My first day on site, I foolishly left the camera in the car until I got signed in, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I'd get swept up into the activity immediately, with no real opportunity to go grab the camera. Oh well, no 'before' picture the first day! Here's the house at the end of the day, complete with the bulk of the roof trusses, which were most of the day's work. The rest of the trusses are still lying on the ground.

The walls of the house had already been erected, using a product called Eco-block. These are basically hollow styrofoam blocks which are assembled together, then filled with concrete. The result is a concrete wall with thick layers of styrofoam inside and out. Quick and cheap to build, these walls are incredibly strong, pretty much fire- and earthquake-proof, and extremely well insulated. I really do believe this (or something very much like this) is the wave of the future for residential construction techniques. I'd be willing to bet this house isn't going to burn down again!

The last few of the roof trusses will extend over the front porch and be supported by the front porch framing. Glenn and I got the corner post of the front porch erected, which is the first step of getting the porch framing ready to support those trusses. It doesn't show very well in this blurry picture, but the top of the post is at just the right height, notched to receive the rest of the framing, and the post is perfectly plumb (straight up and down) in both directions. The diagonal elements are holding the post plumb until the rest of the framing is attached.

This is the view from Rosemarie's back yard, overlooking the Sycuan casino/resort. It looks pretty good on camera but it's just incredible in real life. Yeah, I'd rebuild here too!

Here are the results of our hard day's work. Most of the roof trusses are in place, and the front porch framing has been started (behind the bush). On the left you can see the trailer Rosemarie is living in temporarily, and on the right is the storage unit that keeps Habitat's tools and equipment secure. You can also get a bit better idea of what the view is like. Feels like you could just reach out and touch those mountains!...but I tried and you can't.

"From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life." -- Arthur Ashe

September 22, 2004: A frame rises from the rubble

September 28, 2004: Finishing the roof framing

October 5, 2004: Roof sheathing goes on

October 6, 2004: More finish framing

October 12, 2004: Framing the back porch

October 26, 2004: A slow, wet day

November 2, 2004: Bricks on the roof?

November 30, 2004: The walls get sticky

December 7, 2004: Plumbing and wiring the pump house

December 14, 2004: Paint goes on