be right!
With the TV table and the end table complete, and the kitchen being finished up, it was almost time to turn the house over to the owners.
As we lined up to pass the keys up to the owners, it finally hit us that we had built a whole house in three days!
The owners are ready to go inside for the first time!
Here we are giving the owners the tour of the house.
And here's the finished product!
This was really an incredible few days, spent with some of the people I respect the most in the world. This group in the picture above started each day at about 6:00 AM, and worked straight through until dark. There was no complaining, no slacking off, just hard work in order to give back to others in need. That's what Correct Craft is all about -- Making Life Better. These people live those values every day, but they really showed it here. If they hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to build a whole house in three days! I am so glad to have been able to be a part of this experience. I am better for it, and I am glad I was able to contribute to this awesome project!
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