For me, Day 4 on the Habitat for Humanity build in Sebring, FL, was spent vacuuming and scraping dried blobs of sheet rock mud and latex paint from the cement floor of House 2 in preparation for the tiling crew.
I had lots of time to think while I was chasing down that fine sugar sand … I remembered what a former Marine Corps friend of mine would ask each time we spoke: “What did you do for your country today?” Well today I cleaned floors; and tomorrow I’ll probably do the same.
Across the road from where I was working, Jimmy Smith was part of a small crew that was erecting walls for another house. All of the 60 “green” houses in this build will be made with SIP composite panels (Structural Insulated Panels).
The panels for this build were manufactured by SIPS Team USA in Bainbridge, Georgia. It is said that this construction is “66 % more energy efficient than standard frame construction; 2-1/2 times stronger than standard building materials; and cuts framing time by two-thirds.”
Photos: Top: Julianne Crane vacuuming floor of House 2; bottom: Jimmy Smith (on right) and two other volunteers (Joey and Larry) erecting an outside wall of the latest house under construction at the Highlands County Habitat for Humanity build. (Julianne Crane).
