design, build, learn. repeat.

Labor Day weekend

As it should be, Labor Day weekend was full of sun and adventure (and even a little bit of labor). As part of our ongoing effort to meet new ultimate players around the coast, Doug, Jesse, Jon, the other Doug and I went to New Orleans on Sunday to play some pick-up ultimate frisbee. Meeting up with a local group, we played for several good hours on the lawn in front of Audubon Zoo. One of my goals is to spend more time in New Orleans, and a frisbee game every few weeks is a great reason to go over. …

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A House for John

John’s house is finally under way. Saturday, I helped notch the piles and build the rim joists along with a group of students from Keesler. Since then, Jeremy, Molly, Doug, and Colleen have been making progress on the floor.

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A House for Lorena

The rebuilding efforts of many Gulf Coast non-profits have been proceeding slowly lately as some funding sources have dwindled and others, such as funding from the Mississippi Development Authority, have been slow to materialize. Yet progress is still being made. One of my houses, in Long Beach, is being funded by its owner and is moving forward thanks to the efforts of International Relief and Development and Training U, a construction training program. The house is for a lady named Lorena and features two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The compact design also includes a screened porch (see below). The plan …

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A House for Carmen, 3

Carmen’s house has made immense progress in the past week. Two groups are currently working on it; Christian Aid Ministries, the group that framed the house, is currently building the ramp and finishing the siding and exterior, while Hope Force is sheetrocking the interior at a rapid pace. They expect to be painting the interior and exterior by next week.

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A Tale of Two Houses

Here’s a look at my two active house projects, one under construction and the other in the early design phase. The first, Carmen’s house, has finally been started by a wonderful volunteer group called Christian Aid Ministries. Their construction team has made quick progress; since the piles were driven about two weeks ago, they have already framed the floor, walls, and most of the roof. Carmen and her husband are thrilled to see their house going up after many months of delays.

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Dec. 2-6 Building at The Trace

Edit [12/26/08]: See these photos and more at my Flickr page. The main (only?) advantage of unemployment being the ability to do whatever you like, I spent last week building at The Trace. I worked on a 3-bedroom house called the Cypress. Thanks to the leadership of construction supervisors Bryce and Austin, an enthusiastic college group from Ohio, and a mix of other volunteers, we started from a slab and raised the walls, built the porch, and set about half of the roof trusses within the week. Here’s the Ohio group: The project is moving quickly. In the past 4-6 …

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The Trace Work Day

Edit [12/26/08]: See these photos and more at my Flickr page. An office job means that I get to work on construction sites less often than I like. But Friday, I spent the day building out at The Trace along with the other Design Studio folks on the project, Kristen, Sam, and Nadene. We worked with Bryce, a construction supervisor with Habitat, on one of the eight houses currently being framed. Another eight or so foundations are going in, and the remaining houses are being permitted while the lots are being graded and readied. Alongside volunteers from Thrivent Financial, the …

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KaBOOM in Vancleave

Edit [12/26/08]: See these photos and more at my Flickr page. After working with KaBOOM! on a shade structure in North Gulfport, I was asked to lead another tile project in Vancleave, MS, a mostly rural community about 30 minutes east and north of Biloxi. This KaBOOM! build was scheduled for October 25th, “Make A Difference Day”, and Hands On wanted to help out by using painted tiles to beautify part of the park. We decided to tile the columns of the large pavilion adjacent to the park. To do so, we had to pad out the 5-1/2″ by 5-1/2″ …

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