The New Job: Home Renovation

I moved to Charlotte to do a year of service with Habitat for Humanity through AmeriCorps (the same program through which I did trail crew back in summer 2018). I had applied hoping to do new construction, but instead got placed on an existing homes team: so Habitat, along with building new homes, buys homes off the market and fixes them up to resell. My work team consists of my supervisor, another AmeriCorps teammate, and myself. Typically volunteers also make up the rest of the workforce, but there aren't nearly as many people volunteering in existing homes - they tend to gravitate to new construction - and with Covid, there are some restrictions on volunteers at the present time (namely, only long-term regular volunteers have been able to come back and help out). Anyway, here are some pictures to give you an idea of the work I've been doing so far.

August 6

the offices / AmeriCorps apartments

 August 12

at the warehouse

power tools demo

under-construction townhouse

a critical home repair site

Red Vest Way - an entire Habitat neighborhood

August 14

Team Build Day

August 17

first day on the job

our work truck, 'Basco

checking out the recently-acquired house next door

definitely captures the vibe

changing the locks

August 18

new cabinet installation

August 20

I just love how the caulking gun handle fits perfectly on the ladder rungs

August 21

window cleaning

my teammate's spraypaint job has a cool aesthetic

off-brand Goo Gone

August 22

non-work-related trip to the ReStore

August 24

popping into another house across town

taking out the old doors...

...and putting in some new ones

August 25

clearing out all the things left behind by the old owners

August 26

an... interesting manuscript

August 29

not work related: my new room setup

August 31

footprints on the closet wall (not creepy)

September 1

fresh white baseboards

some discarded art

September 2

door delivery

September 3

new closet doors

before and after hallway comparison

September 4

at a cookout with a few different work teams

delivery pickup @ Home Depot

September 8

September 9

prank stairs

(they just haven't been installed yet)

September 10

paint peeling

more cabinet installation

September 11

sanding day (100% safe for the lungs)

September 14

installing quarter round (the little curvy bit at the bottom)

September 15

September 16

framed walls (for a shed)

framed and sheathed and ready to be put up

(but alas, it was not today)

September 17

after the electrician and plumber came in

With a lot of our daily tasks being very minimal and hard to see and appreciate (such as painting, caulking, sanding, etc.), the job can oftentimes feel frustrating; not only does the work not always seem that meaningful, the tasks aren't that mentally stimulating after a while, and doing them over and over again gets very repetitive. Day to day, it can be hard to see the big picture in what we're doing, as it's coming together so slowly and most of the larger things are done by experienced subcontractors (e.g., flooring, electrical, plumbing). However, it's only been a month, and there may still be more for us to learn and do. I, for one, am very excited to finish the shed and hope we have more small construction projects like that going forward. Even if we don't, I've been developing good camaraderie with my teammate and supervisor and am happy that I was placed with them. 

More updates to come! Hope everyone is safe and healthy!