PledgeForMoms.org was invited to both participate in and observe the building process of a single family unit in Charlotte, NC for Joseph L.’s home. Though I have volunteered with Habitat for almost two years, I have never had the chance to see an entire building process from beginning to end, and this house will always have a special place in my heart. Featured below is a gallery of images taken the first day of framing.

1. Jason, our site leader, and Tracy, his volunteer assistant, separated all of the volunteers into groups of 3 and 4 people in order to break up the nailed two-by-fours and assemble the external wall frames. Pairs of two-by-fours were arranged neatly along the already chalked wall outlines, and I have already ‘crowned’ all studs so that the curved surface of each piece faced the exterior walls. Crowing is a process by which the warped surface of a stud is identified and marked so that drywalling does not come out uneven later on in the course of the project.
2. Ladders, windows, and corner posts were assembled in advance as well, so each team took on the task of manually nailing each component together for our first wall. The two main components making up a residential construction wall consist of the vertical pieces called the studs and the horizontal pieces called the plates. For a standard ceiling height of 8′, the studs are cut 92 1/4″, with a bottom, top and double plate that totals 4 1/2″, giving a total height of 96 3/4″. The extra 3/4″ allows for the ceiling finish, with a bit of room. Studs are usually placed on 16″ centers for a bearing wall supporting a floor, ceiling and roof. To save time in cutting all the studs a Habitat orders pre-cut studs and prepares them for the volunteers. Most inside walls are made of 2X4s.
3. It is critical to work as a team when lifting and aligning the first wall – one person to give direction, at least 6 people to lift and align, and 2 people to nail the wall into the concrete. I cannot overemphasize that it must line up with the chalked outline (it so happened that the crew that chalked our outlines several days ago, did not do a very even job!).
4. One of the more important aspects of maintaining a steady progression of many different tasks, is to keep everyone busy with work in a specific order. As the first wall was raised, a second wall was finished and ready to go up. A third wall was not far behind, and before you know it, the concrete slab is starting to take the familiar shape of a home.

PledgeForMoms.org participated in many other Habitat for Humanity events:
Critical Home Repair
Habitat for Humanity July Build Event
Painting
Habitat for Humanity June Build Event
Drywall
Habitat for Humanity May Build Event
Sheathing
Habitat for Humanity April Build Even
Shingling
Helping Habitat for Humanity

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