By Brian M. Boyce
TERRE HAUTE — Temperatures hovered in the low 20s Saturday morning as volunteers nailed siding to the outside walls of a new house.
“I think we’ll be done sometime the first of April,” said Pat Brown, construction manager for Wabash Valley’s Habitat for Humanity. The group was working on the future house of Mercedes Estremera and Carlos Hernandez at 931 Gilbert Ave.
“I don’t think they’ll get it all up today but they’ll get it started,” Brown said. “It’s kind of cold out there.”
The Habitat volunteers will be hanging drywall this week, and Brown said their efforts on the project have mostly been on weekends as they finished up a “green build” home on the town’s north side. “This is only like our 12th or 13th work day here,” he said.
Hernandez was busy cutting siding and soffit pieces inside the home, surrounded by studs and new wiring. The house will be about 1,200 square feet with three bedrooms, two baths and is being constructed upon a formerly vacant lot donated by the city. The 52nd home built by the Wabash Valley Habitat for Humanity, it is the first to be coordinated by Women Build. Women Build is Habitat’s volunteer program for women who want to learn construction skills and make a difference by building homes and communities.
Volunteer Terry Pierce stepped inside for a moment and noted the weather was definitely a factor that morning. “It’s cold if you’ve been out there a while,” Pierce said.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
