News:  Building it fast ... building it good!

Sep 12, 2009

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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.

SEE IT !

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.

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