If You're Claustrophobic, This Job Isn't For You

Here on the Gulf Coast houses don't have basements. They're just too close to the water. But what they do have is a sizeable crawl space under the house. It's unfinished, but a good temporary place for storage while we're working.

This morning we needed someone who didn't mind venturing into the crawl space to remove the siding that was stored there. I thought given a choice between that and the roof, I'd crawl.

It's not unpleasant, just cramped and somewhat dark. But it's not uncomfortable because of the soft red earth that some wise person spread on the ground while preparing the building site. It's like a cushion for your knees as you're crawling, which is the only way to get around.

I must have done an impressive job of shoving boxes of siding out from the crawl space because later in the day I won the prize for best crawler! My prize was that I got to go back inside for a half hour to store the insulation that we will place inside the ceiling tomorrow.

Thanks to this Habitat project, I'm learning all kinds of new things about home building. Luckily for Tiffany, the young lady who will take possession of the house next month, there are some very capable people on our crew who are making sure all of us volunteers are doing things right. Because without their oversight, I'm not sure I'd want to live in a house I built!