My day... warning - Extreme!

[Italiahaircolor]

What an awesome thing for you to do!

 

[Maisie]

Well done!!!

 

[Tuckins1]

Very cool!

 

[treefrog]

Date: 8/27/2009 12:50:40 PM
Author: somethingshiny
That is so cool!

Extreme was near us a few months ago. I am amazed at how much work actually gets done because of how many ''takes'' they do for all the tv show parts. They walked up the street 4 or 5 times to get the filming before they began working, stuff like that. I guess it''s because while Ty is off doing his thing, Treefrog is pounding the nails!

Thanks for the pics!

Yeah... it really seems to be a 2 part thing. Filming and construction. The filming seems to happen randomly but the construction pretty much does not stop at all during the week. There just isn''t time. We no sooner had the subfloor down and exterior walls up when I saw a plumber in there drilling holes for a bathroom.

Treefrog

 

[treefrog]

Beacon, Crystalheart1, Maisie, and Tucking1 - thanks so much!

Italiahaircolor - thanks. Do we need to schedule you for Extreme Makeover Car Edition? So sorry to hear your news.

I am having trouble sitting at my desk today wondering how things are going. I wouldn''t be surprised to find myself heading back down there to work through the night. I found a little more info on the project. There are a few pictures in their photo gallery too:
http://burchbuildersgroup.com/capitalmakeover/cmproject.html

I think I read somewhere this will be televised in November.

Treefrog

 

[DiamanteBlu]

OMG, Treefrog! How cool is that! Good job! Will we get to see you on the show? When? [I have not yet read all the responses so if you have already answered I offer my apologies.]

 

[treefrog]

I am going to have to keep this short... lousy cell phone interface. It''s almost 4am. Second floor done. roof done. drywall done on 1st floor. Working on 2nd floor now. It was raining but it stopped. Hope it stays that way! (No... I couldn''t stay away!) treefrog

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/28/2009 4:00:25 AM
Author: treefrog
I am going to have to keep this short... lousy cell phone interface. It''s almost 4am. Second floor done. roof done. drywall done on 1st floor. Working on 2nd floor now. It was raining but it stopped. Hope it stays that way! (No... I couldn''t stay away!) treefrog

Way kewl!

 

[treefrog]

Left the site in DC at 6am, drove almost an hour home to take a shower and then another 45 minutes to get to work. Anybody taking odds of me working 8 hours today?

Ok... I just got another new perspective on this project. I just couldn''t not go back. Had dinner with FW and did some wedding planning stuff. I told her I was heading back down and probably got a look much like this:

It was raining like mad with all the thunder and lightning special effects when she left but I had called to see if they could use me through the night and I told them I would be there. FW asked if I was still going and I said even more so... no room for weather delays. Plus, I told them I''d be there. I had washed my...their... shirt so I put it back on, grabbed my toolbelt, and headed down. I couldn''t even see 20 feet in front of my car. Fortunately, it stopped about 20 minutes into my drive and the roads were dry. It must have just missed them! I got there and there were far less people there. Some just sat on the curb watching but a few others, mostly women, really gave it their all.

When there wasn''t work to do, we found work. There was a crew of about 25 professionals inside hanging drywall about as fast as we could carry it in the house. The insulation guy said they were there to do insulation but much of the crew I was framing with were his guys. They jumped in because they were so short on framers on Wednesday. The insulation was really cool. They sprayed all the framing with it. This is going to be one very tight and energy effecient house!

Speaking of the house, it''s 7,000 sqft - the biggest project by far to date. They''re still shooting for a week and as hard as everybody is working, I think they''ll make it... by about 4 seconds. Please pray that the rain holds off today... there is still some outside work to do and remnants of Tropical storm Danny will be passing through today and tomorrow.

On the subject of work, when I got there late last night, I saw many of the same faces I saw putting up walls on Wednesday. I really don''t know if some of these people are even sleeping! I worked with a lot of people these two shifts. I''ve heard not one complaint. Not a single one. I can''t make it to lunch any given day at my desk job without hearing a complaint!

Speaking of sleeping, I saw what must have been another designer walking around. I thought she was somebody''s daughter at first... or a fan because she looked good and was wearing some fancy brown boots. It definitely wasn''t Tracy unless she got too wet and shrunk a few inches. Anyway, she was very friendly... for I don''t know......around 2AM! I thought maybe it was a quick stroll through the house but I went exploring and found two different tents where you could tell they were working on special projects (just not at the time). I was too busy to even find that area on Wednesday when I was framing. I also found a massive food tent. I don''t know how I missed that on Wednesday either. It was well maintained, even throughout the middle of the night. As I was heading over to check out these areas, I found a parking area with small RV''s for the production crew. I could plainly see that same woman sitting in the RV... working away on a laptop. This was somewhere between 3AM and 4:30AM. I guess it''s not all fluff. Some of the crew definitely puts in the long hours as well. I was shocked but it says a lot about their dedication.

I spent a good bit of time in the basement... we called it the sauna. It was so hot down there and they even had huge fans blowing to help dry the drywall mud. It was truly amazing to see those guys hang drywall. It took me weeks to frame and drywall the basement in my old house...weekends and evenings. These guys were more than 3/4 finished hanging drywall in a 7,000 sqft house in about 7 hours!

I call it a house but''s technically, it''s not a house. I''d love to see these be 2 hour episodes. One hour just can''t possibly do this show justice. I''d just need a bigger box of tissues...

Amazing, amazing people! What an honor and privilege to be a tiny, tiny part of this.

Treefrog

 

[tyty333]

Kudos to you treefrog! I would never have the gumption to just go and jump into something like that! What
an exciting couple of days that you will probably remember for a long time!

 

[vip0802]

a huge and major kudos to you treefrog! how incredible to be able to be part of something like that. i watch the show all the time, and i'm always amazed at how many people volunteer and put in the hard work that they do. not only that but i'm stupefied at how they are able to build these houses in a week!

you're such an awesome person for taking part of this!

btw, it's great to see that you're from the DC area too!

i actually had no idea EHM was here. did you ever find out what the background story of the family was?

ETA: nevermind that last question...i just checked out the link you posted earlier.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

This was awesome to read about.

Thanks so much for sharing and GOOD FOR YOU! There need to be more Treefrogs in the world!!

 

[chiquitapet]

SO COOL!!! Good on you, treefrog!!

 

[Gailey]

Date: 8/27/2009 10:04:08 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 8/27/2009 9:46:24 AM
Author: Gailey
Treefrog, as the song goes, ''I think I love you''!!

Will you marry me?

L&K

For Gailey

Aw thanks Lorelei. Must be from the olden days right? Obviously I''m too young to have seen it first time around

Treefrog, an awesome achievement that you have been part of. Can you find out what the epiisode is called and when it will air? Might not air the same time in Canada, and obviously I don''t want to miss it!!

Now do you tango as well as all your other skills? And just don''t tell me you can speak italian or I will be lost for sure

 

[steph72276]

Very cool....I didn''t open this thread for days because I thought it was a vent, but then opened it up and was happy to see such a wonderful experience. Great job!

 

[perry]

Thank you for volunteering your time and energy into this project. The world needs more people who volunteer to help out.

Perry

 

[beechezz]

Kudos to you Treefrog for volunteering to help someone out in need! You must be so proud of yourself!

 

[treefrog]

They''re going to be 1 day late. The reveal is scheduled for tomorrow. I''m heading down now for my 4th time. I did see Ty, Paul, and Tracy yesterday. I kind of went back after work and helped build the front porch area. Will update you later...

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/29/2009 4:23:55 PM
Author: treefrog
They''re going to be 1 day late. The reveal is scheduled for tomorrow. I''m heading down now for my 4th time. I did see Ty, Paul, and Tracy yesterday. I kind of went back after work and helped build the front porch area. Will update you later...

How did it go?

 

[treefrog]

Date: 8/31/2009 3:33:01 AM
Author: Lorelei

How did it go?

Amazing. I ended up working 6 shifts since Wednesday afternoon. Two shifts were through the night because they were so far behind. Twice, I did two shifts in one day - driving an hour each way, each time. I met so many fantastic people. Very hard workers. I spent much of Saturday in the basement cleaning up dirty water from the electrical room. It was like a sauna in the basement with no AC yet and no windows. There was some very special painting going on down there. It was great to see them work on that. I can''t give details but all I can say is much of the house''s (school actually) theme is based on fish - more specifically based on the saying "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime." Tracy, one of the designers, came down into the basement to check on progress. It was near sauna temperatures and she probably spent a good 10 minutes down there interacting with us. Very nice. There was no shortage of food or drinks. Several people had full-time jobs just coming around handing out drinks due to the heat. Somewhere in the middle of the last night, I talked to Patrick - the Extreme Makeover Home Edition Project Manager. There were very few times I didn''t see him there and he took a break around 5am to talk to me and one of the only other volunteers working through the night and to thank us. He gave us his card and there may have been some confusion but I believe he offered for us to actually be in the house for the reveal. I may have misunderstood but it got so crazy towards the end... they were trying to clear people out even though we still had work to do. We simply obliged but we wound up with a great view for the reveal.

One of the ladies that actually worked through that last night with me... was the recepient of a home makeover herself. I think she had a horse farm that was featured a year or two ago. She was so inspired, she helps them do houses when she is able and when they are within a few hundred miles of her. Honestly, as inspiring as many of the makeovers are, there could be another show featuring the the stories of some of the people that make these happen. Sure - some show up once, sit around, some just seem to want the t-shirt or want to be on television. The people that come back and work multiple shifts... and there were several... really amazing people. The insulation guys... did a good bit of the framing before they could even do what they were there for. The level of effort overall was truly amazing. This is going to be one extremely energy efficient house.

I have lots more pictures. I''ll try to add them later. Many pictures are too revealing. I just can''t/won''t post them. This should be a two-hour special Washington DC edition in November. Grab some extra tissues. I''ll be the guy in the blue shirt! Actually, I was cleaning paint splatters off the floor as they were filming Paul coming out of a classroom. If you see a guy on his hands and knees using a credit card to scrape paint (Hey - that''s putting it to good use!), that''s me!

They worked until the very last second. It took so much time assembling everything in all the rooms. I think that was a big hold-up at the end. It seemed like forever waiting for the bus to move but they were feverously trying to finish up inside.

If one of these comes to an area anywhere near you, I highly encourage you to spend a couple of shifts there.

Treefrog

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Treefrog, you are right when you say they should devote an extra show every week to the behind-the-scenes help--exactly for people like you! I am so inspired that you took time out of your busy life to help in this heat. Not just for a shift, but for several shifts, some overnight, over the span of several days. That is just amazing and I am so happy for you. And thank you for sharing your experience with us, I absolutely loved reading about it. Kudos to you!

 

[Lorelei]

What a great write up Froggie, thanks!! I hope one day I can get to see the show here!

 

[treefrog]

Luckyshe: Thanks so much!

tlh: inspiring is truly for the people at ABC and so many other companies that make this happen... and the people they make this happen for. It was an honor to simply be a part of it. Thank you.

somethingshiny: Very cool indeed. I thought I was going to help pound nails for one day but the more I saw and learned, they more involved I wanted to be. Yes, there were several takes at various parts of the filming. I saw some funny stuff!

Beacon: One of many highlights of my life. Thank you.

crystalheart1: Yes, the world does need more people dedicated to thinking outside the box. I met quite a few over the course of my trips to the site. It was rewarding beyond words. Thanks so much.

DiamanteBlu...ski instructor extraordinaire... Thanks, very cool! I was there so much I don''t think they can show it without seeing a little speck of me somewhere... look for the blue shirt!

tyty333: I''m a treefrog... of course I''m going to jump into something!

vip0802: Hi neighbor! I was about an hour away from the site. I heard an urgent cry for help on the radio. How they build these is amazing. Multiple crews working on multiple things around the clock. I was there at all hours. The site was amazing. Thank you!

PilsnPinkysMom: It was awesome to write about too. Can''t wait for you all to see this. November 2 hour special I believe.

chiquitapet: very cool, I loved sharing the limited amounts I could share of the story - thanks!

Gailey: Thanks, eh. I''ll update as I find out. I''m sorry - I don''t tango. Only salsa. I have pictures from Italy - does that count?

steph72276: Sorry for the confusion - no venting in this thread! I''m glad curiosity got the best of you and you checked it out. Thanks so much.

Perry - it was a privilege. Thanks so much!

beechezz: Thank you. Very proud indeed (probably rather obviously by now!).

NewEnglandLady: Thank you. I''m glad you enjoyed reading about my incredible whirlwind of a journey. Hard to imagine 5.5 days ago I knew nothing about it.

Lorelei: I hope you can see it too. Always a tear jerker. I suspect you could find it online after it airs. Oh wait... how can you possibly find time from helping others on here to watch television? Thank you.

And now... for the only pictures I can share:

Bring in the Welcome mat!

 

[treefrog]

The family arrives:

 

[treefrog]

Here is as much house as I can show! They''re washing the dirt away and... that''s one big sprinkler for watering the lawn! Look at that crowd...