You’ve seen it happen quickly on TV, but in person … it’s amazing. After only three days, this is what 400 workers can do. The walls and roof are completed and the crews are beginning to stucco the exterior and finish the interior walls. A normal work crew would be approximately 40 workers. So this represents ten times the effort!!!
Construction Management Students Get an “Extreme Makeover”
The FIT team arrives on site for the first shift of the Extreme Home Makeover project. The task of the first shift was to prepare the site and foundation so that masonry work could begin the following morning. Construction Management students pictured are: Lucie Muns (Texas), Hussain Alhtailah (Saudi Arabia), Tom Franz (Lifestyle Homes), Dimitrios Saouridis (Greece), Kevin Bohanan (Florida), Mohammed Abusaq (Saudi Arabia).
FIT students get an overview of project details. This is a 3,000 sq. ft. residence that will be built in the short time frame of one week. Normally, a project of this magnitude would take approximately four months. Truly a daunting task!
The masonry crew gets down to business placing the 30 lb cement blocks in position for the professional masons to erect the walls. Pictured in the center are Construction Management students: Stephen Crain (Florida), Lorenzo Fevola (Florida) and Mike Matern (Pennsylvania).
The ladies also pitched in hauling the 30 lb blocks! Here Lucie Muns and Ocean Engineering student Cassandra Morecroft King (Oklahoma) do their share … and share in the sore muscles that followed.
Time for some makeover hijinx! Construction Management students Brennan Klein (Michigan), Steve Craig, Lorenzo Fevola and Mike Matern do a commercial spot for Winn-Dixie Foods, a sponsor of the makeover. Steve and Brennan are spoofing on the camera and displaying their Winn-Dixie Customer Reward Cards.
Teamwork is the name of the game as our Monday FIT crew hauls a concrete beam to the job site. This beam is one of the main structural members supporting the roof of the two-car garage. Pictured are students: Stephen Craig, Lorenzo Fevola, Mike Matern and Charles Russell (Cayman Islands).
Stephen Craig, who had some construction experience prior to attending Florida Tech, proudly displays his concrete saw prowess. In addition to masonry work, Stephen is also a certified plumber and HVAC installer. After several years in the construction business, Stephen decided to earn his four-year degree.
You’ve seen it happen quickly on TV, but in person … it’s amazing. After only three days, this is what 400 workers can do. The walls and roof are completed and the crews are beginning to stucco the exterior and finish the interior walls. A normal work crew would be approximately 40 workers. So this represents ten times the effort!!!
Construction Management students, Abbie Cummings (Maine) and Colin Barbalace (Virginia), team up to install some of the windows. Windows and doors are typically manufactured in a factory and arrive on site pre-packaged and ready for installation. This speeds construction time, but makes for a pretty heavy package as Abbie and Colin are about to learn.
The Lifestyle Homes manager Tom Franz (in red shirt) gives the Florida Tech team a task to build a stage for the VIP press briefings. Pictured are: Charles Russell, Vicky Nicastro (New York), Colin Barbalace, Abbie Cummings, Ailyn Kefoglu (Turkey), Mike Matern and Tom Franz.
Today the women are the prime movers. Vicky, Jessica, Abbie and Aylin take charge of transporting the stage while the men provide “moral” support. The women are: Vicky Nicastro, Jessica Haines (Florida), Abbie Cummings and Ailyn Kefoglu and supervisors Colin Barbalace and Mike Matern.
Job well done … the stage is in place and the Florida Tech team takes the first bows on the VIP stage. Pictured are: Ailyn Kefoglu, Charles Russell, Vicky Nicastro, Abbie Cummings, Jessica Haines, Mike Matern and Colin Barbalace.
Mike Matern and Brennan Klein join the paint crew on Day 5. With the home nearing completion, the tasks change from hauling and building to painting and decorating.
Construction requires flexibility and mastering a variety of skills. Here, Mike Matern demonstrates his domestic skills as he assembles a lamp shade on Day 6, as the final preparations are completed for the owners.
Free food is a prime motivator for students, and these gents made a serious dent in the food budget for the makeover. Waiting their turn are: Lorenzo Fevola (seated), Brennan Klein, Colin Barbalace and Mike Matern.
What a magnificent product, especially considering it was completed in only seven days with an all volunteer workforce!!! Of particular note is that this house is also a zero energy home constructed with solar power and many sustainable components.
Planning is a major part of any construction project. It looks like there was more refuse than our team had planned on … and they ran out of gas … fortunately just as the job was completed!
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As the work concludes, the lucky family arrives to the cheers of approximately 500 workers who volunteered their time to complete the home in seven days. TyPennington gives the command to “Move That Bus” to bring the project to a dramatic close.
Want to build a house? Twenty-five construction management and civil engineering students helped build one for ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition, from foundation to move-in in only seven days, with the help of Lifestyle Homes. Working day and night beside professionals, students studied plans, laid the foundation, hefted 30-pound concrete blocks, hauled concrete beams, installed windows and doors, painted, landscaped and more! They heaved and they ho’ed, pausing just a bit for some media attention, ’til they finished the job on deadline. Inside, is housework ever done? Like these lamp shades, some assembly required. Now, what else would help? How about a stage for filming VIP press briefings? The stage felt solid to the team whose mothers always told them to clean up after themselves. So they hauled the trash from the construction site, but had to get out and push when they ran out of gas. The devil’s in the details. Educational, fun and for a good cause, it all took sweat, ingenuity and, the great motivator—food. In the end, all agreed: the house was a beauty. These students earned their hard hats!
