‘Building it fast … building it good’

Two teams of contractors race to see who can build a house fastest, for a good cause

By Scott Hammers  / The Bulletin
Published: September 12. 2009 4:00AM PST

Jenni Hurlburt wandered through her future living room Friday afternoon, sizing up the right place for the dining table and the couch — all to a soundtrack of whining saws and rattling hammers.

“It’s finally here. I have wood on a foundation,” Hurlburt said. “I have a house!”

Hurlburt, 32, and her 6-year-old son, Alec, will soon be moving into one of two homes built Friday by Bend Area Habitat for Humanity as part of the “Race to the Roof Blitz Build,” a friendly competition between two teams of contractors to see which one could build a house fastest.

The competition began at 7:30 a.m., with teams from Simplicity by Hayden Homes and Adair Homes starting with two side-by-side foundations on Boyd Acres Road in Northeast Bend. By the end of the day, the teams expected to have both houses framed in, with siding, windows, doors and roofing. Interior details like carpeting and drywall will be completed later.

The homes will be the 93rd and 94th built by Bend Area Habitat for Humanity since it began in 1989, according to Family Coordinator Sheila Pyott.

“We’re real proud of that, and obviously, these families are really excited,” she said.

By early afternoon, the Simplicity team had pulled ahead, shingling the roof and installing much of the siding while the Adair team was still working to lay down a roof on the house next door.

Mark Quinlan, development director for Bend Area Habitat for Humanity, said he expected both houses to be complete by sundown — the Simplicity team had promised that if it finished first, it would assist the Adair team, and that is exactly what they did.

Quinlan said the rapid pace of construction doesn’t mean the builders cut corners. Habitat’s construction manager and building inspectors from the city were at the site all day, he said, checking to make sure everything was done right.

“They’ve been doing an awesome job, no slacking. They’re building it fast, and they’re building it good,” Quinlan said. “It’s been a wonderful experience.”

The project is largely funded by the Hayden Giving Fund, a nonprofit created by Hayden Homes to build homes for low-income families.

Shon Rae, executive director of the Hayden Giving Fund, said that in past years, homes built through the fund were incorporated into larger subdivisions built by Hayden Homes. This year, with construction activity sluggish, the fund decided to partner with Habitat for Humanity, contributing $75,000 toward the construction of the two homes.

“This opportunity allowed us, in our mind, to build two homes for the price of half of one,” Rae said. “It’s a win-win for everybody.”

For Hurlburt, the construction of her house is the final step in a lengthy effort to find a home for herself and her son. When she first heard of Habitat’s programs for single parents more than four years ago, she set up an appointment to learn more, only to find out her credit wasn’t good enough to qualify. She set to work improving her credit, and a year and three months ago, she was accepted into the program.

Since then, she’s put in close to 400 hours of “sweat equity,” working on other Habitat homes in order to earn her own.

Hurlburt, who works in the accounting department for Mt. Bachelor and is studying at Linfield College through the school’s online program, said she expects the move to be painless for her son. Alec began first grade this week at Ponderosa Elementary School on Northeast Purcell Boulevard, miles away from the south Bend apartment where they now live.

Because her family’s house was scheduled to be built this fall, she was allowed to enroll him at Ponderosa last year.

Getting Alec into a neighborhood where “seeing the cops out in front of the house isn’t normal” has been Hurlburt’s motivation since the beginning of the process, she said, and it’s still a little difficult for her to believe it’s nearly time for them to move.

“If you’d told me six years ago that I’d be standing here watching them build my own house, I never would have believed it,” she said. “I would have laughed. I would have laughed in your face.”

Scott Hammers can be reached at 541-383-0387 or shammers@bendbulletin.com.