Miles to Ride: Day 6 – Build Day 2

Wakeup: 6:45
Hours slept: 7:01

Built with: Laini, Josh, others

It’s day six, and we’ve already had our second build day with the Sumter Habitat affiliate. It was great being off the bike for a day so soon since yesterday was a bit tougher than anticipated. Everyone had a positive attitude about it, but some extra “rest” is nice. The build consisted of shoe molding, primer and painting of dry wall, and painting and installation of doors – not nearly as physical as Charleston. Laini and I began with some sanding of some doors. When we got them out of the storage container, some had stuck together and paint transferred from one to another. Nyx and Ethan repainted them. Later, Laini and I prepared the door frames for door installation – just clearing the paint with a knife where hinges would be placed. After lunch (pizza) we learned that one of the cans of paint we had been using was primer, so we had to repaint the doors again. Whoops! I am reminded of my favorite Habitat shirt I’ve seen – “Don’t yell at me. I am a volunteer.” When that was finished, we installed many doors and put together some of the bifolds. I guess I should mention that half of our group was at one house and the other half was next door priming and painting the entire interior. The Sumter Habitat has about 54 lots in one neighborhood and they have finished 33 houses there. This is consistent with what I’ve been hearing from affiliates over the last couple of years – they are moving towards neighborhood creation/development/revitalization. It has some advantages over a single house in a neighborhood. Though, I don’t know them all.