HABITAT OF HUMANITY

Construction of Homes Manual

Habitatof Humanity Construction Manual

REVISED AND EDITED BY MARK GAFFNEY

Guide for building Homes

Mark Gaffney 1408 noble St. Block 85 Denton, TX 76209 Phone 9402209102 Fax 9404655832

T able of Contents
Building Foundation ................................................................. 2
Installing windows and doors .......................................................... 3

Windows and Doors ................................................................ 4 KITCHEN ................................................................................. 5

Plumb and Brace ............................................................................ 6 set and alignment ............................................................................ 7

Plumb and Brace...................................................................... 8 Closet measurements .............................................................. 9 Drywall ................................................................................... 10 Finishing touches ................................................................... 11 Index ...................................................................................... 12

H A B I T A T

F O R

H U M A N I T Y

1
Introduction
K E Y

Chapter

THIS IS THE INTRODUCTION TO THE MANUAL TO DEMOSTRATE A UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONTENTS.

study

abitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that gives back to the community by supplying materials that are donated to build homes. In this manual we will demonstrate key necessary elements to build and finish a home.
Taking Notes: When building a home is necessary to document

I C O N

Information
Note Taking

each idea you have plan for your home. Sometimes we as humans we tend to forget exactly how we wanted to do something and then remember after we have finished a project.

Blueprints

Understanding and Learning

This manual is designed to help you understand how to build a home from the ground up. Each chapter give detail about specific tools and materials for you to use and help you become successful in building a standard home. You will learn each step by step for you to progress in your skills and to be able to build your ideal home. To have a better understanding of the material for this manual, there will be links to instructional sites to help guide you through any section. The instructional videos or web links will be either in the section or at the bottom of the page.
Habitat for Humanity Cares

This is designed to help anyone that need assistance on home building. We try to establish a way for the community to be able to acquire skills they need to be able to build a home witout having to spend a lot of money. Our first priority is the community and to be able to give a person a chance that do not have the knowledge on how to build a home. We believe in and care for the community.

http//:habitatforhumanity.com

House Plans and Layout

The idea of building a home is to be prepared and to have plans on what you are going to build. Most people do not have a blueprint machine at home or even know what blueprints are, (Using the break, contain a video on how to use blueprints)but it is necessary to have measurements and an idea of what you want to build. There are many places to have blueprints drawn up. Check with your local listings through your website to find where you can get blueprints drawn or sketched for the exact measurements of your home for interior and exterior building. Blueprints Website for local listing of blueprints

Using the Break

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=XxIi7VfHbIk

LAYOUT OF HOME
The Blueprint or the layout of your home is the key essential to being successful on building your home. This is a diagram of what your layout of your blueprint will resemble in Figure 1.1. Your blueprint will not have color or furniture in it, but it will have the same layout design similar to this one for your dimensions and measurements. The layout contains exact size of every measurement for your home from rooms, doors, and windows. The floor plans are also included, some have separate layouts for special designed floors, but this is just your standard layout.

FIGURE 1.1. This is a designed layout that has color and not a blueprint. The layout show how the building will look from an
aerial shot. Looking inside of the layout you can plan how you want to arrange your furniture.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YevQFllytPY

Building a Foundation

The step after your blue print, is now building the foundation for your home. The foundation is the key to building a home properly. The layout will have exact measurements for making the foundation. For the basic cement foundation, you will need either a heavy machine or a cement truck to supply enough cement for your foundation. The ground should be leveled to where it will be easy to lay cement. Markers should be placed to where you want the cement to stop or borders to keep the cement in exact measurements. You should make tunnel dividers between the outside areas for cement to stay between the borders.
This section will give step by step directions for making a foundation for your home.

Building a foundation.

The picture above is a foundation for a 3 bedroom single floor home.

The first step is making sure you have enough depth to make sure your foundation will be leveled. If you happen to build your home on uneven land, it will shift and have future problems for your home Figure: 3.1.

Habitat does not supply a cement machine or truck for foundation, but will assist on acquiring on the equipment through city or county housing development.
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Windows and Doors

Inside your foundation, should be areas for your windows and doors to be placed on the foundation. If you have a specific window or door you want to place in front of your home, make sure that you have the measurements in your blue prints for exact size of each window and door. The placement will be in your foundation wall as you build up your foundation grid. (Shown above figure: 3.1)

Steps to place windows

1.

Always place windows to where you will get the most sun energy or the exact opposite for non-sunlight. Place makers inside foundation to keep exact size for window. Make sure the foundation around maker is solid with no cracks.

2. 3.

This is a picture of poor foundation and window placement. Please be aware of any cracks inside your foundation. Figure: 4.1

Steps to place a Door

1.

It is the same with placing a door, you will need markers for door placement to keep exact measurements for front and back door size.
2.

Keep foundation as smooth as possible. Please check for any cracks inside or outside foundation.

Plumb and Brace

Now that we have set up for the windows and doors, we now can start building the walls around the foundation. First we have to build either wood or steel walls to surround the foundation we have laid. We have to plumb and brace each wall, meaning to support by either a wood 2 inch by 4 inch wood plank to hold up the walls you built. At each wall corner we are going to set a 2 by 4 to brace the wall to stand. The picture below will show an example

. Most Retail home improvement stores can assist you on the type of brace you will need for your walls settings. Wall placement will be the guide for how your home will look on the inside and out. If you need any other assistance on wall placement contact your local housing contractor for wall placement. Remember to keep all tools that is necessary for building and placing walls in a separate container, so it will be easy accessible. For a basic home to plumb and brace walls usually takes only 6 to 8 hours, depending on how many working on placing walls. If you are working on it individually, it should take maybe 10 to 12 hours.

Kitchen
After setting the walls for the frame of your home, it is now time to mark off special areas of interest, such as the kitchen. The kitchen needs to be equip with a entry way to get in and out the kitchen. If you have a special design in your layout on how your kitchen should look, here is your chance to start marking off the area you want to place your kitchen at. Depending on your measurements, the entry way to the kitchen, must be wider for your appliances to be able to easily move through it. If you have a contractor pen to sketch the measurements or chalk to mark off the exact measurements for the size of your kitchen. The necessary measurements or for your doorway for right now, measuring for appliances will come later if you are building cabinets for your home.

Closet /Laundry Room Measurements

Now that we have finished of the kitchen, we now can move on to the next step in measuring and sketching for either a hall closet or a laundry room door way. If you have both in your blue print or schematic, you can use these instructions for both the laundry room and closet entry. The first step is to measure the length and width of the desire door for your entry way. This will determine the space for the entry way inside your home that need to be mark off precisely. The diagram below is showing some dimensions on how it will look in your blue print.

After you have mark off the dimension inside your home for your closet or laundry room access, make sure you have the door that is going to place in your home and align it up to your settings.

Bathroom Installments
Bathroom installments take great detail of work. You should already have a person that have made it accessible for you to obtain your pipe from either an underground or septic tank for water use. If you have a desired bath tub or shower to be place, mark off the area that you want to place the tub or shower with the correct dimensions. This goes for the same for your sink instalment as well. Look at the diagrams below.

The bathroom entry way will be the after you have made measurements for your sink and bathing area. Some can do a entry way first, but to make it easily accessible, entry way should be last for adding the equipment inside your bathroom.

Building a Roof
The roof is one of the finishing touches on developing your home. Setting the roof takes precise measurements for it to sit on top of your walls. After you have built your roof, make sure you have in parts to cover up each section, so it will be easy to raise on top of your roof. Each part should be in section for the front truss, living and bathroom area and the back of the home truss to complete the covering. If you going to build the roof on top of the walls as you go the diagram below will show you a basic roof structure.

Drywall and Insulation

Now we have set up the home with walls and a roof, it is now time to add drywall to the surrounding frame. Insulation is also required to keep the home insulated from air and unwanted debris. Make sure your insulation is compatible for the treated frame of your home, some wood contain ingredients that can deteriorate the insulation.

After you have insulated the home you now can add drywall to cover the insulation to maintain the insulation. Please be careful on handling the drywall and cutting to fit for the wall precise dimensions.

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Finishing Touches
We have touch on the basics for designing your idea home. The finishing touches are required on how you want the home to look for painting and light fixture placement. If you need any other assistance, the local home improvement retail store can provide information, if you have any questions. Home building is a accomplishment that take time and effort to build your idea home. Here are some examples of homes built from habitat.

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Landscaping
After you have finished up, you can landscape your home to how you want it to look from the front to the back. Most people go to the local necessary and buy grass and plants to begin their idea home. Here are a couple ideas to bring your landscaping idea to life.

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