Sweat Equity - Seriously

As I have noted in my earlier posts, build days are not my specialty, and this particular day was 93 degrees. We arrived at the site in our matching tees and were immediately dressed in hardhats and tool belts. We could tell right away that this group was very organized. Greg, Win, and I were sent to the second story of the first house, our job was to create walls. Even though it was unbearably hot, I did learn a lot in the first couple hours, before my confidence was torn apart by some of the workmen.
What I learned:
• How to cut with a power saw
• What a Jack/King means when making a door frame
• How to hammer from the side when there are other pieces of wood in the way

Why my builders confidence was torn apart:
• One man told me I had a 30 stroke going for 5 stroke nails
• Another man told me he might have to retire the project I was working on because I was taking too long

Soon after these comments the ice cream truck drove down the street and everything was happy again.



The good news is, our group of 30 builders made so much improvement in the 7 hours that we were there. When I looked around throughout the day from the second story of the roofless house I was on, I saw bike and builders building roofs and cleaning up garbage and the people next store slapping on siding. We left the area having provided a lot of free labor that could have otherwise taken much longer. So even though it was 93 degrees and I may not have the best skills with the hammer, it was great to put work into the beginnings of a great home.