Building a House in Pictures
This is the sequence to how we build a house. The pictures are taken from several trips.
-
Prayer (2006)
- The most important thing we do in preparation is to spend time in prayer.
-
Foundation (2000)
- Here is the ground ready for cement. Unfortunately, the cement doesn't crawl into the form.
-
-
-
Loading Materials (2005)
- More often than not, the site is unsecured, so we have to load up the supplies and take them to the house.
-
Unloading (2006)
- Of course, what you load, you have to unload.
-
Starting (2004)
- Most of the time we don't have to pour a foundation and we can get started.
-
Framing (2000)
- Everyone puts nails in the frames. That means no VBS on Monday. VBS starts Tuesday.
-
-
Wall (1999)
- The plywood is put on the frames when they are on the ground. Sometimes the door is cut, too.
-
-
-
-
Walls All Up (2005)
- We work really hard to finish the walls on Monday. A group works on the rafters while the walls are built.
-
-
-
-
-
Painting (2003)
- On Tuesday, painting begins as soon as the walls are up and while the trusses are being installed.
-
Painting (2002)
- Sometimes there's not much room on the side to put in the nails. That can be a challenge.
-
Cutting Trim (2004)
- We have to cut a lot of trim - 4" wide. The trim sealsl the seams between the plywood.
-
-
Roofing (2001)
- We were using plywood as the roofing. Now we use OSB to help keep out the water.
-
-
-
Fininshing Shingles (2004)
- The ends of the tar paper and shingling need trim to hold them in place and protect them from the high winds in Tecate.
-
Windows (2008)
- The windows are put in as almost the last thing. We haven't broken a window - yet.
-
Door (2002)
- I am chiseling out the places for the door hinges. The families decide where they want the door and the windows.
-
Finished House (2006)
- On Thursday morning, we hope to have house finished so we can have the dedicaiton early in the afternoon.
-
Inside (2004)
- Just studs and rafters - no insulation, drywall, electrical or plumbing. To the family, it's a castle.
-
Keys (2005)
- The project ends when we give the keys to the family. Tears of joy come to the family and our group.
-
Ooops (2006)
- Hammer to fit. Paint to match. The window was cut too big and we patched it (the extra trim under the window).
-
Paint to Match (2014)
- After putting up the big piece of trim, we painting the part by the window to match the house.
-
Hammer to Fit (2014)
- The window fit exactly between the studs so the trim didn't cover the seam.We put a bigger piece of trim up on the right side.
Over Thanksgiving in 2012, Michael, Sam, Michael Harris and I went to Tecate to build a house. We brought our nailers and other power equipment and we managed to build a house in two days. We didn't finish it, though, because not all the supplies arrived. This video shows the house being built. I took pictures about every 5 minutes, but missed a few, because we were pretty busy.
We didn't get it painted, the windows installed or the roofing done.