DIY Network

Operation Home Delivery From "Assembly Required" episode DASR-213

The Habitat for Humanity crew in Bayou Blue, La. has been working hard to build a finished house in just six days. It's a blitz build! Crew leader Jillian Gross has come from Detroit to help keep things on the right track. This house is destined for the Carrington family, survivors of not one, but two hurricanes in the Gulf Coast. Luckily, Jillian and the Habitat volunteers are here to turn things around for them. The Carringtons are thrilled to be part of a new Habitat subdivision, in a quiet, cozy neighborhood. They're even more excited to be working alongside the volunteers in building their very own home.

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C

Prefab Assembly, Day One

Things are off to a great start...all the walls have gone up by 10 a.m. on day one (figure A). The secret to this speedy assembly is prefab. The walls were constructed in Washington, D.C. during a massive hurricane relief effort called Operation Home Delivery. During that time, over 50 house frames were prefabricated, put into trailers and sent down to the people who need it most in the Gulf Coast region. Even crew leader Jillian was there, helping to lead the way. Now, in La., Jillian is stunned to see how the work in D.C. has paid off and how quickly the walls go up.

It seems the first few hours may have been too good to be true. The crew has run out of Simpson nails, a crucial item that secures the walls to the foundation with hurricane ties (figure B). Jillian's tightly crafted schedule on this blitz build comes to a standstill until the delivery of nails comes through. There's no time to waste, so Jillian skips ahead a few steps on her list and starts work on the hip roof. The shape of the roof helps divert wind over the house, protecting it from future hurricanes. While progress is being made on the roof, the Simpson nails arrive. Now that the nails are here, the crew can enclose the house frame. The crew springs into action to nail down the hurricane straps, install sheathing and blue board to the walls for insulation and finish construction on the hip roof.

Everyone is exhausted, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The roof must be sheeted before the end of the day, so the trades can come in tomorrow. Despite the sheeting not being finished, Jillian knows that a tired crew is an unsafe crew. She makes the tough call to stop construction for the day. Although Jillian is disappointed with not completing her goal for the day, the Carringtons are already starting to see this shell as their home. As they tour the house, they can begin to see how each room will soon be their bedroom, kitchen or dining room (figure C).

	Figure D
	Figure E

Prefab Assembly, Day Two

The Habitat crew has recharged over night, and is ready to face the challenges of day two on this beautiful Louisiana morning. Today they have to catch-up and work hard to finish the Carrington's blitz build home. Jillian gives the word and the crew is off! It looks like organized chaos, but things are getting done. It's time for the trades to take over. They're there to install air conditioning, electricity and plumbing all at the same time (figure D). With the drywall scheduled to be installed the next day, all of the trade work must get done today.

It's been a great day for the crew working on the Carrington's house. One by one, they begin to cross the items off their list. The last shingle, the last window...all are done. They've even got a head start on the next day's tasks. Jillian is one happy crew leader (figure E). But will it last?

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