Women Build 2012 North Minneapolis home week 6

Thursday’s cooler temperature and lower humidity were welcomed and made working outside much more tolerable. We had a small crew today, so we broke into two teams of three and focused on siding installation.

For those of you who enjoy power tools, this would be your task! Siding goes on with a nail gun, a tool that uses compressed air to “shoot” the nail into the wood. It is a lot of fun to fire and of course much quicker and easier on your arm than nailing by hand with a hammer. Installing siding requires quite a few steps to keep it level and evenly spaced to ensure an appealing aesthetic. It involves precise measurements and some interesting finagling to fit around electrical outlets, pipes, windows/doors, etc. However, it seemed the most complicated part of the task was deciding whose turn it was to use the nail gun!

Other areas of the house were completed earlier in the week. The basement flooring was accomplished with back-breaking work from the teams who had to shovel the rock/gravel around the floor to make it even. As if that wasn’t hard enough work, they then had to haul out the left over rocks, which made an impressive pile in the back yard. The cement was then poured and the concrete is now fully set. Work on the front porch was completed as well and it is now awaiting Muna and her family to enjoy for relaxation and chats over cool lemonade.

Christina “Benji” Benjamin, a St. Olaf college friend of AmeriCorps VISTA Dana, was on site for her first time. She said she enjoyed jumping right in after being shown how to do the task and was happy to be outside working in the “not too stressful” environment relishing in the camaraderie. Over a Pizza Hut lunch, Benji stated she wants to come back and will ask friends to join her.

Thanks to last week’s lunch providers - Becca Kvasnik, Cecil’s Deli, C. McGee's Deli. And, thanks to Brenda Foster for organizing the S.O.M. Women Build team and lunch for the day. Speaking of S.O.M., everyone is invited to their Sunday Social this Sunday.

Cindy “CJ” Fitzsimons
Women Build Committee Member